Raise Your Fist And Yell Era

Background

Raise Your Fist And Yell is the 17th 'Alice Cooper' studio album and was released in 1987. For his second (and final) album with MCA Records, and with his career now firmly back on track, Alice continued in a similar vein to 1986's Constrictor, by again teaming up with musician Kane Roberts to co-write and play on all the material. This time though, the synthetic drum machine was binned and the volume amped up to create a much heavier, raw, sound that would ultimately win over a new base of metal fans.

 

Raise Your Fist And Yell is an album full of attitude, with the anti-PMRC opener Freedom seeing Alice back to his anarchic best. The audio assault continues with the aggressively satisfying quartet of Lock Me Up (which includes a cameo introduction by Nightmare On Elm Street star Robert Englund), Give The Radio Back, Step On You and Not That Kind Of Love.

 

The slightly more subtle Prince Of Darkness (which features in the John Carpenter motion picture of the same name, where Alice himself appears in a minor role) provides some much needed finesse. There's room for a further sledgehammer in the form of Time To Kill before the album arrives at its epic conclusion, the haunting trilogy of Chop, Chop, Chop, Gail and Roses On White Lace, which tell the bloody tale of a serial killer. Fine stuff and Alice's best narrative since Welcome To My Nightmare

 

For some fans, Raise Your Fist And Yell was just too heavy and too 'rock-meets-splatter-movie' for their liking. However, there is no doubt that it stands out as one of the loudest, most energetic albums of Alice's career. 

Raise Your Fist And Yell Album Cover

Raise Your Fist And Yell 12" Promotional Vinyl Album

1987, MCA Records, MCA-42091

This USA 12" promotional vinyl album comes in a simple card sleeve and features an illustration of a clenched fist with Alice's defiant-looking face on it. A hype sticker is also present promoting the tracks Freedom, Step On You and Give The Radio Back. On the rear of the sleeve is a small warped image of Alice, track listings, lyrics and credits. Also provided on the rear cover is a gold 'FOR PROMOTION ONLY...' stamp.

 

Inside is a 2-sided black and white insert featuring the famous Alice Half Skull design by artist Airic Brumitt on one side and track listings and credits on the other. The disc features blue MCA labels, which are identical to USA stock copies (i.e. the gold stamp on the rear is the only way to differentiate promotional copies from stock copies).

 

Also included is a double-sided 12"x12" promotional flat, which features the album cover image on one side and 'Alice Cooper' in red set against a black background on the other.

 

Discogs Link: Click Here

Raise Your Fist And Yell 12" Vinyl Album

1987, MCA Records, MCF 3392

This UK version of Raise Your Fist And Yell is similar to the USA promotional copy (above) only that it features reconfigured vinyl labels and does not include the promotional flat or stamp on the back. Additionally, it features a 'Limited Offer' Alice Cooper patch and hype sticker on the front.

 

Discogs Link: Click Here

Raise Your Fist And Yell 12" Vinyl Album

1987, MCA Records, MCFP 3392

This UK 12" picture disc of Raise Your Fist And Yell features a cropped image of the original front cover on Side A and track listings and credits on Side B. It was also released as a vinyl compilation set in 1987 along with the equivalent release from the Constrictor album.

 

Discogs Link: Click Here

Raise Your Fist And Yell Promotional Cassette Album

1987, MCA Records

 

This USA promotional cassette version of Raise Your Fist And Yell features a single-sided MCA-themed J-card containing track listings. Inside is a white cassette with a simple 'Alice Cooper' label provided on Side A only.

 

Discogs Link: Click Here

Raise Your Fist And Yell Cassette Album

1987, MCA Records, MCLC 19137

This UK cassette version of Raise Your Fist And Yell features a fold-out J-card containing abridged artwork, track listings, lyrics and credits.

 

Interestingly, the J-card features the product code MCLC 19137, whereas the cassette states MCFC 3392, which is the same as this alternative UK release. It appears that the only differences between the two versions is that mine has a coloured Alice Cooper logo inside the J-card and promotes that the album is 'Also available on compact disc MCLD 19137' below the barcode (which is also different).

 

Discogs Link: Click Here

Raise Your Fist And Yell CD Album

1987, MCA Records, MCD 03392

This UK CD version of Raise Your Fist And Yell comes in a jewel case and features a simple fold-out booklet containing track listings, lyrics and credits. The front cover features the somewhat tacky image of a fist being raised into the air with Alice's face embedded on it. Not a classic by any means!

 

Discogs Link: Click Here 

Raise Your Fist And Yell CD Album

2011, Universal Music Group, 5333166

 

This Czech Republic CD budget re-issue of Raise Your Fist And Yell features a unique A5 card sleeve that includes abridged artwork from the original release (above) on the front and back.

