Stiff Upper Lip (album)

Background

The Young brothers began writing songs for what would become Stiff Upper Lip in the summer of 1997 in London and the Netherlands with Malcolm on guitar and Angus on drums, and by February 1998 the songs were completed. The band had planned on recording a new album with Canadian Bruce Fairbairn, who had produced the enormously successful The Razors Edge and AC/DC Live, but Fairbairn died in May 1999. The Youngs turned to their older brother George, who had produced 1988's Blow Up Your Video as well as the band's early albums with Harry Vanda, and Mike Fraser, who had co-produced 1995's Ballbreaker, to complete Stiff Upper Lip.

Recording

The album was recorded and mixed at Bryan Adams' Warehouse Studios in Vancouver, Canada between September and November 1999 with a total of 18 songs recorded in all. In 2000, bassist Cliff Williams remarked to VH1's Behind the Music, "It's a killer album. It was a very easy-to-record album in as much as Malcolm and Angus had everything ready to go, so we basically just had to come along and perform as best we could." According to Arnaud Durieux's memoir AC/DC: Maximum Rock & Roll, Malcolm takes a rare guitar solo on "Can't Stand Still" while Angus does the backing vocals on "Hold Me Back." The album delves even deeper into the band's blues roots than its predecessor Ballbreaker and features a remarkably clean sound. In an interview with Alan Di Perna of Guitar World, singer Brian Johnson commented on working with George Young:

In the past he's always worked with Harry [Vanda]. Not detracting from Harry, but it was kinda streamlined this time. You had no one to answer to or discuss things with except Malcolm or Angus. We were working pretty hard this time actually, from about 11 in the morning until one the next morning sometimes. Saturdays as well. It was good, though. George always had a game plan. I hate it when you're hanging around waiting for the next decision. George always had it all worked out.

Composition

Angus Young explained in interviews that the concept behind the album title occurred to him when he was stuck in traffic one day and he began ruminating on how vital lips were in rock and roll culture, citing icons Elvis Presley and Mick Jagger, and carried a certain sneering defiance. He also noted that he had contributed to this tradition himself:

There was a bit of that and also with us there's always been a bit of humour, too. Even when we started, I used to always say, "I've got bigger lips than Jagger and I've got bigger lips than Presley when I stick them out." Actually, if you look on the Highway to Hell album, there's my lip stuck up there like this [curls his lip]. I remember when I was a kid I saw an early black-and-white movie of Brigitte Bardot and she had those pouting lips and you go, "Well, yeah! I like what she's serving!"

The music video for the title track was directed by Andy Morahan, and starts with the band driving down the street in a red 1997 Hummer H1 when they get caught in a traffic jam. They then pull into a back alley, get out of the car, and begin to play the song on the street. The song that the band was listening to before the car jam was "It's a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock 'n' Roll)", a song released when the late Bon Scott was a member of the band. In the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the song "Safe in New York City" was included in the 2001 Clear Channel memorandum, a list of "lyrically questionable" songs (six other AC/DC songs made the list: "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap," "Shot Down in Flames," "Shoot to Thrill," "Hell's Bells," "T.N.T.," and "Highway to Hell"). In a May 2000 interview with Alan Di Perna for Guitar World - just over a year prior to the tragedy - Angus Young was asked if he really felt safe in New York City, to which the guitarist replied, "I suppose that song is a little tongue in cheek. Last time I was in New York, that's all people were talking about: how safe it was, how it was gonna be such a great place to live. For me, New York has always been a city of unpredictability. You can never guess what's going to happen next."

The album cover features a bronze statue of Angus Young, something that would be mimicked on tour in the form of a gigantic stage prop bearing his demonic likeness that was several storeys high. The three singles to be released from it were the title track, "Safe in New York City", and "Satellite Blues". These three songs plus "Meltdown" were played live on the subsequent world tour. In Australia, New Zealand and Europe, a special two-disc tour edition of Stiff Upper Lip was released by Albert Productions in January 2001. The album includes the Stiff Upper Lip disc, and a bonus disc with a non-album track, five live tracks recorded from a concert at Plaza de Toros de Las Ventas, Madrid, Spain in 1996, and three music videos.

Reception

Stiff Upper Lip rose to #7 on the U.S. Billboard chart and peaked at #12 in the United Kingdom. It hit #1 in Finland, Sweden, Germany, and Austria. It was better received by critics than Ballbreaker but was considered lacking in new ideas.

Track listing

All tracks written by Angus Young and Malcolm Young.

Video

Stiff Upper Lip Live is the name of the live video released in 2001 by AC/DC, recorded on 14 June 2001, on their Stiff Upper Lip Tour at the Olympiastadion in Munich, Germany. The track listing is as follows:

1. "Stiff Upper Lip" (Young, Young)
2. "You Shook Me All Night Long" (Young, Young, Johnson)
3. "Problem Child" (Young, Young, Scott)
4. "Thunderstruck" (Young, Young)
5. "Hell Ain't a Bad Place to Be" (Young, Young, Scott)
6. "Hard as a Rock" (Young, Young)
7. "Shoot to Thrill" (Young, Young, Johnson)
8. "Rock and Roll Ain't Noise Pollution" (Young, Young, Johnson)
9. "What Do You Do for Money Honey" (Young, Young, Johnson)
10. "Bad Boy Boogie" (Young, Young, Scott)
11. "Hells Bells" (Young, Young, Johnson)
12. "Up to My Neck in You" (Young, Young, Scott)
13. "The Jack" (Young, Young, Scott)
14. "Back in Black" (Young, Young, Johnson)
15. "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap" (Young, Young, Scott)
16. "Highway to Hell" (Young, Young, Scott)
17. "Whole Lotta Rosie" (Young, Young, Scott)
18. "Let There Be Rock" (Young, Young, Scott)
19. "T.N.T." (Young, Young, Scott)
20. "For Those About to Rock (We Salute You)" (Young, Young, Johnson)
21. "Shot Down in Flames" (Young, Young, Scott)

Mastered in 5.1 by Ted Jensen at Sterling Sound, NYC

Notes

There was an original newsflash that was used for the European tour, but an alternate one was used instead for the film after the 9/11 attacks in New York City. However, the original newsflash was made available on the Bonus disc of the 2007 DVD Plug Me In.

Personnel

Brian Johnson – lead vocals

Angus Young – lead guitar

Malcolm Young – rhythm guitar, backing vocals (Lead Guitar on track 6)

Cliff Williams – bass guitar, backing vocals

Phil Rudd – drums

Additional personnel

George Young – production

Mike Fraser – engineering and mixing

Dean Maher – assistant engineering

Alvin Handwerker – business management