Trash (Alice Cooper album)

Trash is the eleventh studio album released by Alice Cooper in 1989. 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 featured 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.

Trash
Studio album by Alice Cooper
Released	July 25, 1989
Recorded	1988-1989, Bearsville Studios, The Power Station, Right Track, Sigma Sound Studios, Mediasound, Grog Kill Studios, Village Recorders, The Complex, Record Plant, Blue Jay Studios, Sanctuary Sound
Genre	Glam metal, hard rock
Length	40:11
Label	Epic
Producer	Desmond Child
Alice Cooper chronology
Raise Your Fist and Yell (1987) Trash (1989) Hey Stoopid (1991)
Singles from Trash
"Poison" Released: July 7, 1989 "Bed of Nails" Released: October 7, 1989 "House of Fire" Released: November 1989 "Only My Heart Talkin'" Released: March 1990

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]

Overview

After Alice's 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, Steven Tyler, as well as singer/guitarist Kane Roberts, who left Cooper's band in 1988. Songwriting contributions were also made by Joan Jett, Diane Warren, Jon Bon Jovi, Richie Sambora, and John McCurry.

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Poison"	Alice Cooper · Desmond Child · John McCurry	4:29
2.	"Spark in the Dark"	Cooper · Child	3:52
3.	"House of Fire"	Cooper · Child · Joan Jett	3:47
4.	"Why Trust You"	Cooper · Child	3:12
5.	"Only My Heart Talkin'"	Cooper · Bruce Roberts · Andy Goldmark	4:47
6.	"Bed of Nails"	Cooper · Child · Kane Roberts · Diane Warren	4:20
7.	"This Maniac's in Love with You"	Cooper · Child · Bob Held · Tom Teeley	3:48
8.	"Trash"	Cooper · Child · Mark Frazier · Jamie Sever	4:01
9.	"Hell Is Living Without You"	Cooper · Child · Jon Bon Jovi · Richie Sambora	4:11
10.	"I'm Your Gun"	Cooper · Child · McCurry	3:47
Total length:			40:11

Additional tracks on the Japanese release

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
11.	"Cold Ethyl (live)"	Cooper · Bob Ezrin
12.	"Ballad of Dwight Fry (live)"	Michael Bruce · Cooper

Additional tracks on the 2014 Japanese LTD Blu-spec CD II Remastered Re-issue

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
11.	"Only My Heart Talkin' (Radio Edit)"	Cooper · Roberts · Goldmark
12.	"I Got a Line on You"	Randy California

Personnel

Main musicians

• Alice Cooper – vocals
• John McCurry – guitar
• Hugh McDonald – bass
• Bobby Chouinard – drums
• Alan St. John – keyboards

Additional personnel

Steven Tyler – vocals (track 5) Jon Bon Jovi – vocals (track 8) Kip Winger – vocals (track 10) Joe Perry – guitar (track 3) Richie Sambora – guitar (track 9)

Steve Lukather – guitar (track 9) Kane Roberts – guitar (track 6) Guy Mann-Dude – guitar (tracks 2, 4, 7) Tom Hamilton – bass (track 8) Joey Kramer – drums (track 8)

Mark Frazier – guitar (track 8) Jack Johnson – guitar (track 8) Paul Chiten – keyboards Steve Deutsch – synth programming Gregg Mangiafico – keyboards & special effects

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.

Outtakes

The following additional songs were written and recorded for the album but remain unreleased: "Low Class Reunion", "The Ballad of Alice Cooper", "Bad Angel", "Good Girl Gone Bad" as well as "Aggrolat". Cooper himself did not want to release these tracks because he thought at the time that these tunes "weren't that good to start with". Later, Cooper also noted that the songs that remained unreleased have been written in a Rock'n'Roll vein, but can be defined different to the individual listener.[2]

Live performances

Trash is the most represented album outside the 1971 to 1975 era in Alice Cooper's concert setlists;[3] however this is wholly due to lead single “Poison”, which has been performed consistently on all tours since the album's release and has become the sixth-most-performed song in his catalogue and the most-performed from after Welcome to My Nightmare.[4] The only other songs from Trash that have ever been performed since the close of the album's tour are “House of Fire”, which was a regular on the 2012 to 2015 Raise the Dead Tour,[5] “Trash” which was a regular part of setlists on the Descent into Dragontown Tour,[6] and “Bed of Nails” in 1996, 2004, and 2019.[7] “Why Trust You” and “Hell Is Living Without You” have never been played live.

