BUSH - Razorblade Suitcase - ORIGINAL RELEASE MINT COPY PLAYED ONCE TO RECORD

LAST PHOTO SHOWS MY TURNTABLE THAT I PLAYED THE ALBUM ON, TRUST ME IT IS IN MINT CONDITION.
Jump to navigationJump to search Razorblade Suitcase Studio album by Bush Released 19 November 1996 Recorded Sarm Hook End and Abbey Road Studios, London, England, U.K. Genre Grunge[1] Length 61:43 Label

• Trauma
• Interscope

Producer Steve Albini Bush chronology Sixteen Stone
(1994) Razorblade Suitcase
(1996) Deconstructed
(1997) Singles from Razorblade Suitcase

1. "Swallowed"
   Released: 15 October 1996
2. "Greedy Fly"
   Released: 28 January 1997
3. "Bonedriven"
   Released: 16 April 1997
4. "Cold Contagious"
   Released: 20 December 1997

Razorblade Suitcase is the second studio album by English rock band Bush, released on 19 November 1996 by Trauma and Interscope Records. The follow-up to their 1994 debut Sixteen Stone, it was recorded at Abbey Road Studios in London with engineer and producer Steve Albini. Its sound has been compared by many to Nirvana's In Utero (1993), which was also produced and engineered by Albini.[2][3]

Razorblade Suitcase debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200, selling 293,000 copies in its first week of sales in the United States.[4] To date, it remains the only Bush album to top the Billboard 200.[5] The twentieth anniversary of the album was marked with a reissue officially titled Razorblade Suitcase (In Addition) on 16 December 2016, including the remastered album and four rare bonus tracks: "Broken TV", "Old", "Sleeper", and "Bubbles".[6]

Contents

• 1Recording and production
• 2Promotion
• 3Release and reception
  • 3.120th anniversary reissue
• 4Critical reception
• 5Packaging
• 6Track listing
• 7Personnel
• 8Charts and certifications
  • 8.1Weekly charts
  • 8.2Year-end charts
  • 8.3Certifications
• 9References
• 10External links

Recording and production[edit]

Gavin Rossdale wrote most of the songs for Razorblade Suitcase in under one month. "Swallowed", along with others from the album were written while on the road.[7] In an interview with Deseret News published on 2 January 1997, Rossdale explained:

"I was trying to write songs while my life was falling apart. While my longtime girlfriend of five years was leaving and packing in one room, I was writing in the other room."[7]

The band chose Steve Albini to produce the album. In an interview with Spin during the final stages of the recording process Rossdale was quoted as saying that Albini "has been more important to me in terms of records I've listened to than any other person."[8] Around the same time Albini declared that he put more time and energy into Razorblade Suitcase than he had with any previous albums.[8]

Promotion[edit]

In 1997, Bush embarked on a worldwide tour, the Razorblade Suitcase Tour, to promote the album. Stretching from late January into November of that year, it took the band through Europe, North America, South America, Asia, and Australia. It included stops at many major music festivals around the world, including Glastonbury Festival, Pinkpop Festival, Reading Festival, Rock am Ring, Rock im Park, and Pukkelpop.[9][10]

Release and reception[edit]

Razorblade Suitcase was released on 19 November 1996, through Trauma Records. It debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, selling 293,000 copies in its first week.[4] It remained at number one during its second week of release in the US. The album also debuted at number one in Canada, with first-week sales of 45,900 copies.[4] Despite the album selling fewer copies than Sixteen Stone in the US, it marked a commercial peak for the band in their native Britain, where it reached number four on the UK Albums Chart.[11]

The band originally planned to release the album in early 1997 but decided it would be better for a late 1996 release, especially considering that U2's next album was pushed into 1997.[7]

The lead single from the album, "Swallowed", was released in October 1996 and was a huge success in the US, holding the number one spot on the US Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart for 7 weeks.[12] It remains the band's longest charting number one single.

"Greedy Fly" was the second single released from Razorblade Suitcase and reached number three on the US Modern Rock Tracks chart.[12] The singles "Swallowed" and "Greedy Fly" peaked at number seven and number twenty-two, respectively, on the UK Singles Chart.[11]

"Bonedriven" and "Cold Contagious" followed as singles but did not make an impact on the charts.[12]

"Mouth" was remixed and later released as a single from the band's 1997 album Deconstructed. The remixed version reached number five on the US Modern Rock Tracks chart.[12] "Mouth" is featured on the soundtrack and in the film An American Werewolf in Paris. The "Mouth" music video features Julie Delpy, who also starred in the film.[13]

20th anniversary reissue[edit]

