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General => General Music Discussion => Topic started by: 73109 on November 21, 2010, 09:46:42 PM
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So, I really should not be one to be making this thread. I do not know 1/10th of this man's music, but what I do know, I dig. I know the hits and I saw him live and he blew me away. I am getting a 160GB iPod for Chanukkah and I vowed to get more into his music so today, I listened to all of Welcome to My Nightmare and it blew me away. Completely. I will listen to more of the band and more of the musician in the upcoming weeks and when I finally get my iPod, fun will be had.
Here is to a great mind, a great musician, a great performer, and an all around cool dude.
Appreciate bitches.
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I respect the guy, but I can't really get into him for some reason. The last girl I was seeing was OBSESSED with him and would make me listen to him all the time. A lot of the songs were ok, but it just doesn't appeal to me.
He did an album with Bernie Taupin though, I really wanna check that out sometime soon.
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Its all about the live show. Seen him twice. Amazing both times.
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He's a great person. One of my favourite "rock personalities".
Billion Dollar Babies, that's all.
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golf
this is all
but seriously the guy is awesome
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I'm a pretty casual Alice fan, I have about half of his albums. I actually prefer the Trash onwards albums a lot more than his earlier stuff. He always has amazing musicians too.
The Alice trashes the world DVD with Al Pitrelli is AMAZING!!
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I am getting a 160GB iPod for Chanukkah and I vowed to get more into his music so today, I listened to all of Welcome to My Nightmare and it blew me away. Completely.
I'm getting one for Christmas!!
..and yes..Welcome To My Nightmare is a must have! The Steven trilogy is phenomenal. the whole "I'll put pennies on your eyes" bit gives me goosebumps. Welcome To My Nightmare was his first "solo" album released without the original Alice Cooper band, which for my money is the most underrated American classic rock band going. Songwriters far ahead of their time.
Numbers, great topic by a hugely underrated (around these parts) artist. I'm going out on a limb to say that I'm DTF's biggest Alice fan. I got into Alice while in college when I first saw The Nightmare Returns live concert. It blew me away. I went to see him a few weeks later and I was completely hooked and mesmerized. I quickly got his entire discography.
The first things you should get on your iPod are:
School's Out
Killer
WTMN
Alice Cooper Goes To Hell
I'd also recommend 1991's Hey Stoopid. A very underrated album. Check out Wind Up Toy from that album.
My fave Alice songs are:
Ballad Of Dwight Fry
Halo Of Flies
Blue Turk
Wind Up Toy
Pass The Gun Around
Wind Up Toy
Desperado
Roses On White Lace
Dead Babies
Killer
I mean..there's so many!!!!!!!!
Here's me shaking hands with the man himself (October 1997):
(https://i195.photobucket.com/albums/z246/TACPics/Alice.jpg)
..and at the Providence Civic Center
February 17, 1987
(https://i195.photobucket.com/albums/z246/TACPics/AliceKMKW.jpg)
Here's a semi recent version of Halo Of Flies, originally on Killer. You have to hear the original, not sure if I can link it, but this is one of the original progressive metal songs. Consider it was written in 1970 or 71.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6-8R1JFCQw
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Only concert I've ever been to was an Alice Cooper concert. It was awesome.
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(https://i195.photobucket.com/albums/z246/TACPics/Alice.jpg)
(https://dobrochan.ru/src/jpg/1005/ffffuuuuu.jpg)
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(https://i195.photobucket.com/albums/z246/TACPics/Alice.jpg)
(https://dobrochan.ru/src/jpg/1005/ffffuuuuu.jpg)
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STEP INTO THE STREET BY SUNDOWN
Saw that you had that there. Either that, Poison, or The Black Widow are my favorites.
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STEP INTO THE STREET BY SUNDOWN
Saw that you had that there. Either that, Poison, or The Black Widow are my favorites.
On Humanary Stew, Bruce Dickinson does a great Black Widow, even reprising the Vincent Price part. Also Ronnie James Dio does an awesome Welcome To My Nightmare.
Yes, Desperado is an awesome track. Off of Killer which is a must have. Contains the great Dead Babies, Halo Of Flies... and the title track has to be heard to be believed...
Poison is pretty cool, but my fvorite off of Trash is easily Why Trust You. Crank that baby up!! :metal
I was also listening to Hey Stoopid last night. Dangerous Tonight is such an :metal song.
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I've mostly listened to the greatest hits collections, but also a little bit from Billion Dollar Babies, Welcome To My Nightmare, Trash, and Dirty Diamonds.
