Constrictor definitive edition

[A_MichaelUK]

From pitkin88:
"I have a friend who is friends with Ken Mary. Maybe if anyone has any questions about outtakes etc he might be able to answer them.

What would be the point of that? He didn't play on the album. A better person to contact would be Kane Roberts and there is a lot of information about this period at http://www.kaneroberts.com as well.

[kevinuk81]

There was a chance to ask Ken Mary questions, which are posted in the interviews section of this site.

[Mr.Bluelegs]

It always comes down to money. A deluxe reissue of Constrictor probably wouldn't generate a profit for whomever would release it. It's nice to discuss the possibilities but it more than likely won't occur. I would buy and enjoy a 40th anniversary deluxe reissue of Lace and Whiskey if that were to happen in 2017 (which I'm sure it won't). Make that money roll like honey from your tongue.

[pitkin88]

From pitkin88:
"I have a friend who is friends with Ken Mary. Maybe if anyone has any questions about outtakes etc he might be able to answer them.

What would be the point of that? He didn't play on the album. A better person to contact would be Kane Roberts and there is a lot of information about this period at http://www.kaneroberts.com as well.

You are right my bad.

[cooperrocks]

I love the Constrictor album personally and I like Raise Your Fist and Yell even better. I am thrilled that "The World Needs Guts" is back in the setlist.

The thing some fans seem to overlook is this is the Music Business and while it was not a huge seller in the United States, Constrictor put Alice back on the map. It charted higher than any album had in quite a while, went gold in Canada, and He's Back (The Man Behind the Mask) was a huge hit in Finland. The tour did extremely well.

I don't want get into another one of those original group vs solo work debates, but for Alice to remain competitive he had to be willing to change with the times. In fact my favorite, Alice period is from 1986-2000. Some decisions are made strictly because of the "business" side of things. A reissue would be very cool for those of us who like this album. I have always said I would love to hear the Constrictor album with real drums and not a drum machine. However, even if there was a way to do a definitive edition of this album, would it be financially feasible. How many copies would it likely sell in this era where you can't even get most fans to buy a NEW album much less an album they already have or never cared about to begin with.

[Babysquid]

I read the Kane Roberts interview on his site and it does go into detail regarding the writing and recording of the two LPs he did with Alice. My interpretation is that it appears to have been an Alice album from the get go and not a Kane gig that Alice 'hijacked'. He mentions the use of a drum machine as a logistics decision and he even gives a shout out to our very own Andy Michael!
It's not my favorite Alice period by any means but it was interesting to read about it nonetheless. Thank you Kane.

[Saint&Sinner]

mid 80's to brutal planet is my fave overall era, i might like some other albums more but from constrictor to brtual planet he didnt put a foot wrong for my money

[HORRORHOLIC]

There should be a box set released with some of the albums remastered such as Constrictor, Raise Your Fist And Yell, Hey Stoopid etc.. Maybe they wouldn't sell much on their own but there are a lot of fans who love that era and a box set would be a good idea. I know there is the whole thing about who owns what, but I'm sure that could be worked out.

[A_MichaelUK]

From Horrorholic:
"There should be a box set released with some of the albums remastered such as Constrictor, Raise Your Fist And Yell, Hey Stoopid etc.."

Given that those albums (ot at least most of them) were recorded, mixed and mastered during the digital era, I'm not sure there would be any real point in doing that.

[Babysquid]

From Horrorholic:
"There should be a box set released with some of the albums remastered such as Constrictor, Raise Your Fist And Yell, Hey Stoopid etc.."

Given that those albums (ot at least most of them) were recorded, mixed and mastered during the digital era, I'm not sure there would be any real point in doing that.

Hang on... I'd normally bow to your expertise and better judgement but...

