Post by Erik Rupp on Apr 10, 2010 14:44:25 GMT -5
After the massive success of Back in Black and For Those About to Rock (not to mention the delayed release of Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap) a backlash against AC/DC was inevitable. Unfortunately that backlash came at the expense of one of AC/DC's strongest albums, Flick of the Switch.
Much better than the inconsistent For Those About to Rock, Flick of the Switch really captures AC/DC at the top of their game. With such great songs as "Bedlam In Belguim," "Guns For Hire," and the classic title track, Flick of the Switch continues the style of Back in Black, albeit with a slightly bluesier feel. "Landslide" and "Brain Shake" are a great pair of uptempo, high energy bursts of power, and give the album something most of their recent albums have lacked - diversity in the tempo of the songs, giving it a great flow from one song to the next. There's not a bad song on this album - the last album from AC/DC that truly flirted with greatness. It's also the last album that saw Brian Johnson at full strength (before he blew out his voice). After Flick of the Switch it would be a run of several good, but not great, albums. Johnson's lack of participation in the songwriting department after their Blow Up Your Video album may be part of the reason for the slide in the quality of AC/DC's albums since that 1988 release.
Flick of the Switch was produced by the band themselves, with recording and mixing engineer Tony Platt lending a hand in the production department. The result is a better sounding album than it's predecessor (For Those About To Rock), and a more consistent album in the song department as well. The high points may not quite be as high as those on For Those About to Rock (they are close, however), but the lows aren't as low, either.
Ultimately, Flick of the Switch was (and still is) the perfect complement to Back in Black. Both albums have aged well, even if Flick of the Switch is not nearly as well regarded by most Rock fans and critics as AC/DC's legendary 1980 release.
Underrated and overlooked - those are the two best words to describe Flick of the Switch almost 30 years after it's release.
4/5