Revisiting: Kane Roberts' "S/T"

Welcome to the third installment in my brand new kind of review series. Damn, that headline doesn't look good no matter what I do with it. Oh well. Since I started off this series with Alice Cooper's excellent "Raise Your Fist And Yell" album, I thought it would be fitting to revisit and do a breakdown of this album as well. Let's go!

Band/artist: Kane Roberts
Album: Kane Roberts (S/T)
Release year: 1987
Style: Glam Metal

Quick introduction: I'm guessing most of you who read this are probably here because you were actively Googling for Kane Roberts. If not, then let me introduce the man. Kane Roberts was a promising guitar player who's mostly known for his work with Alice Cooper. He helped the Coop in relaunching his career during the mid 80's after years of alcohol abuse and some album flops. It was a successful collaboration. Alice's career took off once again, now playing more of an 80's heavy metal style compared to his earlier classic (shock/hard) rock sound.

Kane Roberts himself was also known for playing a guitar designed as a machine gun, as well as for being a body builder. This made him something of a "metal Rambo" in media and MCA (Alice's record company at the time) tried to capitalize on his looks and guitar talents, launching a solo career for the man. It seems, however, that it was more or less a flop as it's fairly hard to find his solo music or any information about him. Not even his time with Alice Cooper, despite being quite successful, seems to have much substantial information to find these days.

1. Rock Doll

This was an MTV video back in the day. For being a single it's ironically a track I kind of like the least on the entire album. It's not bad but I've heard it a thousand times before. It's just your typical run-of-the-mill party track, 80's glam style. Nothing too memorable.

2. Women On The Edge Of Love

This is better. It's not as rocking as the album's opener but it's a lot more melodic, which I prefer in this case. It's obvious you're in for a typical 80's album as it's got your trademark cheese keys, almost bordering on an AOR-ish sound. It doesn't matter, the song is catchy as hell. I like it.

3. Triple X

"Triple X! It's only sex 'til it crosses the line!" The lyrics might not be something worth remembering but then again, whenever were glam lyrics that memorable anyway? This song is great, though. Kane also does a great solo on this one. Now the chorus is stuck on my mind. It's super catchy!

4. Gorilla

Just another case of "your typical", this time in form of a short guitar instrumental. If you ever bought an album in the 80's with some kind of guitar monster featured, it always had a "wank track" like this. This is just not that exciting, though.

5. Outlaw

This is the heaviest track so far. Short and straight to the point. The guitar(s) sound great here, riffs as solo. It's also got some of those lovely 80's style gang vocals in the chorus. OUTLAW! Cool song.

6. If This Is Heaven

The album's most upbeat-sounding track to my ears. It's not overly upbeat but more so than the others. It's pretty much another 80's anthemic song. Not superb but good enough. The chorus is once again a catchy thing.

7. Out For Blood

Like you can probably guess from the title it's going for a heavier route again. This is definitely the album's heaviest and most uptempo track. Speedy riff and pounding drums all complete with a gang vox chorus and a long blistering solo. One of the best tracks on here.

8. Full Pull

This is the only track on the album to feature a collaboration with the Coop himself, who did some or all lyrical work. The song itself, however, is amongst the album's weaker ones. It definitely lacks the same kind of memorability in chorus and solo compared to the other tracks.

9. Too Much (For Anyone To Touch)

...And the cheese-keys are back. To put it very simply: this is as 80's as it gets. Imagine the most 80's-sounding metal song you can think of and this is right up that alley. But I'm not dissing, I think this track is great. It's extremely catchy and I used to strongly associate it with Kelly Bundy (Christina Applegate) from Married With Children, whom I had a mad crush on during my late teens.

10. Tears of Fire

"She had a hand in my sex education, took me down right by the river." These lyrics sure are something special. All accompanied by one of those extremely soppy 80's metal ballads, musically speaking. This song and its lyrics have been a standing joke between me and my buddy for a decade, even though we haven't heard it for years. "But I still remember baby when she came..." Yeah I remember it too, Kane.

11. Strong Arm Needs A Stronger Heart

At this point I'm really out of ideas how to describe it without repeating myself. It's just more of the same, but since it's catchy and super 80's sounding I guess it's a good thing, right?

Overall impression:

So this was Kane Roberts' first solo album. I think it's pretty safe to say it didn't left much of a mark in metal history, despite sounding like basically any other successful guitar-shreddy 80's glam album. Musically it's a very cheesy album most of the time, but it's also an extremely catchy and memorable album. Despite not having listened to it for a decade or so, I find myself remembering these songs very clearly. Most of all I find it a fun album to listen to. Isn't that what truly matters?

If I compare this to what Kane did with the Coop I've gotta say I prefer the Coop stuff. Well, maybe not the "Constrictor" album but definitely "Raise Your Fist And Yell". This album, however, has better guitar solos from Kane in my opinion. He really gets to show more of his musical abilities on here, while with Alice he did more odd stuff during solos. I suppose you can call Kane another 80's guitar virtuoso, but he's also not that over the top. Guys like George Lynch or Warren DeMartini would beat him any day, in my opinion.

