After the straight-shooting classic that was "Back in Black," AC/DC had a bumpy ride for much of the 1980s. They continued to release solid albums, but their sales began to dip after 1981's "For Those About to Rock We Salute You." But 1990 was the year the Australian boys reclaimed the hard rock throne with their tough album "The Razors Edge" (hold the apostrophe). That record blasted to Number Two and went multiplatinum in a year when folks like MC Hammer dominated the charts. Produced by the late Bruce Fairbairn (who also worked with Bon Jovi, Poison, and Aerosmith), "The Razors Edge" may not be a classic, but it roars with energy and spunk. Like any AC/DC record, this CD revolves around three themes: sex, drugs (with booze), and rock and roll. The hits on this CD are the rousing "Thunderstruck" and the top 40 hit "Moneytalks," but other killer cuts are the funny "Got You By the Balls," "Are You Ready," the ever-festive "Mistress for Christmas," and "Fire Your Guns." Like Robert John "Mutt" Lange, Fairbairn's production is a bit on the polished side, but it doesn't compromise AC/DC's sound. Angus Young's guitar still rocks, and Brian Johnson's bark continues to roar in all its shrill glory. I'm not a metalhead by any means, but I know a good album when I hear one. "The Razors Edge" is just that.

The Razor's Edge might be the best AC/DC album since Back in Black. For Those About To Rock, Flick of the Switch, Fly on the Wall, and Blow up your Video were great but AC/DC hadn't put out a truly classic rock album in almost a decade. Thunderstruck and Moneytalks are two of their best songs and Are You Ready, Got You By the Balls, and Rock Your Heart Out are great too. Brian sounds better than usual and Angus opening solo for Thunderstruck is possibly one of the best openers ever. This is a cd that more than AC/DC fans will love and I hope it gets the credit it deserves.

Earlier this year I rediscovered AC/DC with their immortal classic "Back in Black". I am not a big metalhead that I once was just a decade ago back in high school. I really don't care for today's brand of hard rock. A lot of it I find contrived and pure drivel. Most hard rock bands won't last long as AC/DC has, nor will they have a lasting impact that the legendary Aussie band has over rock 'n roll music. I found a used copy of the remastered "Razor's Edge" today. I loved songs like "Thunderstruck", "Moneytalks" and "Are You Ready" back in high school and I still do to this day, so I had to buy this album. "Razor's Edge" may not be "Highway to Hell" (another AC/DC album I need to get) or "Back in Black" but it sure as heck a fun album to listen to. I almost forgot how much I loved "Are You Ready" with its sing along chorus from rhythmn guitarist Malcom Young and bassist Cliff Williams. An absolutely infectious hard rock song that just sticks into the listener's head permenantly. "Thunderstruck" is without a doubt one of the best songs that showcases Angus Young's undeniable guitar talents and a reminder to young and upcoming guitarists why he is still one of the best hard rock guitarists around. Like "Are You Ready", "MoneyTalks" is incredibly catchy with its sing-along chorus. I love that song to pieces. That song ranks right up there with "You Shook Me All Night Long" and "Highway to Hell" as one of the overall best AC/DC tracks around. AC/DC gets a lot of flack for sounding the same on each record but I see the band staying true to their bluesy hard rock sound and consistently putting out great rock and roll albums. So what if each album sounds alike? AC/DC has been around for two, three decades now and has managed to remain relevant and maintain a successful career to this very day. I seriously doubt that in 20-30 years we are going to remember bands like Linkin Park and Cold. AC/DC forever!

Although The Razor's Edge would be AC/DC's biggest selling album since Back in Black, in retrospect it's not one of their better albums. In fact, if it weren't for the awesome opener "Thunderstruck" and the hit single "Moneytalks", it would be in the 2-star range as well as their worst album, yes even worse than Fly on the Wall. All of the Bon Scott albums, including the '74 Jailbreak EP are better and certainly more consistent than The Razor's Edge. Basically, this is a classic case of the singles carrying the rest of the album. Well, not completely since "Are You Ready" is the lamest single they ever released. The album isn't a total loss since "Fire Your Guns", "Mistress for Christmas" and the title track all have great riffs and are very good. But after that, the album goes downhill and never recovers. "Rock Your Heart Out" is corny, "Shot of Love" and "Let's Make It" are very pedestrian, and the only cool thing about "Got You by the Balls" is the title. As noted before, "Thunderstruck", one of their best songs ever, and "Moneytalks", save this from being their worst album. Recommended for the first five songs only. Or just pick up AC/DC Live: The Collector's Edition which contains all of them except "Mistress for Christmas."

