''The Razors Edge'' is the twelfth studio album by Australian
hard rock band
AC/DC released on 21 September 1990. It was a major comeback for the band, featuring the hits "
Thunderstruck" and "
Are You Ready", which reached #5 and #16 respectively on ''
Billboards
Mainstream Rock Tracks Chart, and "
Moneytalks
"Moneytalks" is a song written by Malcolm and Angus Young and produced by Bruce Fairbairn for the hard rock band AC/DC. Originally released on 21 September 1990 on the album '' The Razors Edge'', it was later released as a single in December l ...
", which peaked at #23 on the
''Billboard'' Hot 100.
The album reached #2 on the US ''Billboard'' 200 and #4 in the UK, a smash commercial success that returned the band to the popularity of its glory years of the late 1970s and early 1980s. The album has been certified 5× platinum (5 million copies sold) in the US, and was re-released in 2003 as part of the ''AC/DC Remasters'' series. This is the only studio album to feature
Chris Slade
Chris Slade (born Christopher Slade Rees; 30 October 1946) is a Welsh musician, best known for playing for the Australian rock band AC/DC. He drummed for the band from 1989 to 1994, performing on their 1990 album '' The Razors Edge'' along wit ...
, who was the drummer for AC/DC from 1989 to his dismissal in 1994.
Background
The band had recorded ''
Blow Up Your Video
''Blow Up Your Video'' is the eleventh studio album by Australian hard rock band AC/DC. The album was re-released in 2003 as part of the ''AC/DC Remasters'' series.
Recording
Writing sessions for ''Blow Up Your Video'' took place in London's ...
'' (1988) with their original producers,
Harry Vanda
Johannes Hendrikus Jacob van den Berg (born 22 March 1946), better known as his stage name Harry Vanda, is a Dutch Australian musician, songwriter and record producer. He is best known as lead guitarist of the 1960s Australian rock band the Ea ...
and
George Young.
It was a commercial success and sold more copies than the previous two studio releases combined. The
Blow Up Your Video World Tour began in February 1988 in
Perth
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth i ...
, Australia. That April, on the eve of the
North American
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Ca ...
leg of the tour,
Malcolm Young announced that he was taking time off from touring, principally to begin recovery from his alcoholism. Another member of the Young family, their nephew,
Stevie Young
Stephen Crawford Young Jr. (born 11 December 1956) is an Australian musician, and the rhythm guitarist and backing vocalist for the Australian rock & roll band AC/DC. He joined the band in April 2014, to record the group's ''Rock or Bust'' albu ...
, temporarily took Malcolm's place on rhythm guitar. Following the tour, drummer
Simon Wright left the group to work on the upcoming
Dio album ''
Lock Up the Wolves'', and was replaced by ex-Firm and
Manfred Mann's Earth Band
Manfred Mann's Earth Band are an English rock band formed by South African musician Manfred Mann. Their hits include covers of Bruce Springsteen's " For You", "Blinded by the Light" and "Spirit in the Night". After forming in 1971 and with a ...
drum veteran
Chris Slade
Chris Slade (born Christopher Slade Rees; 30 October 1946) is a Welsh musician, best known for playing for the Australian rock band AC/DC. He drummed for the band from 1989 to 1994, performing on their 1990 album '' The Razors Edge'' along wit ...
, whom Malcolm remembered playing with
Manfred Mann
Manfred Mann were an English rock band, formed in London and active between 1962 and 1969. The group were named after their keyboardist Manfred Mann, who later led the successful 1970s group Manfred Mann's Earth Band. The band had two diffe ...
during an appearance in
Sydney years earlier with
Deep Purple and
Free.
Recording and composition
''The Razors Edge'' was recorded at
Windmill Lane Studios
Windmill Lane Recording Studios (earlier Windmill Lane Studios) is a recording studio in Dublin, Ireland. It was originally opened in 1978 by Brian Masterson and James Morris in premises at 22 Windmill Lane, and it subsequently relocated to its cu ...
in
Dublin, Ireland and
Little Mountain Sound Studios
Little Mountain Sound Studios is a music recording facility in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. During the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, it was the most successful recording studio in Western Canada and the home for many years to producers Bruce Fa ...
in
Vancouver, BC, Canada,
and was mixed and engineered by
Mike Fraser and produced by
Bruce Fairbairn, who had previously worked with
Aerosmith and
Bon Jovi. According to the book ''AC/DC: Maximum Rock & Roll'', George Young was involved early on but had to bow out because of personal issues. Lead singer
Brian Johnson
Brian Johnson (born 5 October 1947) is an English singer and songwriter. In 1980, after the death of Bon Scott, he became the third lead singer of the Australian rock band AC/DC. He and the rest of the band were inducted into the Rock and Rol ...
