1314. AC/DC / The Razors Edge. 1990. 4.5/5

AC/DC had always been considered as Australia’s band. Sure, the band was built around Scottish immigrants from the western suburbs of Sydney, but their upbringing was in those rough and tumble suburbs, and the band had cut its teeth in the pubs and clubs of the greater Sydney metropolis before embarking on the national and then international domination. But as of 1988, it had been seven long years since the band had toured Australia. Several reasons have been put forward to explain this, but certainly a greater focus on the European and North American markets, where the band could maximise their profits for the least amount of cost in regards to getting from gig to gig was a part of that. There had also been an ambivalence in Australia from promoters and radio stations when it came to the band, all of which acted as a deterrent. It was cheaper to live and tour in Europe than in Australia as well. Still, the bands albums had continued to sell well in Australia. Both “For Those About to Rock We Salute You” and “Flick of the Switch” had reached #3 on the Australian albums chart, and “Fly on the Wall” had reached #4, though album sales, as they did for all of those albums around the world, saw decreased numbers of sales.
After the success of the soundtrack album for the Stephen King film “Maximum Overdrive”, which AC/DC released under the big single’s name “Who Made Who”, they returned to with their follow up album “Blow Up Your Video”, an album that had two big popular singles, and also saw the band return to Australia for the first time since 1981 to begin their world tour to support the album. So, for Australia at least, Accadacca was back, and the album... well... it was marginally okay. Much like those other albums of the 1980’s mentioned here, the reception was generally mixed. There were some good songs, there were some average songs. It wasn’t really like the AC/DC that everyone really wanted. Live, there was no question the band still had it. The albums though, even though they sold well (“Blow Up Your Video” again went to #2 on the Australian albums chart), were still a mixed bag.
Following the tour, the band saw some movement for the first time in a while. Drummer Simon Wright decided to move on, joining Dio for their “Lock Up the Wolves” album and tour. Chris Slade, a friend of the band, was brought in as his replacement. Malcolm Young had already taken time off for the tour of North America, primarily to deal with his alcoholism, and had been replaced by nephew Stevie Young in the interim. In the lead up to writing for the new album, Brian Johnson was unavailable for several months, as he took the time to finalise his divorce and put his life back into order. This meant that, for the first time since his recruitment into the band, he was not involved in the writing sessions for the album. Angus and Malcolm were the sole creators of the tracks for the new album, something that continued for all albums from this point on.
The band brought in Bruce Fairbairn as producer for the new album, and travelled to Vancouver in Canada to record. Fairbairn had just come off a couple of years with some success, having produced Bon Jovi’s “Slippery When Wet” and “New Jersey” albums, along with Aerosmith’s comeback albums “Permanent Vacation” and “Pump”. So he seemed to be a handy person to have in the control booth at that point in time. AC/DC, on the back of increased exposure from their previous album, now looked to use that to propel themselves back into the limelight, and the album that they hoped would do that was “The Razors Edge”.

The opening song on this album set the tone for everything that followed for the next three years. It created a tsunami of sorts, from the first time the opening guitar was heard on the first instance the song was aired to the world. AC/DC has produced some of the greatest and well known songs of all time, but “Thunderstruck” was a different level at the exact right time. Coming off the previous album, which had sold well and saw the bands stocks rise, they needed something to come out and blow away everything that fans around the world might have thought they could produce. And “Thunderstruck” was that song. Containing all of the energy and the fire that the band could produce, musically, vocally and Angusly. Sure it might look a bit less exciting live now, 35 years on from this album, but at the time Brian was 43 years old, Malcolm 37 and Angus 35. They were in their prime, full of the bounce and energy that comes across when you listen to this song, and then this album. And on the tour that followed, watching Chris Slade and his drumkit rise from below the stage as he was counting into the song was just amazing. “Thunderstruck” was an anthem, nothing less. It not only boosted the band around the world, it led off what was to be one of AC/DC’s most important albums of their career.