Ac/Dc had recently released 'Blow Up Your Video' which had garnered a bit of a buzz especially from 2 great videos but the sales were still not up to what they were in the early 80s so they did what on paper seemed to be a very smart idea,they hired THE best rock producer in the business,Bruce Fairbairn who had rescued Bon Jovi,Aerosmith,and others with smash hits...heck,I would have done the exact same thing in their shoes,and did it work? Well,yes and no.The razor's edge did sell quite a bit more then the past few releases,especially powered by the lead off single 'Thunderstruck'
and the songwriting did improve tremendously on this release while still not selling out the blues based rock style that got them to the party in the first place..songs like 'Moneytalks''Are You Ready', 'Let's Make It' 'Got You By The Balls' and my personal fave 'Mistress For Christmas' show that they have all the power and fire that they did way back for their ultimate release 'Back In Black' yes,those songs are that good,the lyrics are still as sexually charged as ever,Angus can still play lead right up there with the best of the best and nobody alive can scream like Brian Johnson...but..something just doesn't feel right with this release...if you listen to the songs by themselves one at a time,they are just about perfect,but when you listen to the CD from start to finish it feels so bare bones,so for a lack of better word 'empty' I'm sure this was intentionally done,the band did not want people to say they had gotten too polished,but it makes the CD kind of hard to listen to from start to finish,there isn't a lot of warmth...maybe that's just me...but especially towards the end of the CD I always find myself looking at the CD case to see how much longer I have to go 'till it's over..it's just too similar,to o dry sounding the whole way through....I think basically aside from the production being dry the last two songs really bring it down (a problem that Ac/Dc had on almost every release)
The CD opens with 'Thunderstruck' a modern day classic,couldn't ask for a better way to open the album...from there 'Fire Your Guns' almost shouting to the world that they are back as strong as ever...'Moneytalks' brilliant lyrics,and extremely catchy music make this one very strong..the title cut 'The Razors Edge' full of dark atmosphere,reminds me in a lot of ways of the feel of 'Nightstalker' from Highway To Hell..but it seems to be lacking the same warmth ..from there 'Mistress For Christmas' almost every guy in the world would love the lyrics to this one..it's one of my favorite holiday tunes and is my personal favorite from this one...'Rock Your Heart Out' is another great catchy song...'Are You Ready' is just one word..power..awesome tune,one of their best ever,would be perfect to open up concerts with..from there 'Got You By The Balls' again the lyrics are perfect...I think they took more time with lyrics on this release then any album they ever did,and it shows,catchy music too...'Shot Of Love' catchy but not one of my favorites...'Let's Make It' perfect song for girls to dance to,so that gets thumbs up from me...'Goodbye & Good Riddance To Bad Luck' and 'If You Dare' I think they just threw those two songs to fill out the CD,but if they left 'em off (or maybe threw 'em onto a box set as unreleased tunes) it would have been better,it really drags the whole CD down at the end...all this being said,I originally was going to give this a 3 star rating but I've changed my mind and give it a 4 star rating...there are many many great songs,some of the best in their career,I just don't care for the overall tone,I wish they would re-release this one with a warmer feel...it feels very sterile..but overall a great CD and truly a comeback!


The Upside - perhaps the best lyric work they've ever done...the style of great blues tinged rock continues,but with a lot more attention to songwriting.They have done a great job of putting together some classic tunes.

The Downside - the last two songs,aside from that it's perfect aside from feeling a little bare.

The Bottom Line - This should definitely be in your collection. You are not likely to find a collection of songs this good on almost any band's CD.Some great hits are here,some incredibly catchy songs with great lyrics and my favorite holiday song are all here...if you are new to the band I'd start with Highway To Hell,Back In Black,and Dirty Deeds,but then you should definitely check this out..and all hard core fans of Ac/Dc should definitely have this...this is some of the best work...go out and buy this the donutman says so!!!