“Thunderstruck” is an incredibly good song. “Mistress For Christmas” is an unbelievably bad song. These are the two poles between which AC/DC’s The Razors Edge (lack of punctuation in original) slides. Its peaks are some of the best songs the band’s ever recorded; its valleys are fucking dismal. But it was massively successful, selling five million copies in the US alone and hitting #2 on the Billboard charts.

During the US tour in support of 1988’s Blow Up Your Video, rhythm guitarist and band co-founder Malcolm Young took time off to enter rehab for alcoholism; he was replaced by his nephew Stevie (the son of the oldest Young brother, he’s only two years younger than Angus). And when all the Blow Up touring ended, drummer Simon Wright, who’d played on that album and its predecessor, 1985’s Fly On The Wall, left to work with Ronnie James Dio. He was replaced by Chris Slade, who’d been a member of Manfred Mann’s Earth Band, Asia, the Firm, and Uriah Heep. By the time Malcolm was back and it was time to write new songs, it was up to him and his brother, as Brian Johnson was in the throes of a divorce. It was a chaotic period, but when they all assembled in Dublin, Ireland’s Windmill Lane Studios, followed by a stint at Vancouver’s Little Mountain Studios, with veteran hard rock producer Bruce Fairbairn at the board, they seemed to be at creative strength once again.

It must be said that Fairbairn’s production is some of the most heavy-handed ever to appear on an AC/DC album. Slade’s drum sound is extremely late ’80s; his kick sounds like it’s the size of a refrigerator, and his snare sounds like a ping-pong paddle whacking a leather couch, or like someone getting punched in a Walter Hill movie. Johnson’s vocals are blanketed in reverb and doubled at times, creating an almost choral effect when the snarling background vocals from the Young brothers come in. And there’s some even weirder stuff going on. “Rock Your Heart Out,” built around a disco-pop bass groove, includes a bizarre everybody-sing-falsetto interlude right at the track’s midpoint that sounds yanked from an early ’70s Yes album, and “Are You Ready” (which was somehow chosen as a single) has a weird singsong chant that sounds like something Cheap Trick would have done.

How does the whole package come together? Well, the first three songs — “Thunderstruck,” “Fire Your Guns” and “Moneytalks” — are fantastic, heavy, and melodic in equal measure, with riffs that absolutely kill. The title track is surprisingly doomy, with Angus’s guitar solos distorted and almost Tony Iommi-esque. But after that, things go downhill. “Mistress For Christmas,” as previously mentioned, is an embarrassment. Listening to it, you feel bad for them — and it’s not like they needed to release it. Every AC/DC album to date had offered between eight and 10 tracks; The Razors Edge has 12. “Mistress For Christmas” could easily have been cut, as could “Let’s Make It,” which comes off like their attempt at power pop. And most of the other songs are just forgettable: a decent riff, some quality guitar soloing here and there, but nothing more.