From The Inside is the 11th 'Alice Cooper' studio album and was released in 1978. Another concept album, this was based around Alice's real-life experience of spending time at the Cornell Medical Centre, New York for his alcoholism a year earlier and, more specifically, some of the interesting characters he met whilst incarcerated. 

Newly sober (at least temporarily) the album was particularly interesting due to its semi-autobiographical nature. Combined with a modern rock-based sound, and a return to a more familiar-looking Alice on the cover, the album offered much to tempt fans. A notable absentee, however, was Producer Bob Ezrin who, aside from the 1983's Dada album, would not work with Alice again until 2000's Brutal Planet. 

There is plenty of strong material here, with From The Inside, Wish I Were Born In Beverly Hills, Nurse Rozetta and Inmates being real highlights. Alice, already known for his love of ballads by this stage, includes a hefty three of them on this album. They all have their merits though, with the reflective The Quiet Room and How You Gonna See Me Now joined by the amusing Mille and Billie (a duet with Marcy Levy / Marcella Detroit).

From The Inside ranks, in my opinion, as one of Alice's best solo albums. Sadly, dark times were just around the corner...    

This USA promotional 12" double vinyl set was distributed by Warner Brothers to radio stations, the music press and music industry V.I.P.s in support of the From The Inside album. Divided into four 'Segments' and narrated by M.G. Kelly, it is essentially an audio documentary with a mixture of samples from tracks across Alice's career to-date along with commentary by Kelly, Alice, Sheryl Cooper, Shep Gordon and un-named fans.

Segment One (10 minutes and 32 seconds)

Listeners are introduced by Kelly as follows:

"For the next 90 minutes* you’ll take a spellbinding journey inside the man known as Alice Cooper. See the name Alice Cooper and the mind fills with visions of horror, snakes, guillotines and black widow spiders. Quite simply a nightmare brought to boil by the fires of hell. Come join us as we examine the legends of Alice Cooper from the outside and the inside. To understand the legend one must first be aware of the beginnings. A young man from Detroit, Michigan seemingly normal by most standards yet later in life chose to sleep in a coffin, wear makeup, and become the centuries most unconventional showman."

* The total running time is actually closer to 70 minutes.

This Segment includes short samples of 16 pre From The Inside tracks together with commentary on the following subject matters:

> Alice's image;

> I’m Eighteen;
> The Fragile Elite; 
> Use of snakes on stage; and
> Getting a reaction from audiences.

Segment Two (21 minutes and 3 seconds)

This Segment includes much longer (near full-length) samples of five pre From The Inside tracks together with commentary on the following subject matters:  

> Fame and being present popular culture;
> The sensitive side of Alice;
> Sheryl meeting and falling in love with Alice;
> How You and Me is relevant to Alice and Sheryl’s relationship; 
> Bob Dylan's appreciation of Alice as a songwriter; and
> Being part of a hated rock band.

Segment Three (18 minutes and 17 seconds)

This Segment includes long samples of Ballad Of Dwight Fry plus the first five tracks of From The Inside tracks together with commentary on the following subject matters:  

> Similarities between the character Dwight Fry and From The Inside Alice;

> Experiencing insanity;
> Getting lost on the road;
> Losing the battle with alcohol;
> The Quiet Room; and
> The psychotic characters Mille and Billie.

Segment Four (18 minutes and 32 seconds)

This Segment includes long samples of the last five tracks of From The Inside together with commentary on the following subject matters:  

> The Hollywood Vampires drinking club;

> The meaning behind the lyrics for How You Gonna See Me Now;

> Alice's recovery from alcoholism;

> The character Jackknife Johnny; and

> Killing chickens.

The discs feature cream Warner Brother labels, which state 'PROMOTIONAL NOT FOR SALE'. These are housed in a plain gatefold sleeve with simple 'ALICE COOPER RADIO SPECIAL' text on the front.

All-in-all this is a superb package and although quite hard-to-find, is an essential and fascinating addition to anyone's Alice Cooper collection.

Discogs Link: Click Here

After the conservative offerings of Welcome To My Nightmare, Goes To Hell and Lace And Whiskey, the vinyl release of From The Inside saw a welcome return to the more elaborate style packaging of the original Alice Cooper Group albums. This time fans were treated to a large image of Alice in full, purple-tinted, makeup on the front with the cover opening from the centre to reveal a room full of Alice's fellow patients in the New York sanatorium (where he spent several months in 1977). Alice is nowhere to be seen, but his location is revealed when you open the door to the 'Quiet Room', where he is then seen cowering away. Returning to the front cover, if you look into either of Alice's eyes, you will see more inmates in a recreation of the approach used on the inside of the Love It To Death album.     

