Album · 30 years old this year
Razorblade Suitcase
Razorblade Suitcase is the second studio album by Bush, released on 19 November 1996 on Trauma Records. It followed their 1994 debut, Sixteen Stone, and found the English band heading into rougher territory. They recorded it at Abbey Road Studios in London with Steve Albini as producer and engineer, and the sound is noticeably more raw than its predecessor.
Albini had also worked on Nirvana's In Utero, and the comparison has followed the record ever since. It entered the US Billboard 200 at number one, selling 293,000 copies in its first week, and it remains the only Bush album to reach the top. A 2016 reissue, Razorblade Suitcase (In Addition), added four bonus tracks: "Broken TV", "Old", "Sleeper" and "Bubbles". Loudwire later named it the best post-grunge release of 1996.
Razorblade Suitcase: tracklist, credits and charts
13 tracks · 1:01:40Tracklist
- 1Personal HollowayGavin Rossdale3:24
- 2Greedy FlyGavin Rossdale4:29
- 3SwallowedGavin Rossdale4:51
- 4Insect KinGavin Rossdale4:26
- 5Cold ContagiousGavin Rossdale6:00
- 6A Tendency to Start FiresGavin Rossdale4:05
- 7MouthGavin Rossdale5:44
- 8Straight No ChaserGavin Rossdale4:00
- 9HistoryGavin Rossdale4:15
- 10SynapseGavin Rossdale4:50
- 11CommunicatorGavin Rossdale4:23
- 12BonedrivenGavin Rossdale4:32
- 13Distant Voices / [unknown]Gavin Rossdale6:39
- Produced by
- Steve Albini
- Recorded at
- Abbey Road Studios (London), Hook End Studios, Sarm Hook End (Checkendon)
- Recorded
- 1996
- Mixed by
- David J. Holman, Paul Palmer
- Engineered by
- Steve Albini
- Mastered by
- Robert Vosgien
- Artwork
- Vaughan Oliver, Adrian Philpott
- Photography
- Tom Croes, Glen Lutchford
- Labels
- Trauma Records, Trauma, Interscope
- Length
- 1:01:40
Line-up
- Robin Goodridge · membranophone, drums (drum set)
- Bill Hawkes · viola · guest
- Perry Montague‐Mason · violin · guest
- Dave Parsons · bass guitar, bass
- Nigel Pulsford · guitar, background vocals
- Gavin Rossdale · guitar, vocals, lead vocals
- Frank Schaefer · cello · guest
- Gavyn Wright · violin · guest
Singles
- “Swallowed” · 22 October 1996
- “Greedy Fly” · 26 May 1997
- “Bonedriven” · 20 October 1997
- “Cold Contagious” · December 1997 (Aus)
Peak chart positions
| Chart | Peak |
|---|---|
| US Billboard 200 · 1996–97 | 1 |
| UK Albums Chart · 1996–97 | 2 |
| Canadian Albums (Billboard) · 1996–97 | 1 |
| UK Rock & Metal Albums · 1996–97 | 1 |
| Icelandic Albums (Tónlist) · 1996–97 | 6 |
| Scottish Albums · 1996–97 | 7 |
| New Zealand Albums · 1996–97 | 10 |
| European Albums (European Top 100 Albums) · 1996–97 | 11 |
| Portuguese Albums (AFP) · 1996–97 | 11 |
| Australian Albums (ARIA) · 1996–97 | 12 |
All 17 charts
| Austrian Albums · 1996–97 | 13 |
| Finnish Albums · 1996–97 | 23 |
| Dutch Albums · 1996–97 | 31 |
| German Albums · 1996–97 | 37 |
| Belgian Albums (Flanders) · 1996–97 | 38 |
| Belgian Albums (Wallonia) · 1996–97 | 43 |
| Swedish Albums · 1996–97 | 43 |
Certifications
| Region | Certification |
|---|---|
| Australia · 1996 | Gold |
| Canada | 5× Platinum |
| New Zealand | Gold |
| United Kingdom · 1997 | Gold |
| United States | 3× Platinum |
From MusicBrainz, Wikipedia and Wikidata. Only what the sources record is shown.
61.7
Popularity (0–100, vs the whole vault)
3.6k
ListenBrainz listeners
59k
Wikipedia views, last 12 months
3.4k
Deezer fans (all editions)
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More on Trauma Records
The label →Releases and pressings
How we know the release date wikipedia + musicbrainz
| Source | Date | Note |
|---|---|---|
| MusicBrainz | 19 November 1996 | |
| Wikipedia infobox | 19 November 1996 | |
| Wikidata | 1996 | |
| US release | 19 November 1996 | earliest US date |
| UK / Europe release | 1996 | earliest UK or European date |
17 editions
| Date | Country | Label | Barcode | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | XE | Trauma Records | 606949009120 | other |
| 1996 | US | Trauma Records | 606949009120 | other |
| 1996 | CA | Interscope Records | 606949009120 | other |
| 1996 | PL | Trauma Records | 606949009144 | other |
| 1996 | ZA | BMG Records Africa | 6007124175335 | other |
| 1996 | CA | Trauma Records | 777499389281 | other |
| 1996 | CA | Trauma Records | 606949009120 | other |
| 19 November 1996 | US | Trauma Records | 606949009120 | original |
| 19 November 1996 | US | Trauma Records | 606949009120 | original |
| 19 November 1996 | US | BMG Direct | original | |
| 4 December 1996 | JP | Trauma Records | other | |
| 2001 | DE | Steamhammer | 4001617728628 | other |
| 2014 | US | Round Hill Records | 860830000119 | remaster |
| 3 July 2024 | XW | Craft Recordings | 00602557393521 | other |
| 3 July 2024 | XW | Craft Recordings | 00886444858236 | remaster |
| 3 July 2024 | XW | Craft Recordings | 00886444855457 | remaster |
| 3 July 2024 | XW | Craft Recordings | 00602557530766 | other |
Cover art sources
coverartarchive · native: native 3000x3000
| Source | Size | Verdict |
|---|---|---|
| coverartarchive ✓ | 3000×3000 | native: native 3000x3000 |
| itunes | 3000×3000 | native |
| deezer | 1200×1200 | upscaled |
| fanarttv | 1000×1000 | upscaled |