Index

Vincent Furnier (Vocals, Harmonica), Glen Buxton (Lead Guitar), and Dennis Dunaway (Bass) were classmate who played under the names The Earwigs, and The Spiders. They were later joined by Michael Bruce (Rhythm Guitar/Keyboards) became the Nazz (not to be confused with Todd Rundgren’s band of the same name) before adding drummer Neal Smith and re-christening the group, “Alice Cooper”. Furnier took the name for himself as well and the stage was set. 

The guys hung out with members of Pink Floyd and Furnier dated Miss Christine (of the GTOs) who influenced his look and style, and the band soon secured a 3-record deal with Frank Zappa’s label. The first 2 outings didn’t light the world on fire, and it was put up or shut up time (Zappa had sold the label by this time). The guys “put up” and recorded a hit that sent them (and then later with Vincent flying solo) on a journey that saw “Alice Cooper” recording top-notch (if not always commercially viable) albums to this day. 

Alice Cooper is often linked to the hard rock scene, but they were pretty eclectic and defy that narrow definition. They incorporated pop, Broadway, blues and even some western & Spanish flavoring into something that was to be known as “Shock Rock”. 

Graded on a 5-Snake scale 🐍

* Part 1: A Band Called Alice

* Part 2: Going Solo 1975 to 1978

* Part 3: The Blackout Albums

* Part 4: He's Back! 1986 to 1994

* Part 5: Alice Enters the New Century

* Part 6: Nostalgia

* Part 7: Ranking the Albums from Top to Bottom

* Bonus Material: Welcome to My Collection

* Bonus Material: Remastered Deluxe Editions

* Bonus Material: Album Length etc

* Backstage Pass: Melanie / Nazareth / The Greg Kihn Band / Roxy Music

The story of this blog: I was planning to see Jesus Christ Superstar on its 50th anniversary, but woke up sick as a dog, so I missed that, and unable to get out -and in between sleep- I took to listening to my Alice Cooper records, then I got in my head to make a ranked list, and then I wrote about what I heard -spent weeks on that - and that's how this baby was born. I'm no pro critic, just a fan who felt like gushing about something he loves and has loved for a long time. Alice and I go way back - to the 70s (I was 13 when I got my first LP, I'm in my 60s now), and I've collected a whole lot of memories and great music in that time. Cooper's one of the most consistent and long lasting among my favorites - there are bands, singers I like who put out 2 or 3 really superb albums before the bottom falls out, but year after year, decade after decade, Alice carries on. 

Discography: Part 5 - Alice Enters the New Century

Brutal Planet

Release Date: June 6, 2000

Highest US Chart: #193

Tracks: Brutal Planet * Wicked Young Man * Sanctuary * Blow me a Kiss * Eat Some More * Pick Up the Bones * Pessi-mystic * Gimme * It’s the Little Things * Take it Like a Woman * Cold Machines

Cooper’s a brilliant chameleon; he can do any style of music and do it well. Here he tackles something new, a kind of industrial metal and whoo-boy is it a winner. It grinds away with the most muscular sound in Cooper history - even though many of the tracks are not fast paced, it rocks so hard and strong I never really paid much attention to whether a song was a ballad, mid-tempo or blistering.

The opening title number sets the tone, it's a steady rocker and the melody (and use of a female vocalist) surprises as it's like nothing he's done before. Artists who have been around as long as Alice are still capable of writing good tunes, but they often begin to have a familiar flavor to them. This is not always true with Cooper, a large part of that is due to the variety of different co-writers he works with. Here, his partner is noted producer Bob Marlette. The duo creates a sound that while it is still 100% Alice, is also completely fresh.

Alice called this part one of his Sci-Fi Trilogy (he’s yet to do the 3rd) but this really is all about his faith, Planet is about our wicked Earth, and its AC at his angriest. Mankind's darkest side is examined unflinchingly, none as much as the powerful and haunting Pick up the Bones, a song about genocide, which is based on a true story about families returning home to find body parts of relatives scattered about. In all his years of examining nightmares, Cooper has never written anything so horrifying. The first time I heard it, it caused my mouth to dry and my skin to crawl. The melody is strong, with an underlying ostinato played throughout the verses; it builds and builds to the chorus, where every bit of Alice’s outrage rushes to the fore as he screams his lyrics with a raw emotion that brings the sorrow of the situation to life. It is simply one of his finest, most potent efforts.

No other number on the CD can match it, but Coop and Marlette give it their all in the attempt ("Eat Some More" is strong, with words about over consumption that'll make you feel guilty, and "Cold Machines", about how dehumanized and disassociated we've become, hits as hard). And while a so/so attempt to revisit “Only Women Bleed” (Take it Like a Woman) sounds out of place musically, Planet winds up a benchmark in the Cooper canon.

Purchases: Original CD release

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Dragontown

Release Date: September 18, 2001

Highest US Chart: #197

Tracks: Triggerman * Deeper * Dragontown * Sex, Death and Money * Fantasy Man * Somewhere in the Jungle * DisGracedland * Sister Sara * Every Woman Has a Name * I Just Wanna Be God * It’s Much Too Late * The Sentinel

Brutal Planet tells of the sins of man on Earth, here Alice and Marlette turn their attentions to Hell - or the worst place on Brutal Planet, so yeah, Hell (I wonder, would the 3rd in this series been about Heaven, a city of hope, or were they all planned to be set in the darkest landscapes?) – While similar to Planet, it doesn’t have any breakout works of genius (like “Pick Up the Bones”) so for me it sounds like a lesser version of a masterpiece. 

I also had a little difficulty with the sanctimonious undertone found throughout. I understand he’s drawing from the good book itself but he's just going 'round damning souls to hell throughout this thing (including Elvis, though to be fair, he does toss himself into the pit as well, lol). I dunno, it was an aspect that made me uncomfortable. Saying that, the Elvis song, DisGracedland, is often funny and it is interesting to hear Alice do something Lennonesque with “It’s Much Too Late”. 

And yes, Cooper continues to draw from the “Only Women Bleed” model (big heartfelt ballad) with Every Woman Has a Name, and it's not bad, though it isn't the standout OWB or I Never Cry were. 

Dragon's not a dumpster fire, it opens with 4 strong numbers, and track 7 is a winner, but it's also marked by tedium; I grow weary of it, and inevitably the thought that that I'd rather be listening to Planet creeps into my brain.

Note: Sex, Death and Money, was the title of a book written by Gore Vidal - Alice named it as a favorite and an influence on his music going back to the 70s. 

Purchases: Original CD release

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The Eyes of Alice Cooper

Release Date: September 23, 2003

Highest US Chart: #184

Tracks: What Do You Want from Me? * Between High School and Old School * Man of the Year * Novocain * Bye Bye, Baby * Be with You Awhile * Detroit City * Spirits Rebellious * This House is Haunted * Love Should Never Feel Like This * The Song That Didn’t Rhyme * I’m so Angry * Backyard Brawl

Marlette is gone, the sci-fi trilogy forgotten, and ax-man Ryan Roxie (who'd been with AC since '96) and Eric Dover (signed on during the Brutal Planet tour) become Coopers new writing partners. The sound (recorded nearly live) is more hook-laden rock with a poppy yet grungy feel to it. Miles from the metal stuff heard on the last 2 releases.