The inner sleeve can be accessed by sliding it out from either side. This includes the above mentioned image of Alice on one side plus track listings, lyrics and credits. On the other side is a victorious image of Alice and chums being released from the sanatorium. This image is also seen when you open a pair of doors on the back cover (which include further credits).

This USA 12" promotional copy features a round / gold 'PROMOTIONAL COPY NOT FOR SALE' stamp on the front, which was also used on promotional copies of the Flush The Fashion album. I have also recreated two hype stickers, which were originally used to seal the front cover.

The disc features cream Warner Brother labels, which are identical to USA stock copies (i.e. the gold stamp on the front is the only way to differentiate promotional copies from stock copies).

This is an iconic release and probably the best packaging of any solo Alice Cooper release. An essential part of any collection!

Discogs Link: Click Here

This UK 1st pressing of From The Inside is exactly the same as the USA promotional copy (above) only that it features slightly different vinyl labels and does not include the promotional stickers and stamp on the front.

Discogs Link: Click Here

This European 180 gram vinyl re-issue faithfully recreates much of the packaging of the original 1978 release with the central opening front cover retained. Unfortunately, the doors on the back do not open, nor does the door to the 'Quiet Room' inside. This is a shame as it means that the images on the record cover are not used as they were originally intended. Still, it's good to have the album on 180 gram format for playing purposes.

Discogs Link: Click Here

Following similar releases for Trash and Hey Stoopid in 2017, Music On Vinyl produced this re-issue of From The Inside in 2018. As before, this is also limited to 1,500 individually stamped copies (of which this is #0923).

Unlike the other 2 albums mentioned above, this European album had previously been released by Music On Vinyl (see above) and is exactly the same with the notable exception of the beautiful translucent green and white 180g vinyl disc. Unfortunately, that still means that the doors on the back do not open, nor does the door to the 'Quiet Room' inside. Still, when the vinyl looks this good then you can forgive these omissions!

Discogs Link: Click Here

This 140 gram European vinyl re-issue of From The Inside features an elaborate gatefold sleeve design (which closely resembles the original release, above) and a nice translucent 'Green / Black Swirl' vinyl. The disc features cream Warner Brothers labels and was limited to 5,000 copies worldwide.

It was released as part of the 2018 'Rocktober' event along with re-issues of Goes To Hell and Lace And Whiskey. Bizarrely, this was released within a few days of the above re-issue of the same album by Music On Vinyl. This is probably the better version though, as the doors at the back open, as does the door to the 'Quiet Room' inside. That said, I prefer the colour of the Music On Vinyl version so both copies are just about worth having.

Discogs Link: Click Here

This USA 8-Track album features a black cartridge and includes the original album cover artwork and track listings on the front. The wrap-around sticker also provides the product code on the side. This copy also includes a matching generic card sleeve.

One notable aspect of this release is that the track order is different to the usual arrangement, with the majority of them appearing out-of-place. Also, For Veronica's Sake and Jackknife Johnny span more than one of the 'programs' on the cartridge (meaning that it had interrupted playback as the reading head changed position). This illustrates the limitations of this music format. 

Discogs Link: Click Here

From The Inside Cassette Album

1978, Warner Brothers, M5 3263

This USA cassette version of From The Inside features a simple J-card containing abridged artwork, track listings and credits. Inside is a white tape with printed additional track listings.

Discogs Link: Click Here

From The Inside Cassette Album

1978, Warner Brothers, 456 577

This UK cassette version of From The Inside features a simple J-card containing abridged artwork, track listings and credits. Inside is a grey tape featuring additional track listings.

Discogs Link: Click Here

From The Inside Cassette Album

1978, Warner Brothers, 456 577

This French / German cassette version of From The Inside features a simple J-card containing abridged artwork, track listings and credits. Inside is an orange tape with green stickers.

Discogs Link: Click Here

This Spanish cassette version of From The Inside features a simple J-card containing abridged artwork, track listings (in both English and Spanish) and credits. Inside is a white tape with blue labels featuring additional track listings (in English only).

Discogs Link: Click Here

From The Inside Cassette Album

1990, Metal Blade Records, 9 26445-4

This remastered USA cassette version of From The Inside is notable in that, whilst it includes similar (if somewhat compromised) artwork as the original LP release (above) it also features the following additional 'hand-written' note by Alice:

“From the Inside” is one of my very favourite albums. It was fuelled by my stay in the hospital in N.Y. recovering from my bout with booze. Everyone else in this joint was totally out of their minds (literally). All of the characters on this album were based on real inmates I met there. “How You Gonna See Me Now” was a smash but I love every single song on this record. It’s a beautifully sick thing to listen to. Do you belong here too?

The white cassette features the track titles.

Metal Blade Records also made similar cassette and CD releases for the Muscle Of Love and Lace And Whiskey albums (both of which contained hand-written notes by Alice).

