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Constrictor (1986)

Where the lyrics of Constrictor take you, and where it was really made.

Bassist Kip Winger's name was misprinted as Wringer in the album credits, and Winger himself later pointed out the error.

Key places

Recorded at Atlantic Studios, New York (1986)

Recording site Atlantic Studios (New York City) — The release credits list Atlantic Studios in New York as the place where the album was recorded. The marker shows the studio's listed location. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Amigo Studios, Los Angeles (1986)

Recording site Amigo Studios — The release credits list Amigo Studios in Los Angeles as the place where track B2 was recorded and where the album was mixed. The marker shows the studio's listed location. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Constrictor: ninth solo album and sixteenth studio album overall by American rock singer Alice Cooper
• Released 22 September 1986
• First album since DaDa in 1983
• Peaked at No. 59 on the Billboard 200
• Rear cover credits MCA Records, 1986

Background

• Cooper had left Los Angeles after his alcoholism, which the source describes as Hollywood-abetted
• Cooper said it was fun to plug into LA from a distance rather than living there
• The album marked his return after the 1983 DaDa release
• Kane Roberts on guitar and Kip Winger on bass were new to a Cooper studio album here
• David Rosenberg played drums, the only Cooper studio album to feature him

Recording

• The album was partly recorded in Los Angeles
• The Discogs release notes list Atlantic Studios in New York as the main recording location
• Track B2 was recorded at Amigo Studios in Los Angeles
• The album was mixed at Amigo Studios and mastered at The Mastering Lab
• Beau Hill and Michael Wagener share production credits
• Stephen Benben is credited as engineer
• Kip Winger's surname is misspelled as Wringer in the album credits

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · discogs.com

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• Alice Cooper originated in Phoenix, Arizona in 1964 as a band formed by Vincent Damon Furnier, Glen Buxton, Michael Bruce, Dennis Dunaway and Neal Smith.
• The group first performed as the Earwigs and later renamed themselves the Spiders and then Nazz.
• In 1968 the band adopted the name Alice Cooper, which was later also the new legal name of Furnier.

Members

• The classic lineup consisted of Furnier (lead vocals), Buxton (lead guitar), Bruce (rhythm guitar), Dunaway (bass) and Smith (drums).
• Furnier legally changed his name to Alice Cooper after the band disbanded in 1975.

Career

• The band released seven studio albums from 1969 to 1973, including Love It to Death, Killer, School's Out and Billion Dollar Babies.
• The band is known as a pioneer of shock rock, using theatrical stage shows with props and illusions.
• As a solo artist he released Welcome to My Nightmare in 1975 and has released 30 studio albums in total.
• The original band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2011.
• Cooper is considered by music journalists and peers to be 'The Godfather of Shock Rock'.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• AllMusic critic Barry Weber gave the album 3 out of 5 stars
• Weber wrote that no song matches the hits of the peak 1970s, but the songs here are surprisingly lively and witty

Records

• Billboard 200: reached No. 59
• UK album chart: reached No. 41
• UK singles: the lead single He's Back (The Man Behind the Mask) reached No. 61, and Teenage Frankenstein reached No. 80
• Sweden album chart: reached No. 17, the first top 60 entry there since Flash the Fashion in 1980
• First US top 200 album since Special Forces in 1981

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · ja.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• Kip Winger's surname was printed as Wringer in the album credits, and Winger later pointed out the error.
• He's Back (The Man Behind the Mask) was written for the film Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives and reached No. 4 in Sweden in 1987.
• A reworked version of the demo of He's Back landed on the album as Trick Bag.
• Hard Rock Summer was used in the film but did not end up on the album.
• Three songs from the album, Teenage Frankenstein, Give It Up and The World Needs Guts, were regularly performed on the Nightmare Returns tour.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · ja.wikipedia.org

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