Maps of Music

Stiff Upper Lip (2000)

Where the lyrics of Stiff Upper Lip take you, and where it was really made.

The album cover shows a bronze statue of Angus Young, and on tour the band copied it as a prop several storeys high.

Key places

Recorded in Vancouver (2000)

Recording site Warehouse Studios — The album was recorded and mixed at Warehouse Studios in Vancouver between September and November 1999, with 18 songs recorded in all. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Stiff Upper Lip is the fourteenth studio album by the Australian hard rock band AC/DC
• Released in February 2000
• Produced by George Young, older brother of Malcolm and Angus Young
• The last AC/DC album George produced before his death in 2017
• Re-released in the UK in 2005 and in the US in April 2007 as part of the AC/DC Remasters series
• In Australia, New Zealand and Europe, a two-disc tour edition came out in January 2001, with a second disc of extra tracks and videos

Background

• The Young brothers began writing songs in summer 1997 in London and the Netherlands, Malcolm on guitar and Angus on drums
• The songs were completed by February 1998
• The band first planned to record with Canadian producer Bruce Fairbairn, who had produced The Razors Edge and AC/DC Live
• Fairbairn died in May 1999, so the Youngs turned to their older brother George
• George had produced 1988's Blow Up Your Video and the band's early albums with Harry Vanda

Recording

• The album was recorded and mixed at Bryan Adams' Warehouse Studios in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
• Sessions ran from September to November 1999
• 18 songs were recorded in all
• Bassist Cliff Williams said the album was easy to record because Malcolm and Angus had everything ready
• Brian Johnson said the band worked hard, sometimes from about 11 in the morning until one the next morning

Cover

• The cover features a bronze statue of Angus Young
• On tour, the statue was mimicked as a prop several storeys high

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• AC/DC are an Australian rock band formed in Sydney in November 1973 by brothers Malcolm and Angus Young.
• The band name comes from the AC/DC symbol on the adapter of their sister Margaret's sewing machine.
• Their music has been described as hard rock, blues rock and heavy metal, though the band calls itself simply a rock and roll band.
• Their early sound was rooted in Australian pub rock.

Members

• Angus Young (lead guitar) and Malcolm Young (rhythm guitar) were the founding core of the band until Malcolm retired in 2014.
• Bon Scott was lead vocalist until his death in February 1980.
• Brian Johnson became lead vocalist in 1980.
• Phil Rudd, Cliff Williams and Stevie Young have also played key roles.

Career

• Their 1980 album Back in Black became one of the best-selling albums of all time.
• The band has sold an estimated 200 million records worldwide.
• They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2003.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Critics received it better than the band's previous album, Ballbreaker
• Critics considered it lacking in new ideas
• Rose to number 7 on the US Billboard chart
• Peaked at number 12 in the United Kingdom
• Hit number 1 in Finland, Sweden, Germany and Austria

Records

• US Billboard chart peak: number 7
• UK peak: number 12
• Number 1 in Finland, Sweden, Germany and Austria
• Three singles: the title track "Stiff Upper Lip", "Safe in New York City" and "Satellite Blues"
• Re-released in the UK in 2005 and in the US in April 2007 as part of the AC/DC Remasters series

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• Angus Young said the album title came to him while he was stuck in traffic, and he thought about how vital lips were in rock and roll culture.
• Malcolm takes a rare guitar solo on "Can't Stand Still", while Angus does the backing vocals on "Hold Me Back".
• After the 9/11 attacks, "Safe in New York City" was included in the 2001 Clear Channel memorandum, a list of "lyrically questionable" songs.
• The title track's video begins with the band stuck in traffic in a red 1997 Hummer H1 before they play the song on a street.
• The live video Stiff Upper Lip Live was recorded on 14 June 2001 at the Olympiastadion in Munich, Germany.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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