Trash

This 1989 album is the one that lifted Alice Cooper back into the international rock ’n’ roll conversation. Cooper—who'd watched others throughout the ’80s lift ideas that he’d originated—got together with his Epic Records A&R man and hatched the perfect comeback. First they enlisted hit songwriter Desmond Child to produce and cowrite tracks; then they got some of the era's biggest names (Steven Tyler, Joe Perry, Kip Winger, Jon Bon Jovi, Richie Sambora, etc.) to guest on the album. The results gave up Alice Cooper’s biggest ever hit single (“Poison”) and lots of worthy hard rockers that mixed slickness with guts without sacrificing all of Cooper’s patented wit (especially on “This Maniac’s in Love with You”). Other highlights include a Child and Joan Jett cowrite (“House of Fire”), a classic-sounding Cooper ballad (“Only My Heart Talkin’”), a Dianne Warren cowrite (the hit “Bed of Nails”), and cut-to-chase pop-metal anthems (the title song, “I’m Your Gun,” “Why Trust You”).