Razorblade Suitcase

 

 

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Razorblade Suitcase is one of the best albums in the 90s and Swallowed and Mouth are two of the best songs on the album. Bush delivered another masterpiece with this album and this has to be considered an impressive follow-up to their first album, Sixteen Stone. Over the past eight years, it appears that Bush has been forgotten- but they deliver a masterpiece with this album. Bush delivers with this album!!

Yes, with a title like that, it seems like I'm almost inviting the knives to come out. After all, how could a British grunge band so far removed from the Seattle scene ever possibly expect to put out a "real" grunge album.
But that's just geography. Regardless of where they hail from, it's hard to dispute that Bush were one of the most talented grunge bands of the 90s. And as a true fan, I'll vehemently differ with any of those who would rate Sixteen Stone higher than Razorblade Suitcase. Yes, their first album was unquestionably a strong debut, and with such solid tracks as "Bomb", "Machinehead," "Everything Zen" and "Testorone"--to say nothing of the big hit "Glycerine"--it seems easy to see why people would say that.
But I challenge you this: listen to the two albums from start to finish. Sixteen Stone has some great tracks, but as an album, it is often uneven and unbalanced. The songs don't blend into each other nearly as well, and there are times when certain songs jump out so abruptly that you question the entire production process.
Razorblade Suitcase is definitely a bird of a different feather. While it may lack that one killer track like "Glycerine" or "Machinehead," what it does give you instead is a great sense of songwriting balance. Unline Stone, Razorblade's tracks meld into each other with a sense of planning and precision that its predecessor badly lacked. Listen, for instance, to the sharp ending of the incredibly powerful track "Greedy Fly" followed up by Gavin Rossdale's hauntingly beatiful strum-vocal entry on "Swallowed." Or the frantic ending of "Insect Kin," my personal favorite track on the CD (love that dirty little guitar fill in the middle) blending into the heavy, dark drumbeat of "Cold Contagious." Or even the surprisingly refreshing and unexpected inclusion of a violin in the transition from "Mouth" to "Straight No Chaser."
Dear Readers, this is not an album that will hit you over the head first time. It is what some call a "grower." But as with all great albums, the ones you always seem to like best are the ones that grow on you with time. This one is definitely in that category.
I'd like to close with an anecdote that I hope will bear out my point. A friend of mine, a diehard Nirvana fan who liked Sixteen Stone but didn't love it, could never understand why I liked Razorblade Suitcase so much. So I actually bought it for him for his birthday to try to win him over. Interestingly enough, he had it for two years but barely played it. Then one day he put it on in his car and listened to the whole thing, and wrote to me to tell me that he was surprisingly impressed how solid an album this was. I encouraged him to give it another whole listen, and so he did.
Needless to say, he is completely hooked--so much so, in fact, that he now calls this "the second best grunge album of the 90s" (behind, of course, Nevermind). While I might not go that far, I will say that this is really a great, thoroughly solid album, and one that should never be judged by first listen.
I hope those who purchase this will take the time to really listen to it. Believe me, you won't regret it.