What follows is just as impressive, a line up of songs that is arguably better than almost everything the band put together during the 1980’s decade. “Fire Your Guns” channels that energy of the opening track and jams up the tempo and fire and pumps it through the speakers. This could genuinely be the last fast paced song that AC/DC ever wrote and performed, and it increases the adrenaline from the outset. I get that the band wasn’t big on fast tempo’s, but they show with “Fire Your Guns” that they could do it as well as anyone else around, and for me it is a shame they didn’t do it more often. “Moneytalks” brings the melodic back to the band and pulls back the speed to a more regular AC/DC like tempo, including backing chanting vocals that come from the best of the band’s songs. This is the crowd favourite, lots of great singalong vocals as a part of its makeup, with that solid as ever rhythm section plugging along and allowing Brian and Angus to just do their thing. As the follow up to the opening single it charted top 30 in the US, UK and Australia. Then comes the more serious sounding, moody foreboding title track “The Razors Edge”. In a 1992 interview with Muchmusic, Angus was quoted: “‘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 song was the Young’s way of suggesting that although the world of 1990 looked as though things were going well, there is always a threat lurking around the corner. Musically and lyrically it evokes these themes and is just a wonderful change of mood after the opening three tracks.
The mood changes again with the tongue-in-cheek rendition of “Mistress for Christmas”. In a February 1991 interview with Guitar World Angus 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 humour with it.”. I wonder if Angus is laughing now? The opening side of the album concludes with “Rock Your Heart Out”, another fast tempo track that exacerbates the themes of this album when it comes to the pace it is being played at.
The B Side opens up with the crowd live anthem of “Are You Ready”, with lots of backing gang vocals from Malcolm and Cliff that perfectly offset everything that Brian is expressing with his lead vocal. Songs like this have always been important for the band when it comes to their albums, but on occasions during the 1980’s there was not enough outstanding material to allow this kind of song to work at its best. It is fair to say that here on “The Razors Edge” that isn’t a problem. The band then channels back into its past to come up with “Got You by the Balls”, a song of a tempo and lyrics that has a bit of a feel of ‘been there, done that’. On the other hand, “Shot of Love” has a more upbeat and contemporary vibe about it, a song that harbours all of the history of the band but in a more modern setting. It is a surprisingly fun track. The remainder of the second side slips into a more anachronistic style, sliding into the style of track that you would have already heard in the middle sections of the album released in the 1980’s, songs that fill the holes of the remaining cracks without either offending the listener nor being memorable in any other way. “Let’s make It”, “Goodbye and Good Riddance to Bad Luck” and “If You Dare” all tend to slide by unnoticed, except for the fact that they are the run of songs to close out the album. In a way it is probably slightly disappointing to have songs like this conclude what is, for the most part, a terrific album. Perhaps the Young Brothers just ran out of puff, and went back to format to finish everything off. The songs here aren’t bad, but compared to those on offer on Side A they just come across as a bit bland.

I’d always heard AC/DC being played around the traps through my teenage years. Those well known Bon Scott era songs like “TNT” and “High Voltage” and “It’s a Long Way to the Top”, they popped up here and there. And “You Shook Me All Night Long”. All of those songs. I recently reviewed their 1985 album “Fly on the Wall” - episode 87 for those who are interested – and spoke about how I recalled seeing those songs and videos just prior to my heavy metal awakening at the end of that year. And eventually finding those albums came over the course of the next period of time. The first album I actually owned of AC/DC was “Blow Up Your Video”, and that concert in Sydney in February 1988 was the third concert I ever attended. The story of how we sat in the front row of the Sydney Entertainment Centre for that gig is a good one, but not to be related here at this time.