Sadly Kane Roberts' never truly took off. He got a fair amount of spotlight while playing with Alice, but in retrospect it's perhaps not a generally favored era in Alice's career either. Say what you will about Kane Roberts - the man could certainly play guitar really well and he seemed to be quite a showman as well. It's also pretty safe to say that he was rather productive at the time, releasing three albums over two years time. Personally I really enjoy his stuff with Alice as well as his solo stuff.

Revisiting: Alice Cooper's "Raise Your Fist And Yell"

Welcome to the first post in a whole new series I've decided to do. I've done a bunch of different reviews series by now but nothing quite like this. You see, I've decided to dig up old albums which I used to crank on a regular basis, but have kind of "forgotten" about in more recent years. I guess you could also call it nostalgia reviews, of sorts.

I will also review each album in this series differently to previous reviews. Instead of writing the review more like a summary of everything, I'm gonna do detailed commenting on each track as well as the albums' productions and overall sounds. What am I waiting for, let's get started!

Band/artist: Alice Cooper
Album: Raise Your Fist And Yell
Release year: 1987
Style: Heavy Metal 

Quick introduction: Alice Cooper goes far back with me. As a child I really enjoyed his music, although it was mostly some of his 70's hits. I always loved old school metal and hard rock music as a kid, having young metalhead parents and all, but when I got my own interest in the subject there wasn't much love for Alice Cooper. Apart from Black Sabbath, Deep Purple and AC/DC there wasn't really much 70's stuff that I liked. Being an 80's metal fanatic, however, I somehow stumbled upon this album around 2007 and it was my key into Alice Cooper, but I haven't really listened much to it since cirka 2009, though.

1. Freedom

Unlike any other AC album prior to this one, this album starts off with this king of raging metal statement. A statement against the infamous PMRC - metal music's number one enemy in the 1980's. It's an anthem, a call to arms against the censorist cunts who tried to ban what we all love. Killer drums and overall a very memorable and heavy tune. It really put Alice on the 80's metal map, that's for sure.

2. Lock Me Up

This was always somewhat of a favorite track on the album, at least back in the day. Very anthemic, melodic and super 80's style heavy metal. Some people will probably think it's dated and cheesy as hell, but that's one of the many things I love about 80's metal - lots of reverb, anthemic sing-along melodies and immense power in sound and spirit. The cameo by Freddy Krueger is a great touch as well.

3. Give The Radio Back

This is one of the tracks I remember best from ten years ago. Great riff, quite catchy although not as powerful chorus as the previous tracks, but overall a cool song. Not one of my favorites on the album but it's decent enough not to feel like filler material.

4. Step On You

Very cool track and one of my favorites. Super catchy melodies and memorable instrumentation. Glam Rambo a.k.a. Kane Roberts really busts out some chops on this one, from playful noisy stuff to showcasing his skill and finesse.

5. Not That Kind Of Love

Probably my least favorite track on the album yet still a decent track. It's just not as engaging as the others.

6. Prince Of Darkness

Probably the catchiest and possibly also the most memorable song on the entire album. This has got everything that makes for a classic 80's heavy metal tune. I also can't help but to feel like they took this one somewhat more seriously than the other tracks. Maybe it's because it was in the John Carpenter movie with the same name.

7. Time To Kill

Another killer track with some great guitar work. Probably my favorite track if judged by the guitars only, but the chorus is very catchy as well. A very competent and musically thought through song. Kane Roberts also shaped one of his finest solos in this one.

8. Chop Chop Chop

Part one in what's considered something of a "trilogy" on this album, namely the album's last three tracks. Great riff and song overall but I feel the chorus is perhaps a bit lazy. It's just like that Dio song "Shoot Shoot". I just don't like it when the chorus turns into a one word "mantra" for some reason.

9. Gail

This is as classic Alice Cooper as it gets. Very atmospheric. It could've also been something straight from a King Diamond album. Very ghastly sounding.

10. Roses On White Lace

Another favorite of mine, as well as for many other fans it seems. It's a very heavy and engaging track with a faster tempo. Great riffing, powerful solo, cuper catchy chorus, and the mid section is a slightly blissful moment amidst all the chaos. I bet this was a rippin' track during the live tour.

Overall impression:

This is a very good album with some real standout tracks. A few tracks are definitely not as strong but I never feel like the album truly dips into mediocrity. It keeps a good balance throughout its entire duration and I also find it catchy and revisitable. The production is also pretty crisp and clear enough. It's not polished like the Trash album and not as cheesy sounding as Constrictor. It's got a pretty organic feel, I'd say. It seems like the production was definitely made with the songs' sound and character in mind.

I really liked this album back when I first heard it over ten years ago. Having not listened to it much, if at all, since the very end of the last decade, I still find this album highly enjoyable not to mention extremely underrated. It might be a bit on the heavy side for an Alice Cooper album, but I for one am really happy he decided to embrace a heavier side as well. Hell, after hearing the Brutal Planet album this one is pretty tame in comparison. That is, by the way, another underrated but totally killer album from AC.

Being more of an Alice Cooper fan for these past ten years than I was during my first five as a metalhead, I can happily say that Raise Your Fist And Yell is one of my top-3 favorite albums of his. It really is a great album, if you can look past a few moments of extreme 80's cheese. If you're like me, however, it will probably just make you like it even more.