This 1987 effort from Alice Cooper did quite well. It’s theatric metal with a leaning toward the slasher/horror movie genre.
Written by: gdmonline
ARTIST: Alice Cooper
ALBUM: Raise Your Fist And Yell
LABEL: MCA
SERIAL: MCAD-42091
YEAR: 1987
CD REISSUE: Reissue List
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: USA
LINEUP: Alice Cooper – vocals * Kane Roberts – guitars * Kip Winger – bass, keyboards, backing vocals * Paul Horowitz – keyboards * Ken Mary – drums
TRACK LISTING: 01 Freedom * 02 Lock Me Up * 03 Give The Radio Back * 04 Step On You * 05 Not That Kind Of Love * 06 Prince Of Darkness * 07 Time To Kill * 08 Chop, Chop, Chop * 09 Gail * 10 Roses On White Lace
WEBLINKS: Site Link
Background
I kinda missed Alice Cooper during the mid 80’s. He was always there or thereabouts on my radar, but we were like ships passing in the night. Quite unfortunate that I didn’t take an active interest in his career during this phase as albums such as ‘Constrictor’, ‘Trash’, ‘Hey Stoopid’ and this 1987 effort – did quite well. Theatric metal with a leaning toward the slasher/horror movie genre it is best described as, and we’ve already reviewed ‘Dada’ and ‘Constrictor’ years ago, so lets add to the list.
Of course, the two leading lights helping Alice through this phase was guitar/muscle king Kane Roberts and soon to be solo/band magnet Kip Winger. Adding his considerable skill on drums was former TKO member Ken Mary, the band rounded out by future Winger keyboardist Paul Horowitz, a.k.a. Paul Taylor.
Reading elsewhere, pundits all seem to be reading from the same book, that is: this album is full of filler. Well, I managed to pass through this album several times without coming to that conclusion, but then again, I am several decades late getting to this party.
The Songs
Big drums and tough riffs guide us through the opener ‘Freedom’, and with Cooper joining in with an HM narrative coupled with gang chant vocals, this is an anthem worth leading off with. It became the only single from the album. ‘Lock Me Up’ is kickstarted by a Ken Mary drum intro, and a menacing vocal from our Alice. It’s quality metal with all the pre-requisites a la 1987, even if the woah woah’s have been factored in. By now, I’m loving Kane Roberts guitar work, which sells this package with ease.
‘Give The Radio Back’ isn’t as commercial as the song-title might suggest, but it’s still a groovy rocker nonetheless. ‘Step On You’ goes up a notch in intensity, so too does Roberts’ guitar work, which noodles its way into your head. ‘Not That Kind Of Love’ is preceded by Alice’s vocal/lyric Hello my Pretty.., which might have the politically correct looking sideways, but it was 1987 right?
‘Prince Of Darkness’ had nothing to do with fellow shock rocker Ozzy Osbourne. Instead, this song was featured on John Carpenter’s movie of the same name, where Cooper also had a starring role in it. ‘Time To Kill’ and ‘Chop Chop Chop’ continue the HM meets slasher movie combo. The gothic/chamber music of ‘Gail’ is the album’s only respite, before closing out with the bang smash crash of ‘Roses On White Lace’. An innocently named track which defies convention as a bullet-proof slab of metal.
In Summary
Apparently the accompanying tour to this album was one of the bloodiest to be presented to the public during the late 80’s. It was so violent that several European countries asked for it to be toned down. In the UK, one MP tried to have the entire tour banned, unsuccessful though he was. Cooper must’ve have seen a W.A.S.P. gig to be so inspired. Cooper returned in 1989 with the big-selling LP/CD ‘Trash’ containing the hit single ‘Poison’. We’ll get to that album soon.
Video
Entire Album (Select Tracks)