Much of the music here is straightforward and familiar. The songwriters lift from Cobain (High School) the Vines (“I’m So Angry” gives off strong “Get Free" vibes) and the chorus in "Backyard Brawl" has the feel of Judas Priest or AC/DC.

The formula works initially, as the first five songs are a blast. The opening track is a lethal scorcher, with that signature Cooper trailer trash humor (“Ditched all of my girlfriends, even the dirty ones”), and an answering vocal in the chorus to lend some added punch. From here we are offered more pop rock melodies and humorous lyrics (“Man of the Year” is dark and funny and “Novocain” has a sweet driving tempo, and oh how I dig the horns on "Bye Bye, Baby").

But after that it ebbs and flows. "Be with You Awhile" is your standard issue AC ballad, “Detroit City” starts off fun; great words listing all the classic Detroit rockers Alice knew. But the pre chorus and chorus just sounds off, like they come from some vaudevillian number (might be why it was re-worked for a later release). "Spirits Rebellious" and the Gothic, "This House if Haunted", with its evocative lines that linger in the mind... "She left and took the colors with her, buried in her grave" - gives the CD a lift. "Love Should Never Feel Like This" has grown on me, though the chorus sounds Bon Jovi-ish, which makes me think of Trash. The remaining material brings the grade down a hair; "The Song That Didn't Rhyme" is oh so close, but... no cigar. Angry is both good & bad (weak verses, decent bridges, I don't really hear a true chorus). Brawl, I don't care for and usually skip.

So that's 7 goodies, and 6 that range from “satisfactory” to "nope".

Note: MC5's Wayne Kramer plays guitar on Detroit City, and daughter Calico provides the theremin on This House is Haunted.

Purchases: Original CD release (purple eyed version)

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Dirty Diamonds

Release Date: July 4, 2005 (UK & Europe), August 2 (US)

Highest US Chart: #169

Tracks: Woman of Mass Destruction * Perfect * You Make Me Wanna * Dirty Diamonds * The Saga of Jesse Jane * Sunset Babies (All Got Rabies) * Pretty Ballerina * Run Down the Devil * Steal That Car * Six Hours * Your Own Worst Enemy * Zombie Dance * Stand

Similar to Eyes, but with more variety and tighter songwriting skills on display. It has a lean, classic sound, and many sources note a bluesy, Rolling Stone's influence (Sunset Babies). In addition, Alice frequently trades in the growl for cleaner vocals, and it works... for the humor in Perfect, the prettiness in Ballerina, or the emotion in Six Hours.

Diamonds opens with a number that taps into the same vibe as “What Do You Want from Me”. It rocks and has laughs and while not a challenging number, it’s a good and exciting way to get things rolling.

It gets even better with the cute n' catchy “Perfect”, then “You Make Me Wanna” (which gets its hooks into ya with its irresistible chorus and stinging guitar riff) and "Diamonds", a grinder that recalls the ACG with its 007 flavoring. I like these songs all very much, but just as I fear it might go down the same path as Eyes and lose a step, Alice takes a left turn with the hilarious “Jesse Jane”, a twisted tale of a cross dressing truck driver that features Cooper doing his best Johnny Cash impression, accompanied by gorgeous and articulate guitar picking. It’s a golden moment that shifts the gears.

Other tracks that do the same is his rather haunted take on the Left Bankes “Pretty Ballerina”. Alice would have been 18 when the song was released in 1966, of interest because that's the same year Talk Talk (Music Machine) and Seven and Seven Is (Love) came out, both tunes were covered during the blackout period. Also, “Six Hours” - this was so different for Alice that I thought it too must be a cover, but no, it’s a Cooper and Roxie original. The blues melody, Rick Boston's emotive guitar solo, and the mature lyrics (about an affair?) proves that Alice can do more than humor and chills. Instead of throwing in an OWB type for the umpteenth time, Cooper goes down a different path and creates a strong –adult- ballad.

I have a few complaints: The production's perhaps overly compressed, the drums too muffled and in need of a little more punch in spots. Song wise, Your Own Worst Enemy (with an opening guitar strum that recalls the Who's "I Can't Explain"), is a fair, though conventional rocker, and the CD ends with a thud, with a bonus song that was originally featured on a Summer Olympics companion album in 2004 - Stand is heavy handed lyrically and features rap by Xzbit, and that murders the perfect grade. 

All the same, Diamonds flourishes more than it flounders, making it another Cooper classick.

Note: A rarer track that I would have preferred having on the release, instead of Stand, was a tune titled The Sharpest Pain, which showed up on a couple of European releases of the CD.

Purchases: Original CD release

🐍🐍🐍🐍½

Along Came a Spider

Release Date: July 29, 2008

Highest US Chart: #53

Tracks: Prologue/I Know Where You Live * Vengeance is Mine * Wake the Dead * Catch Me If You Can * (In Touch With) Your Feminine Side * Wrapped in Silk * Killed by Love * I'm Hungry * The One That Got Away * Salvation * I Am the Spider/Epilogue

Alice taps into the concept vein again and sings the story of a serial killer called the Spider who is undone when he falls in love with one of his potential victims. The CD was highly anticipated by fans and the album design is the best I’ve seen from Coop in years. Each song is illustrated in the insert by colorful horror film style art, and it really got me pumped for some great music to go along with it.

Unfortunately, what greeted my ears was pretty tired. AC has put out some amazing albums in his old age –Last Temptation, Brutal Planet and Dirty Diamonds all offered something fresh and exciting. I couldn’t wait to return to those recordings and listen to them again and again. With Spider I can barely make it through to the end and there’s little that strikes my fancy and draws me back.

Gene Hampton and Danny Saber are ACs collaborators this go ‘round and I hope this is the last we hear of the duo. The production is uneven –sometimes the drums blast out, at others it’s barely a presence (The One That Got Away). I did like some of the guitar work, but the background vocals are generally thin, and grating. And as songwriters they are predictable, pedestrian. 

Lyrically the serial killer stuff hasn’t generally been ACs strong suit. Aside from the classic “Tag, Your It” from “Zipper Catches Skin” the subject doesn’t draw out Cooper’s best work. He’s much better with gothic madness, nightmares, sick predilections and addictions.

Music wise, “Wake the Dead” opens up with a different vibe (Ozzy Osborn adds a bit of harmonica) but then that melody… “Where have I heard it?” I hummed it a few times then it struck me, the verses are lifted straight from Madonna’s “Material Girl” -- Sweet Jesus McGillicutty, say it aint so Alice!

“I’m Hungry” stinks to high heaven and along with "Wrapped in Silk" is a skipper. “(In Touch With) Your Feminine Side” is a familiar sounding yawner. Did I find any decent tracks? “I Know Where You Live” and "Vengeance" are solid openers, and there are moments here and there ("Killed by Love" shows promise but is undone by a standard, blah chorus) but alas, even the better songs would be nothing other than filler on greater releases like Diamonds or Planet.

