Stiff Upper Lip (album)
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

''Stiff Upper Lip'' is the fourteenth studio album by Australian
hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a heavier subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and Distortion (music), distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the Garage rock, garage, Psychedelic rock, psychedelic and blues ...
band
AC/DC AC/DC are an Australian rock band formed in Sydney in 1973. Their music has been variously described as hard rock, blues rock and Heavy metal music, heavy metal, although the band calls it simply "rock and roll". They are cited as a formativ ...
. It was released on 28 February 2000. The album was produced by George Young, older brother of Malcolm and Angus Young. It was the last AC/DC album that George produced before his death in 2017. The album was re-released in the US in April 2007 as part of the ''AC/DC Remasters'' series. It was re-released in the UK in 2005.


Background

The Young brothers began writing songs for what would become ''Stiff Upper Lip'' in the summer of 1997 in
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
and the
Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...
, with Malcolm on guitar and Angus on drums. By February 1998 the songs were completed. The band had planned on recording a new album with
Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...
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 ''Blow Up Your Video'' is the eleventh studio album by Australian hard rock band AC/DC, released on 1 February 1988. The album was re-released in 2003 as part of the ''AC/DC Remasters'' series. Recording Writing sessions for ''Blow Up Your Vi ...
'' as well as the band's early albums with
Harry Vanda Johannes Hendrikus Jacob van den Berg (born 22 March 1946), better known as Harry Vanda, is a Dutch-Australian musician, songwriter and record producer. He is best known as lead guitarist of the 1960s Australian rock band the Easybeats who wi ...
, and Mike Fraser, who had co-produced 1995's '' Ballbreaker'', with
Rick Rubin Frederick Jay Rubin (, ; born March 10, 1963) is an American record producer. He is a co-founder of Def Jam Recordings, founder of American Recordings, and former co-president of Columbia Records. Rubin helped popularize hip hop by produci ...
, to complete ''Stiff Upper Lip''.


Recording

The album was recorded and mixed at
Bryan Adams Bryan Guy Adams (born November 5, 1959) is a British and Canadian singer-songwriter, musician, record producer, and photographer. He is estimated to have sold between 75 million and more than 100 million album, records and Single (music), si ...
' Warehouse Studios in
Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...
, British Columbia, Canada between September and November 1999. 18 songs were recorded in all. In 2000, bassist Cliff Williams remarked to ''
VH1 VH1 (originally an initialism for Video Hits One) is an American basic cable television network that launched on January 1, 1985, and is currently owned by the MTV Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global's networks division based in New Y ...
''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 Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...
roots than its predecessor ''Ballbreaker'' and features a remarkably clean sound. In an interview with Alan Di Perna of ''
Guitar World ''Guitar World'' is a monthly music magazine for guitarists and fans of guitar-based music and trends. The magazine has been published since July 1980. ''Guitar World'', the best-selling guitar magazine in the United States, contains original a ...
'', singer Brian Johnson commented on working with George Young: : In the past he's always worked with Harry anda 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 album title occurred to him when he was stuck in traffic and began ruminating on how vital lips were in rock and roll culture, citing icons
Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977) was an American singer and actor. Referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one of the most significant cultural figures of the ...
and
Mick Jagger Sir Michael Philip Jagger (born 26 July 1943) is an English musician. He is known as the lead singer and one of the founder members of The Rolling Stones. Jagger has co-written most of the band's songs with lead guitarist Keith Richards; Jagge ...
, and carried a certain sneering defiance. He 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 urls 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!" Songs reportedly recorded for the album that went unreleased were: "Let It Go", "R.I.P. It Up", "Whistle Blower", "Rave On" and "The Cock Crows".


