Raise Your Fist and Yell
| Raise Your Fist and Yell | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by Alice Cooper | ||||
| Released | September 28, 1987 | |||
| Recorded | 1987 | |||
| Genre | Heavy metal, hard rock | |||
| Length | 36:53 | |||
| Label | MCA | |||
| Producer | Michael Wagener | |||
| Alice Cooper chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |    [1] |
Raise Your Fist and Yell is the 17th studio album by rock musician Alice Cooper released on September 28th 1987. 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.
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
The 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.
Track listing
All songs written and composed by Alice Cooper and Kane Roberts except where noted.
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | 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 | |
| 6. | "Prince of Darkness" | Cooper, Kip Winger | 5:10 |
| 7. | "Time to Kill" | Cooper, Winger, Roberts | 3:39 |
| 8. | "Chop, Chop, Chop" | 3:06 | |
| 9. | "Gail" | Cooper, Roberts, Winger | 2:30 |
| 10. | "Roses on White Lace" | Cooper, Winger, Roberts | 4:27 |
Live performances
During the “Live in the Flesh” tour, “Freedom”, “Prince of Darkness”, “Chop Chop Chop”, “Gail” and “Roses on White Lace” were consistent parts of Cooper’s setlist; however, nothing from Raise Your Fist and Yell has ever been performed live since that tour finished.[2]
Personnel
- Alice Cooper - Vocals
- Kane Roberts - Guitar
- Kip Winger - Bass
- Paul Horowitz (Paul Taylor) - Keyboards
- Ken K. Mary - Drums
Charts
| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1987 | The Billboard 200 | 73 |
| 1987 | UK Albums Chart | 48 |
| 1987 | Swedish Albums Chart | 15 |
