Razorblade Suitcase is the second studio album by English rock band Bush. It was released on 19 November 1996 by Trauma and Interscope Records in the United States and Europe and on 20 January 1997 in the United Kingdom. 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 is more raw than that of its predecessor and has frequently been compared to Nirvana's In Utero (1993), which was also produced and engineered by Albini.

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. 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."

In 2025, Lauryn Schaffner of Loudwire named the album the best post-grunge release of 1996.

Recording and production

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. In an interview with the Deseret News published on 2 January 1997, Rossdale explained:

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"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." Around the same time Albini declared that he put more time and energy into Razorblade Suitcase than he had with any previous albums.

Nicholas Slayton of Medium opined that the lyrics of Razorblade Suitcase "focused on three main ideas and problems": being trapped in situations with no way out, fallout from relationships, and loneliness.

"Swallowed"

Gavin Rossdale commented in 2017 that the lead-single, "Swallowed", reflected "massive success after failing for years".

"Insect Kin"

"Insect Kin" has been described by Rossdale as being "mood, pure mood". The song's lyrics mention vicodin, an opiate pain medication, and Red Stripe, a brand of lager beer, which Rossdale explained "were pretty much what I lived on when my stomach was really bad". "Insect Kin" contains references to Rossdale's previous love interest Courtney Love, particularly in the lyric "it's all the pain in the way she walks, it's all the pain in her wave goodbye". Rossdale has introduced the song at live performances as being "about revenge", although Rossdale has stated that the song is about several subjects, including seeing households fall apart following the breakup of relationships.

Release and reception

Razorblade Suitcase was released on November 19, 1996, through Trauma Records. It debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, selling 293,000 copies in its first week. 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. It remains the band's longest charting number one single. "Swallowed" also marked the commercial peak for the band in their native United Kingdom's singles charts, where it made number 7.

"Greedy Fly" was the second single released from Razorblade Suitcase and reached number three on the US Modern Rock Tracks chart.

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

20th anniversary reissue

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, and on vinyl on 10 February 2017. 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.

| rev2 = Entertainment Weekly

| rev2Score = C

| rev3 = The Independent

| rev3Score = (Negative)

| rev4 = Rolling Stone

| rev4Score =

| rev5 = NME

| rev5Score = 1/10

| rev6 = Select

| rev6Score =

| rev7 = Spin

| rev7Score = 5/10

Razorblade Suitcase received polarized reviews upon its release. 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.

Notes

Personnel

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
  • David j. Holman – mixing
  • Mixed – Cactus Studio Hollywood

Charts

Weekly charts

{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"

|-

!Chart (1996–97)

!Peak<br>position

|-

|-

|-

|-

|-

|-

|-

!scope="row"|European Albums (European Top 100 Albums)

|align="center"|11

|-

|-

|-

!scope="row"|Icelandic Albums (Tónlist)

|align="center"|6

|-

|-

!scope="row"|Portuguese Albums (AFP)

|align="center"|11

|-

|-

|-

!scope="row"|UK Albums (OCC)

|align="center"|2

|-

|-

|-

|}

Year-end charts

{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"

|-

!Chart (1996)

!Position

|-

!scope="row"|Canadian Albums Chart

|42

|-

!Chart (1997)

!Position

|-

!scope="row"|Canadian Albums Chart

|41

|-

!scope="row"|Canadian Hard Rock Albums (Nielsen Soundscan)

|2

|-

!scope="row"|Dutch Albums Chart

|90

|-

!scope="row"|US Billboard 200

|11

|}

Certifications

References

  • Bush Fansite