Alice Cooper – Raise Your Fist and Yell (1987)
Raise Your Fist and Yell is Alice Cooper’s 17th studio disc, and possibly one of his heaviest at the time it was released.
This disc was produced, recorded and mixed by Michael Wagener (Ozzy, Dokken, Metallica, Motley Crue) which explains the near perfect sound on this disc.
Alice Cooper has a very good band backing him up on this release: Kane Roberts on guitar, Kip Winger on bass, Ken Mary on drums, and Paul Horowitz on keyboards.
This is definitely 80’s style metal, but it is lacking a lot (but not all) of the cheese found on his late 80’s releases, Trash and Hey Stoopid.
Kane Roberts guitar work on this disc is very good. There is plenty of solos to sink your teeth into. Kip Winger surprises me how good he is on bass here. I can hear some of the bass sounds that are commonplace on the future Winger discs here.
Most of lyrics are fairly simple on this record, but that is ok, as the songs are definitely rocking!
The opening track Freedom just explodes on this disc. This is very cool stuff!
Lock Me Up keeps the energy going with an upbeat rocker, with a sing along chorus. This is a fun song.
Give the Radio Back is a song that is kind of silly, yet terribly infectious. I bet you will find yourself singing “give the radio back to the maniac” in no time.
One of the songs that has got a lot of repeated plays from me is Step on You. Kane Roberts has some very tasty guitar licks on this song.
Not That Kind of Love has this killer bass groove that will get you headbanging in no time. Great Stuff!
Another song that seems to jump out at me every time is Prince of Darkness. This is another song that is very catchy.
Time to Kill is another solid track with excellent guitar work by Kane Roberts.
I can deal with a goofy tune now and then, but Chop, Chop, Chop might be a little bit too silly, even for me.
Gail is a horror like, keyboard driven tune, that doesn’t really add anything to Raise Your Fist and Yell, except to cement Alice Cooper’s love of the horror element into the music.
Roses on White Lace isn’t the best album closer, but it is listenable. The chorus is kind of catchy, and the music is good.
As a whole, I have enjoyed Raise Your Fist and Yell. It is a good CD, and one that is still worth picking up in 2007.
This disc is still in print, and can be purchased at Amazon.com for less than $10.00. At that price, this disc is a steal. If you don’t own this one, check it out. I think you will like it. I am surprised that I didn’t buy this one up sooner. This is must own for 80’s hard rock and hair metal fans.
Special thanks to Metal Mark who suggested this disc to me.
Rating:
Out of 10
Track Listing:
1. Freedom
2. Lock Me Up
3. Give the Radio Back
4. Step on You
5. Not That Kind of Love
6. Prince of Darkness
7. Time to Kill
8. Chop, Chop, Chop
9. Gail
10. Roses on White Lace
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crap.
The MASTERPIECE that Alice never really topped (though Brutal Planet gives this a good run for its money). Kane Roberts is a Guitar God that is sorely missed in this day and age. On vinyl and cassette (yes, some of us still collect those formats) side 2 is a horror fans Wet Dream (in a bloody way). As for Roses On White Lace (which Icarus Witch covered on their EP of the same name) Alice is at his horror best. The last 5 songs on this album are classic Alice and has NOT been topped by the master of Shock Rock yet. Though, Current album Along Came A Spider tried. Not quite hitting the mark, but it is a good try.
When I was 13 I saw Cooper,it was an awesome show!Actually it was the “Raise Your Fist And Yell” tour in ’87.His opening acts were Faster Pussycat and Ace Frehly’s band.
This album rocked when it came and still does …I agree with rene Constrictor was a wicked album..ALice ROCKS
I agree, realy a great album that i still have on vinyl. CONSTRICTOR was also very heavy metal and a great lp. Great review.