Digital Era really? I think you better check that again. Although there were plenty of digital formats available during the 80's and 90's the technology was still finding it's feet and analogue recording was anything but obsolete. The fact that it was easy to edit on an analogue deck certainly helped keep it in play until digital caught up. I seem to remember the Trash CDs bearing the label AAD indicating Analogue multitrack, Analogue mixdown and Digital mastering. And you yourself told me on another thread that Brutal planet was the first Album to be fully digital.
Another thing to remember is that at the time of all the above releases the Internet as we know it today was unheard of by your average consumer so there was no downloading on iTunes, Spotify or even Napster. Even the humble CD was still getting established, usually inhabiting a small rack in the corner of record stores dominated by record bins and cassette shelves and you could still buy vinyl in Woolworths! So I think calling this time the digital era might be a little premature. I mean 600k was considered a lot of memory for a home computer back then!
Anyway even if all of these albums were recorded, mixed and mastered digitally, the technology has moved on leaps and bounds since then. Also mastering techniques and fashions have changed to so remastering wouldn't necessarily be a pointless task.

[A_MichaelUK]

From Babysquid:
>I seem to remember the Trash CDs bearing the label AAD indicating Analogue multitrack, Analogue mixdown and Digital mastering.

Exactly and I think the same broadly applies to the other albums which HORRORHOLIC mentioned.

>And you yourself told me on another thread that Brutal planet was the first Album to be fully digital.

It turns out that it was "Raise Your Fist And Yell" which kind of proves my point.

All of that is true but you're missing my point which is that apart from the fact the technology has improved since then, I don't see how those albums would be improved to any signifant extent. Otherwise, every time the technology improves, there would be calls for every piece of music which has been recorded to be repeatedly remastered. There would be cries (as there often are here and elsewhere) of 'cashing in' if that happened.

>Another thing to remember is that at the time of all the above releases the Internet as we know it today was unheard of by your average consumer so there was no downloading on iTunes, Spotify or even Napster.

That has nothing to do with what HORRORHOLIC posted.

>So I think calling this time the digital era might be a little premature.

You have misinterpreted my use of the word "digital". I am not referring to digital files or streaming.

>Also mastering techniques and fashions have changed to so remastering wouldn't necessarily be a pointless task.

I have to broadly disagree. Look at the amount of debating here about the merits, or lack of, of the various remastering projects there have been.

[While Heaven Wept]

I do think some people have rather warped ideas on what a 'remaster' actually is. A remaster is simply creating another master mix from an unmastered stereo mix. It isn't possible for a re-master to change specific sounds such as drums/guitars without changing the overall sound.

Reading between the lines, I get the feeling some people here would prefer a re-mixed album rather than a re-mastered one. For instance, in terms of the drums.... Constrictor would probably benefit by having them all completely re-recorded, whether that be digitally or with a live drummer.

[pitkin88]

From Horrorholic:
"There should be a box set released with some of the albums remastered such as Constrictor, Raise Your Fist And Yell, Hey Stoopid etc.."

Given that those albums (ot at least most of them) were recorded, mixed and mastered during the digital era, I'm not sure there would be any real point in doing that.

It's hard to think of a cd where the remastering made things better, Usually it ends up a brickwalled mess. In this case I agree with Amuk regarding thess albums.

[Saint&Sinner]

Usually it ends up a brickwalled mess.

This isnt strictly true. while some lazy remasters do exist, especially during the early 00's. there are many great remasters out there that eek out some of the finer details and let the material breathe.

But it is true that in constrictors case a re-recording would be ideal to replace those hideous drums. But a remaster would be nice as well tbh.

In terms of remaster/remix look at the "movie mix" of He's back. Infinitely better than the album version but just beefed up while giving it a much wider more enveloping sound, there is nothing too intensive there but the difference is huge.
If the same was applied to all of constrictor imagine how much better it would sound.

[pitkin88]

Usually it ends up a brickwalled mess.

This isnt strictly true. while some lazy remasters do exist, especially during the early 00's. there are many great remasters out there that eek out some of the finer details and let the material breathe.

But it is true that in constrictors case a re-recording would be ideal to replace those hideous drums. But a remaster would be nice as well tbh.

In terms of remaster/remix look at the "movie mix" of He's back. Infinitely better than the album version but just beefed up while giving it a much wider more enveloping sound, there is nothing too intensive there but the difference is huge.
If the same was applied to all of constrictor imagine how much better it would sound.

