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The Razors Edge (AC/DC album)

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The Razors Edge
Studio album by
AC/DC
Released21 September 1990[1]
Recorded1990
GenreHard rock
Length46:11
LabelAtco Records
Albert/EMI (AUS/NZ)
ProducerBruce Fairbairn[2]
AC/DC chronology
Blow Up Your Video
(1988) 		The Razors Edge
(1990) 		AC/DC Live
(1992)
Singles from The Razors Edge
  1. "Thunderstruck"
    Released: 10 September 1990
  2. "Moneytalks"
    Released: 8 December 1990
  3. "Are You Ready"
    Released: 28 March 1991

The Razors Edge is the twelfth studio album by Australian hard rock band AC/DC released in September 1990. It was the band's eleventh internationally released studio album and the twelfth to be released in Australia. It was a major comeback for the band, featuring the hits "Thunderstruck" and "Are You Ready", which reached #5 and #16 respectively on Billboard's Mainstream Rock Tracks Chart, and "Moneytalks", which peaked at #23 on the Billboard Hot 100.[3] 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 5x platinum (5 million copies sold) in the US,[4] and was re-released in 2003 as part of the AC/DC Remasters series.

Background

The band had recorded Blow Up Your Video (1988) with their original producers, Harry Vanda and George Young.[5] 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, Australia. That April, on the eve of the North American 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, 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 drum veteran Chris Slade, whom Malcolm remembered playing with Manfred Mann during an appearance in Sydney years earlier with Deep Purple and Free.[citation needed]

Recording and composition

The Razors Edge was recorded at Windmill Lane Studios in Dublin, Ireland and Little Mountain Sound Studios in Vancouver, BC, Canada,[6] 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 was unavailable for several months while finalising his divorce,[7] 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 World's 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 Razor's 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."[8]

"Moneytalks" is also one of AC/DC's biggest hits, breaking the top 40 on the Billboard Hot 100, the UK Singles Charts, and the Australian ARIA Singles Chart. It is still the band's highest charting single in the United States, at number 23 (no other AC/DC single has ever cracked the top 30). During their subsequent world tour, thousands of "Angus Bucks" 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. 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 when it came to their music, the title track was a commentary of sorts, with Young explaining to Muchmusic in 1992:

Malcolm Young (age 37) in 1990.
"The Razors Edge" comes from an old saying farmers used to use in Britain 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 publicised tour they had ever done. The success of the tour was fueled by the crowd-pleasing songs, such as "Thunderstruck", "Moneytalks", "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.[9] It was during this tour that AC/DC headlined the Monsters of Rock show, which was released on DVD as Live at Donington. The band also headlined 1991's "Rock Around The Bloc" festival at Tushino Airfield in Moscow, a free concert attended by close to one million fans.[citation needed]

Commercial performance and reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[10]
Entertainment WeeklyA−[11]
Rolling Stone[12]

The Razors Edge peaked at #2 on the Billboard 200 charts and stayed on the chart for 77 consecutive weeks. It also reached #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 5x 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, Highway to Hell and Back in Black and ahead of Who Made Who).

The album received generally mixed to positive reviews. AllMusic gave the album three out of five stars and complimented both the vocal performance by Brian Johnson and the guitar playing of Angus Young, and said that the album was "arguably [the band's] strongest album in over half a decade."[10] Entertainment Weekly gave the album a grade of A-, saying that "this is one album that really delivers."[11] 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."[12] In a 2008 Rolling Stone cover story David Fricke 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

All tracks are written by Angus Young and Malcolm Young

Side one
No.TitleLength
1."Thunderstruck"4:52
2."Fire Your Guns"2:53
3."Moneytalks"3:48
4."The Razors Edge"4:22
5."Mistress for Christmas"3:59
6."Rock Your Heart Out"4:06
Side two
No.TitleLength
7."Are You Ready"4:10
8."Got You by the Balls"4:30
9."Shot of Love"3:56
10."Let's Make It"3:32
11."Goodbye and Good Riddance to Bad Luck"3:13
12."If You Dare"3:08
Total length:46:32

Personnel

Additional personnel

  • George Marino at Sterling Sound, NYC - mastering
  • Stewart Young - management

Charts and certifications

Album

Year Chart Position
1990-1991 Australian Albums (ARIA)[13] 3
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[14] 11
Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)[15] 1
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[16] 19
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[17] 4
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[18] 2
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[19] 2
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[20] 5
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[21] 2
UK Albums (OCC)[22] 15
US Billboard 200[23] 2
1992 New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[18] 39
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[17] 55
2005 Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)[24] 53
2008 Australian Albums (ARIA)[13] 26
Japanese Albums (Oricon)[25] 174
Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)[24] 78
2010 Italian Albums (FIMI)[26] 79

Singles

Year Single Chart Position
1990 "Thunderstruck" Mainstream Rock 5
1991 "Moneytalks" Billboard Hot 100 23
1991 "Are You Ready" Mainstream Rock 16