was unavailable for several months while finalising his divorce,
so the Young brothers wrote all the songs for the next album, a practice they continued for all subsequent releases (In a 1995 interview, Johnson told ''
Guitar World'' that he was relieved at not having to deal with the pressure of writing the lyrics anymore). The instantly recognizable opening riff to "Thunderstruck" features Young alternating between fretted notes and playing the open string. In a 1993 interview with ''Guitar Worlds Alan Di Perna, the guitarist recalls, "I was just fiddling with my left hand when I came up with that riff; I played it more by accident than anything. I thought, 'not bad,' and put it on a tape. That's how me and Malcolm generally work. We put our ideas down on tape and play them for one another." He expanded in greater detail in the liner notes of the 2003 re-release of ''The Razors Edge'':
"It started off from a little trick I had on guitar. I played it to Mal and he said 'Oh, I've got a good rhythm idea that will sit well in the back.' We built the song up from that. We fiddled about with it for a few months before everything fell into place. Lyrically, it was really just a case of finding a good title...We came up with this thunder thing and it seemed to have a good ring to it. AC/DC = Power. That's the basic idea."
"Moneytalks" is also one of AC/DC's biggest hits, breaking the
top 40
In the music industry, the Top 40 is the current, 40 most-popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "Top 40" or "cont ...
on the
''Billboard'' Hot 100, the
UK Singles Charts
The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top- ...
, and the Australian
ARIA Singles Chart. It is still the band's highest-charting single in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
, at number 23 (no other AC/DC single has ever cracked the top 30). During their subsequent world tour, thousands of "
Angus Bucks
Angus Bucks, Angus Bills or AC/DC Dollars are fake, United States one-dollar bills featuring Angus Young, the lead guitarist from the Australian rock 'n' roll band AC/DC. Thousands were dropped on the audience as a theatrical gimmick at the end ...
" were dropped on the audience during the song. A music video of the song, directed by
David Mallet, was also released, featuring a live performance during the tour. Author Murray Engleheart states in his band memoir ''AC/DC: Maximum Rock & Roll'': "On songs like 'Mistress for Christmas' and "Moneytalks,' Malcolm and Angus showed their working-class roots, despite multi-millionaire selling albums, by taking aim at the high flyers in the business world." In a February 1991 interview with ''Guitar World'' Angus Young stated, "I think the funniest song on this album is 'Mistress For Christmas.' That song's about
Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.
Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...
. He was big news at the time, so we thought we'd have a bit of fun and humor with it." In the same interview, he declared that his best guitar solo on the LP was on the song "The Razors Edge," which also features a rare foray into finger picking. Although AC/DC had always remained
apolitical
Apoliticism is apathy or antipathy towards all political affiliations. A person may be described as apolitical if they are uninterested or uninvolved in politics. Being apolitical can also refer to situations in which people take an unbiased po ...
when it came to their music, the title track was a commentary of sorts, with Young explaining to
Muchmusic in 1992:
![Malcolm Young at ACDC Monster of Rock Tour](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0d/Malcolm_Young_at_ACDC_Monster_of_Rock_Tour.jpg)
:"The Razors Edge" comes from an old saying farmers used to use in
Britain
Britain most often refers to:
* The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands
* Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...
where you'd have a fine sunny day, you know, a very good day with a hot sun, and then all of a sudden right in the distance you could see these black clouds coming over the horizon, an ominous thing...I thought it was a great title. The world was at peace again and everyone thought, "Ah, the
Berlin Wall's come down and it's all gonna be fun and games, a party every night," and you can see now that it's not that way. It's just our way of saying the world's not perfect and never will be.
Tour
With the release of ''The Razors Edge'',
AC/DC undertook a world tour, possibly the most publicized tour they had ever done. The success of the tour was fueled by the crowd-pleasing songs, such as "
Thunderstruck", "
Moneytalks
"Moneytalks" is a song written by Malcolm and Angus Young and produced by Bruce Fairbairn for the hard rock band AC/DC. Originally released on 21 September 1990 on the album '' The Razors Edge'', it was later released as a single in December l ...
", "Fire Your Guns", "The Razor's Edge", and "
Are You Ready", which were also included on the ''AC/DC Live Collector's Edition'' album as live versions. Several shows on the Razors Edge Tour were recorded for the 1992 live album titled ''
Live''. ''Live'' was produced by Fairbairn, and is considered one of the best live albums of the 1990s.