Ahh Hoffman's breath of lies/life. I think the 2 CD BDB's is a remix and it is an ear bleeder. In regards to Constrictor you can't polish a turd.

[A_MichaelUK]

From Saint&Sinner:
"there are many great remasters out there that eek out some of the finer details and let the material breathe."

Seriously, nobody is going to go to all that expense and effort if all you are going to do is "eek out some of the finer details". There is a difference, although it can be a subtle one, between a new master and a new mix as While Heaven Wept stated.

>In terms of remaster/remix look at the "movie mix" of He's back.

This proves the point While Heaven Wept made.

[pitkin88]

From Saint&Sinner:
"there are many great remasters out there that eek out some of the finer details and let the material breathe."

Seriously, nobody is going to go to all that expense and effort if all you are going to do is "eek out some of the finer details". There is a difference, although it can be a subtle one, between a new master and a new mix as While Heaven Wept stated.

>In terms of remaster/remix look at the "movie mix" of He's back.

This proves the point While Heaven Wept made.

Finer details and Constrictor? The whole thing was a sledgehammer apart from the tepid He's Back.

[Babysquid]

In regards to Constrictor you can't polish a turd.

But you can roll it in glitter

[mr.barlow]

There are absolutely no "finer details" on Constrictor. There is nothing to "let breathe". It is a cookie-cutter by the numbers pop hair metal album. It lacks intelligence both musically and in it's production and that was done specifically on purpose.

This album has no depth--there is nothing there. It is what it is--there is nothing lurking under the surface (say like with Dada). It just shows how much the genius of Bob Ezrin brought to Alice Cooper.

I think if Ezrin were given the job to re-work Constrictor he would start by burning the original master tapes.

At any rate--the target audience for that album were suburban teenagers that were flocking to hair metal by the droves in those years. Beau Hill is not in the same league as Bob Ezrin. He was used to produce an album like those of Quiet Riot and Ratt--he was one of the best at producing such crap that sold in the millions in that era. The album pretty much succeeds at that level with the only flaw--and a fatal one--being the use of the drum machine. I will never understand that decision.

Again--I don't think a lot of fans understand the expense involved in such a project. No one works for free. The cost of the legal fees themselves would probably cost more than a reworked re-release would generate in sales. A reworked release would be lucky to sell 25,000 units worldwide and there isn't a song on the album that would generate significant download sales. In short--it would be a total waste of time and money.

Constrictor was a stepping stone album for Alice. It was not a milestone album. A mediocre release that helped Alice in many ways at the time and played a part in the comeback, but lackluster at best. I'm sure Alice and Shep haven't given this album a second thought since 1987.

[pitkin88]

There are absolutely no "finer details" on Constrictor. There is nothing to "let breathe". It is a cookie-cutter by the numbers pop hair metal album. It lacks intelligence both musically and in it's production and that was done specifically on purpose.

This album has no depth--there is nothing there. It is what it is--there is nothing lurking under the surface (say like with Dada). It just shows how much the genius of Bob Ezrin brought to Alice Cooper.

I think if Ezrin were given the job to re-work Constrictor he would start by burning the original master tapes.

At any rate--the target audience for that album were suburban teenagers that were flocking to hair metal by the droves in those years. Beau Hill is not in the same league as Bob Ezrin. He was used to produce an album like those of Quiet Riot and Ratt--he was one of the best at producing such crap that sold in the millions in that era. The album pretty much succeeds at that level with the only flaw--and a fatal one--being the use of the drum machine. I will never understand that decision.

Again--I don't think a lot of fans understand the expense involved in such a project. No one works for free. The cost of the legal fees themselves would probably cost more than a reworked re-release would generate in sales. A reworked release would be lucky to sell 25,000 units worldwide and there isn't a song on the album that would generate significant download sales. In short--it would be a total waste of time and money.

Constrictor was a stepping stone album for Alice. It was not a milestone album. A mediocre release that helped Alice in many ways at the time and played a part in the comeback, but lackluster at best. I'm sure Alice and Shep haven't given this album a second thought since 1987.

It might do well in Sweden.

http://www.valueyourmusic.com/items/201 ... -he-s-back