The 20th anniversary of Razorblade Suitcase was marked by a reissue, officially titled Razorblade Suitcase (In Addition). It was released digitally on 16 December 2016,[14] and on vinyl on 10 February 2017.[15] The reissue includes the remastered album and four rare bonus tracks: "Broken TV", "Old", "Sleeper", and "Bubbles". Prior to the reissue, three of the four bonus tracks had been released as B-sides ("Broken TV" with "Swallowed" and "Old" with "Greedy Fly") or found on compilations, but "Sleeper" had never received a proper release.[6] The vinyl release of the reissue is on 180 gram black and white swirl vinyl and comes housed in a metallic silver gatefold cover with re-interpreted artwork, a poster of lyrics (including the songs that weren’t on the original), and liner notes from producer Steve Albini."[6]

Critical reception[edit]

Professional ratings Review scores Source Rating AllMusic [3] Entertainment Weekly C[1] The Independent (Negative)[16] Rolling Stone [17] Select [18]

Reviews for the album were generally mixed, negative, or average. Some critics dismissed the album because they felt that although the band attempted to distance themselves from bands like Nirvana and Pearl Jam in terms of their sound, they ultimately failed at creating a sound of their own. For example, Entertainment Weekly reviewer David Browne stated that some of the songs on the album could have easily been on the record Nirvana never made (due to Kurt Cobain's suicide). Andy Gill from The Independent also stated that portions of the album are very reminiscent of Nirvana, citing songs such as "Swallowed" and "Bonedriven" as irresistible reminders of Nirvana.[16] Rolling Stone's Matt Diehl criticized the album at the time of its release, giving the album two out of five stars.[17] However, Razorblade Suitcase was not criticized by all critics. Select magazine gave the effort three out of five stars.[18]

AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine stated:

"The problem is that Gavin Rossdale has not come up with any hooks, which means that while Razorblade Suitcase is more pleasing and visceral on the surface, it offers no hooks to make it memorable, unlike the hit singles from Sixteen Stone."[3]

Packaging[edit]

The album's working title was Ghost Medicine, but was changed for unknown reasons. The title is a line from the lyrics of the song "Synapse" and is lead singer Gavin Rossdale's interpretation of 'emotional baggage'. The album artwork was done by Vaughan Oliver and Adrian Philpott. Oliver had also done the artwork for Surfer Rosa.[3]

Track listing[edit]

All songs written by Gavin Rossdale[19]

No. Title Length 1. "Personal Holloway" 3:23 2. "Greedy Fly" 4:30 3. "Swallowed" 4:51 4. "Insect Kin" 4:27 5. "Cold Contagious" 6:00 6. "A Tendency to Start Fires" 4:04 7. "Mouth" 5:45 8. "Straight No Chaser" 4:02 9. "History" 4:17 10. "Synapse" 4:52 11. "Communicator" 4:25 12. "Bonedriven" 4:32 13. "Distant Voices – ends at 5:16; includes hidden track" 6:39 Total length: 61:43 Japanese Edition No. Title Length 14. "Broken TV" 4:28 20th Anniversary Reissue No. Title Length 14. "Old" 2:50 15. "Broken TV" 4:26 16. "Sleeper" 4:19 17. "Bubbles" 3:02

• "Whatever/History Reprise" (hidden track)
• "A Tendency to Start Fires", "Straight No Chaser" and "Synapse" do not appear on the LP version due to time constraints.

Personnel[edit]

Bush

• Gavin Rossdale – lead vocals, rhythm guitar
• Nigel Pulsford – lead guitar, backing vocals
• Dave Parsons – bass
• Robin Goodridge – drums

Other musicians

• Perry Montague-Mason – violin
• Frank Schaefer – cello
• Winston – backing vocals
• Gavyn Wright – violin

Technical personnel

• Gavin Rossdale – string arrangements
• Nigel Pulsford – arranger, string arrangements
• Steve Albini – engineer, producer
• Tom Elmhirst – assistant engineer
• Paul Hicks – assistant engineer
• Paul Palmer – mixing
• Robert Vosgien – mastering
• Glen Lutchford – photography
• Timothy O'Donnell – design assistant
• Vaughan Oliver – art direction, design
• Adrian Philpott – art direction, design
• Gavyn Wright – string arrangements

Charts and certifications[edit]

Weekly charts[edit]

Chart (1996) Peak
position Australian Albums (ARIA)[20] 12 Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[21] 13 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[22] 38 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[23] 43 Canadian Albums (Billboard)[24] 1 Dutch Albums (MegaCharts)[25] 31 Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[26] 23 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[27] 37 Icelandic Albums (Tonlist)[28] 6 New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[29] 10 Scottish Albums (OCC)[30] 7 Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[31] 43 UK Albums (OCC)[32] 4 US Billboard 200[33] 1

Year-end charts[edit]

Chart (1996) Position Canadian Albums Chart[34] 42 Chart (1997) Position Dutch Albums Chart[35] 90 US Billboard 200[36] 11

Certifications[edit]

Region Certification Certified units/Sales Australia (ARIA)[37] Gold 35,000^ Canada (Music Canada)[38] 5× Platinum 500,000^ New Zealand (RMNZ)[39] Gold 7,500^ United Kingdom (BPI)[40] Gold 100,000^ United States (RIAA)[41] 3× Platinum 3,000,000^

^shipments figures bas