To sum up, I never enjoyed this one, and didn't like revisiting it. It bums me out to be so dissatisfied with an AC CD and honestly, I think at this stage, I'll retire it from the rotation.

Of Note: The voice of Cooper’s daughter Calico can be heard as the ‘one that got away’

iTunes (underwhelming) Bonus Tracks: Shadow of Yourself, I'll Still Be There and an unplugged version of Salvation.

Purchases: Original CD release

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In 2009 Alice found himself with a meaty role in the rock and roll vampire flick, Suck... which didn't, suck that is. Alice was in good form playing a bartender who might be the devil himself (or king vampy). Calico also appears as a waitress, and Cooper's "I Am the Spider" is featured on the soundtrack. There's a great cast here, including some recognizable rockers, like Iggy Pop. 

Entertaining movie, Alice fans should seek it out.

Also, in Sept of that year, a Halloween tune and a contest. 

Another flick during the decade was The Attic Expeditions (2001). It's only a cameo, but he's a kick.

The colorful covers of "The Eyes of Alice Cooper"

Next: Nostalgia

Discography: Part 4 - He's Back! 1986 to 1994

Constrictor

Release Date: September 22, 1986

Highest US Chart: #59

Tracks: Teenage Frankenstein * Give It Up * Thrill my Gorilla * Life and Death of the Party * Simple Disobedience * The World Needs Guts * Trick Bag * Crawlin’ * The Great American Success Story * He’s Back (The Man Behind the Mask)

Cooper returns after a 3-year hiatus with an album that attempts to get back to basics, and that’s the problem, the music’s all basic. After going from a string of more commercial LPs to the New Wave Punk style, Alice spoke about wanting to do straight forward hard rock and it seems to work as far as getting him some commercial attention. “Teenage Frankenstein” received radio play, and he got a song on the new Friday the 13th film ("He's Back", which wraps things up on a good note). But overall Constrictor is pretty standard fare.

Coops new band mates include guitar shredder Kane Roberts and bassist Kip Winger. The brawny Roberts left an impression on stage, with his size, speedy licks and machine gun guitar, you couldn't help but love him, but his songwriting and musicianship are all the same on this CD, he draws from the same bag of tricks and when you’ve heard him once, you’ve heard all he’s got. It all follows the same pattern, standard verse, predictable chorus, and familiar guitar solo. I did enjoy Frankenstein but after that it fluctuates between the bad (Thrill My Gorilla) or the merely okay (Simple Disobedience – a song that tries to be the next great anthem, but just doesn’t have the muscle to pull it off). In fact, after the first track the record doesn’t grab me again until "The Great American Success Story" (a tune written for the Rodney Dangerfield movie “Back to School” though it was never used.)

Note: I wasn't thrilled with the drums, credited to David Rosenberg (his lone paring with Cooper), they have a programmed feel to them - there's no personality, no sizzle or distinct style (look to Neal Smith for all 3 of those drumming traits). The numbers performed on tour, with Ken Mary... vastly superior. (See, for one, The World Needs Guts, played during the '87 concert in Cincinnati, which transforms an all-right number, into a goodie - Hmm, in truth the entire LP might have been improved, played live)

Oct 2023 Edit: I learned much about the making of this record from Chris Sutton's book on Alice in the 80s, and what a convoluted tale, involving multiple producers, and re-recorded instruments. The who and whys on the limp drums are detailed, and the mouthwatering possibility of a reunion with Neal and Dennis is discussed (and they name titles for demos they worked on... I'd die to hear them). Oh, what could have been. 

Purchases: Original vinyl pressing, CD

🐍🐍½

Raise Your Fist and Yell

Release Date: September 5, 1987

Highest US Chart: #73

Tracks: Freedom * Lock Me Up * Give the Radio Back * Step on You * Not That Kind of Love * Prince of Darkness * Time to Kill * Chop, Chop, Chop * Gail * Roses on White Lace

Alice, Kane and Winger return one more time, and the results are more successful, steadier, with less filler. Conceptually it's an odd blend, seemingly random subjects in the middle, bookended first by self-referential rock anthems, then closing on songs about a serial killer.

While the second is the stronger of the two sides, there are noteworthy moments on the first, among them, a track intended for Constrictor, "Step on You"; a decent thumper made better by the fascinating detours (the violent tonal shift at the half-way point, where stabbing, shrieking guitars are coupled to Ken Mary's thunderous drums). And "Not That Kind of Love" with its crunchy, stop start riff, that recalls -in an oblique way- the forthcoming Cult of Personality. I also dig how the rat-a-tat beat follows Alice's vocals on the pre-chorus.   

Now, getting the negatives out of the way... as a person who enjoys the sound of a hefty, full bass, I'm disappointed at their lack of a presence here (the fault of the producer?) And AC the wordsmith isn't always at the top of his game. For example, the otherwise musically and vocally gratifying “Prince of Darkness” (heard in the John Carpenter film Alice had a role in) lacks that old clever edge as it simply tells us that the Devil is a bad guy (Uh… D-uh?). It seems Cooper forgot that cryptic phrasing adds mystery which is more effective in creating chills (Sick Things, Former Lee Warmer).

Saying that, “Gail” is an enjoyable return to those gothic spooky songs that Alice does better than anyone. There's eerie imagery (insects within her skeletal jail) and the melody, arrangements and Kip Winger's harpsicord are stellar. Continuing with that train of thought... While I'm not overly enamored with the slasher stuff (not a fan of those types of films, either), the subject does allow Alice to dwell in the darkness, which is preferable to the sex songs that riddle the forthcoming "Trash". And truth be told, the Gail trilogy is the best part of the entire album - beginning with that creepy as hell spoken piece at the end of "Chop, Chop, Chop", and closing with Alice's superb high notes on the choruses of the intense “Roses on White Lace".

Note: The normally nonpolitical Cooper penned a protest song for the collection - "Freedom" is a response to the P.M.R.C.

Purchases: Original vinyl pressing, CD

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Trash

Release Date: July 25, 1989

Highest US Chart: #20

Tracks: Poison * Spark in the Dark * House of Fire * Why Trust You * Only My Heart Talkin’ * Bed of Nails * This Maniacs in Love with You * Trash * Hell is Living Without You * I’m Your Gun

Alice pulls away from the straightforward hard rock numbers and tries a more radio friendly pop slant by bringing in Desmond Child (Bon Jovi). Child is a hit maker, and that's just what AC and his new label, Epic, was looking for. The opening track, Poison, got Cooper his first top 10 hit since "You and Me" in 1977, and the album was his highest charting since Welcome to My Nightmare.

Getting back to Poison, it crawls under a listener's skin on two points: First, the dramatic modulations, which lends the tune a kind of musical chiaroscuro, going from the low, or darker tones, then gradually ascending to the higher, brighter points, which Alice expertly relays vocally. Second, one doozy of a riff - guitarist John McCurry originally wrote it for John Waites Encircled in 1987, but it's a better fit here. This twin punch contributed to the track becoming one of Cooper's most popular. Beyond that...

