Trash (Alice Cooper album)

Trash
Studio album by
Alice Cooper
ReleasedJuly 25, 1989
RecordedMay–June 1989
Studio
  • Grog Kill
  • The Complex
  • Blue Jay
  • Sanctuary Sound
GenreGlam metal
Length40:11
LabelEpic
ProducerDesmond Child
Alice Cooper chronology
Raise Your Fist and Yell
(1987) 		Trash
(1989) 		Prince of Darkness
(1989)
Singles from Trash
  1. "Poison"
    Released: July 17, 1989
  2. "Bed of Nails"
    Released: September 25, 1989
  3. "House of Fire"
    Released: November 1989
  4. "Only My Heart Talkin'"
    Released: April 1990[1]
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[3]

Trash is the eleventh solo studio album by American rock musician Alice Cooper. It was released on July 25, 1989, by Epic Records. The album features the single "Poison", Cooper's first top ten hit since his single "You and Me" in 1977 and marked a great success in Cooper's musical career, reaching the Top 20 of various album charts and selling more than two million copies. Trash features John McCurry (who has previously worked with Julian Lennon) on guitar, Hugh McDonald of Bon Jovi on bass as well as Bobby Chouinard and Alan St. Jon, both from Billy Squier's solo band on drums and keyboards, respectively. The album was the "biggest hit among his hair metal albums",[4] peaking at number two in the UK and number 20 in the US.

Overview

After his return to the music industry with the successful "The Nightmare Returns" tour, Cooper had sought assistance from Desmond Child to create a comeback album. Trash became one of Cooper's biggest albums, accompanied by music videos for "Poison", "Bed of Nails", "House of Fire", and "Only My Heart Talkin'". A successful year-long worldwide concert tour in support of the album was documented in the home video release Alice Cooper Trashes The World.

The album features many guest performances including Jon Bon Jovi, Stiv Bators, and singer/guitarist Kane Roberts (who left Cooper's band in 1988), as well as four of the five members of Aerosmith, Cooper's 1970s contemporaries who were also making a successful comeback at the time (only Brad Whitford did not participate). Songwriting contributions were also made by Joan Jett, Diane Warren, Jon Bon Jovi, Richie Sambora, and John McCurry.

Critical reception

The album has received mostly positive reviews. AllMusic reviewer Alex Henderson gave the album four stars out of five describing it as a "highly slick and commercial yet edgy pop-metal effort that temporarily restored him to the charts in a big way".[2] Rolling Stone placed the album at 36 on their list of the "50 Greatest Hair Metal Albums of All Time".[5] Kerrang! put the album in sixth place in on their ranking of every Alice Cooper album.[6] MetalSucks included the album at No. 7 on their list of "The Ten Best Must-Have Glam Metal Albums".[7]

Track listing

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Poison"Alice Cooper · Desmond Child · John McCurry4:29
2."Spark in the Dark"Cooper · Child3:52
3."House of Fire"Cooper · Child · Joan Jett3:47
4."Why Trust You"Cooper · Child3:12
5."Only My Heart Talkin'"Cooper · Bruce Roberts · Andy Goldmark4:47
6."Bed of Nails"Cooper · Child · Kane Roberts · Diane Warren4:20
7."This Maniac's in Love with You"Cooper · Child · Bob Held · Tom Teeley3:48
8."Trash"Cooper · Child · Mark Frazier · Jamie Sever4:01
9."Hell Is Living Without You"Cooper · Child · Jon Bon Jovi · Richie Sambora4:11
10."I'm Your Gun"Cooper · Child · McCurry3:47
Total length:40:11
Additional tracks on the 2014 Japanese LTD Blu-spec CD II Remastered Re-issue
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
11."Only My Heart Talkin'" (Radio Edit)Cooper · Roberts · Goldmark3:57
12."I Got a Line on You"Randy California3:00
Additional tracks on the Japanese release
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
11."Cold Ethyl" (live)Cooper · Bob Ezrin 
12."Ballad of Dwight Fry" (live)Michael Bruce · Cooper 

Personnel

Main musicians
Additional personnel

Production

  • Produced by Desmond Child
  • Recorded by Sir Arthur Payson, Obie O'Brien and Nick DiDia (both at Sanctuary Studios), George Cowan (at Bearsville), Mark Tanzer (at Blue Jay), Lolly Grodner (at Mediasound), Ben Fowler (at Power Station), John Herman (at Right Track), Brian Peterofsky (at Sigma Sound).
  • Assistant Engineers: Duane Seykora (at The Complex) and Robert Hart (Village Recorders).
  • Mixed by Steve Thompson and Michael Barbiero.
  • Mastered by George Marino.

