ALICE COOPER – Raise Your Fist And Yell [Japan HR/HM 1000 Vol.2 series] (2020) *0dayrox Exclusive*

After the recent post here of ALICE COOPER‘s album ‘Constrictor’ as part of the HR/HM 1000 Vol.2 Japanese reissues, as requested, here’s in exclusive ”Raise Your Fist And Yell”, from the same series released December 2020.
The album continues the slasher film trend created by Cooper’s previous album Constrictor, and of course the catchy melodic hard rock sound from the era (1987) courtesy of Michael Wagener producing and guitarist Kane Roberts & Kip Winger as band members.

Hair Metal. Glam Hard Rock. Yeah, 1987 needed that, and Cooper provided. ”Raise Your Fist And Yell” is easily one of the most underrated Alice Cooper albums because of that, but if you love that genre, this album rocks.
Why do we think ”Raise Your Fist And Yell” is underrated you may ask? It has to do with the man himself pretty much snubbing that album after touring behind it. After playing a healthy sampling live from ”Raise Your Fist And Yell” to the tune of five songs (“Freedom,” “Prince Of Darkness,” “Chop, Chop, Chop,” “Gail” and “Roses On White Lace”) during the Live In The Flesh tour in support of the LP, none of the songs from the album were ever played live again.
If you ask me, that’s a real shame.

The opening track “Freedom” should have been a concert staple for the shock rocker for the rest of his music career. It has everything you would want in an anthem including engaging verses, a strong and easy main chorus portion (“Freedom!”) and some cool guitar licks from behemoth Kane Roberts. That song alone should have keep ”Raise Your Fist And Yell” on Alice Cooper‘s radar for many many years after the record’s release.
But the great songs don’t stop there. “Lock Me Up” will have you singing along in a heartbeat. “Give The Radio Back” is a cool, pop-metal like anthem. “Step On You” took some time to get used to but I now I thoroughly enjoy the song every time that I hear it.

One of the hidden gems on ”Raise Your Fist And Yell” is the track “Time To Kill” which regrettably was never released as a single but is powerful yet easy to sing along to. “Not That Kind Of Love” is another easy to sing along tune while “Prince Of Darkness” is a deeper cut with a little more substance than what is found on ”Raise Your Fist And Yell”.
The album finishes with the trio of of fun rockers “Chop, Chop, Chop,” the “ballad?” “Gail” (the “Steven” equivalent on the album) and the hard hitting “Roses On White Lace.”

Sadly, ”Raise Your Fist And Yell” would be the last album featuring the partnership of Cooper and guitarist Kane Roberts who helped write most of the songs on the record.
While follower ‘Trash’ was a very good album, I find that Alice Cooper never reached the heights that he attained on ”Raise Your Fist And Yell”, at least in the 80s / early ’90s. It would have been interesting to see what Cooper & Roberts could have come up with had they stayed together a little longer.
The all star cast did not stop with Roberts though as bassist Kip Winger went on to have a very successful career in the band bearing his last name.

”Raise Your Fist And Yell” will always be to me one of the most underrated Alice Cooper albums ever made. Sure, it doesn’t have that much musical ‘sophistication’ compared to some of the Coop‘s other albums but it’s fun like Hell and one of the best LP’s from the Eighties American glammy hard rock golden era.
Highly Recommended (contributors get lossless)

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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

Alice Cooper – Vocals
Kane Roberts – Guitar, backing vocals
Kip Winger – Bass, backing vocals, keyboards on “Gail”
Paul Taylor – Keyboards
Ken K. Mary – Drums
Robert Englund – Freddy Krueger on “Lock Me Up”

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