If the lukewarm performance of 1983’s Flick of the Switch and 1985’s Fly On the Wall meant the mid-’80s hadn’t quite gone according to plan for AC/DC, by the end of the decade their fortunes were on the rise. The band’s 1988 release, Blow Up Your Video, was their most successful album since 1981’s For Those About to Rock (We Salute You)—and they followed it up in 1990 with The Razors Edge. Their commercial rejuvenation was not without setbacks: guitarist and band linchpin Malcolm Young had bowed out of the Blow Up Your Video tour to recover from alcohol addiction, while drummer Simon Wright exited to join former Black Sabbath vocalist Ronnie James Dio’s solo band (he was replaced by Chris Slade). Meanwhile, singer Brian Johnson was dealing with a messy divorce and had to temporarily step away from the group, placing the lyric-writing responsibilities in the hands of guitarists Malcolm and Angus Young. Adding to the upheaval was the departure of producer George Young. Along with Harry Vanda, the older brother of Angus and Malcolm had been instrumental during the band’s early years. He had returned for Blow Up Your Video, but had to abandon the initial The Razors Edge sessions for personal reasons. In his place the band recruited Canadian producer Bruce Fairbairn, who’d had enormous success with Aerosmith’s Permanent Vacation and Bon Jovi’s Slippery When Wet and New Jersey. Not that he wanted AC/DC to sound like either act. His message to the band was simple: play like your 17-year-old selves. Angus was clearly listening, kicking off opening track “Thunderstruck”—about a plane he was in being struck by lightning—with an arpeggiated riff that has become as iconic as any in the AC/DC canon. “Moneytalks” and “Mistress for Christmas” reference the relationship between money and sex, while the title track is that rarest of beasts—an AC/DC song with political undertones (“There’s fighting on the left and marching on the right”), inspired by the global turmoil that existed despite breakthroughs such as the fall of the Berlin Wall. Things don’t stay serious for long, however, with “Got You by the Balls” poking fun at the power an escort “with a special service in the French qualities” has over “Mr. Business Man” who hired her, and “Shot of Love” dripping in lust (“Come on now honey we’ll get full of desire/A humping and a bumping till we start a fire”). Neither song will go down in history as AC/DC’s finest, but The Razors Edge remains pivotal in the group’s career, restoring their standing as one of the world’s biggest rock bands.