By the time 1990 had rolled around, my immersion in the heavier form of music had well and truly taken shape. And by September 1990 I had been inundated with amazing albums to listen to – those following this podcast know the albums that I speak of and of their particular significance in the history of heavy metal music. And so another AC/DC album could easily have been submerged beneath the gloriousness of what was coming out around it and find itself completely ignored as a result. But for me at least, this AC/DC album was different. From that amazing opening of “Thunderstruck”, it is very difficult to ignore and not dive further into the album. Follow this up with “Fire Your Guns”, “Moneytalks” and the title track, and the album has its hooks in you. The trick for AC/DC was to always find an opening track and first single that had that Angus guitar riff, the one that settled over the rhythm and immediately became an iconic and momentous event. I’d always felt “Who Made Who” had done that at a time when the band needed a boost, and it definitely was the case here with “Thunderstruck”. It was quintessential AC/DC and it blazed the way for the remainder of the album. And there is little doubt that this album got a huge boost over this period and then for the next 12 months, leading into AC/DC’s return to Australian shores, and the second time I was able to watch them live at the Sydney Entertainment Centre – and once again, from the front row. The sun shines even on a dog’s arse on occasions.
For the last week and a bit, I have had “The Razors Edge” back on my stereo. I still have my original CD copy from 1990, but I now also own a first print vinyl from the day as well, and this is the copy that I have enjoyed the most over the last few days. And even amongst all of the other albums that I have listened to over the past month – amazing, unforgettable albums as well – this has still stood up against them in enjoyment factor. I still love this album, even the second half of the album where maybe if one was to be critical it begins to slip off a bit. This for me was their best album since Brian Johnson’s first appearance on “Back in Black”. To me it sounds like a similar album, an album where the band was unsure of just where it was headed prior to its recording, and this album put the ship back on course.
For me, this is the last great AC/DC album. There are some fine, solid albums to come after this, ones that are most memorable for the younger kids coming into the band having been brought up by their parents to love AC/DC, and then having new release albums of their own to enjoy in the same way we had with albums such as this. But it was never quite the same, although some would claim that the fact that they WERE all the same was what the problem was in the first place! No matter what reasoning you want to use, this album recaptured the very best of what made AC/DC such a classic Australian band, and in an age where heavy music was on the verge of such extraordinary change, this album still stands as a testament of what an album sounds like when it is done right.

1313. Gary Moore / Run for Cover. 1985. 3.5/5

The years leading up to this particular album being released had seen Gary Moore take more of an interest in producing his own material rather than being a hired hand in other projects. He had spent time in and out of Thin Lizzy and other projects in the 1970’s with his good friends and fellow rock traveller Phil Lynott, but in recent years had settled down into a solo career that seemed to be taking shape. The hard-hitting “Corridos of Power” album had been followed by the delayed release of the album “Dirty Fingers”, one that truly showcased his wonderful guitar skills along with his writing capabilities. Then had come “Victims of the Future” which both lyrically and musically followed that album closely in style and substance. It had utilised almost two different bands worth of musicians however, including new collaborator Neil Carter, bass players Neil Murray and Bob Daisley, and drummers Ian Paice and Bobby Chouinard. More importantly, Moore had taken on the lead vocal role himself for the first time for a full album, which did give it a much better sound, as though it was an actual band despite the use of so many different players. Moore wrote the majority of the album himself with help from Carter, and it appeared as though he had found his feet for perhaps the first time.
And then, coming into that album’s follow up, he delved once again into the “many players” aspect of the writing and playing scenario, something that arguably gave the album a different feel than perhaps a direct follow up to the hard to heavy oriented sound of “Victims of the Future” deserved. Moore’s good friend and frequent collaborator Phil Lynott was back. With the disbandment of Thin Lizzy two years earlier, Lynott had formed another band called Grand Slam in 1984, but which had also broken up due to being unable to break into the current music scene, and being seen as a poor man’s Thin Lizzy. Moore had invited him back to participate on this album, which he does in several capacities. Also on board was Glenn Hughes, formerly of Deep Purple and Trapeze, who had just found himself fired from Black Sabbath for his substance abuse, something he shared with Lynott. Hughes was also a bass playing lead vocalist like Lynott, so the participation of both on this album is a little unusual and rather unique. Three different keyboardists are used, Bob Daisley appears again on bass guitar on one track, and four drummers play pieces along the way. From the outside it seems like a very disjointed way of progressing on an album. If it was to be just a session album then it could be understandable. But by this stage of his career, surely Moore would have been searching for stability in his lineup, both on stage and in the studio. It was something that had the ability to create problems, and eventually the proof could be found in the pudding of the album that it brought together, called “Run for Cover”.