 

The CD simply slots into the top of the sleeve. No booklet is provided, making this a very basic package.

 

Discogs Link: Click Here

NOTE: A further CD copy of this album is featured in the Compilations section of this website.

Freedom 7" Promotional Vinyl Single

1987, MCA Records, MCA-53212

This USA 7" promotional vinyl single comes in a paper sleeve, features white MCA labels, and includes the same version of Freedom (from the Raise Your Fist And Yell album) on both Side A and B.

 

The sleeve features motif artwork based on the Raise Your Fist And Yell album cover on the front and track listings and credits on the back.

 

Discogs Link: Click Here

Freedom 7" Vinyl Single

1987, MCA Records, MCA-53212

This USA 7" vinyl single comes in a paper sleeve, features blue MCA labels, and includes Freedom on Side A and Time To Kill on Side B (both from the Raise Your Fist And Yell album).

 

The sleeve features motif artwork based on the Raise Your Fist And Yell album cover on the front and track listings and credits on the back.

 

Discogs Link: Click Here

Freedom 12" Promotional Vinyl Single

1987, MCA Records, L33-17416

This USA 12" promotional vinyl single comes in a generic card sleeve (with cut-out label hole), features white MCA labels, and includes the same version of Freedom (from the Raise Your Fist And Yell album) on both Side A and B.

 

Discogs Link: Click Here

Freedom 7" Vinyl Single

1987, MCA Records, MCA 1241

This UK 7" vinyl single comes in a card sleeve, features etched labels, and includes Freedom on Side A and Time To Kill on Side B (both from the Raise Your Fist And Yell album).

 

The sleeve features an image of Alice on an electric chair on the front and the 1998 UK Raise Your Fist And Yell tour dates on the back. It also has a sticker on the front stating a release date of '28th March 1988', which is strange as I do not believe that this is a promotional copy.

 

Discogs Link: Click Here

Freedom 12" Promotional Vinyl Single

1987, MCA Records, WMCAT 1241

This UK 12" 'Advance DJ Copy' promotional vinyl single comes in a generic card sleeve (with cut-out label hole), features white MCA labels, and includes Freedom on Side A and Time To Kill on Side B (both from the Raise Your Fist And Yell album). Also included on Side B is a live version of School's Out (recorded at Cincinnati Gardens, USA, in 1987).

 

Discogs Link: Click Here

Freedom 12" Vinyl Single

1987, MCA Records, MCAX 1241

This UK 12" vinyl single features a cool textured outer 'Snakeskin Bag', comes in a card sleeve, features blue MCA labels, and includes the same tracks as the UK 12" promotional copy (above).

 

The card sleeve features the same artwork as the UK 7" single (above).

 

Discogs Link: Click Here

Freedom 7" Vinyl Single

1987, MCA Records, 258 138-7

This German 7" vinyl single comes in a paper sleeve, features blue MCA labels, and includes Freedom on Side A and Time To Kill on Side B (both from the Raise Your Fist And Yell album). Also included on Side B is a live version of School's Out (recorded at Cincinnati Gardens, USA, in 1987).

 

The sleeve features the same artwork as the Raise Your Fist And Yell album cover on the front and track listings and credits on the back.

 

Discogs Link: Click Here

Freedom 12" Vinyl Single

1987, MCA Records, 258 137-0

This German 12" vinyl single features a card sleeve, features blue MCA labels, and includes Freedom on Side A and Time To Kill on Side B (both from the Raise Your Fist And Yell album). Also included on Side B is a live version of School's Out (recorded at Cincinnati Gardens, USA, in 1987).

 

The sleeve features motif artwork based on the Raise Your Fist And Yell album cover on the front and track listings and credits on the back.

 

Discogs Link: Click Here

Raise Your Fist And Yell Press Pack

1987

This Raise Your Fist And Yell press pack comes in a blank card folder and features a three-page press release and glossy A4 sheet featuring two photos of Alice. The press release provides a background on how Raise Your Fist And Yell came to be and a short biography of Alice's career.

Alice Half Skull Design Signed Print

2018

This print features the Alice Half Skull design by artist Airic Brumitt which, most famously, featured on the T-shirt worn by Alice on the cover of the Trash album. However, it originally featured on the insert of the Raise Your Fist And Yell album (above). It is personalised and signed by the artist.

Raise Your Fist And Yell 31st Anniversary Pin Badge

2018, Nightmare Inc. 

Following the release of the Constrictor 30th Anniversary enamel Pin Badge in 2016, Raise Your Fist And Yell received the same treatment 2 years later. This again faithfully recreated the front cover of the album with Alice's face embedded on a fist being raised into the air. Unlike the Constrictor badge, it was not indicated if this badge was limited edition.

For the Trash era Click Here.