Discogs Link: Click Here

This alternative remastered USA cassette version of From The Inside by Metal Blade Records is exactly the same of the above version only that it features a fully clear case and clear cassette.

It does not appear as though clear versions were produced for the other two Metal Blade releases (i.e. Muscle Of Love and Lace And Whiskey). 

Discogs Link: Click Here

This remastered USA CD version of From The Inside by Metal Blade Records contains slightly enhanced artwork to the cassette version (above) and again includes the additional 'hand-written' note by Alice.

Discogs Link: Click Here

This European CD version of From The Inside comes in a jewel case and features a 12-page booklet containing track listings, lyrics and credits.

Discogs Link: Click Here

In 2011, all the Alice Cooper albums from Pretties For You through to From The Inside were re-issued in Japan on 'Super High Material' (SHM) CD format. SHM CD's are, apparently, made of improved material, that provides a clearer medium for the reading of the data and so reduces read errors and thus can improve sound quality.

A notable feature of all the SHM releases is that they closely replicate the original packaging of the vinyl releases. In the case of From The Inside, this includes the opening parts, like the door to the 'Quiet Room'. An additional black-and-white bilingual lyric booklet and external 'Obi Strip' are also provided (both of which are common features of Japanese music releases).

What would have been really cool though is if they had made the CDs look more like miniature vinyl discs. What is offered is still more than satisfactory though and the SHM releases are definitely the quintessential Alice Cooper CD editions of all the available variants out there.

Discogs Link: Click Here

NOTE: A further CD copy of this album is included in 'The Studio Albums 1969-1983' boxset and can be seen here.

This UK 7" vinyl single features cream Warner Brothers labels and includes How You Gonna See Me Now on Side A (from the From The Inside album) and No Tricks on Side B. No Tricks is a duet with soul singer Betty Wright that did not make the final cut of From The Inside, but can be found in The Life And Crimes Of Alice Cooper CD box set.

Discogs Link: Click Here

This Dutch 7" vinyl single features cream Warner Brothers labels, comes in a paper sleeve and includes How You Gonna See Me Now on Side A (from the From The Inside album) and No Tricks on Side B.

The sleeve has an image of a reflective-looking Alice on the front, whereas on the back is promotional material for the From The Inside album.

Discogs Link: Click Here

This German 7" vinyl single features cream Warner Brothers labels, comes in a paper sleeve and includes How You Gonna See Me Now on Side A (from the From The Inside album) and No Tricks on Side B.

The sleeve has an image of Alice inside 'The Quiet Room' on the front, whereas on the back is promotional material for other artists of the time.

Discogs Link: Click Here

This Japanese 7" vinyl single features cream Warner Brothers labels, comes in a generic paper sleeve complete with colour insert, and includes How You Gonna See Me Now on Side A (from the From The Inside album) and No Tricks on Side B.

The insert features the same image of a cowering Alice as seen behind the 'Quiet Room' door of the From The Inside LP (above) on the front and track listings, lyrics and credits on the back.

A promotional copy of this release also exists, which is identical except that it features white vinyl labels instead.

Discogs Link: Click Here

This unique Brazilian 4-track 7" EP features cream Warner Brothers labels, comes in a card sleeve and includes How You Gonna See Me Now and Millie And Billie on Side A and From The Inside and Wish I Were Born In Beverly Hills on Side B (all from the From The Inside album).

The sleeve has the same image of Alice that features on the front of the From The Inside album (above) with added hype text on the front and on the back are track listings and credits.

Discogs Link: Click Here

This USA 7" promotional vinyl single features white Warner Brothers labels, a Warner / Reprise paper sleeve, and includes Mono and Stereo versions of From The Inside (Edit) on Sides A and B respectively. This was a common feature of promotional singles at the time, as it enabled radio stations to play songs on both AM (Mono) and FM (Stereo) stations.

The track is listed as an 'Edit' because it is both shorter (3:30 compared to 3:55) and features a more prominent guitar backing than the album version.

Discogs Link: Click Here

This USA 7" vinyl single features cream Warner Brothers labels, a Warner Brothers paper sleeve, and includes From The Inside (Edit) on Side A and Nurse Rozetta on Side B (both from the From The Inside album).

Discogs Link: Click Here

This cool card 'Certificate Of Insanity' featured in the press packs for the album. The certificate, issued by the 'Alice Cooper School For The Hopelessly Insane', features a stamped autograph, a gold embossed logo and space to write your own name as the patient. These are quite rare in this unused and mint condition.

This USA credit card sized item was given away as part of the promotion for the From The Inside album. It features the album front cover artwork on one side and a micro-sized 1979 calendar on the other.  

For the The Strange Case Of Alice Cooper concert film Click Here.

For the Flush The Fashion era Click Here.