Commercial performance and reception
''The Razors Edge'' peaked at No. 2 on the ''
Billboard'' 200 charts and stayed on the chart for 77 consecutive weeks. It also reached No. 4 on the
UK charts. The album helped return AC/DC to its former glory. Currently, the album has sold 5 million copies in the US, certifying it at 5× platinum. The album has sold approximately ten to twelve million copies worldwide, making it the fourth highest selling AC/DC album (after ''
Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap
''Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap'' is the third studio album by Australian hard rock band AC/DC, originally released only in Europe and Australia in 1976. The album was not released in the United States until 1981, more than one year after lead s ...
'', ''
Highway to Hell
''Highway to Hell'' is the sixth studio album by Australian hard rock band AC/DC, released on 27 July 1979. It was the last album featuring lead singer Bon Scott, who would die early the following year on 19 February 1980.
Background
By 1978 ...
'' and ''
Back in Black
''Back in Black'' is the seventh studio album by Australian rock band AC/DC. It was released on 25 July 1980 by Albert Productions and Atlantic Records. It is the band's first album to feature lead singer Brian Johnson, following the death ...
'' and ahead of ''
Who Made Who
''Who Made Who'' is a soundtrack album by Australian hard rock band AC/DC. Released on 26 May 1986, the album is the soundtrack to the Stephen King film ''Maximum Overdrive''. The album was re-released in 2003 as part of the ''AC/DC Remasters' ...
'').
The album received generally mixed to positive reviews.
AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...
complimented both the vocal performance by Brian Johnson and the guitar playing of Angus Young, and said that the album was "arguably
he band's
He or HE may refer to:
Language
* He (pronoun), an English pronoun
* He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ
* He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets
* He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...
strongest album in over half a decade."
''Entertainment Weekly'' gave the album a very favourable review, saying that "this is one album that really delivers."
Canadian journalist
Martin Popoff
Martin Popoff (born April 28, 1963) is a Canadian music journalist, critic and author. He is mainly known for writing about the genre of heavy metal music. The senior editor and co-founder of ''Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles'', he has additionall ...
defined the album "tight, highly strung and menacing... entirely worthy of its status as the grand comeback of legendary rock 'n' roll runts".
''Rolling Stone'', on the other hand, gave the album two out of five stars, criticizing its similarity to past AC/DC works, and said that "with ''The Razors Edge'', AC/DC sets a new record for the longest career without a single new idea."
In a 2008 ''Rolling Stone'' cover story
David Fricke
David Fricke is an American music journalist who serves as the senior editor at ''Rolling Stone'' magazine, where he writes predominantly about rock music. One of the best known names in rock journalism, his career has spanned over 40 years. I ...
wrote: "After a few albums that sounded like old ideas warmed over once too often, this is a near-comeback, busting out with Angus' wasp-army trills in the first song."
Track listing
Personnel
;AC/DC
*
Brian Johnson
Brian Johnson (born 5 October 1947) is an English singer and songwriter. In 1980, after the death of Bon Scott, he became the third lead singer of the Australian rock band AC/DC. He and the rest of the band were inducted into the Rock and Rol ...
– lead vocals
*
Angus Young
Angus McKinnon Young (born 31 March 1955) is an Australian musician, best known as the co-founder, lead guitarist, songwriter, and only remaining original member of the hard rock band AC/DC. He is known for his energetic performances, schoolbo ...
– lead guitar
*
Malcolm Young – rhythm guitar, backing vocals
*
Cliff Williams
Clifford Williams (born 14 December 1949) is an English musician, best known as the bassist and backing vocalist of the Australian hard rock band AC/DC. He started his professional music career in 1967 and had previously been in the English ...
– bass guitar, backing vocals
*
Chris Slade
Chris Slade (born Christopher Slade Rees; 30 October 1946) is a Welsh musician, best known for playing for the Australian rock band AC/DC. He drummed for the band from 1989 to 1994, performing on their 1990 album '' The Razors Edge'' along wit ...
– drums, percussion
;Production
*
Bruce Fairbairn – producer
*
Mike Fraser – engineer, mixing
* Brian Dobbs, Sean Leonard – assistant engineers
*Ian Taylor, Ken Lomas – additional recordings
*
George Marino
George Marino (April 15, 1947 – June 4, 2012) was an American mastering engineer known for working on albums by rock bands starting in the late 1960s.
Biography
Marino was born on April 15, 1947, in the New York City borough The Bronx. He at ...
at Sterling Sound, NYC – mastering
* Stewart Young – management
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Certifications
References
External links
Lyrics
{{DEFAULTSORT:Razors Edge, The
1990 albums
AC/DC albums
Albert Productions albums
Atco Records albums
Atlantic Records albums
EMI Records albums
Albums produced by Bruce Fairbairn
Albums recorded at Little Mountain Sound Studios