Favourite songs include:
- Six Hours (love that blues riff)
- Triggerman
- Feed My Frankenstein
- He's Back (The Man Behind The Mask)
- Spark In The Dark
- The Black Widow
- No More Mr Nice Guy
- Halo Of Flies
Poison is good but I feel it's been overplayed through the years.
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Zy, good call on Six Hours and Triggerman.
I like Dirty Diamonds, but it's not as good as The Eyes Of Alice Cooper, which is a return to a real garage type feel. A great rebound from the horrid Dragontown.
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Triggerman is a damn good song.
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So, I never understood the curator bit. Everything just sounds like Alice Cooper singing. I know I'm wrong but can anyone point out where it is only thr curator?
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I remember seeing Kane Roberts for the first time live and it looked like he was going to snap the neck off his guitar just by moving his arms. It was also fun to see Moterhead open up. I made a promise never to see Motorhead to a friend as a running joke so I walked into the theater and heard, The Ace Of Spades, ran down the hall screaming NO GOD, NO!!!!!! The next day my mom let my friend in and he hung about 20 pictures of Lemmy in my room. I go home and didn't notice it till the next day. Bastard!!
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So, I never understood the curator bit. Everything just sounds like Alice Cooper singing. I know I'm wrong but can anyone point out where it is only thr curator?
I don't understand..Curator? What part or album are you referring to?
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On Humanary Stew, Bruce Dickinson does a great Black Widow, even reprising the Vincent Price part.
It says on wiki that Vincent Price plays "the curator" on WTMN.
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On Humanary Stew, Bruce Dickinson does a great Black Widow, even reprising the Vincent Price part.
It says on wiki that Vincent Price plays "the curator" on WTMN.
It's true!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4kJWoaxlykg
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Oh shit! I need to check this out later.
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Love it to Death is my favourite Alice Cooper album. So great on vinyl.
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Hey Stoopid (minus the title track) is excellent, and From the Inside are my favourites. Not a huge album fan but live he's always worth seeing even though the show is as predictable now as seeing KISS.
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Alice gets into the RnR Hall Of Fame with his original band!
https://www.bravewords.com/news/152322
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Yeah. I saw that. That is awesome!
Now, he needs to get in for his solo stuff. I wonder is it will take the Hall 20 years to do that too.
BTW, Tac, where to go next. I know hits and Welcome to My Nightmare. I was thinking going back to the original band but I wanted something a little...darker.
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BTW, Tac, where to go next. I know hits and Welcome to My Nightmare. I was thinking going back to the original band but I wanted something a little...darker.
Ironically, I really wouldn't classify very many of his albums as "dark". I mean he does have a dark, if not tongue in cheek sense of humor.
I would say that his 3 "darkest" albums are:
1. Brutal Planet (2000)
This is a heavy, almost industrial sounding album
Youtube: Wicked Young Man, Sanctuary, & Pick Up The Bones
2. Raise Your Fist And Yell (1987)
In the mid 80's, this was representative of the splatter movie genre.
Youtube: The Gail Trilogy (Chop Chop Chop, Gail, Roses On White Lace (f##king awesome tune!)), Prince Of Darkness
3. DaDa (1983)
This album is insane. It's very early 80's sounding (read: electronic effects). Songs about hidden away cannibalistic family members..
Youtube: Pass The Gun Around (Great Tune!), Former Lee Warmer
Also, don't discount investigating the original band stuff just because you have the greatest hits already. You must get Killer next!
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I just have to say, Alice Cooper puts on one of the best live shows I've ever seen.
I wasn't really a big AC fan when I bought a ticket to see him live that first time. Some of my friends were going, I liked the few AC songs I was aware of at the time, and he actually came to Halifax!
Not long into the show, I was officially a fan.
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All this Alice talk..I thought I'd scan in some pics from a few different shows from back in the day...
Providence Civic Center
February 17, 1987
(https://i195.photobucket.com/albums/z246/TACPics/AliceProv8701.jpg)
(https://i195.photobucket.com/albums/z246/TACPics/AliceProv8702.jpg)
Boston Garden
November 17, 1987
(https://i195.photobucket.com/albums/z246/TACPics/AliceBos01.jpg)
(https://i195.photobucket.com/albums/z246/TACPics/AliceBos02.jpg)
Paramount Theater, Springfield, Ma
March 16, 1990
(https://i195.photobucket.com/albums/z246/TACPics/AliceSpring01.jpg)
(https://i195.photobucket.com/albums/z246/TACPics/AliceSpring02.jpg)
Great Woods, Mansfield, Ma
August 9, 1991
(https://i195.photobucket.com/albums/z246/TACPics/AliceGW02.jpg)
(https://i195.photobucket.com/albums/z246/TACPics/AliceGW01.jpg)
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Alice gets into the RnR Hall Of Fame with his original band!
https://www.bravewords.com/news/152322
Congrats TAC..making the roadtrip?
