The follow-up to their 1994 debut Sixteen Stone, it was recorded at Abbey Road Studios in London with engineer and producer Steve Albini.

Razorblade Suitcase debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200, selling 293,000 copies in its first week of sales in the United States.

[12] Nicholas Slayton of Medium opined that the lyrics of Razorblade Suitcase "focused on three main ideas and problems": being trapped in situations with no way out, fallout from relationships, and loneliness.

It contains the lyric "deaf and dumb with the lights on, married by signs", which was inspired by list of all the people who'd lived in an English country house, at which Rossdale stayed, for the past 300 years; one couple from around 200 prior were listed as "deaf and dumb, married by signs".

[13][14] Gavin Rossdale commented in 2017 that the lead-single, "Swallowed", reflected "massive success after failing for years".

The song's lyrics mention vicodin, an opiate pain medication, and Red Stripe, a brand of lager beer, which Rossdale explained "were pretty much what I lived on when my stomach was really bad".

[9] The lead single from the album, "Swallowed", was released in October 1996 and was a huge success in the US, holding the number one spot on the US Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart for 7 weeks.

"Swallowed" also marked the commercial peak for the band in their native United Kingdom's singles charts, where it made number 7.

"Greedy Fly" was the second single released from Razorblade Suitcase and reached number three on the US Modern Rock Tracks chart.

[23] The reissue includes the remastered album and four rare bonus tracks: "Broken TV", "Old", "Sleeper", and "Bubbles".

[8] The vinyl release of the reissue is on 180 gram black and white swirl vinyl and comes housed in a metallic silver gatefold cover with re-interpreted artwork, a poster of lyrics (including the songs that weren't on the original), and liner notes from producer Steve Albini.

For example, Entertainment Weekly reviewer David Browne stated that some of the songs on the album could have easily been on the record Nirvana never made (due to Kurt Cobain's suicide).

[24] Johnny Cigarettes from NME gave the album an extremely negative review, rating it 1/10 "for spelling their name right on the top of the record".

The title Razorblade Suitcase comes from the lyrics of the song "Synapse" and is lead singer Gavin Rossdale's interpretation of "emotional baggage."