Joan Jett helped write “House of Fire”. Jon Bon Jovi sang on “Trash”, Steven Tyler sings on “Only My Heart Talkin”, and Guy Mann-Dude plays some catchy licks on the (more Cooper-like) "This Maniacs in Love with You", all four are solid numbers but it was the last two that delighted my ear the most - the ballad, “Hell is Living Without You”, with its impassioned chant like chorus, and, though lyrically witless (was it written by a 16-year-old?) “I’m Your Gun”, a high-spirited rocker with former band mate Kip Winger adding some solid background vocals. (Oh, and Kane Roberts makes an appearance too, playing guitar on “Bed of Nails”; a song that made me laugh with Alice singing “Ow, Ow, Ow Ow Ow” - I hope that was meant to be funny. lol)

To summarize, Trash is the equivalent of rock and roll cotton candy - sweet and fluffy and full of empty calories. Which is not to say it's bad - cotton candy is a tasty confection after all, but it's not filling - the LP doesn't hold up under heavy rotation (unlike those in my top 10), but it's fine on occasion.

Purchases: Original vinyl pressing, CD

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Hey Stoopid

Release Date: July 2nd, 1991

Highest US Chart: #47

Tracks: Hey Stoopid * Love’s A Loaded Gun * Snakebite * Burning Our Bed * Dangerous Tonight * Might as Well Be on Mars * Feed My Frankenstein * Hurricane Years * Little by Little * Die for You * Dirty Dreams * Wind-Up Toy

Stoopid seemingly draws from the same well as Trash, but there are fewer holes in the bucket. While the production is slick and commercial just like the last release, the songwriting is stronger. The hooks are ear catching but substantial (it's not an album I quickly tire of), and there's lyrical improvement on a couple of numbers.

The title song is preachy (tackling drugs and suicide) but understanding the road Alice has been down with his own addiction you know he’s not just blowing smoke (“This aint your daddy talking”, he sings, “You know, I know”). Musically it's anchored by those hair band staples... grouped vocals, pulsating, stomping drums, and winding leads.

The second track throws in another characteristic sound, those soaring synths. Love's a Loaded Gun starts acoustically with a G Minor, and follows that with a couple of suspended chords (Fsus4, and a Csus4), which creates an open, pretty sound, that's contrasted by disturbing lyrics about a guy whose become obsessed with -and is stalking a prostitute. Are the bullets a metaphor for her clients, or is our first-person narrator hunting down and killing these men? (the vid gives it another spin)

Then there are the ballads, which break up whatever sameness there is in the anthem-like rockers, of these, Might as Well Be on Mars is the pinnacle, and one of the best collaborations between Alice and Dick Wagner. The words and music are stirring, and the chorus, the way it soars and builds, gets my pulse racing. Eliciting that kind of fervent reaction is something that has been sorely missing from AC of late, and what a joy it is to see him return to that form.

Opening side 2, “Feed My Frankenstein” is childish (“fur teacup” - cripes, that’s pure “Spinal Tap”) but it rocks, and hearing Steve Vai and Joe Satriani playing guitar on the same song is heavenly. (The LP is loaded with guest stars, from Slash to Ozzie. Elvira, Mistress of the Dark provides the female voice on Frankenstein, and Nikki Sixx lays down the steady, driving bass). Though don't let the stars distract you from the fact that the primary band are a force, they're no slouches.

In addition to all the players, there's an army of songwriting partners, which includes Bob Pfeifer, the A&R executive who signed Cooper to Epic Records, and Al Pitrelli (on Bed), the talented guitarist who acted as Alice's musical director on the Trash tour [1], and later took that role with the Trans-Siberian Orchestra. Jack Ponti & Vic Pepe co-wrote 6, including the first, and the last, a goodie titled “Wind Up Toy”, which is old school Alice tackling insanity. Steven earns a mention, and Calico is noteworthy, and creepy, as the voice of the little girl.

Note 1: Alice and the band was seen performing Feed My Frankenstein in the movie Wayne's World - later, Cooper gives the lads a history lesson... "We're not worthy!"

Note 2: At 56:11 (my calculations), this is currently Alice's lengthiest album. 

Memory: At one of my workplaces, we had a Christmas gift exchange, and the employee who drew my name made a present of this on cassette. It got plenty of play on my commute to the job, thanks Jill.

Purchases: Cassette, CD 

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The Last Temptation

Release Date: July 12, 1994

Highest US Chart: #64

Tracks: Sideshow * Nothing’s Free * Lost in America * Bad Place Alone * You’re My Temptation * Stolen Prayer * Unholy War * Lullaby * It’s Me * Cleansed by Fire

Alice had reached a point in his career where he was releasing nice, but safe material. There were good albums, but the salad days were behind him… or were they?

An interesting thing happened to the king of Grand Guignol; he embraced Christianity, and he took his newfound faith and was inspired to write a concept album that focused on the devil and temptation (in the form of a woman with the unlikely name of “Mercy”).

This was no collection of sweet “Jesus loves me, this I know” material, but rather it was Alice giving Satan the finger. (And how strange was it, the first time I heard this, and the last song has the character of Steven questioning the devilish showman, asking him, “What about Christ, What about love, What about faith in God above?” I’d never heard Alice express these sentiments before, not so earnestly, and it was quite powerful)

The album came with the first issue of a 3-part comic series written by Neil Gaiman (not his best work unfortunately, it came off like a lesser, "Something Wicked This Way Comes").

Musically, Chris Cornell wrote and sang on two numbers, the decent Unholy War and the exceptional Stolen Prayer, a tune that opens with pretty and dramatic verses, that leads to a child's chorus - it's all around a smartly structured piece. Along with Prayer, the best tracks include Lost in America which keeps up the Cooper humor by using his old trick of inserting the mundane aspects of life. I like the teenager's circular logic (“I can’t get a girl cuz I aint got a car, I can’t get a car cuz I aint got a job. I can’t get a job cuz I aint got a car”). And You’re my Temptation; one of my all-time favorite Cooper tunes. With its urgent lyrics, and plaintive melody, it’s one of those special kinds of numbers that takes me away and draws me into the world and characters within the song.

Nostalgically, the chorus of Bad Place Alone sends me back to School's Out with its West Side Story connections, it's that finger snapping, "Hey blood brother" gang-like chant that does it.

Concept albums usually end with a big anthem that tidies everything up. Strangely this album ends with 3 of them and while each is outstanding, they all have a similar flavor and sound. It might have been better to add some variety. Still, that’s a minor complaint and for an album that utilized several different producers and a bunch of co-songwriters, it is very cohesive. 

Note: Speaking of writers, who is Bud Saylor? Can't find a thing about him, but he worked on the first 4 tracks, which gets the CD off to an incredible start, and the fantastic finale.

