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By the beginning of the eighties, AC/DC were probably the biggest rock band in the world. Or, as they preferred to be called, “A little rock’n’roll band. Nothing more, nothing less.”
Sadly in life, nothing is certain and things easily change. The eighties had not been a good period for AC/DC, with four substandard albums that had been critically panned and the album buying public had all but deserted them. They were still a massive attraction on the live market. But the crowds wanted the old hits, not the more recent tracks from the new albums.
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But as the nineties dawned, it was time for a new album and a new drummer as Steve Wright left for Dio and in came Chris Slade. The band recorded the album in Ireland and Canada. There were several other notable changes, too. Mike Fraser was brought in as the engineer, and Chris Fairbairn as producer who had previously worked with Aerosmith and Bon Jovi.
riffs. Chris Slade was the drummer for five years in AC/DC. He replaced
Phil Rudd and then was replaced by Phil Rudd again. Later in 2015,
he came back again when Phil Rudd was having legal problems.
But of course, Rudd has returned again.
Lead singer Brian Johnson, who had seemed a little off his game since ‘For Those About To Rock’ in 1981, was not available for the first few months of recording as he was dealing with a messy divorce. So the decision was taken to write the songs without him. Malcolm and Angus Young wrote the lyrics, something that Johnson later revealed he was relieved about. Going forward, the Young brothers carried on writing all the songs, allowing Johnson to concentrate on his singing.
The results were unquestionably for the better. It got AC/DC, if not quite back firing on all six cylinders, they were at least firing again. Brian Johnson seems to have benefited the most with his voice having the charisma of old again. The guitar play of the Young brothers returned to its best, and the new rhythm section worked perfectly.
There are some classic songs on ‘Razors Edge’ that became firm favorites with the live crowds, allowing AC/DC to spice up the live set.
Album opener and concert opener for more than a decade is the AC/DC classic, ‘Thunderstruck,’ and it is still played in the AC/DC set today. With its opening Angus Young guitar riff, the crowd chanting Thunder! and Brian Johnson telling the audience they have been thunderstruck while leering at them, it was a sure fire hit.
This is followed by a trio of storming rockers right out of the AC/DC canon, ‘Fire Your Guns,’ ‘Money Talks’ (which was released with a fabulous video that had heavy rotation on MTV), and the title cut ‘Razors Edge.’ ‘Are You Ready’ is a wonderful football chant perfect for the terraces.
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From here on, sadly it all rather fades away. Quite simply, two of the songs, ‘Mistress for Christmas’ and ‘Shot of Love’ are plain awful. Whilst the others all sound a bit like a version of AC/DC just going through the motions. Never mind, the album did the trick, going to number two on the American Billboard Charts and selling 5 million in America alone, whilst in the U.K. it went to number 4. AC/DC were back.
Why they missed out the apostrophe in the title is unfathomable and has not been put right to this day.
AC/DC were
Brian Johnson – Vocals
Angus Young – Lead Guitar
Malcolm Young – Guitar
Cliff Williams – Bass Guitar
Chris Slade – Drums
Written by Mott the Dog
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