Category Archives: Alice Cooper
ALICE COOPER – Classicks
Alice Cooper – Classicks (1995, Epic Records)
Track Lisiting:
1. “Poison” … 4:29
2. “Hey Stoopid” … 4:32
3. “Feed My Frankenstein” … 4:44
4. “Love’s A Loaded Gun” … 4:10
5. “Stolen Prayer” … 5:35
6. “House Of Fire” … 3:45
7. “Lost In America” … 3:52
8. “It’s Me” … 4:37
9. “Under My Wheels” [live] … 3:40
10. “Billion Dollar Babies” [live] … 3:36
11. “I’m Eighteen” [live] … 4:34
12. “No More Mr. Nice Guy” [live] … 3:10
13. “Only Women Bleed” [live] … 4:06
14. “School’s Out” [live] … 3:46
15. “Fire” … 3:01
Another in a long line of Cooper compilations, this one is reflective of his Epic era (Trash, Hey Stoopid, and The Last Temptation) and I absolutely love the title of this album. Pure Alice.
The second half of the album are live performances taken from Alice’s Trashes the World video and probably used here to get a few more buys from Alice fans as an attempt to help make up for the fact that Trash was really the only commercial success for Alice on the Epic label.
I really enjoyed all three Epic albums though, there’s tons of strong material there so I’m disappointed most of those songs were ignored in favor of the usual cuts that make Alice best-ofs (even if these versions are live).
“Fire” is a cover of the Jimi Hendrix song. Doesn’t do much for me, but then again, neither does Hendrix. All told, it’s a decent intro to a certain time in Alice’s career, but the albums themselves are a better place to look.
www.alicecooper.com
www.myspace.com/officialalicecooper
ALICE COOPER – Dragontown
Alice Cooper – Dragontown (2001, Spitfire Records)
Track Listing:
1. “Triggerman” … 3:59
2. “Deeper” … 4:35
3. “Dragontown” … 5:05
4. “Sex Death & Money” … 3:37
5. “Fantasy Man” … 3:52
6. “Somewhere In The Jungle” … 4:06
7. “Disgraceland” … 5:21
8. “I Just Wanna Be God” … 3:32
9. “Sister Sara” … 4:34
10. “Every Woman Has A Name” … 3:43
11. “It’s Much Too Late” … 4:38
12. “The Sentinel” … 3:53
Band:
Alice Cooper – Vocals
Ryan Roxie – Guitar
Tim Pierce – Guitar
Greg Smith – Bass
Kenny Aronoff – Drums
Bob Marlette – Keyboard, Guitar, Bass
Produced by: Bob Marlette
A sequel to Brutal Planet, but far more diverse. Alice was still on the industrial metal kick here, but he branches out with more of the typical Alice humor and catchy songs like the rockabilly “Disgraceland” and the awesome ballads, “Every Woman Has A Name”, and “It’s Much Too Late”.
Initially, I wasn’t a big fan of either of Alice’s two industrial-inspired works, but I *did* take a liking to Dragontown over Brutal Planet then and I still do to this day. There’s just too many catchy songs here, industrial or not, to not be a fan of it. I just needed time to adjust to this more modern, heavier Alice style.
Highlights: “Triggerman”, “Sex Death & Money”, “Fantasy Man”, “Disgraceland”, “Every Woman Has A Name”, “It’s Much Too Late”
www.alicecooper.com
www.myspace.com/officialalicecooper
Book Review – ALICE COOPER, GOLF MONSTER: A Rock ‘n’ Roller’s Life and 12 Steps to Becoming a Golf Addict
Alice Cooper, Golf Monster: A Rock ‘n’ Roller’s Life and 12 Steps to Becoming a Golf Addict
(2007, Three Rivers Press)
by Alice Cooper with Keith and Kent Zimmerman
So about two weeks ago, with money to burn and a desire to read something more than a comic book or magazine, I headed off the bookstore and snatched up a few books, one of which was this 2008 paperback edition of Alice Cooper, Golf Monster (originally released in 2007 as a hardcover). When the book was first released, I couldn’t bring myself to spend the cash on it due to the usual high hardcover cost plus the fact that the book dealt alot with golf. Golfing just isn’t my thing and that’s something that even the king of shock rock is never going to change.
I love reading biographies and autobiographies and Alice is one of my favorite musicians so a book written by him is right up my alley, but Alice makes no bones about his love of golf and his intention to talk about it regularly in the book (just look at the book’s title). So I had to give a little to get a little. Each chapter is either dedicated to golf, his personal life, or music.