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Alice gets into the RnR Hall Of Fame with his original band!
https://www.bravewords.com/news/152322
Congrats TAC..making the roadtrip?
Nahh I don't think so.
I wonder who's going to introduce him. Probably someone like Rob Zombie..
Great to see that original band together though, even though Glen Buxton passed away a few years ago.
We went tot see Alice in Atlantic City and Michael Bruce was like 5 rows in front of us. He was very cool to all of the fans around him.
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All this Alice talk..I thought I'd scan in some pics from a few different shows from back in the day...
Providence Civic Center
February 17, 1987
(https://i195.photobucket.com/albums/z246/TACPics/AliceProv8701.jpg)
(https://i195.photobucket.com/albums/z246/TACPics/AliceProv8702.jpg)
Boston Garden
November 17, 1987
(https://i195.photobucket.com/albums/z246/TACPics/AliceBos01.jpg)
(https://i195.photobucket.com/albums/z246/TACPics/AliceBos02.jpg)
Paramount Theater, Springfield, Ma
March 16, 1990
(https://i195.photobucket.com/albums/z246/TACPics/AliceSpring01.jpg)
(https://i195.photobucket.com/albums/z246/TACPics/AliceSpring02.jpg)
Great Woods, Mansfield, Ma
August 9, 1991
(https://i195.photobucket.com/albums/z246/TACPics/AliceGW02.jpg)
(https://i195.photobucket.com/albums/z246/TACPics/AliceGW01.jpg)
MAh God I hate you
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@ Wall of photos. :( Fuck...
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I just listened to Killer and I have to say, it was just all right. It had its good songs like Under My Wheels, Be My Lover, Halo of Flies, and Dead Babies...hell that is half the album. I just think it is missing something and to be honest, I can't put my finger on it. I think it might be the music is a bit different then Welcome to My Nightmare, an album that has already earned its spot in my top 10 albums of all time. This album has more of a classic rock/psych vibe to it while WTMN, to me, had a darker vibe. Granted, it could just be the subject matter. In my project of discovering bands, I have vowed to listen to Killer, School's Out, Alice Cooper Goes to Hell, Hey Stoopid, and Along Came a Spider (it is his latest album after all and Vengeance is Mine is fucking :metal)
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His first few albums with his original band are brilliant. I love Alice Cooper. :metal
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I just listened to Killer and I have to say, it was just all right. It had its good songs like Under My Wheels, Be My Lover, Halo of Flies, and Dead Babies...hell that is half the album. I just think it is missing something and to be honest, I can't put my finger on it. I think it might be the music is a bit different then Welcome to My Nightmare, an album that has already earned its spot in my top 10 albums of all time. This album has more of a classic rock/psych vibe to it while WTMN, to me, had a darker vibe. Granted, it could just be the subject matter. In my project of discovering bands, I have vowed to listen to Killer, School's Out, Alice Cooper Goes to Hell, Hey Stoopid, and Along Came a Spider (it is his latest album after all and Vengeance is Mine is fucking :metal)
Regarding Killer...just shut the lights out and listen to the title track! 6 of the 8 tracks are great. You may take some time to adjust to the band's sound, but this album was light years ahead of its time. You gotta remember, it was made in 1971, granted it was only 5 years before WTMN. It's a lot rawer.
You should also try and get to the last half of Raise Your Fist And Yell.
Good luck!
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What a failure, this still hasn't gone to a second page yet?
In Mustaine's A Life In Metal, he states that Alice tried to straighten him up on his drug addiction. Of course, Dave didn't care but he knew that he couldn't stop and Alice was not on the wrong foot about any of it. He thinks of him as his Godfather. That's fuckin' cool.
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In about a week, Welcome to My Nightmare will be mine!! :metal
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In Mustaine's A Life In Metal, he states that Alice tried to straighten him up on his drug addiction. Of course, Dave didn't care but he knew that he couldn't stop and Alice was not on the wrong foot about any of it. He thinks of him as his Godfather. That's fuckin' cool.
