prettymachine

Building Myself I
'Razorblade Suitcase' - Bush

In 1996 I was 12. ‘96 saw such albums as Tiny Music... Songs from the Vatican Gift Shop, Electriclarryland, Bringing Down the Horse, Odelay, Fashion Nugget, Pinkerton, and Razorblade Suitcase. I mention these albums because they were the first batch of CDs I bought with my own hard-earned money. Now, this isn’t about my youth or all of those albums. Rather, this about the first full album that spoke to me as a kid heading into his teenage years.

Razorblade Suitcase by Bush, though it didn’t have the radio-friendly sound as Sixteen Stone, was one of the defining moments in my youth. Originally, I found Bush via “Machinehead”, which they actually played at our school dance. Once I heard “Swallowed” on MTV, I knew I wanted this CD as soon as I could afford it (and had somebody who’d take me to town to buy it).

Sure, I know this album was compared to Nirvana’s In Utero, and there are songs that definitely sound like it. However, I never viewed Gavin Rossdale as a guy who wanted to be Cobain. He’s written some amazing songs through the years, and one would be silly to push his work away for it being too similar to Nirvana. Furthermore, we could come up with a whole list of bands who sound like each other, but that’s getting off track.

Razordblade Suitcase was released November 19th, 1996, and it was considered to be the album that ended the grunge era. It had a handful of singles such as “Swallowed,” “Greedy Fly,” “Bonedriven,” and “Cold Contagious.” However, the songs that really spoke to me musically and lyrically were “Cold Contagious,” “Straight No Chaser,” “Synapse,” “Bonedriven,” and “Distant Voices.” The lyrics in these songs did something that Nevermind or Cobain never did. I actually felt connected, rather than someone trying to connect to a movement years later. Being 12 in 1996, yeah, I was not a “grungy Gen-X kid,” even though I listened to Nirvana and Pearl Jam prior to Razorblade Suitcase. This album was my Nevermind.

Therefore, I submit to you one of the first albums that ever made me think about who I was. It made me think about who I wanted to be. It made me think. It made me.

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LFM. RYM.

mr dave

I'll give you the benefit of youth on this one but Rossdale was viewed as a pretty-boy Cobain because that's exactly how Bush started their career in North America. Glycerine. A by the numbers grunge ballad and you'd better believe the video was shot to try making him look like a prettier Cobain.

I can understand why someone at a record label thought that was a good idea. Unfortunately for the band it tainted them (and their future material) for a LOT of potential listeners. Machinehead was, and still is, a great tune.

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i am the universe