Though I read the entire book, as I said, I’m not a golf fan and I know nothing about golf. So a lot of the things he said went over my head or I found myself thinking ”okay” and moving on. Alice does try to relate golf to a way of living life and the similarities of his music career though so it’s not TOTALLY like you’re reading two books at the same time.
I hate to say it, but at times Alice comes off as just a smidge full of himself when speaking of his celebrity, wealth and music career. No doubt, the guy is a legend and is definitely one of the most down to earth rock stars, but there was still a sense of “I’m Alice, I’m the man”.
He’s definitely led an interesting life though and has gotten to hang out with tons of interesting people: Keith Moon, Mickey Dolenz, Frank Sinatra, Mae West, Groucho Marx, Bob Hope, Jack Benny, and John Lennon are just a few of the names that pop up in the book.
There are also some really fun stories, such as Groucho Marx calling Alice over to his house in the middle of the night to keep him company and watch old movies together. My absolute favorite moment, though, was Alice speaking of his time in rehab where he had to clothesline a female patient to prevent her from destroying a TV set that had become the only thing that was keeping him from losing his mind. Absolutely hilarious!
All in all, I would say this is a decent book, but nothing great. There’s probably not *enough* golf talk for golf fans and there certainly wasn’t enough talk about Alice himself or his career for this music fan. If you’re a diehard Alice fan, I suggest you pick it up for a few entertaining nuggets, but I still await the day for a end-all, be-all bio on Alice. Unfortunately, it looks like it won’t be coming from Alice Cooper.
ALICE COOPER – Along Came a Spider
Alice Cooper – Along Came a Spider (2008, Steamhammer Records/SPV Records)
Track Listing:
1. “Prologue/I Know Where You Live” … 4:21
2. “Vengeance Is Mine” … 4:26
3. “Wake the Dead” … 3:53
4. “Catch Me If You Can” … 3:15
5. “(In Touch With) Your Feminine Side” … 3:16
6. “Wrapped in Silk” … 4:16
7. “Killed by Love” … 3:34
8. “I’m Hungry” … 3:58
9. “The One That Got Away” … 3:21
10. “Salvation” … 4:36
11. “I Am the Spider/Epilogue” … 5:21
Band:
Alice Cooper – Vocals
Kerri Kelli – Guitar
Jason Hook – Guitar
Chuck Garric – Bass
Eric Singer – Drums
Additional Musicians:
Slash – Guitar on “Vengeance Is Mine”
Calico Cooper – Spoken World Vocal on “The One That Got Away”
Danny Saber – Guitar, Bass, Keyboards, Background Vocals
Greg Hampton – Guitar, Bass, Keyboards, Background Vocals
Bernard Fowler – Background Vocals
David Piribauer – Drums
Whitney Kirst – Guitar
Steffen Presley – B3 Organ
Produced by: Greg Hampton, Danny Saber and Alice Cooper
Much like the Coop’s two previous albums, (The Eyes of Alice Cooper and Dirty Diamonds) I find Along Came a Spider to be a good album, but not a blowaway. It is a bit heavier than the last two, but I long for the hair metal Trash/Hey Stoopid era Alice and this is still a bit too much garage rock for me to really love it.
“Vengeance is Mine” is a really good driving hard rock song though and features Slash on guitar. “Wake the Dead” is kinda weird and 70s-ish, but it has grown on me a lot and Ozzy Osbourne had a hand in co-writing it. “Killed By Love” is a really good ballad and I think it’s become my favorite song from this album. I’ve read that Ozzy does backing vocals and/or harmonica on “Wake the Dead”, but the booklet doesn’t confirm that in the credits for that song unless it’s listed somewhere else. It does seem silly for Alice and Ozzy to write a song together but not duet. Wasted potential.
Speaking of the booklet and packaging itself, it’s nice to see Alice on SPV and away from Eagle Rock because they packaging job Eagle did for Eyes and Diamonds seemed cheap, IMO. There’s a nice slick look here with tons of evil imagery inside the booklet with a very Rob Zombie-esque feel. The “spider blade” is absolutely awesome and the final image of Alice, excuse me, “Spider” on the lyrics page for “I Am the Spider” is especially wicked.
This is definitely a solid effort overall and I think old school Alice fans will enjoy it.
