On August 15, 1983, the album "Flick Of The Switch" was released, the ninth studio album by the band "AC/DC".
This is the band's third album with singer Brian Johnson and the band's last with drummer Phil Rudd, which will return to "AC/DC" only 11 years later.
After three albums with legendary producer Robert John "Mutt" Lange, the band decided they wanted to get back to their roots, back to the beginning, to the immature and rough sound they had at the beginning of their journey.
As you may recall, Matt Lang raised the band to world fame with the polished production of the album "Highway To Hell" and broke with it every possible record with the greatest comeback album of all time "Back In Black". But the production on the album "For Those About to Rock (We Salute You)" surpassed even the previous two albums brushed and polished the band's sound, until the Young Brothers felt they wanted to go back to the origins, to the initial and immature sound they had. They decided to produce the album themselves this time. The idea was to undress the songs, clear them of any production prank, peel off any effect layer and return to the sound they had in their early days. The Young Brothers wanted to record the songs as authentically and directly as possible with as little studio time as possible on production works.
Even the album cover was minimalist. As if drawn in a thin pencil, in black and white, shows Angus Young flicking the switch and in fact, there is a strong statement here that also fits in with the name of the album, that the band "turns off" Lang's perfectionist production here and returns to base.
They went into the same recording studio where the legendary album "Back In Black" was recorded, but they failed to replicate the success of the previous albums.
The main problem was not the production, because as we know "AC/DC" can sound great even without dramatic productions. The problem with this album was the material that the band brought to the recordings. It was not strong enough compared to previous albums.
And for the record ... except for the theme song and the excellent "Guns for Hire" none of the songs have survived over the years in the band's setlists during live shows.
True, the band has not lost it and songs like "This House is on Fire" and "Landslide" are songs with great riffs that remind us of the good old "AC/DC", but they still stand in the shadow of "The Giants" from the previous three albums.
Apparently, in the end, the problem with this album was the fact that it came after three consecutive masterpieces. Had this album been released in a different era and cut off from its three older brothers, it would probably have been much better received and won much more praise.
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