You need to return the favor with Alice. I want to get into the early stuff and don't know where to start. I heard the greatest hits from '74 is all remixes or something, so I don't know if that is a good place. But I hear so much about those early albums produced by Ezrin, with Glenn Buxton, Michael Bruce, Dick Wagner, Steve Hunter...
Pretty sure this post won't derail the thread, so I hope you don't mind. I don't think anyone else is going to care.
As I said, the original Alice band was incredible. So let me start:
Their first two albums,
Pretties For You ('69) and
Easy Action ('70) were released on Zappa's label and they are for completests only. Not much going on here and it comes off like a lot of noise. I can find some good in them, but I'm a hardcore Alice fan. These are completely avoidable.
Shep Gordon (their manager) then takes the band to see Jack Richardson in Toronto, who is a popular producer at the time. Richardson asks one of his young engineers (Ezrin) to basically throw them out. But Ezrin agrees to go see them live in New York, and they do a record deal backstage after the show.
Love It To Death 1971- This is where Ezrin really pulls apart the mess that is Alice Cooper and rebuilds it into something viable. Love It To Death is still a little on the raw side but it's more than listenable. It has a certain charm to it for sure. I'm Eighteen and Is It My Body are represented on the Greatest Hits, but the albums tour de force is The Ballad Of Dwight Fry, still to this day is my favorite Alice track.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FfqrZvKI_1gKiller 1971-To me this and School's Out are the "must haves" of the early stuff. Killer is simply incredible. It is an epic filled classic off set with some of his best shorter songs. You'll recognize Under My Wheels, Be My Lover, and Desperado from the Greatest Hits but this album's greatness lies in the following three tracks;
Halo Of Flies
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fGOD1-NtxH8I would venture to call this early Progressive Metal!
Dead Babies
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vibuSW89MH8A song against child neglect!
Killer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCdr0y3cccw&index=5&list=PLu0G59v5yOuZrPfhp36SfQgeOb3vF49H_So totally haunting and ending with the sound of death!
School's Out1972-Believe it or not, I think only the title track is represented on the Greatest Hits, which is a travesty because musically this album is amazing. This is when they started with elaborate packaging. The fold out desk, the flammable panties!
Musically this was another ahead of its time album. Just check out:
My Stars
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x0DRD31c6NkIncredible!
Blue Turk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QgzoYzZiI7wOne of my favorites
Billion Dollar Babies 1973- I consider B$B much weaker than the previous two album, but it became their most popular. They had a huge arena tour which was documented on the live DVD Good To See You Again. Divisions in the band also started about this time as Alice himself started to become "the" star. Elected, B$B, No More Mr. Nice Guy are all on the Greatest Hits.
Not going to bother linking but the best tracks are I Love The Dead and Generation Landslide
Muscle Of Love 1973-Lots of divisiveness in the band here. Ezrin doesn't produce. The band tries to wrestle away some power from Alice, so this album is more of a collection of songs rather than a loosely themed theatrical album. This album is quite uneven, but I like a lot of it. Only Teenage Lament would make the Greatest Hits.
But there are some cool songs, like The Man With The Golden Gun
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R500VKA9-Zo which was beat out at the last minute for the Bond film.
At this point, the band kind of had it and they and Alice, though all sides are murky on it, basically split in two and Alice goes on to his solo career.
Welcome To My Nightmare 1975 - He reunites with Ezrin. What can I say, this album made Alice a full blown star. The whole thing is amazing top to bottom. Such a great band! Hunter/Wagner on guitar, Prakash John on Bass and Whitey Glan on drums. Live they were a beast of a band. Even Tony Levin does some session work on this and Go To Hell. Not even sure what to link, but this is a "must have"!
Alice Cooper Goes To Hell 1976- The follow up to WTMN. Drums are handled by session drummer Alan Shwartzberg, who you'll recognize as doing sessions for Kiss/the Solo Albums. Personally, I love this album. Has a similar vibe to WTMN. But this is where the Alice train really breaks down. He doesn't tour Goes To Hell.
He will follow these up with
Lace And Whiskey ('77) and
From The Inside ('78) which is itself an amazing album. Recorded after his stint in an institution it's quite entertaining.
He then disappears for a couple years rehabbing off and on. He would record 4 more albums from '80-'83, but they are alcohol and drug induced albums that are quite obscure. Flush The Fashion, Special Forces, Da Da (an Ezrin/Dick Wagner album basically) and Zipper Catches Skin. Alice would go off at this point and cure himself and reemerge in 1986 with Constrictor and the amazing Nightmare Returns tour. The rest is history!
Must haves:
Killer
School's Out
Welcome To My Nightmare