Highlights: “Vengeance Is Mine”, “Wake the Dead”, “Catch Me If You Can”, “Killed By Love”, “The One That Got Away”, “Salvation”
www.alicecooper.com
www.myspace.com/officialalicecooper
ALICE COOPER – Trash
Alice Cooper – Trash (1989, Epic Records)
Track Listing:
1. “Poison” … 4:30
2. “Spark in the Dark” .. 3:52
3. “House of Fire” … 3:47
4. “Why Trust You” … 3:12
5. “Only My Heart Talkin’” … 4:46
6. “Bed of Nails” … 4:20
7. “This Maniac’s in Love With You” … 3:48
8. “Trash” … 4:02
9. “Hell Is Living Without You” … 4:11
10. “I’m Your Gun” … 3:49
Band:
Alice Cooper – Vocals
And then an absolute bevy of session musicians and special guests including (but not limited to):
Steven Tyler, Joe Perry, Jon Bon Jovi, Richie Sambora and former Cooper bandmates Kip Winger and Kane Roberts.
Produced by: Desmond Child
A lot of metal fans don’t care for producer Desmond Child. Any album he produces and writes on has a slick pop-metal style, but I personally have no problem with that. In fact, pop-metal is one my favorite genres of rock. Desmond has done some great work with bands like KISS, Bon Jovi (Slippery When Wet, anyone?), Vince Neil, Scorpions, Ratt and Aerosmith. So a Desmond Child-Alice Cooper effort makes for another great Desmond-helmed album in my opinion and “Poison” is my favorite Alice Cooper song. I’m almost in a trance whenever I hear it.
I don’t find a pop-metal album by Alice to feel out of place in his catalog at all. Most of the 80s hard rockers owed a little bit to Alice anyway as I’ve always considered the Coop and KISS to be the Godfathers of Shock Rock while those two groups plus Van Halen are the Godfathers of Hair Metal, IMO.
This easily is my favorite Alice album and I remember playing this album most of my junior year in high school, skipping lunch and sitting in my next class’ room waiting for it to begin. I’m sure most people would argue his early-mid 70s is his best, and while I enjoy certain tracks from those albums, they’re hard for me to digest as whole. There’s just some weird stuff there and garage rock isn’t really my style.
“Trash” is a fun tune sung with Jon Bon Jovi and sees Alice Cooper & Jon going totally hair metal on us with the innuendos (“If my love was like a lollipop, would you lick it?”). Steven Tyler shares vocal duties on the ballad “Only My Heart Talkin’”. It’s just a fun record, loaded with guest stars, and his next album, Hey Stoopid, makes for a great companion piece because it continued the sound heard here.
Highlights: “Poison”, “Spark in the Dark”, “Why Trust You”, “Only My Heart Talkin’”, “Bed of Nails”, “Trash”, “Hell Is Living Without You”, “I’m Your Gun”
www.alicecooper.com
www.myspace.com/officialalicecooper
ALICE COOPER – Raise Your Fist and Yell
Alice Cooper – Raise Your Fist and Yell (1987, MCA Records)
Track Listing:
1. “Freedom” – 4:09
2. “Lock Me Up” – 3:25
3. “Give the Radio Back” – 3:34
4. “Step on You” – 3:39
5. “Not That Kind of Love” – 3:15
6. “Prince of Darkness” – 5:10
7. “Time to Kill” – 3:38
8. “Chop, Chop, Chop” – 3:06
9. “Gail” – 2:30
10. “Roses on White Lace” – 4:29
Band:
Alice Cooper – Vocals
Kane Roberts – Guitar
Kip Winger – Bass
Paul Horowitz – Keyboards
Ken K. Mary – Drums
Produced by: Michael Wagener
The resurgence of The Coop continues with this album, but I still think there’s plenty of filler here. “Not That Kind of Love” and “Roses on White Lace” are two of Alice’s best songs though with ”Not That Kind of Love” seeing Alice in pure hair metal mode and “Roses on White Lace” featuring him at his macabre best.
“Prince of Darkness” was also on the soundtrack of the 1987 John Carpenter movie Prince of Darkness (of course). The album cover here is very odd and strikes me as something weird you’d see on a Garbage Pail Kids card. I wonder if it was done by one of the same artists?