Purchases: Cassette, CD 

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Richard Allen Wagner (12/14/1942 – 7/30/2014)

My Top 10 Alice Cooper/Dick Wagner Power Ballads

1. Only Women Bleed (Welcome to my Nightmare)

2. Might as Well Be on Mars (Hey Stoopid, with Child)

3. Jackknife Johnny (From the Inside, with Taupin)

4. I Never Cry (Goes to Hell)

5. How You Gonna See Me Now (From the Inside, with Taupin)

6. Pass the Gun Around (DaDa)

7. Inmates (We're All Crazy) (From the Inside, with Taupin)

8. Wake Me Gently (Goes to Hell, with Ezrin)

9. My God (Lace and Whiskey, with Ezrin)

10. I Never Wrote Those Songs (Lace and Whiskey, with Ezrin) or The Quiet Room (From the Inside, with Taupin), I'm torn between the two.

Next: The Next Century

Discography: Part 3 - The Blackout Albums

Flush the Fashion

Release Date: April 28, 1980

Highest US Chart: #44

Tracks: Talk Talk * Clones (We're All) * Pain * Leather Boots * Aspirin Damage * Nuclear Infected * Grim Facts * Model Citizen * Dance Yourself to Death * Headlines

Since the past few middle-of-the-road productions had failed to light a sales spark, Cooper decided to try New Wave. Boosted by a great single “Clones” the album did chart higher than “From the Inside” but it still wasn’t able to put Alice back into the major leagues. 

The LP opens with 2 fantastic covers - Music Machine’s “Talk, Talk” and “Clones” (with that bitchin’ sci-fi synth riff played by Fred Mandel). Both are the kind of tunes that force you to rock in your chair or tap your toes, very catchy and cool. The 3rd track is an original (and more old school Alice than new wave) - “Pain” is one of Cooper’s best; lyric and melody are strong as is AC's expressive vocals, and for a while I thought there was the makings of another classic; but then the record finishes up with a string of nice though rather slight numbers. “Aspirin Damage” for example is cute, with funny lyrics, but it’s not a heavy hitter like the opening 3.

"Grim Facts" is my favorite from side 2, though Roy Thomas Baker (The Cars) strips a bit of the guts out of it, the tune could use a little dirt thrown on it, make it a bit meaner, tougher. It's emblematic of the production overall, which was rather bloodless... but that's new wave for you. 

Fashion runs short, clocking in under 29 minutes, so it leaves me wanting more (and according to co-songwriter Fred Mandel in Chris Sutton's book, Alice Cooper in the 80s, there was more. He had a ballad titled "It Rains" and another, called, "My Machine". Also, Prettiest Cop and Don't Talk Old to Me were planned for this one, but both were pulled and used instead on "Forces"). 

Anyhoo; It's difficult to pinpoint my issues with the release; it's not the style, I like the style, and there's really not a bad song in the mix, nothing I skip, but it feels like it's filled with B-sides, entertaining and listenable, but truly, only the first 3 tracks and Grim Facts deliver the A-game.

Still, it ushers Cooper into the 80s on a decent note.

Note: Alice was friends with Sid and Marty Krofft and as a favor to them he submitted a performance of the song Clones for use in their short-lived variety show, "Pink Lady and Jeff". It was shown in the 5th and final episode (there was an unaired 6th). Cooper doesn't look good, or comfortable, and the show is... yikes, but it's posted at YouTube if you're interested.

Note 2: On June 13, the film Roadie was released. Alice, as himself, plays the object of affection of the female lead. While the picture was filmed before Flush, Cooper performs Pain, so he had that song in the bank and ready to go. He also does Road Rats and a bit of Only Women Bleed. 

Purchases: Original vinyl pressing, CD

🐍🐍🐍½

Special Forces

Release Date: September 1, 1981

Highest US Chart: #125

Tracks: Who Do You Think We Are * Seven & Seven Is * Prettiest Cop on the Block * Don't Talk Old to Me * Generation Landslide '81 (Live) * Skeletons in the Closet * You Want It, You Got It * You Look Good in Rags * You're a Movie * Vicious Rumors

The next few releases are kind of Alice’s lost years. I remember these records just popping up on store shelves; I don’t recall any advance notice or heavy promotion (I know he went on Tom Snyder, for this, but I don't recall seeing it). The albums, especially Zipper and DaDa, came and went quietly.

Forces sports one of the ugliest covers and Alice -who took a tumble into drug abuse, to go along with his alcoholism- looks terrible. He was rail thin and appeared near death in pictures and interviews I’d seen of him in this time span. He was in such bad shape that he says he doesn't even remember making this or the following 2 releases and refers to them as the "blackout albums".

Musically it's an oddball, standing out as its own unique entity, even among the 4 grouped here. Alice was into the mag, "Soldier of Fortune", which acted as an inspiration conceptually (and explains the guns, helicopters and marching boots heard here and there). He's also working with a new band, with a sound that is thin and punky, and songs that are idiosyncratic. It opens with 2 outstanding numbers: The intense and driving “Who Do You Think We Are”, and the cover of Love's “Seven and Seven Is”, with its rapid-fire drums and synths, but it gets spotty thereafter (including an unnecessary and sorry remake/rewrite of Generation Landslide (not actually live as advertised).

The repetitive You Want It and Skeletons are wispy bits of fluff, as is the amusing You're a Movie. A step up from them are the kinetic, Prettiest Cop (those irritating cymbals, however, uhg) and Vicious Rumors. Though only, Don't Talk Old to Me, and its neat, rather staccato, off beat drum-to-guitar pattern, and You Look Good in Rags, with its familiar Blondie guitar riff, come close to the bright pulse heard on the 2 opening tracks.

My memories of this album? It was distinctive but rather passionless. It didn’t fire me up, and it didn’t stay in my record player for very long. Today? About the same, decent, but not a powerhouse.  

Note: It had another song listed on the back cover, "Look at You Over There, Ripping the Sawdust from My Teddybear", which was removed by Cooper before the release, as he felt it didn't fit with the overall theme. After hearing it on "The Life and Crimes of Alice Cooper" box set, I discovered I wasn't missing anything. 

Note 2:  A video special, Alice Cooper à Paris was filmed and shown (though not aired in the States), and later, a single, For Britan Only was released in the UK as a thank you for supporting the tour. It doesn't sound anything like a Forces track, more like a late 80s number.

Purchases: Original vinyl pressing, Amazon digital

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Special Forces Original Acetate Mix (Bootleg)

And then there's this rare bird, where did it come from, and how did it make its way into the world? Acetates are early test pressings which allows an artist a chance to evaluate what he has, and what he might want to change; they're not intended for public ears. With that in mind, what you're hearing here is raw, and certain effects and instruments are missing - the lead guitar solo, and added drums when Cooper does his "Oom-baby's", are absent from Seven and Seven Is, for one; the marching in You're a Movie, for another. Despite that, I prefer this version.

The sound is crisp, more vibrant and less muffled, the mix wide open, the guitars aren't buried, there's lyrical clarity, and that's very much a positive, you can hear things you couldn't on the official release. Even the lesser numbers come alive and are improved.