The album consists of ten tracks, with Moore himself credited as sole writer of seven of them. Two have Neil Carter as co-writer, while the other is composed by Phil Lynott and his former band mates from Grand Slam, Laurence Archer and Mark Stanway. That song, “Military Man”, was written by these three for that band, which then fell apart before any album deal came through. Lynott brought it with him when he came into this album, and so it appears here, along with Lynott on lead vocal for the song. For as long as this album has been out, and given I have known this album for almost all of that time, this song has been praised as an important anti-war song, with Lynott’s embracing vocals an important part of riding the emotion through the song. It’s just that, this doesn’t SOUND like a Gary Moore song. He didn’t write it, he doesn’t sing it, he plays guitar on it, and that’s all. The style of the track doesn’t suit what he is best known for in his career as a solo artist. It sounds like a Phil Lynott track, and that just doesn’t line up here at all.
Lynott contributes to one other track on the album, both on bass and as co-lead vocals, and as it turns out it is another anti-war song, but this time written by Moore and with Moore carrying the majority of the lead vocals. And it has become one of his best known and most famous songs, released as an almost stand alone single almost four months before the release of this album. The song is “Out in the Fields”, and features Moore and Lynott on duelling vocals through the song, switching lines and backing each other through the chorus. Unlike “Military Man”, which is a slow build to the energetic and powerful conclusion, this song is immediately punchy with Moore’s guitar riff and Lynott’s rumbling bass line, the tempo is faster and the energy and vibe of the track is upbeat despite the contents of the lyrics. It’s remarkable that these two friends for over 20 years came from either side of the border of Ireland and Northern Ireland, and the things they had grown up with and must have seen during their lives growing up gave them a perspective together that makes this an incredibly powerful song. This is the signature song of the album.
Glenn Hughes contributes bass guitar on most of the remainder of the album, apart from one song by Bob Daisley. Hughes also sings lead vocals on four of those tracks. He doesn’t go by the “Voice of Rock” for nothing, as his vocals on those great Deep Purple albums in particular showcase. However, he doesn’t utilise that kind of range on these songs here, and yet he sounds terrific. Still, gives Moore’s ever improving vocals with each album, did he NEED Hughes on this album? Sure, its great that he wanted him involved, but it is still possible to wonder if his contributions could not have been performed by Moore. Certainly, when you hear the songs sung by Hughes here performed live with Moore on lead vocal, these is barely a discernible difference. Anyway, move on Bill, you are wasting valuable time. Let’s look at those four songs. “Reach for the Sky” has a true blues guitar bent about it, something that is perhaps exacerbated by Hughes’s vocals, as he has the ability to bring a real blues tone to anything he performs. But it is scarily reminiscent of the style of song that Moore eventually became entwined with during the 1990’s. The small portions of keyboard and synth do drag it back to the 1980’s, but as a rock blues tune it does act as a look into the future, along with Moore’s guitar solo which really only tops it off. Ah, if only we’d known then what we know now. “Out of My System” returns to a more typical hard rock tone with that 80’s keyboard again entwining its way into the song. There is an obvious desire to send this in a slightly more commercial direction. It was not released as a single but the way the song is written and performed you can hear it dripping of it in places. “Nothing to Lose” settles into its mid-tempo and chugs along for the entirement of the song, not climbing out of its groove, and only feeling lively when both vocalists combine into the bridge and chorus of the song. And the lyrics are barely inspiring, “Keep on rocking and rolling, keep on singing the blues”. And Hughes’s final lead vocal comes from the Moore and Carter penned “All Messed Up”, which could pretty much have been written about Hughes at this point of his career. Heavily addicted to drugs and alcohol, Glenn Hughes was an artist who appeared to be spiralling, and the lyrics here almost tell his story in real time. This is another song that sound much better in the live environment with a bit more grunt in the music and with Gary singing the vocals.
