Alice Cooper-Raise your fist and yell, 1987

Background-After almost a decade of exploring some very non-hard rock sounds, Alice Cooper put out Constrictor in 1986. It was more hard rock than he had been in years, but overall it was just okay. In 1987 he returned with this album. He had Kane Roberts on guitar, Kip Winger on bass and Ken Mary (TKO, Fifth Angel) on drums. Alice has changed many musical styles over his some forty year music career.

First impression-I first heard this the week it came out and really liked it. It was much more a metal album than Constrictor. The playing and vocals were solid and some of the topics were odd enough to be interesting. I played it a lot for a few years. Then in the early 90's I discovered his older material and drew away from this album a bit. I have warmed up to it more in recent years. Let's break it down and see how it stands up.

Review
Freedom-Lots of swirling guitar riffs toward the beginning. Heavier than Alice has been in years at this point. An anthem about having rights and the vocals are very strong. You will be singing along after a few listens.

Lock me up-A little more of a medium pace than the opener and slightly lighter in tone. It's good, but not a huge standout. Lacks energy to some extent. I had trouble remembering this track after the album ended.

Give the radio back-Another mid-tempo track, but it works up some momentum. The solo is very strong and helps ignite it some. When I first heard the album I thought this might be a single, but "Freedom" was instead.

Step on you-This track gets back to the same energy level as "Freedom". Alice sounds really cranked up and that's a plus. There are some odd guitar parts as well and that helps set this one apart from the previous two tracks.

Not that kind of love-A very tight riffed song that plugs along at a slightly off beat pace. For some reason this on reminds me some of KISS from around the same time. Kind of silly, but it is different because it's not a rebellion type anthem like the four previous songs.

Prince of darkness-This song alternates between slow and medium as it tries to tell a story. The same name as the movie (a rather bad movie) that Alice had a small roll in. The song is good, but not one of the best so far.

Time to kill-From here on out we get into the real prime of the album. This song has strong riffs, excited vocals and just enough twists to make it interesting.

Chop, chop, chop-It's a song about a killer yet through the bulk of the time it makes things sound very casual. It's a good lively song though with a somewhat dark ending. Some people think these last three tracks represent a trilogy about a murderer and his bride. The end of this song does have a link to the next track and Gail seems to lead straight into the final track.

Gail-Sounds like music from a horror movie. It's quite strange, but captivating and somewhat short.

Roses on white lace-Huge opening riff and probably the heaviest song on the album. On about half the tracks on this album the band do a good job of mixing in some different paces and making it work. That's not typical of this kind of music and it only helps the overall feel of the album. Nice closer for the album.

Verdict/final word-Guitarist Kane Roberts was a big guy because he was a body builder at the time. He was a also a big part of what makes this Alice's best album after "Welcome to my nightmare". Kane has his own playing style and it was very sharp and fresh for the time. His playing is as a big a part of this album as Alice's vocals. Alice did dip his feet into the heavy metal arena as it was heating up. Some critics scolded him for jumping on the metal band wagon, but this is a solid metal album for the time. Slightly dated perhaps, but well played with some catchy hooks and just enough elements to make it unique. I think this album get overlooked at times compared to Trash and even Constrictor, but it's far better than either of those. I am glad that it holds up as well as it does.

***The twenty year album review for June will be Celtic Frost's Into the pandemonium.