Honestly, while Alice has expressed a desire to re-record some albums or songs, I don't think that's necessary, not when a remix would do the job just as well. With Forces, you have the immediacy and electricity of the acetate as your model, fold in the missing elements - the leads, the intro, but don't overproduce, make sure the details remain, and voilà, you have yourself a real ass kicker.

As it stands, I'll give this a 🐍🐍🐍 ½

Zipper Catches Skin

Release Date: August 25, 1982

Highest US Chart: Did Not Chart

Tracks: Zorro's Ascent * Make That Money (Scrooge's Song) * I Am the Future * No Baloney Homosapiens * Adaptable (Anything for You) * I Like Girls * Remarkably Insincere * Tag, You're It * I Better Be Good * I'm Alive (That Was the Day My Dead Pet Returned to Save My Life)

Here is another album that just popped up one day. I bought it and liked it, much better than Special Forces. While Alice is still going through a dangerous run with substance abuse and has little memory of the writing and recording, he doesn't sound disconnected here, there's a liveliness and a real sense of playful humor. Plus, Dick Wagner made his return and is credited as co-songwriter on tracks 2,4, 9 & 10, so that's an added spice. 

The title might very well be a nod to Zappa (Weasels Ripped My Flesh) and I like the much-maligned cover. It’s only the lyrics, but a smudge of blood highlights the title (a rather new waveish, anti-cover, type of thing, akin to the essay on XTCs "Go To"). 

Alice doesn’t sing much, he rather sing/speaks most of the songs, and lyrically it's off its a nut - an example of that? The screwy rhyme from "Adaptable", "Now, you ain't no Hepburn, and I ain't no Fonda, but if you were drownin', In Golden Ponda".

The LP hits the ground running with tunes marked by memorable guitar work from Billy Steele (whose lead evokes a sense of adventure in "Zorro"), and Dick Wagner's super-charged licks on "Make that Money". Though, considering what happened with the last 2 releases this isn’t exactly a good sign. But fear not, each number is entertaining, aurally irresistible, and skillfully and soundly put together. 

Other highlights? The Waitresses Patty Donahue lends delightful vocal support to "I Like Girls". There's the horror movie inspired “Tag, Your It”, with its marching snare, sound effects, and an electric guitar taking the role usually reserved for the keyboard in scary film scores.  And if “I Am the Future” seems a bit out of place, it’s because it was written for the movie “Class of ‘84” (still, it’s a good one).

I'm also a fan of Jan Uvena's work, especially on "No Baloney" (which possibly received a shot in the arm from Craig Krampf's percussions). In my experiences in the studio, there'd be instances where a producer would dampen the drums (for good reason), but at times I'd think, but no, I liked that SNAP! SNAP! SNAP! there, it sounds like a punch from Bruce Lee - well, you get plenty of SNAP on Skin.

Zipper might not break into my Top 10, but I feel it's an underrated goodie. Like co-producer Erik Scott said, it's lean, stripped down, low on frills, punkish and bratty.

Note: There was no supporting tour, though he did film a television commercial to promote the album (but did it ever air?)

This was Cooper's first producers' credit, partnering on that job with his bassist, who was with him on the last album, as well as the Fashion tour.

Purchases: Original vinyl pressing, iTunes

🐍🐍🐍🐍

DaDa

Release Date: September 28, 1983

Highest US Chart: Did Not Chart

Tracks: DaDa * Enough’s Enough * Former Lee Warmer * No Man's Land * Dyslexia * Scarlet and Sheba * I Love America * Fresh Blood * Pass the Gun Around

Producer Bob Ezrin returns and, with co-writer Dick Wagner, helps create a refreshingly superb LP, the most consistently great album from AC in the decade. DaDa is character driven, generally dark and often eerie: As with the creepy little girl's voice repeating the words “DaDa” as the drums pound like a heartbeat; or the frightening tale of “Former Lee Warmer” - a cannibal locked up in an attic (as one writer proposed) or a story about split personality (you decide)? And the horror of alcoholism is powerfully tackled in “Pass the Gun Around” (a number bolstered by indelible musical phrasing, and Wagner's poignant call and response guitar solo).

Beyond those titles I dug the sweeping ode to masochism “Scarlet and Sheba” (which were names Dick and Alice gave two Toronto waitresses who worked at the hotel lounge where they were staying), I adore how towering and dramatic it is, and the Middle Eastern flavoring woven throughout. “I Love America” is hysterical and is pure mocking Alice. Cooper sings in an exaggerated manner and the music is over the top (complete with Custer’s last stand). Things get funky with "Fresh Blood, which gives off Peter Gabriel vibes (it actually pre-dates Sledgehammer by 3 years), I like how the tune builds at the end, with female vocalists Karen Hendricks and Lisa Dalbello, joined by a growing horn section to add some kick.

I also find it interesting how organic and vital (meaning, not robotic) it all sounds, especially when you consider that the album was recorded using a Fairlight CMI (a new -at the time- digital synth sampler), and that the drums are frequently accompanied by computer programing (yet they sound livelier than what will be heard on the next record). Of course, it doesn't hurt having Dick on bass and guitar (his leads on tracks like "No Man's Land" and "Enough's Enough" are electrifying).

In addition, the Dali cover (with Alice’s head superimposed over the figures) contributes to the off-kilter and unsettling flavor of the album.

Sadly, DaDa was ignored, it received no support from Warners and Alice disappeared from the music scene for 3 years.

When he returns it will be with product geared to put him back on the charts, and that's fine, but these releases unfortunately fail to offer anything of substance. Say what you will about the blackouts, and I've had my share of complaints, but this period produced music that often was daring, disturbing, and delightfully perplexing. Constrictor, Raise Your Fist and Yell and Trash simply don't deliver on that level, they are just rock songs... DaDa, even at its most lighthearted, was never "just" a collection of rock songs. As bad off as Alice was, there's a spark of creative genius and originality here.

Note: Dick shared his memories of the album in a podcast interview with the folks at Decibel Geek

Purchases: Original vinyl pressing, iTunes 

🐍🐍🐍🐍½

There was no tour in support of DaDa, instead Alice sobered up and acted in a horror film in Spain sometime in 1984 (and he does look healthier on screen). Titled "Monster Dog", I remember the VHS, in a large clamshell case, showing up on shelves (wiki gives the release date as July 15, 1986) and of course I rented it. ACs speaking voice was dubbed, and that was a downer, but on the plus side, it featured 2 new songs, Identity Crisis and See Me in the Mirror (both were included on The Life and Crimes of Alice Cooper box set)

A few months later, in September, a new LP!

Next: He's Back!

Discography: Part 2 - Going Solo 1975 to 1978

Welcome to My Nightmare

Release Date: March 11, 1975

Highest US Chart: #5

Tracks: Welcome to my Nightmare * Devil’s Food * The Black Widow * Some Folks * Only Women Bleed * Department of Youth * Cold Ethyl * Years Ago * Steven * The Awakening * Escape

"Welcome to my nightmare, I think you're gonna like it..." - Alice’s first release apart from the old band was an instant classic. Ezrin returns as producer and guitarists Steven Hunter and Dick Wagner (who helps in songwriting duties and played the LPs opening note) are the new anchors for front man Furnier.

