Raise Your Fist and Yell is the tenth solo studio album by American rock musician Alice Cooper, released in October 1987, by MCA Records. It features the track "Prince of Darkness", which is featured very briefly in the John Carpenter film of the same name, in which Cooper has a cameo as a murderous vagrant. The song can be heard on the Walkman of one of his victims. A music video was made for the song "Freedom", which also became the album's sole single. Raise Your Fist and Yell is the only Alice Cooper album to feature Ken K. Mary on drums and the second and last to feature Kip Winger on bass.
| Raise Your Fist and Yell | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | October 1987[1] | |||
| Recorded | 1987 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 36:53 | |||
| Label | MCA | |||
| Producer | Michael Wagener | |||
| Alice Cooper chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Singles from Raise Your Fist and Yell | ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |    [6] |
| New Musical Express | 5/10[7] |
The album continues the slasher film trend created by Cooper's previous album Constrictor. The track "Lock Me Up" features a guest appearance from Robert Englund, who portrayed Freddy Krueger in the A Nightmare on Elm Street series.
The album cover for Raise Your Fist and Yell was painted by artist Jim Warren.
Tour
editThe infamous tour for the album, dubbed "Live in the Flesh", was notorious in Europe in 1988 for its graphic violence and theatricality. The show included many of Cooper's old favourites, such as the gallows (for the first time since 1972), but offered new theatrics such as impaling a person with a bike (this was also seen in John Carpenter's Prince of Darkness, used by Cooper in a cameo role as a vagrant killing one of the characters). Most of the tour's more violent acts were heavily inspired by the horror movies of the time, by including graphic onstage deaths and large amounts of stage blood. Cooper has been said to be a big fan of these movies.
The show was seen to be so violent that the German government forced Cooper to remove some of the more graphic parts of the show. A (blind) Member of Parliament in the UK, David Blunkett, appealed to have the show banned altogether from the country, but his attempt was unsuccessful.
Live performances
editFive songs from Raise Your Fist and Yell were played by Cooper during the album's supporting tour: "Freedom", "Prince of Darkness", "Chop Chop Chop", "Gail" and "Roses on White Lace". "Roses on White Lace" was revived as a regular part of setlists for the 2019 "Ol' Black Eyes Is Back" tour, and "Freedom" was part of the finale for several shows in late 2022 and early 2023 when Kane Roberts returned to the band for a while. "Lock Me Up" has been used to open shows since 2023. Other than those, nothing from "Raise Your Fist and Yell" album has returned to the setlist.
Track listing
editAll tracks are written by Alice Cooper and Kane Roberts except where noted
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Freedom" | 4:09 |
| 2. | "Lock Me Up" | 3:24 |
| 3. | "Give the Radio Back" | 3:34 |
| 4. | "Step on You" | 3:39 |
| 5. | "Not That Kind of Love" | 3:15 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6. | "Prince of Darkness" | 5:10 | |
| 7. | "Time to Kill" | 3:39 | |
| 8. | "Chop, Chop, Chop" | 3:06 | |
| 9. | "Gail" | Cooper, Roberts, Winger | 2:30 |
| 10. | "Roses on White Lace" | 4:27 |
Personnel
edit- Alice Cooper – vocals
- Kane Roberts – guitar, backing vocals
- Kip Winger – bass, backing vocals, keyboards on "Gail"
- Paul Taylor – keyboards
- Ken K. Mary – drums
- Additional personnel
- Robert Englund – Freddy Krueger on "Lock Me Up"
Charts
edit| Chart (1986) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)[8] | 66 |
| Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[9] | 36 |
| Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[10] | 15 |
| UK Albums (OCC)[11] | 48 |
| US Billboard 200[12] | 73 |
Certifications
edit| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| Canada (Music Canada)[13] | Gold | 50,000^ |
|
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. | ||
References
edit- ^ Strong, Martin Charles (1995). The Great Rock Discography. Canongate Press. p. 170. ISBN 978-0-86241-541-9.
- ^ a b Prince of Darkness – Alice Cooper | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic, retrieved April 8, 2021,
a pair of hard rock albums for MCA: 1986's Constrictor and 1987's Raise Your Fist and Yell;both albums were largely spotty affairs; instead of returning to the raw garage rock of his early-'70s peak, Cooper attempted to stay in step with the then-thriving pop-metal scene
- ^ He's Back – Alice Cooper | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic, retrieved April 8, 2021
- ^ "Every Alice Cooper album, ranked from worst to best". Louder Sound. March 9, 2021. Retrieved July 18, 2023.
- ^ "Alice cooper singles".
- ^ Raise Your Fist and Yell at AllMusic
- ^ Pouncey, Edwin (November 14, 1987). "Alice Cooper: Raise Your Fist And Yell". New Musical Express. p. 37.
- ^ "Top RPM Albums: Issue 0940". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved May 25, 2024.
- ^ Pennanen, Timo (2021). "Alice Cooper". Sisältää hitin - 2. laitos Levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla 1.1.1960–30.6.2021 (PDF) (in Finnish). Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava. p. 52.
- ^ "Swedishcharts.com – Alice Cooper – Raise Your Fist and Yell". Hung Medien. Retrieved May 25, 2024.
- ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved May 25, 2024.
- ^ "Alice Cooper Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved May 25, 2024.
- ^ "Canadian album certifications – Alice Cooper – Raise Your Fist and Yell". Music Canada.
