The Beginning of the Comeback of Alice Cooper (1986)

[cooperrocks]

Hey everyone. This question is aimed for those of us who have been an Alice fan since at least the mid 80's. While most would cite 1989 as Alice's true comeback due to the tremendous success of the Trash album, it was really 1986 when the comeback began. Constrictor, while not a major hit, did okay compared to the early 80's albums and the Nightmare Returns Tour did tremendously well. I really think the Constrictor and Raise Your Fist and Yell years are overlooked and underrated.

What were your inital thoughts when Alice started getting some press again and when the Constrictor album came out and his return to the traditional Alice character. Were you optimistic that he would be successful again (he was) at the time or pessimistic of it working?

[revinkevin]

To me the album and tour made the statement that hey I’m still here and can hang with any of the current hard rock / hair bands that are out there and I won’t be going away anytime soon. Mission accomplished.

[patrick]

1986 must have been one if not the first time I saw Alice on tv. There was an interview on entertainment USA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tc-owNauE7g
and another one https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpChlItL478
and then there was the He's Back clip. Alice was back and with his traditional look ! I loved most of the songs on Constrictor
He actually was back to stay !

[Dannorama]

1986 must have been one if not the first time I saw Alice on tv. There was an interview on entertainment USA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tc-owNauE7g
and another one https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpChlItL478
and then there was the He's Back clip. Alice was back and with his traditional look ! I loved most of the songs on Constrictor
He actually was back to stay !

I love the heavy makeup he was doing back then. It was loud and proud - the sheer essence of Alice Cooper. Maybe he will do something new that includes heavier makeup.

[boy/man]

As someone who became an instant fan due to Mtv's "live" broadcast of the comeback show, I could clearly see how calculated this course of action was. Shock rock (I hate that term, it was metal..) with splatter theatrics were a big thing back then, and the time was ripe for an Alice comeback. We had all heard about the legend but never actually seen him, you know.

As soon as he came up on stage and the audience went nuts, I knew this was the real psychodrama show Wasp and like tried to emulate and it was quite clear I witnessed history; the master reclaiming his throne.
My parents who also watched it with me, who actually were Alice fans in the 70's, also seemed to like it with the obvious exception of the songs being metalized.. Personally, I could tell very well why the songs sounded like that; the obvious audience were in fact the heavy metal fans who also were into the slasher movie craze at the time. Playing an "oldies but goldies" garage rock show would definitely have been seen as a complete lost opportunity and definitely missed the obvious new fanbase.
The other thing that's also been mentioned was the obvious message "I'm back and I'm here to stay."

A lot of people probably won't acknowledge it, but this blood-stained heavy metal comeback actually managed to make Alice controversial again, even for just 3 years. The entire RYFAY album being a big middle finger to the PMRC is a testament to that. And also the alleged censored shows on the RYFAY tour. Alleged, because footage of a lot of these shows have surfaced on youtube as of late, and they don't seem "censored" in the slightest. Thus probably yet another piece of Alice Mythology, but it helped his image and the legend kept growing.

As such, I will never accept the Trash album as a 'comeback', simply because if the Nightmare Returns tour never happened then 'Poison' would never had happened either.
Thus the importance of those 2 albums and of course the 2 accompanying tours seriously shouldn't be underestimated, as they were in fact probably the most important decisions in reviving his career. And I don't think Kane Roberts gets the respect he deserves.

[Agrophile in Texas]

I remember being jazzed about the return, but felt the music was, oh, vanilla rock? It couldn't match what he did with the guys in the 70s, nor was it as challenging or bold as the early 80s (especially DaDa). I felt Kane was limited as a songwriter - it was just standard issue hard rock, nothing more.

I also didn't care for the production on Constrictor.

Saying that, the songs from it that I have heard live, transforms them (especially with the drumming), so maybe had it just been a live, or a semi-live album (what he was attempting with Eyes and Road) that would have been an improvement.

But the concert, that's what energized me. I know there were changes and that upset some folks, but eh, I've lived with the classic albums long enough (and could always return to them), that I was fine with new adaptations in this setting - The concert was like watching a scary movie, horror theater, and so much fun. So while I wouldn't rank them as my favorite albums (RYFAY was better) remembering that period, the show, the hype, the return... ESPECIALLY, seeing him hale and healthy (and without the constant bottle in his hand or mouth... seeing photos from the 70s, where he always had that bottle, makes me sad today, knowing the further downward spiral he would go on during the blackout period - I was so happy he got himself back to a good place, and to see him rocking hard) all of that was a positive.

The other memory of the concert was the age span of the attendees. There were the older folk, but also these kids in their teens. It was cool to see Alice attract new fans, and develop a new fanbase, it felt like he could go on forever. And I wanted it to go on, I wanted more Alice.

[del]

86 was a great year for me. I had seen Alice twist and turn in style over the previous years and achieve less and less success each time. I had heard he was done in his career and had been worried about his health since I’d heard some stories from friends in the US about a year earlier. I didn’t expect what came that year.

To be told there was a comeback coming was positive but I was apprehensive. Just seeing the sleeve of He’s Back gave me hope. Buying Constrictor was actually quite exciting as for the first time in years I was really keen to hear a new Alice album. Overall, I was positive about the album but thought the production made it feel lightweight and I hated the drums. I was delighted to see Alice back in character though but a bit unsure whether some of the edge had gone.

The year finished on a huge high though. The MTV show was awesome and when I saw him on The Tube tv programme and then in Edinburgh at the end of the year I knew he was back and with a new and great attitude.

86 was such a great year I even bought a second copy of Constrictor to leave sealed as a momento of the sea-change in direction. I couldn’t wait for 87.

The musical comeback certainly started here but the whole change clearly started when Alice finally grabbed hold of himself and began to rebuild his health, family and then career. 84 was the watershed year I think.

[forglasgowonly]

I was there both nights in Edinburgh 86, and they were just incredible shows (despite having to get back to Glasgow, and having School next morning - I was 15). Absolutely magical. The DVD is pretty cool. As for Constrictor, I liked Teenage Frankenstein, He's back, and Trick Bag. The rest was pretty poor. Oh well, seen him about a dozen times since, always brilliant.

[damiennalice]

We were given a preview of an Alice Cooper return thanks to Twisted Sister. Whether you do or don't like "Be Chrool to Your Scuel", that appearance was almost a full year before Constrictor was released.

[tuneylune]

I certainly was looking forward to this period. I liked CONSTRICTOR well enough; nothing classic, but nothing horrid either. It was nice to see so much press on him around this time; RIP did a nice job, METAL EDGE seemed to have articles on him every issue and a great article in CREEM in early 1987 by Bill Holdship (a good summing up of it can be found in the liner notes of the re-issued KILLER).

I saw two shows on the tour and good times each night, although I wasn't crazy about how metallized th music was, but as noted, that was the era and if it helped bring in younger fans, so much t he better.

[forglasgowonly]

We were given a preview of an Alice Cooper return thanks to Twisted Sister. Whether you do or don't like "Be Chrool to Your Scuel", that appearance was almost a full year before Constrictor was released.

Of course. I had forgotten that.