It's a concept album that takes listeners on a journey through the nightmares of a boy named Steven, and side 1 is a delight, with the funky Welcome setting a high bar, that is met. I mean, it doesn’t get much better than to hear the eminent Vincent Price, add his unforgettable narration between the one-two punch of Devil's Food and The Black Widow (both are lifted by Wagner's hard hitting guitar work), which takes us to Some Folks, a slice of musical theater, with Hunter making good with the leads this time out, and Prakash John impressing with his speedy 'n' groovy basslines. After that, the lyrically insightful Only Women Bleed - the first (and best) of the power ballads that would give Alice many hits over the next few years. It was quite a shock to casual listeners at the time who’d never heard Cooper write and perform something so moving, pretty and, well, normal. (The first time my father heard it on the car radio, he refused to believe it was him.)

As fantastic as the first side is, the second is even better. Starting with the funny Department of Youth; a self-mocking commercial slant on the “I’m 18” theme that ends with a huge laugh (Donny Osmond), up next, Cold Ethyl, which is so twisted it upset Ann Landers! It's one of AC's most solid rockers, with killer licks and a cowbell... enough cowbell to keep Christopher Walken satisfied.

This brings us to the eerie, creepy and surreal, Steven trilogy. The centerpiece, "Steven", is one of those epic nightmare songs, and a close cousin to the Ballad of Dwight Fry. It starts off with a rather John Carpenterish tinkling of piano, that later explodes into a full orchestra. Alice sings in a childlike way, summoning up all the 'unstable' he can. When he whimpers, "I must be dreaming, please stop screaming" it sounds like he’s doing all he can to keep from losing it, and by the time we get to the line about putting "pennies on your eyes", he's gone completely insane.

The record closes on the high-spirited “Escape”, which takes us backstage and inside the mind of artist himself (and provides more cowbell!). All these numbers boast first class melodies with lyrics that create an oneiric state of mind and place.

Production wise - I like how I can pick out each individual instrument. I remember reading a complaint from XTCs Dave Gregory about the work done on "(The Everyday Story of) Small Town", and how the musical details were buried in the mix, but Nightmare isn't plagued by this. I won't bore with talk about compression, preserving transients, or dynamic range, I'll just note that at the one-minute mark on the title song, as it's starting to cook, I can still make out the acoustic strums and picking, it's not lost. Song after song, I can fully appreciate the work each musician put into these numbers. (This was true of most AC Band releases; School's Out is a noteworthy example of that)

Last but definitely not least, Welcome sports a remarkable album cover (created by future movie poster star, Drew Struzan, who also illustrated the superb "Greatest Hits" LP).

Purchases: Original vinyl pressing, CD (2002 w/bonus tracks)

🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍

Note: The LP was recorded for Atlantic and distributed by Anchor overseas in a one-time soundtrack deal. That deal lead to "The Nightmare", which aired on a Friday night, April 25, 1975. I was, and am, a night owl, so I was wide awake and ready for the televised special, and absolutely loved it. 

Despite some cheesiness, it holds up. The pairing of Vincent and Vincent couldn't be better, the songs offer up a few new arrangements, and a few sanitized lyrics (Only Women Bleed, but not Cold Ethyl?), with some changed to serve the story. The order of the tracks is different from the album in parts, and they added the Ballad of Dwight Fry. 

I got to see it again in 1983 when it was released on VHS (click to see box art) and later in 2017 it found its way on DVD, paired with an edited version of the 1976 concert film (FYI: the original Rhino release for the concert is intact), while the picture quality isn't stellar (a remastered BD would be welcome) the music and the production are aces on both. Plus, on the concert film you have the legendary guitar battle between Wagner and Hunter. Cool beans!

Note 2: My Alice year started on January 13th, 1975, when Coop performed Unfinished Sweet on the first episode of the Smothers Brothers Show.

image above courtesy of Sick Things Uk, see link on the sidebar.

Alice Cooper Goes to Hell

Release Date: June 25, 1976

Highest US Chart: #27

Tracks: Go to Hell * You Gotta Dance * I’m the Coolest * Didn’t We Meet * I Never Cry * Give the Kid a Break * Guilty * Wake Me Gently * Wish You Were Here * I’m Always Chasing Rainbows * Going Home

The sequel to Nightmare offers a similar vibe but doesn’t quite reach the same highs, though there's top grade musicianship and lyrical content to enjoy. Wagner and Hunter make their returns, again trading leads (That's Dick doing the honors on "Gently", Steve on "Coolest"). Joining them is John Tropea, the utility player on the LP, who adds some rhythm here, a lead there; the wah-wah on "Wish You Were Here" is his. Tony Levin is the primary bassist this time out. I've always liked his work with Peter Gabriel and he's an asset here, I found myself focusing on his play in several tracks.

Despite the title, this isn’t all that dark; it’s actually very humorous (even Alice’s green face on the cover is more camp than scary). The title track makes me laugh out loud ("For making us doubt our parents' authority" is such a great line, considering how the OG made that a priority, "the grownups had to hate us"), and “Give the Kid a Break” is full of the funny as it tells of a guy trying to convince Satan to cut him some slack.

There are eclectic offerings; "You Gotta Dance", because uh, disco is hell. The jazzy Beatnik, "I'm the Coolest", with Alice singing low and smooth, and the overblown, eye winking cover of the perennial "I'm Always Chasing Rainbows" (later to be heard in 2023s "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3").

As a fan of the ballads from this period, “Wake Me Gently” (notable for its dreamy, echoing vocals and sweeping, emotional orchestration), and the hit “I Never Cry” (written as an alcoholic’s confession, I admire the instrumentation here), are two of the standouts.

On the other end of that spectrum is "Guilty", a straightforward rocker, that roars on the traditional E, then adds sharps at the chorus and bridge (luv the lyric at the bridge, the way Alice sings, "Golly gee, it's wrong to be", and how that glides us right back into the chorus, "So guilty!"). That's Dick noodling around on pentatonic scales, and it's the best of the faster ones, though the title track and "Wish You Were Here" (with Alan Schwartzberg's vigorous drums and fills, accompanied by harmonizing guitars) aren't far behind.

ACGTH can be a divisive, I get it, but if you're in tune with what Alice is doing here, it’s a grand album, grand theater from a master showman.

Note: Alice was too messed up to support the album with a tour, but he did co-host the Rock Music Awards with Diana Ross in Sept. I remember at one point, he loses it, trashes the place, and fights with security, after which an elaborate stage show breaks out and he performed several songs from the release (Go to Hell, Wish You Were Here, and I Never Cry) - so that gave us a taste of what might have been had he gone on the road. (BTW, I thought this was the coolest thing I'd ever seen on an awards broadcast). 

Also, part of the so-called "TV Tour" was a Sept 21st appearance on the Tony Orlando and Dawn Rainbow Hour, where he participated in a "To Tell The Truth" sketch, then lip-synched to, I Never Cry and Give the Kid A Break. This one I missed.