Moore sings the other four songs on the album, which as a result sound like the four most Gary Moore songs on the album. The title track opening song “Run for Cover” is a beauty, with Gary's squealing guitar emphasising where his vocals demand it does, the tempo and energy is at its best and the whole song is a great way to open the album. “Empty Rooms” is a power ballad, plain and simple. And yes it seems that almost every band in existence has to dabble with them. Neil Carter is particularly infatuated with them, and as a co-writer here he and Gary pull out all the stops to create a hitmaker. It was released as the second single before the album was released, where it failed to light any fires. “Once in a Lifetime” mirrors “Out of My System” in that it is an inoffensive 80’s styled rock song with more keys and synth as a basis of the song than you would prefer in a Gary Moore song when he could be contributing more guitar to the mix. Still, then we come to “Listen to Your Heartbeat” which tends to ruin almost everything that has come before it on the album. This is a soft rock almost pop tune, dominated by the synth and keys of the era with almost no appearance of Gary’s guitaring at all, and when it does appear it emulates the style that the track encapsulates. “Empty Rooms” is a legitimate power ballad song, and whether you like them or not Gary performs it well and it showcases a number of great elements of his and his band’s music. But this does not. It is obscenely dreadful. How it could be considered that this song was the way to finish an album is impossible to understand.

When it comes to “Run for Cover”, things don’t make a lot of sense until you consider the following. Because I often have a problem with this album due to the mix and match of musicians throughout. The mood changes that occur from song to song not only come from the change of musicians but the change of lead vocalist. This is something that obviously works in other bands, where different people in the band sing different songs. But here, it is almost like whole new lineups, and with the unique perspective of two different bass players and lead vocalists, their styles are so different in both bass playing and singing that it does sound like either two different albums or at times two different bands. This also was recorded in five different studios, and utilised five different producers, including Moore himself. I mean, it is difficult to make a coherent album with the number of personnel involved, even if one guy is the main songwriter and the ringleader of the circus.
“Run for Cover” was the last of the Gary Moore albums I got a copy of during that decade. Having discovered him late one Friday or Saturday night while watching Rage on ABCTV – it was the live version of “Wishing Well” that dragged me in – and having others of my friend group who were of a similar mind, I managed to get copies of all of his albums to that point in time. Except this one. Then came “Wild Frontier” and “After the War”, both of which I loved and love. And as far as I remember, I even got “Still Got the Blues” before I eventually got my copy of “Run for Cover”. So I had been exposed to a LOT of Gary Moore that, for me at least, existed at the top end of the spectrum.
So when I did listen to this album, I knew “Out in the Fields” and “Empty Rooms” and the title track. But as you may have already suspected while listening to this episode, this album I found very difficult to get into. It wasn’t like his other albums. It sounded disjointed. The songs didn’t flow together. The change in lead vocals on every single track was distracting. The style of each song differed from the other. And, in the main – I just didn’t really like many of the songs. I TRIED to like them, because pretty much everything else I had of his I loved. But this album just didn’t do it for me. And although I have listed here already several reasons why I “Run for Cover” just didn’t and hasn’t worked for me, I think that in the long run, this album is so different from what makes Gary Moore’s music so entertaining. It misses the key ingredients, and that means this batch of songs tastes like sewerage.
And, let me tell you, it hasn’t been for lack of trying again over the past week or so. 13 times I’ve listened to this album from start to finish, hoping something this time around would inspire me to find something that I had not in the previous 40 years. It failed to materialise. I still had the same impressions that I think I always have from this album. It’s okay, I haven’t minded having it on. But it would be very low on the choice meter if I was looking to listen to some Gary Moore to get me through the day.