The Alice Cooper influence in Megadeth is so crystal clear to me.
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Listening to Goes To Hell tonight. Diggin the first song. :D
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Listening to Goes To Hell tonight. Diggin the first song. :D
Skip the second one.
Seriously that's a great album. I'm The Coolest is so...cool.
Also, Tony Levin is all over this album.
..and tell me the very end of I'm Going Home does not remind you of the end of the Razor's Edge section of Octavarium. It hit me the first time I heard it.
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Yeah...that second one was pitiful. I'm the coolest did not seem that cool TBH, but an album could always use more than one listen.
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Final first verdict is...6.5/10
Go To Hell was awesome. By far the best song on the album. I Never Cry and Give The Kid a Break were good. Didn't We Meet, Guilty, Wish You Were Here and Going Home were all ok. The rest were meh and You Gotta Dance was the worst Alice Cooper song I have ever heard by a long shot.
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TRIPLE POST!
Killer's is much better on the second listen. I love short albums. I tend to feel overwhelmed with long ones and 8 songs is nice and short and easily digestible. This album is kickass. I knew the first half of the album just from knowing the "hits" and the second half is not lackluster at all. You Drive Me Nervous and Yeah Yeah Yeah are ok at the moment and I can feel they will grow on me. Dead Babies is AWESOME!! That chorus is sick, and Killer is a badass song as well.
edit: I also have been listening to the remastered version of WTMN...should I be listening to the original?
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First Alice album I had was the live Alice Cooper Show and I loved that. I Never Cry, You and Me, Only Women Bleed.
Alice does great ballads.
I really enjoyed the Fistful of Alice live album too. Desperado rules. And Alice Cooper trashes the World is excellent as someone said. I'm certainly more of an 80s/early 90s Alice fan, mainly because of the dated sound of those 70s albums rather than the song quality.
Last Temptation was the last album I enjoyed.
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TRIPLE POST!
Killer's is much better on the second listen. I love short albums. I tend to feel overwhelmed with long ones and 8 songs is nice and short and easily digestible. This album is kickass. I knew the first half of the album just from knowing the "hits" and the second half is not lackluster at all. You Drive Me Nervous and Yeah Yeah Yeah are ok at the moment and I can feel they will grow on me. Dead Babies is AWESOME!! That chorus is sick, and Killer is a badass song as well.
edit: I also have been listening to the remastered version of WTMN...should I be listening to the original?
That's great.
I do love I'm The Coolest, though. I think it's hilarious. I'm Going Home is probably my fave on the album, but after that I'd take Give The Kid A Break and Didn't We Meet. The title track is very cool and still a live staple. You Gotta Dance..I've never liked that song. I'm not sure WTF he was doing there.
BTW, I always skip Nervous and Yeah when I listen to Killers. You're not alone there.
Numbers, you should try and find a copy of The Nightmare Returns DVD. That video is what got me into Alice in the fist place when it came out. They do great metal versions of WTMN, Go To Hell, Dwight Fly.. I recommend it much more than Trashes The World, which was a GREAT tour/show, but I hate the video. It's edited with nice footage, but goes slow motion and black & white at times, and I find that very distracting.
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Some pretty cool music out there by Alice Cooper, although I haven't heard all of it. I listened to some early material and the stuff from the early 80s, and I enjoyed most of it. Some great albums: School's out, Love it to death, Killer, DaDa... I need to hear more when I have time.
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I have School's Out, Hey Stoopid, and Along Came a Spider before I go on and see if I want more. Judging by what I have heard so far, I probably will, so I think I will go back to Early Alice Cooper days and also go to the early 2000's. Brutal Planet sounds like a kickass record.
It is very intimidating trying to get into a band with a massive discography under his belt so this is a pretty cool journey. I am on a mission to get into has many bands as possible this year and Alice is one of the first three I am trying. All 3 are working out, but the thing is, the other 2 only have 4 albums a piece to check out, so Alice is a lot harder to do...but it makes it more fun! :D :metal
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Alice has a huge and diverse discography. Not as diverse as Zappa or Bowie, but along those lines. It's tough to find a jumping in point, but you've made some good choices
School's Out is tremendous. Don't forget, this was 1972! This band were brilliant songwriters. The title track doesn't come close to scratching the surface.
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MY Best Alice abums...
Killer
Love It To Death
Billion Dollar Babies
Schools Out
Welcome To My Nightmare
Not really in order. These are my personal favorites. There are a few others I like but these are tops.