Highlights: “Freedom”, “Not That Kind of Love”, “Prince of Darkness”, “Gail”, “Roses on White Lace”
ALICE COOPER – Constrictor
Alice Cooper – Constrictor (1986, MCA Records)
Track Listing:
1. “Teenage Frankenstein” – 3:37
2. “Give It Up” – 4:10
3. “Thrill My Gorilla” – 3:06
4. “Life and Death of the Party” – 3:43
5. “Simple Disobedience” – 3:28
6. “The World Needs Guts” – 3:58
7. “Trick Bag” – 4:14
8. “Crawlin’” – 3:21
9. “The Great American Success Story” – 3:36
10. “He’s Back (The Man Behind the Mask)” – 3:50
Band:
Alice Cooper – Vocals
Kane Roberts – Guitar
Kip Winger – Bass
Paul Delph – Keyboards
David Rosenberg – Drums
Produced by: Beau Hill; Michael Wagener (for “He’s Back (The Man Behind the Mask)” only)
Alice’s sober comeback into the world of rock is more of a template for better albums to come than a good album in itself. There’s only a handful of songs I can really get into here. ”He’s Back (The Man Behind the Mask)” definitely stands out. It’s just too bad “Hard Rock Summer”, the other song Alice recorded for Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives, wasn’t included here.
Highlights: “Teenage Frankenstein”, “Life and Death of the Party”, “The World Needs Guts”, “He’s Back (The Man Behind the Mask)”
WELCOME TO THE NIGHTMARE: An All-Star Tribute to Alice Cooper
Welcome to the Nightmare: An All-Star Tribute to Alice Cooper (2005, Magik Records)
Track Listing:
1. “Welcome to My Nightmare” (5:13) Performed by: Ronnie James Dio, Phil Soussen, Randy Castillo
2. “Dead Babies” (5:42) Performed by: Iced Earth
3. “School’s Out” (4:00) Performed by: Dave Mustaine, Marty Friedman, Bob Daisley
4. “Black Widow” (4:49) Performed by: Bruce Dickinson, Adrian Smith, Tommy Aldridge
5. “Bed of Nails” (3:58) Performed by: Children Of Bodom
6. “Go to Hell” (4:37) Performed by: Dee Snider, Zakk Wylde, Rudy Sarzo, Frankie Banali
7. “Roses on White Lace” (4:25) Performed by: Icarus Witch
8. “Cold Ethyl” (4:04) Performed by: Vince Neil, Mick Mars, Billy Sheehan
9. “Under My Wheels” (3:21) Performed by: Joe Elliott, Phil Collen, Bob Kulick
10. “Elected” (4:00) Performed by: Duff McKagan, Buffy Duffy, Matt Sorum
11. “No More Mr. Nice Guy” (3:41) Performed by: Roger Daltrey, Slash, Bob Kulick
12. “Billion Dollar Babies” (3:59) Performed by: Phil Lewis, George Lynch, Stu Namm
13. “Eighteen” (5:11) Performed by: Don Dokken, John Norum, Tim Bogert
14. “Only Women Bleed” (5:43) Performed by: Glenn Hughes, Paul Gilbert, Bob Kulick
Pretty much a re-release of 1999′s Humanary Stew: A Tribute to Alice Cooper from Dead Line Music (both Dead Line & Magik are under the larger Cleopatra Records label), although it includes 3 additional tracks.
Of the three new additions Iced Earth’s cover of “Dead Babies” can be found on their Tribute to the Gods cover album and “Bed of Nails” by Children of Bodom can be found on their Trashed, Lost & Strung Out EP. Only Icarus Witch’s version of “Roses on White Lace” appears to be the sole “new” track here, although given the way Cleopatra Records works their compilations, I wouldn’t be surprised if this was already released another compilation, EP, or was a B-side somewhere else.
Still, you’re getting quite a lot of bang for you buck with this tribute album. There was quite a fad (mainly perpetrated by Cleopatra/Dead Line) of hair metalers getting together to produce low budget tribute compilations for any and every band, but there’s quite a few big names to be found here: Dave Mustaine, Ronnie James Dio, Vince Neil, Mick Mars, Dee Snider, Bruce Dickinson, Roger Daltrey, Slash, Glenn Hughes, and Joe Elliott just to name a few.
Children of Bodom (a band I know nothing about) really stand out here on “Bed of Nails”, I love the 80s pop-metal era of Alice Cooper and they did a great version of this song, just a little bit heavier, especially with the vocals. Icarus Witch really blew me away with their cover of “Roses on White Lace” (one of my favorite Alice songs and it’s pretty disturbing at that), and I even went and bought their album because of it.
Highlights: “School’s Out”, “Bed of Nails”, “Roses on White Lace”, “Under My Wheels”, “Billon Dollar Babies”, “Only Women Bleed”
Lowlights: “Black Widow”. I’m not a fan of the original version either.
