Tommy Snöberg Söderberg 
Musically speaking, Raise Your Fist and Yell is an even harder album than its predecessor Constrictor! There is also more focus on violence in the lyrics, and I think it fits very well with the music.
The album opens with the hit Freedom, whose lyrics might be considered rather clichéd, but at the same time refreshingly critical of his home country, the USA. Granted, it is all done with tongue firmly in cheek, something Alice has maintained throughout most of his career. Self-irony, or perhaps rather a reflection on the outside world’s perception of Alice, is already present in the introduction to the second song Lock Me Up – “Alice Cooper, you have been accused of mass mental cruelty. How do you plead? Guilty! Hahaha!”
Corny? Yes, perhaps, but oh so entertaining and perfectly in line with the Alice character.
The album naturally contains a couple of weak songs, with Give the Radio Back leading the way. It is, of course, done in the Alice Cooper manner, and the rhyme Give the radio back to the maniacs and the rest of the lyrics could perhaps be interpreted as different radio stations playing music that is too bland. There are probably other interpretations as well, and I will readily admit that my interpretation isn’t entirely logical in every respect of the lyrics.
Movie music appears once again on this album – John Carpenter’s Prince of Darkness, in which Alice also has a cameo. The lyrics reflect the movie quite well, and I really like the song. Overall, I think this album is a notch better than its predecessor, and there also seems to be a little story or trilogy woven into the latter part about a madman who can’t distinguish reality from the splatter movie he is watching. This culminates in the closing Roses on White Lace, which isn’t quite as beautiful as the title suggests and has more in common with the ultra-gory movie Flowers of Flesh and Blood, where the main character can’t quite distinguish between blood and beautiful roses…
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