Charts

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/sales
Certifications for Trash by Alice Cooper
Australia (ARIA)[28] Platinum 70,000^
Austria (IFPI Austria)[29] Gold 25,000*
Canada (Music Canada)[30] Platinum 100,000^
Finland (Musiikkituottajat)[31] Gold 50,912[31]
Germany (BVMI)[32] Gold 250,000^
New Zealand (RMNZ)[33] Platinum 15,000^
Sweden (GLF)[34] Gold 50,000^
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[35] Gold 25,000^
United States (RIAA)[36] Platinum 1,000,000^

* Sales figures based on certification alone.
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

  1. ^ "Great Rock Discography". p. 171.
  2. ^ a b "Trash – Alice Cooper – Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved 2015-07-13.
  3. ^ Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian, eds. (2004). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). New York: Fireside Books. p. 11–13. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
  4. ^ Popoff, Martin (August 15, 2014). The Big Book of Hair Metal: The Illustrated Oral History of Heavy Metal's Debauched Decade. Voyageur Press. p. 171. ISBN 978-0-7603-4546-7.
  5. ^ "50 Greatest Hair Metal Albums of All Time". Rolling Stone. 2019-08-31. Retrieved 2021-03-02.
  6. ^ "Alice Cooper: Every Album Ranked From Worst To Best". Kerrang!. Retrieved 2021-05-29.
  7. ^ Matt, Metal (2010-07-21). "METALSUCKS & BRING BACK GLAM! PRESENT THE TEN BEST MUST-HAVE GLAM METAL ALBUMS: DAY TWO". MetalSucks. Retrieved 2021-05-29.
  8. ^ "Australiancharts.com – Alice Cooper – Trash". Hung Medien. Retrieved May 25, 2024.
  9. ^ "Austriancharts.at – Alice Cooper – Trash" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved May 25, 2024.
  10. ^ "Top RPM Albums: Issue 9195". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved May 25, 2024.
  11. ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Alice Cooper – Trash" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved May 25, 2024.
  12. ^ Pennanen, Timo (2021). "Alice Cooper". Sisältää hitin - 2. laitos Levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla 1.1.1960–30.6.2021 (PDF) (in Finnish). Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava. p. 52.
  13. ^ "Longplay-Chartverfolgung at Musicline" (in German). Musicline.de. Phononet GmbH. Retrieved May 25, 2024.
  14. ^ "Album Top 40 slágerlista – 1990. 44. hét" (in Hungarian). MAHASZ. Retrieved May 25, 2024.
  15. ^ "Charts.nz – Alice Cooper – Trash". Hung Medien. Retrieved May 25, 2024.
  16. ^ "Norwegiancharts.com – Alice Cooper – Trash". Hung Medien.
  17. ^ "Swedishcharts.com – Alice Cooper – Trash". Hung Medien. Retrieved May 25, 2024=true.
  18. ^ "Swisscharts.com – Alice Cooper – Trash". Hung Medien. Retrieved May 25, 2024.
  19. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved May 25, 2024.
  20. ^ "Alice Cooper Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved May 25, 2024.
  21. ^ "ARIA Top 50 Albums for 1989". ARIA Charts. Retrieved March 5, 2022.
  22. ^ "European Top 100 Albums 1989" (PDF). Music & Media. December 23, 1989. p. 9. Archived (PDF) from the original on September 27, 2021. Retrieved December 23, 2019.
  23. ^ "Top 100 Album - Jahrescharts" (in German). Offiziellecharts.de. Archived from the original on March 22, 2016. Retrieved December 5, 2015.
  24. ^ "RPM Top 100 Albums of 1990". RPM. December 12, 1994. Retrieved May 13, 2012.
  25. ^ Bakker, Machgiel (December 22, 1990). "1990 REVIEW: Music & Media Year -End Awards . European Top 100 Albums 1990" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 7, no. 51. pp. 29, 38. Retrieved May 20, 2021.
  26. ^ "Top 100 Album-Jahrescharts" (in German). GfK Entertainment. Retrieved December 5, 2015.
  27. ^ "Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End". Billboard. Archived from the original on March 14, 2021. Retrieved March 5, 2022.
  28. ^ Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010 (PDF ed.). Mt Martha, Victoria, Australia: Moonlight Publishing. p. 66.
  29. ^ "Austrian album certifications – Alice Cooper – Trash" (in German). IFPI Austria.
  30. ^ "Canadian album certifications – Alice Cooper – Trash". Music Canada.
  31. ^ a b "Alice Cooper" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland.
  32. ^ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Alice Cooper; 'Trash')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie.
  33. ^ "New Zealand album certifications – Alice Cooper – Trash". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved 2024-11-20.
  34. ^ "Guld- och Platinacertifikat − År 1987−1998" (PDF) (in Swedish). IFPI Sweden. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-05-17.
  35. ^ "The Official Swiss Charts and Music Community: Awards ('Trash')". IFPI Switzerland. Hung Medien.
  36. ^ "American album certifications – Alice Cooper – Trash". Recording Industry Association of America.