Album Guide

Alice Cooper. The stage shows. The classic rock anthems. The name itself. There has never been anyone quite like Alice Cooper — not even close. As a trendsetter, his influence on the music and attitude of countless bands is so obvious. Call him Master of Shock-Rock, Black Humorist Supreme or simply one of the era’s great showmen, his mark has been undeniable.

Last year, Alice returned to the rock wars with a vengeance. Constrictor, his debut LP for MCA, found his creative juices seething as never before. Raise Your Fist and Yell, his newest album, escalates the attack still further. From start to finish, this is a ferociously intense assault with a razor-sharp edge. Lyrically and musically, Alice Cooper is more uncompromising than ever.

“Freedom”, the LP’s opening track and initial single, kicks things off with a powerful challenge to the rock censorship movement. “I think somebody had to say something back to these people,” Alice says “They start out with the premise that kids in America are too stupid to know what they’re listening to, and that’s really wrong. They say bands are trying to manipulate teenage minds — but kids know they’ve been manipulated all their lives by lots of things, including teachers, the media, their own parents and especially television. So we just have fun with it. Alice Cooper does not preach violence or devil worship, but he DOES make fun of just about everything.”

Raise Your Fist and Yell presents a cast of horrific characters in the finest Cooper tradition. From the wild-eyed defiance of “Lock Me Up” through the ghoulishly brooding trilogy of “Chop, Chop, Chop”, “Gail”, and “Roses on White Lace” the LP is packed with chills and thrills. “Give The Radio Back” is classic Alice; a teen battle-cry, driven home by Alice’s crack touring band, featuring guitarist Kane Roberts.

At the production helm is Michael Wagener, well know for his work with Dokken and other hard rockers. Alice thought highly enough of Wagener’s mix of the Constrictor LP to give him full reign this time out. “Michael makes records that are a step above the regular metal band sound,” Alice notes. “He captures that ultra-loudness and energy of a good metal album, but with class.”

“This is the highest energy music I’ve ever done,” Alice proclaims. “I think it’s because I’m experiencing that kind of energy physically. I’m in a hundred times better shape than I ever was — that has to do with wanting to tour and be competitive. Mentally, of course, I’m sicker than I’ve ever been…”

Alice Cooper was a disturbing proposition from the very beginning. Debuting in 1970, he soon turned the music world upside down, wearing outrageous clothing and make-up, performing crunchingly hard music framing psychotic lyric obsessions. “We were into fun, sex, death and money when everybody was into peace and love,” Alice explains. “We wanted to see what was next. It turned out we were next, and we drove the stake through the heart of the Love Generation.”

Alice Cooper touched a deep nerve in the disaffected minds of teenage America, bringing him eight consecutive gold and platinum albums, featuring such rebellious anthems as “Eighteen”, “Elected”, “School’s Out,” and “No More Mr. Nice Guy”, among others.

It was on stage both musically and visually that Alice made his greatest impact. Colossal concert tours utilized multi-level stage sets and elaborate scenery in ways unprecedented for a rock act. Audiences gasped and cheered at such props as a guillotine, an electric chair and a gallows (with Alice invariably the victim). Each tour has topped the next, setting a standard for technical wizardry and sheer theatrical imaginations. Pointing out that the reviewers and fans considered “The Nightmare Returns” to be his best show ever, Alice warns, “Wait until they see the new ‘Raise Your Fist and Yell’ show — it’ll blow all the others away!” The spectacular stage show aside, Alice Cooper concerts have also been known for the bone-crunching music, and the current band is one of his best ever. Led by lead guitarist Kane Roberts, the band also includes drummer Ken K. Mary, keyboard player Paul Horowitz, guitarist Jonny Dime, and new bassist Steve Steele.

For those who were unfortunate enough to have missed “The Nightmare Returns” live, or for those who saw it and know it’s worth seeing again, MCA Home Video recently released a long form cassette of the Detroit Halloween performance.

Alice Cooper brought show business and rock ‘n’ roll together in ways never seen before (and rarely seen since). It’s not surprising that, after all the shock waves he caused, Alice needed a period of regeneration in the late 70’s. Taking time off during the stagnation of the disco era, he laid the groundwork for his new adventures.

Linking up with guitarist Kane Roberts (who shares his taste in gore-filled horror films and bizarre humor), Alice wrote and recorded his Constrictor album. In late ‘86, Alice returned to the rock ‘n’ roll tour wars and stormed across the United States, Canada and Great Britain, performing 101 shows in 92 cities from October ‘86 through April ‘87. Among the many highlights were 3 sold out nights in Detroit’s Joe Louis Arena, a capacity crowd at Toronto’s Maple Leaf Gardens, a packed Wembley Arena in London, an oversold Long Beach Arena in L.A. and a hometown sellout at The Phoenix Coliseum.

Live, Alice Cooper continues to shock and delight an ever-greater throng — this past August he performed before a record-setting crowd at Britain’s Reading Festival. On the road in the U.S. again this fall and winter, he threatens a new level of theatrical mayhem. “I don’t want to give too much away in advance,” Alice says. “It will be a very graveyard-ish, Gothic show. I would definitely say that the people in the front rows should wear clothes that go well with red.”

“I think some people might say, ‘isn’t it great that Alice is doing his 19th album?’” he notes. “Well, let me tell you that my attitude is more dangerous now than it’s ever been. As far as I’m concerned, that is ‘The Revenge of Alice’.”

Accept no substitutes — the original Hellraiser — Alice Cooper.