Release

The album cover features a bronze statue of Angus, mimicked on tour in the form of a prop that was several storeys high. The three singles from it were the title track " Stiff Upper Lip", " Safe in New York City", and " Satellite Blues". In
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
,
New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...
and
Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...
, a two-disc tour edition of ''Stiff Upper Lip'' was released by
Albert Productions Albert Productions, a division of music publishing and recording company Albert Music, is one of Australia's longest established independent record labels to specialise in rock and roll music. The label was founded in 1963 by Ted Albert, wh ...
in January 2001. This includes ''Stiff Upper Lip'' plus a disc comprising: "Cyberspace", the B-side of "Safe in New York City", five live tracks from 1996's '' No Bull'', as well as three videos, for each of the singles. The video for the title track – directed by Andy Morahan, – starts with the band driving down the street in a red 1997 Hummer H1 and being caught in a traffic jam. They pull into a back alley, get out, and begin to play the song on the street. The song that the band listens to before the car jam is "
It's a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock 'n' Roll) "It's a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock 'n' Roll)" is a song by Australian hard rock band AC/DC. It is the first track of the group's second album ''T.N.T. (album), T.N.T.'', released only in Australia and New Zealand on 8 December 1975, ...
", released when the late
Bon Scott Ronald Belford "Bon" Scott (9 July 1946 – 19 February 1980) was an Australian singer who was the second lead vocalist and lyricist of the hard rock band AC/DC from 1974 until his death in 1980. In the July 2004 issue of ''Classic Rock (m ...
was a member. 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: "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."


Reception

''Stiff Upper Lip'' rose to #7 on the U.S. ''
Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...
'' chart and peaked at #12 in the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
. It hit #1 in
Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...
,
Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...
,
Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
, and
Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...
. It was better received by critics than ''Ballbreaker'' but was considered lacking in new ideas.


Track listing


2001 deluxe edition disc 2


''Stiff Upper Lip Live''

''Stiff Upper Lip Live'' is the name of the live video released in 2001 by AC/DC, recorded on 14 June 2001 at the Olympiastadion in
Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...
, Germany, on their Stiff Upper Lip Tour. The track listing is as follows: # "Stiff Upper Lip" (Young, Young) # "
You Shook Me All Night Long "You Shook Me All Night Long" is a song by Australian hard rock band AC/DC, from the album '' Back in Black''. The song also reappeared on their later soundtrack album ''Who Made Who''. It is AC/DC's first single with Brian Johnson as the lea ...
" (Young, Young, Johnson) # " Problem Child" (Young, Young, Scott) # " Thunderstruck" (Young, Young) # " Hell Ain't a Bad Place to Be" (Young, Young, Scott) # "Hard as a Rock" (Young, Young) # " Shoot to Thrill" (Young, Young, Johnson) # " Rock and Roll Ain't Noise Pollution" (Young, Young, Johnson) # " What Do You Do for Money Honey" (Young, Young, Johnson) # " Bad Boy Boogie" (Young, Young, Scott) # " Hells Bells" (Young, Young, Johnson) # " Up to My Neck in You" (Young, Young, Scott) # " The Jack" (Young, Young, Scott) # "Back in Black" (Young, Young, Johnson) # " Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap" (Young, Young, Scott) # " Highway to Hell" (Young, Young, Scott) # "Whole Lotta Rosie" (Young, Young, Scott) # "Let There Be Rock" (Young, Young, Scott) # " T.N.T." (Young, Young, Scott) # " For Those About to Rock (We Salute You)" (Young, Young, Johnson) # " Shot Down in Flames" (Young, Young, Scott) * Mastered in 5.1 by
Ted Jensen Ted Jensen (born September 19, 1954) is an American mastering engineer, known for having mastered many recordings, including the Eagles' '' Hotel California'', Green Day's '' American Idiot'' and Norah Jones' ''Come Away with Me''. Early life ...
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
September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...
. 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, backing vocals on "Hold Me Back" *
Malcolm Young Malcolm Mitchell Young (6 January 1953 – 18 November 2017) was an Australian musician who was the rhythm guitarist, backing vocalist and a founding member of the hard rock band AC/DC. Except for a brief absence in 1988, he was a member of AC ...
– rhythm guitar, backing vocals * 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 * Alli Truch – artwork


Charts


Weekly charts


Year-end charts


Certifications


References


Citations


Sources

* {{Authority control 2000 albums AC/DC albums Albums produced by George Young (rock musician) Albums recorded at The Warehouse Studio Elektra Records albums