The Blackout Albums

[darkmenace]

I agree that Constrictor was a bad album and it made me sad that in Alice's case sober didn't mean better.

[Inmate]

Weird to see negative comments about Constrictor.

[ReGorLaTroy]

The four albums have really grown on me over the years.

Maybe go back and remix them with the help of someone like Bob Ezrin.

I'm not sure about re-recording the songs though.

As I've said in the past, Special Forces has a special place in my heart as that was the first tour I saw Alice live on.

[cooperrocks]

Constrictor had its moments with Crawlin' being one of my favorite Alice songs ever. The follow-up, RYFAY is one of Alice's most underrated albums.

I have read in interviews, Alice wishes the production was a little bit better on the "blackout albums." In my opinion, if there is a desire to redo those albums, a good remaster is all you need, the vocals are stellar already.

[jettrainfan]

It would be cool for him to do an album like prince of darkness, but call it somthing similar to "The Darkside Of Alice Cooper" and basically redo a lot of songs similar to when he did "Alice does Alice". Take a handful from Special Forces, Zipper Catch Skin, and DaDa. It can have a track listing like

1. Who do you think we are
2. Look good in rags
3. Vicious rumors
4. model citizen
5. Zorro's accent
6. I better be Good
7. No Baloney (homosapians)< sorry if misspelled!
8. Im Alive
9. Enough's enough
10. No Man's Land
11. I love America
12. Pass The Gun Around

What do you guys think?

[mestreech]

If he ever is gonna redo something it MUST be Constrictor. His worst album ever just before ACAS

I'm confused!

Do you mean Constrictor is worse than all his other albums because of the delivery / recording of the songs (rather than the lyrics)? I imagine the former but in some cases surely redoing them wouldn't necessarily make for a better album?

Yes I mean Constrictor is his worst album. The lyrics and music both are IMHO not on Alice high level.

[mestreech]

If he ever is gonna redo something it MUST be Constrictor. His worst album ever just before ACAS

If you dislike it so much why would you want him to re-do it? That's really weird!!

I NEVER want him to redo it and I also NEVER said that.
This album may be burried forever with the exception of 2 or 3 songs.

[Mr.Bluelegs]

Always felt that the horrible drum machine programming ruined ( & instantly dated) Constrictor. It contained some good tunes, but the lame drum machine was a huge mistake. Saw him on this tour & the live drumming of the great Ken K. Mary gave a new resonance to the Constrictor tracks.

[darkmenace]

Also Constrictor and RYFY two worst album covers of his career. W2MN in the running.

[A_MichaelUK]

>the lame drum machine was a huge mistake.

Alice has admitted it was an experiment that didn't quite work.

[While Heaven Wept]

If he ever is gonna redo something it MUST be Constrictor. His worst album ever just before ACAS

If you dislike it so much why would you want him to re-do it? That's really weird!!

I NEVER want him to redo it and I also NEVER said that.
This album may be burried forever with the exception of 2 or 3 songs.

Errr....you said he 'MUST' do it?! Haha!

My issue with Constrictor mainly lies with the production. The drum machine sounds too synthetic and doesn't have enough balls. The guitars also sound too thin....sounds like it was mixed for radio therefore most of the midrange and bass has been rolled off the mix which was quite common in the early to mid 80s and ruined many potentially good albums (Born Again by Black Sabbath comes to mind).

[andyrew]

Although RYFAY is by no means his best album, I don't think it's one of his worst of his career. In fact, it's really his only album that plays true to the sinister side of Alice Cooper in a classic hard rock edge. Brutal Planet and Dragontown were just an experiment to try something new in industrial metal, but RYFAY was when Alice found himself and that edge he needed to create hits like Poison. I still don't get why people hate on that album when it was part of what rejuvenated his career. I also think that if both Alice and Kane followed it up with another slasher album, it would have been an excellent conceptual companion piece to RYFAY with an even harder edge. Especially since it is clearly evident that the last part of the album was brilliant in my opinion with chop, chop, chop, Gail and the epic finale Roses on White Lace.

[wind_up_toy]

I know we're heading a bit off-topic here but I'm a fan of both Constrictor and RYFAY. I think remastering these albums would be beneficial in terms of the Alice Cooper legacy as they do sound a bit muffled (not as good as the could be).

I think this is where Mestreech was heading although it sounds like he / she still wouldn't like Constrictor

Having said that, if Alice did ever quit touring and wanted to work on the legacy then I'd be quite happy with him re-recording most of the 80's stuff!

[andyrew]

I would hope that Alice doesn't give this remastering idea too much thought right now. The past is the past why tinker with it? Whether it was good or bad, it's authentic because it was in that era. I hope he continues to focus on new material after the covers album and tries to outdue himself with a creepy album in the top 10. I think that's what we're all longing for. If Rush could deliver a really powerful album late into their career with Clockwork Angels, Alice can easily do it with Ezrin at the helm.

[A_MichaelUK]

>I would have liked to hear the demos or what he recorded with Neal and Dennis

They are interesting but I'm not sure they bear up to repeated listening though. There was also at least one session produced by one of the members of Devo as well.

[A_MichaelUK]

>RYFAY was when Alice found himself and that edge he needed to create hits like Poison.

As good as an album as it was, what came next was hugely dependent on the collaboration with Desmond Child, who had nothing to do with that album.

[A_MichaelUK]

>I would hope that Alice doesn't give this remastering idea too much thought right now.

Who said it was an option? It was cooperrocks who mentioned it. Alice has talked about recording new versions of those songs, not "remastering" the original recordings (which wouldn't be his decision in any case).

[RemarkablyInsincere]

There are a few good songs on CONSTRICTOR, but I really don't think the songs are there by in large.

RYFAY however is quite different. That one does have great songwriting and the album is far better than CONSTRICTOR for it.

That said, "He's Back" is one of the great songs in the Alice Cooper catalog and in my opinion it should be in the set a whole lot more often than it is. Unless it got a dour reaction from the crowd, but since I've never seen it live, I can't say.

[pitkin88]

There is only one song I wouldn't mind being remade and that is " Return Of The Spiders ". The production is very thin and Neal's drums sound like biscuit tins. It was probably the first song that Alice sang that sounded like the Alice we know and love. Pump up Dennis's bass, mic Neal up in the mix, have Mike drive it along and let Steve Hunter play the hell out of the solo.

[mestreech]

Haha, and I like Return of the Spiders very much!
I also love the second part of RYFAY, imo a much better album than Constrictor.
I think I NEVER like that album only Teenage Frankenstein and NO even He's back is NOT a strong song. If I recall correct the original mix was rejected by the recordcompany. Hoped they did the same with the definite mix