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[27] 5× Platinum 350,000^
Austria (IFPI Austria)[28] Platinum 50,000*
Canada (Music Canada)[29] 5× Platinum 500,000^
Denmark (IFPI Danmark)[30] Gold 10,000‡
Finland (Musiikkituottajat)[31] Platinum 63,926[31]
France (SNEP)[32] Gold 100,000*
Germany (BVMI)[33] 2× Platinum 1,000,000^
Italy (FIMI)[34]
since 2009 		Gold 25,000*
New Zealand (RMNZ)[35] Platinum 15,000^
Sweden (GLF)[36] Gold 50,000^
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[37] 2× Platinum 100,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[38] Gold 100,000^
United States (RIAA)[39] 5× Platinum 5,000,000^

* Sales figures based on certification alone.
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References

  1. ^ "AllMusic review". AC/DC—Thunderstruck. Retrieved 21 September 2019.
  2. ^ "AllMusic review". AC/DC—Thunderstruck. Retrieved 21 September 2019.
  3. ^ "EveryHit". Retrieved 2 August 2008.
  4. ^ Blabbermouth.Net – AC/DC: Classic Albums Reach New Sales Heights Archived 3 July 2006 at the Wayback Machine
  5. ^ Prato, Greg. "AC/DC—Blow Up your Video". AllMusic. Retrieved 2 August 2008.
  6. ^ "MusicMight :: Artists :: AC/DC". Archived from the original on 28 March 2014. Retrieved 15 April 2014.
  7. ^ "AC/DC History". AC/DC—Bedlam in Belgium. Retrieved 2 August 2008.
  8. ^ Young, Angus (2003). The Razors Edge (booklet). AC/DC. Epic Records. {{cite AV media notes}}: Unknown parameter |titlelink= ignored (|title-link= suggested) (help)
  9. ^ Weber, Barry. "AC/DC—AC/DC Live". AllMusic. Retrieved 2 August 2008.
  10. ^ a b Allmusic.com review
  11. ^ a b Entertainment Weekly review
  12. ^ a b Mendelsohn, John (15 November 1990). "The Razor's Edge". Rolling Stone.
  13. ^ a b "Australiancharts.com – AC/DC – {{{album}}}". Hung Medien. Retrieved March 13, 2020.
  14. ^ "Austriancharts.at – AC/DC – {{{album}}}" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved March 13, 2020.
  15. ^ "Top RPM Albums: Issue 9106". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved March 13, 2020.
  16. ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – AC/DC – {{{album}}}" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved March 13, 2020.
  17. ^ a b "Longplay-Chartverfolgung at Musicline" (in German). Musicline.de. Phononet GmbH. Retrieved March 13, 2020.
  18. ^ a b "Charts.nz – AC/DC – {{{album}}}". Hung Medien. Retrieved March 13, 2020.
  19. ^ "Norwegiancharts.com – AC/DC – {{{album}}}". Hung Medien. Retrieved March 13, 2020.
  20. ^ "Swedishcharts.com – AC/DC – {{{album}}}". Hung Medien. Retrieved March 13, 2020.
  21. ^ "Swisscharts.com – AC/DC – {{{album}}}". Hung Medien. Retrieved March 13, 2020.
  22. ^ "AC/DC | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved March 13, 2020.
  23. ^ "AC/DC Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved March 13, 2020.
  24. ^ a b "Spanishcharts.com – AC/DC – {{{album}}}". Hung Medien. Retrieved March 13, 2020.
  25. ^ "Oricon Top 50 Albums: {{{date}}}" (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved March 13, 2020.
  26. ^ "Italiancharts.com – AC/DC – {{{album}}}". Hung Medien. Retrieved March 13, 2020.
  27. ^ "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2013 Albums" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 25 November 2019.
  28. ^ "Austrian album certifications – AC/DC – The Razor's Edge" (in German). IFPI Austria. Retrieved 25 November 2019.
  29. ^ "Canadian album certifications – AC/DC – The Razors Edge". Music Canada. Retrieved 25 November 2019.
  30. ^ "Danish album certifications – AC/DC – The Razor's Edge". IFPI Danmark. Retrieved 29 August 2020.
  31. ^ a b "AC/DC" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved 25 November 2019.
  32. ^ "French album certifications – AC/DC – The Razors Edge" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. Retrieved 25 November 2019.
  33. ^ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (AC/DC; 'The Razor's Edge')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. Retrieved 25 November 2019.
  34. ^ "Italian album certifications – AC/DC – The Razors Edge" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Retrieved 25 November 2019. Select "2014" in the "Anno" drop-down menu. Type "The Razors Edge" in the "Filtra" field. Select "Album e Compilation" under "Sezione".
  35. ^ "New Zealand album certifications – AC/DC – The Razors Edge". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved 25 November 2019.[dead link‍]
  36. ^ "Guld- och Platinacertifikat − År 1987−1998" (PDF) (in Swedish). IFPI Sweden. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 May 2011. Retrieved 25 November 2019.
  37. ^ "The Official Swiss Charts and Music Community: Awards ('The Razor's Edge')". IFPI Switzerland. Hung Medien. Retrieved 25 November 2019.
  38. ^ id MUST BE PROVIDED for UK CERTIFICATION.
  39. ^ "American album certifications – AC/DC – The Razors Edge". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 25 November 2019.

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