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts Chart (1989–1990) Peak position bgcolor="#efefef" Australian Albums (ARIA)[8] 5 bgcolor="#efefef" Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[9] 4 bgcolor="#efefef" Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[10] 53 bgcolor="#efefef" German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[11] 16 bgcolor="#efefef" New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[12] 6 bgcolor="#efefef" Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[13] 4 bgcolor="#efefef" Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[14] 6 bgcolor="#efefef" Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[15] 10 UK Albums (OCC)[16] 2 bgcolor="#efefef" US Billboard 200[17] 20

Certifications and sales Region Certification Certified units/sales Australia (ARIA)[18] Platinum 70,000^^ Austria (IFPI Austria)[19] Gold 25,000^* Canada (Music Canada)[20] Platinum 100,000^^ Finland (Musiikkituottajat)[21] Gold 50,912[21] Germany (BVMI)[22] Gold 250,000^^ New Zealand (RMNZ)[23] Platinum 15,000^^ Sweden (GLF)[24] Gold 50,000^^ Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[25] Gold 25,000^^ United States (RIAA)[26] Platinum 1,000,000^^ ^* Sales figures based on certification alone. ^^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Single releases

Year	Title	Chart positions							Certifications
		US [27]	US M. [28]	UK [29]	NZ [30]	AU [31]	SE [32]	CA [33]
1989	"Poison"	7	15	2	2	3	10	40	BPI: Gold[34] GLF: Gold[35] MC: Gold[36] RIAA: Gold[37]
	"Bed of Nails"	—	—	38	27	13	18	—
	"House of Fire"	56	39	65	—	80	—	98
1990	"Only My Heart Talkin'"	89	19	—	—	47	—	78

References

1. "Trash – Alice Cooper – Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved 2015-07-13.
2. "Unreleased Songs". SickthingsUK. Retrieved 2015-07-13.
3. setlist.fm; Alice Cooper Albums total
4. setlist.fm; Alice Cooper Songs total
5. setlist.fm; ‘House of Fire’ by Alice Cooper Setlist Statistics
6. setlist.fm; ‘Trash’ by Alice Cooper Setlist Statistics
7. setlist.fm; ‘Bed of Nails’ by Alice Cooper Setlist Statistics
8. "Australiancharts.com – Alice Cooper – Trash". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2015-07-13.
9. "Austriancharts.at – Alice Cooper – Trash" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 2015-07-13.
10. "Dutchcharts.nl – Alice Cooper – Trash" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 2015-07-13.
11. "Longplay-Chartverfolgung at Musicline" (in German). Musicline.de. Phononet GmbH. Retrieved 2015-07-13.
12. "Charts.nz – Alice Cooper – Trash". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2015-07-13.
13. "Norwegiancharts.com – Alice Cooper – Trash". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2015-07-13.
14. "Swedishcharts.com – Alice Cooper – Trash". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2015-07-13.
15. "Swisscharts.com – Alice Cooper – Trash". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2015-07-13.
16. "UK Album Chart Positions – Trash". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 2015-07-13.
17. "Alice Cooper Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard.
18. Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia’s Music Charts 1988–2010 (PDF ed.). Mt Martha, Victoria, Australia: Moonlight Publishing. p. 66.
19. "Austrian album certifications – Alice Cooper – Trash" (in German). IFPI Austria.
20. "Canadian album certifications – Alice Cooper – Trash". Music Canada.
21. "Alice Cooper" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland.
22. "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Alice Cooper; 'Trash')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie.
23. "NZ Top 40 Albums Chart (20/05/1990)". The Official New Zealand Music Chart. Retrieved 2015-07-13.
24. "Guld- och Platinacertifikat − År 1987−1998" (PDF) (in Swedish). IFPI Sweden.
25. "The Official Swiss Charts and Music Community: Awards (Alice Cooper; 'Trash')". IFPI Switzerland. Hung Medien.
26. "American album certifications – Alice Cooper – Trash". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH. 
27. "Alice Cooper – Chart history (The Hot 100)". Billboard Magazine. Retrieved 2015-07-13.
28. "Alice Cooper – Chart history (Mainstream Rock Songs)". Billboard Magazine. Retrieved 2015-07-13.
29. "British Single Chart Positions – Alice Cooper". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 2015-07-13.
30. "Alice Cooper – New Zealand Single Chart Positions". The Official New Zealand Music Chart. Retrieved 2015-07-13.
31. "Alice Cooper – Australian Single Chart Positions". Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 2015-07-13.
32. "Alice Cooper – Swedish Single Chart Positions". Sverigetopplistan. Retrieved 2015-07-13.
33. "Alice Cooper – Canadian Single Chart Positions (Search for the Artist and Single title)". RPM Magazine. Retrieved 2015-07-13.
34. "British certifications – Alice Cooper – Poison". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 2015-07-13. Type Poison in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
35. "Guld- och Platinacertifikat − År 1987−1998" (PDF) (in Swedish). IFPI Sweden. Retrieved 2015-07-13.
36. "Canadian certifications – Alice Cooper – Poison". Music Canada. Retrieved 2015-07-13.
37. "American certifications – Alice Cooper – Poison". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 2015-07-13.