In my opinion, "Razorblade Suitcase" is equal in greatness to the five times platinum "Sixteen Stone," both of which are far better than the next two full albums. The next two albums, "The Science of Things" and "Golden State" were disappointing beyond belief. "Razorblade Suitcase" consists of thirteen songs as follows:
Song 1) PERSONAL HOLLOWAY- a song about comparing female struggle to being trapped in a world where you can't speak or you can't hear, but it doesn't mean that your brain isn't fully functioning
Song 2) GREEDY FLY- a song that commands "make up your mind" and states that "we are servants of our formulaic ways"
Song 3) SWALLOWED- a song about low self esteem
Song 4) INSECT KIN- a song about winning and about doing it your own way
Song 5) COLD CONTAGIOUS- a song about seeing how relationships break up, how happy homes get destroyed, desire for revenge, and people's beliefs about other people
Song 6) A TENDENCY TO START FIRES- a song for the future about the future
Song 7) MOUTH- a song that says we all suffer from communication breakdowns (I must suggest listening to the remix of this song off the "Deconstructed" album)
Song 8) STRAIGHT NO CHASER- about being totally crumpled inside
Song 9) HISTORY- a song about abortion from a woman's point of view
Song 10) SYNAPSE- the song whose lyrics inspired the name of this album, "Razorblade Suitcase," which represents emotional luggage or perhaps a bag of tricks
Song 11) COMMUNICATOR- a song best left open for self-interpretation
Song 12)BONEDRIVEN- states that power comes from the deepest part of you
Song 13) DISTANT VOICES- a great album closer which doesn't receive as much recognition as it deserves
Out of these songs, my personal favorites are Greedy Fly, Swallowed, Cold Contagious, A Tendency to Start Fires, Mouth, Straight No Chaser, and Bonedriven; so practically I love the whole album. I'm not going to sit here and tell you how good this album really is. There is a lot more to tell about this album than I can write in the space alotted. My advice to you is: Read up about the band, get the lyrics and song meanings off the internet, and at least listen to sound clips, if not the whole songs before buying the album. That way, you can decide for yourself whether or not this album deserves five stars. Finally, you are presented with an informative review that is refreshing from all those other reviews that state Bush is trying to be like Nirvana(whom I recommend also), talk nonstop about grunge music(which there's nothing wrong with grunge music), and talk about how attractive girls find lead singer Gavin Rossdale to be (even though I disagree). Bush is one of my listening favorites and I recommend this album to anyone and everyone, which is why I believe "Razorblade Suitcase" deserves the top rating of five stars.

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3.0 out of 5 stars from sixteen stone to this?-dang
"sixteen stone" is easily one of my favorite albums of all time.with RS, bush tries to mellow it out a little bit-and fails for the most part. Read more

Published on April 16 2004 by J. Moscatello

5.0 out of 5 stars bitter bitter people...
whoever is sitting here dissing Bush,get yourselves a real hobby.there are plenty of groups I dont like,but I dont go around imparting my distaste for a group that other people... Read more

Published on April 2 2004 by Jen Beane

5.0 out of 5 stars best dude rock band album!
I absolutely loved this CD when I first bought it when it came out in 1997,at the impressionable age of 14. Read more

Published on April 2 2004 by Jen Beane

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Music....Just DON'T Listen to the Lyrics
The music is beautiful, scratchy, spacy, wet. The lyrics are horrible. Bush is not William S. Burroughs, as much as they want to be. Read more

Published on Mar 25 2004 by Casey Kent

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding CD
I don't know who keeps comparing Bush with Nirvana and grunge rock, but it's really rediculous. Some of you who rate these give Bush 1 star because some ass who did the editorial... Read more

Published on Mar 21 2004 by Sam Fatboy

1.0 out of 5 stars Fourth-rate Wannabe Grunge
To memphisbowlerpimp, noone has ever credited Bush with starting the grunge movement, as Bush came out with their first album the SAME year that Kurt Cobain died (arguably the end... Read more

Published on Mar 14 2004 by shootandloot

1.0 out of 5 stars The worst record in my collection.
A singer who can't sing, a guitarist who can't play, and a drummer that can't keep time... it's like swimming with lead weights tied to your feet. Read more

Published on Jan 14 2004

5.0 out of 5 stars BUSH ROCKS
I DONT CARE WHAT ANYBODY SAYS BUSH IS AWESOME AND THEY ALWAYS WILL BE MABE GAVIN ISN'T IN THE BAND ANYMORE BUT HE'LL BE BACK BECAUSE HE IS NOTHING WITHOUT BUSH

TAYLOR

Published on Dec 5 2003 by taylor

3.0 out of 5 stars Cold, but not contagious.
I actually do like "Bush", but this album is just mediocre. The highlights are the tracks "Greedy Fly" and "Swallowed", those are both pretty good... Read more

Published on Dec 1 2003 by H3@+h

1.0 out of 5 stars Third-rate fake grunge
After listening to Sixteen Stone over and over, I bought this, Bush's follow-up CD. I was hoping the band would develop a little. Read more

Published on Nov 6 2003 by SPM

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