Rocktrospectiva: The Great Comeback And Stronger "The Razors Edge" Turns 35

Released on 24 September 1990 "The Razors Edge" was the twelfth studio album by Australian rock band AC/DC, it was recorded in 1990 in Little Mountain Sound Studios in Vancouver, Canada, and was mixed and engineered by Mike Fraser and produced by Bruce Fairbairn. The album was a major comeback for the band, featuring the hits "Thunderstruck", "Are You Ready",  "Moneytalks" and "Rock Your Heart Out". 

This is the only studio album to feature Welsh drummer Chris Slade, who was the drummer for AC/DC from 1989 to his dismissal in 1994.

Following live appearances across Europe, rhythm guitarist Malcolm Young announced that he was taking time off 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. In 1989, drummer Simon Wright left the group to work on American heavy metal band Dio's fifth studio album Lock Up the Wolves (1990); he was replaced by Welsh drummer Chris Slade and Brian Johnson was unavailable for several months while finalising his divorce, so the Young brothers wrote all the songs for future albums, a practice they continued for all subsequent releases through Power Up in 2020

The Razors Edge was recorded at Little Mountain Sound Studios in Vancouver, Canada, and was mixed and engineered by Mike Fraser, produced by Bruce Fairbairn, 

The fantastic "Thunderstruck" was the first taste from the album, the opening riff featured Angus Young alternating between fretted notes and playing the open string. In a 1993 interview with 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. "Moneytalks" is also one of AC/DC's biggest hits in which Mal and Angus young showed theire working-class roots, and finally "Are You Ready" an intense hard rock that propelled the album into stardom which meant a major combeck for the band. A fun fact about the record was "Mistress For Christmas" a song about Donald Trump.

The Razors Edge received generally mixed to positive reviews from critics, praising both the vocal performance by Brian Johnson and the guitar playing of Angus Young, saying that the album was "arguably [the band's] strongest album in over half a decade", it was an album that really delivered setting a new record for the longest career without a single new idea, like an old friend you haven't seen for a couple of years.

 

The Razors Edge Track List: 

 

1. Thunderstruck

2. Fire Your Guns

3. Moneytalks

4. The Razors Edge

5. Mistress For Christmas

6. Rock Your Heart Out

7. Are You Ready

8. Got You By The Balls

9. Shot Of Love

10. Let's Make It

11. Goodbye & Good Riddance To Bad Luck

12. If You Dare