Funny memory: This was 1976 (a more innocent time?) I just turned 15 but the guy at the record store wasn't sure about selling it to me "Is your mother going to be okay with you buying this?" (Ha-ha, my mother fell in love with Alice after seeing him on one of her shows, "The Snoop Sisters" (ep title, "The Devil Made Me Do It!", aired Mar 5, 1974)- Ma was a fan of scary movies, Vincent Price, Karloff, etc, and Alice fit right in with those two in her mind.) I wish I saved the receipt -handwritten in those days- on it he gave the title as "Alice Cooper Goes to Heck".

Purchases: Original vinyl pressing, CD

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Lace and Whiskey

Release Date: April 29, 1977

Highest US Chart: #42

Tracks: It’s Hot Tonight * Lace and Whiskey * Road Rats * Damned if You Do * You and Me * King of the Silver Screen * Ubangi Stomp * (No More) Love at Your Convenience * I Never Wrote Those Songs * My God

I could see this coming. There was this troubling slant towards over production on Ezrin’s part over the years. “Welcome” managed not to drop over the edge of the world and was buoyed by brilliant songs. “Hell” drew even closer to that, but it too, found a way to stay afloat, but “Lace” … Gawd this is waaaay over produced!

The mix is thick as sludge, the vocals and instrumentation are overcooked, as if Ezrin was taking a page from Spector’s “Wall of Sound” - he neuters Alice like Phil did to the Ramones on “End of the Century”. But Coop and his co-writers are not blameless, the compositions can be non-descript, and rather flat ("Damned if You Do"), or, in the case of "The King of the Silver Screen", simply make me wince (those corny musical interludes). Dick Wagner felt the release "suffered from lack of focus on the songwriting" [1], and even AC expressed embarrassment over one number, "No More Love at Your Convenience"... "I don't know what I was thinking about when I wrote it." he said when speaking of its exclusion from the "Crimes" Boxset [2].

Is there anything I liked? Moving away from the horror genre gave Alice a chance to try a few new things conceptually. And I think it's cool that he's working with legendary Motown bassist Bob Babbitt. The ballads... You and Me (which actually charted higher than Only Women and I Never Cry) isn't bad, though it just kind of... drifts away unsatisfactorily. Better are I Never Wrote Those Songs, and aside from the heavy layers (I would have liked the lead vox to be more up front), the sweet-sounding hymn, My God. 

Other than that, this turgid Whiskey is big time swill.

Note: An hour-long concert special titled "Alice Cooper and Friends" aired in syndication on Sept 1977 - Coops set was around 25 minutes, the rest was shared between The Tubes, Nazareth (I was a fan of both) and Sha Na Na. The original show launched the "King of the Silver Screen" tour (June 19, 1977, at Anaheim Stadium in California) it also included the Kinks and was hosted by Flo & Eddie (neither act was included in the special).

Alice was drunk off his ass and gave a lackluster go of it. The Tubes set was chopped up (censored probably, White Punks on Dope and all), Nazareth was fantastic, and Sha Na Na were pros.

Purchases: Original vinyl pressing

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From the Inside
Release Date: November 17, 1978
Highest US Chart: #60
Tracks: From the Inside * Wish I Were Born in Beverly Hills * The Quiet Room * Nurse Rozetta * Millie and Billie * Serious * How You Gonna See Me Now * For Veronica’s Sake * Jackknife Johnny * Inmates (We’re All Crazy)

David Foster takes over the producer's chair and Elton John’s lyricist Bernie Taupin adds his talents; what emerges is the best Cooper album since Nightmare. The production's still too slick, I’m not real fond of the heavy keys/synths and layered backing vocals in spots (most evident in the two opening tracks), but it is a vast improvement over the last release because the writing team of Cooper, Taupin and Wagner fashion some amazing songs. The melodies are beautiful and catchy (love those pretty 7ths and flats in the ballads). Taupin has always been a deft storyteller and Alice a playful and clever wordsmith - together they weave compelling tales about Alice’s stay at a sanitarium for alcoholism and the people and things he saw within those walls. My favorites...

“Millie and Billie” -a dark duet with Marcy Levy (aka Macella Detroit of Shakespeare's Sister's fame)- is a tender love ballad about a nightmarish act. There's something humorously melodramatic about it, the orchestral swells and such, but it doesn't stumble into novelty, and winds up an artfully executed marriage of voice, arrangement, and disturbing lyric - "Billie I dream of our children, they're frightening and gruesome and sad, and I don't want them growing inside me, they're no prize for the love that we have" - From the delicate acoustic picking at the start, to those horror-movie strings, joined by the chilling sound of a table saw, and finally, a bass stepping off into the fade, M&B wows on all phases.

The affecting “Jackknife Johnny” is another that sticks with me, it too features a female vocalist, this time as backing, and is a song where the soulful organ is a boon. Both of these tunes are so lyrically and musically palpable that the outside world falls way, and I'm completely immersed in the one created by Cooper and his collaborators.

Other highs - the domestic, vulnerable side of AC is touched upon in twin ballads, "The Quiet Room" and “How You Gonna See Me Now”, which netted Coop a Top 12 hit (the video was shown frequently on MTV). For up-tempo delights, "Nurse Rozetta" gives the LP a shot in the arm, with its down & dirty mix of perverse comedy and tragedy; and “Serious”, a rockin' firecracker that features Cheap Trick's Rick Nielson on guitar. The closer, "Inmates (We're All Crazy)", is a warped, operatic anthem that's elevated by colorful phrasing in the vocals, where Alice is as much an actor as singer - Note the incredulous tone when delivering the lines, "Imagine playing with trains", and later, "digging up graves". Or the way his voice briefly falls to a near whisper, "I wonder if he's talking about us?" and the hitch when he says, "A-a-and it's not like we don't know the score..."

Lastly, the cover design is way cool (The doors on the cover open to show the patients from the songs inside (complete with Alice in the quiet room). On the back cover we see the folks storming the exit with release forms in hand). Alice has always had nice album art and design in the 70s, which makes me pine for the LP era.

Purchases: Original vinyl pressing, CD

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Note: The album was also given the Marvel Comics treatment (release date, July 24, 1979)

In addition - earlier in 1978 Alice was seen in 2 crappy movies, in July it was Sgt. Peppers, where he played Father Sun and performed "Because" - Before that, in March, it was Mae West's final feature Sextette - he's the waiter with a very un-Alice hairdo, who sits at the piano and sings "Next Next". (Originally, he was to do "No Time for Tears", but this was changed. Tears can be heard on the "Life and Crimes" box set) - A couple of drummers are also in the picture - Keith Moon (as a dress maker) and Ringo Starr (as a director).

The Hot 10! Highest Charting US Singles

1. School's Out #7 

    Poison #7

3. You and Me #9

4. Only Women Bleed #12

    I Never Cry #12

    How You Gonna See Me Now #12

7. I'm Eighteen #21

8. No More Mr. Nice Guy #25

9. Elected #26

10. Hello Hooray #35

Next: The Blackout Albums