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Alice has a huge and diverse discography. Not as diverse as Zappa or Bowie, but along those lines. It's tough to find a jumping in point, but you've made some good choices
School's Out is tremendous. Don't forget, this was 1972! This band were brilliant songwriters. The title track doesn't come close to scratching the surface.
You mentioned Bowie and that is funny because he is also one person I want to get into this year. Same with Bob Dylan and Eric Clapton. Both guys have over 30 albums so finding the right starting place will be hard. I also want to get more into Steve Miller, Tom Petty, Jethro Tull, Heart, Elton John, Neil Young, Bruce Springsteen, and Bob Seger who have discographies in the high teens. I know all of the hits by these dudes but I have found, while the hits are awesome, the true beauty of the music is in the cuts. And that is not even half my list. :lol
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Numbers, hey! I think it's about time you change the version of this thread considering we are on 2 pages lol. Unless it's more humorous that way heh.
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Eh. I was just saying that I thought it would crash and burn and die before it got a chance to go anyways and end up being in the DTF abyss...
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Back in the 70's, I had a friend who was a big fan. One thing we noticed while looking at the pictures inside the album was that there was a name under every picture except the singer. To our drug-addled minds, this seemed to fit with what we'd heard, that "Alice Cooper" was the name of the band, not the person. We decided that the band was those four guys, and the singer didn't have a name, which we thought was really fucking cool, even if we were way off base.
It also seemed to fit with the line "She asked me why the singer's name was Alice. I said 'Listen baby, you really wouldn't understand.'" It was more complicated than that.
But naturally the idea that "Alice Cooper" was the band and not the person didn't work for most people. Too meta, too weird. So the previously unnamed singer (nee Vincent Furnier) became Alice Cooper, and when the band broke up, he went solo and called himself Alice Cooper. That's how we always understood it, anyway.
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Alice Cooper puts on an amazing live show. I don't have all of his albums but gotta say "Raise your fist and yell" is one of my favorite 80's metal albums. Just bought his boxset "The Life and Crimes of Alice Cooper"; lots of rare and unreleased tracks
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Eh. I was just saying that I thought it would crash and burn and die before it got a chance to go anyways and end up being in the DTF abyss...
Ah k. I thought it meant it will get many posts in no time that it will go to page 2. It's cool, however.
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VENGEANCE IS MINE
VENGEANCE IS MINE, MINE, MINE
TO FORGIVE IS DIVINE
BUT VENGEANCE IS MINE
:metal
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Finished Along Came A Spider. Pretty damn cool. I think it was an overall dark, creepy, cool album. I think though, the who album was greater than the sum of its parts and is an album that needs to be listened to as a whole. My next album was going to be School's Out but I could not resist the brutal awesomeness that I heard Brutal Planet is.
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Alice Cooper puts on an amazing live show. I don't have all of his albums but gotta say "Raise your fist and yell" is one of my favorite 80's metal albums. Just bought his boxset "The Life and Crimes of Alice Cooper"; lots of rare and unreleased tracks
Listened to this the other day and it stands up. I love the serial killer on the prowl... "She had an anklet with a name. It spelt M-A-R-Y... Jane!!"
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Brutal Planet is a killer album based on the first 2 listens.
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I think this thread is more a documentary of my discovering of Alice the band and Alice the solo artist with a commentary from you guys. So, I ask that you please ignore the possible triple posts and stuff of that nature.
Now, being the metal head that I am, I love the heavy. So, I can say now that Brutal Planet is the second best album that I have heard from Alice as a band or a single artist. Almost all of the songs are badass. I think he wrote Pessi Mystic from reading my mind in the future :lol and it is just a fucking kickass album. WTMN is just my favorite because I have a soft spot for concept albums about fucked up people. I gave Along Came A Spider a listen 2 days ago too and it was pretty good. So far, I would rate the Alice albums I know like this:
Welcome to My Nightmare
Brutal Planet
Killer
Goes To Hell
Along Came a Spider
but no albums are bad by any case. All 7.5/+ albums with the top 2 being 10 and 9 point something respectively.
TAC told me to listen to Hey Stoopid and School's Out so they shall be next and after that, I think I will go one newer album and one older album until I am satisfied.
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Trying Hey Stoopid now.
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HEY STOOPEHHHHD
How good is the song Feed My Frankenstein?
FEEEEEEEEED MAAAAHHHH
(:metal)
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I was not paying attention to the record to be honest. I needed a change.
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HS is my favourite but I always start at track 2. Some great guitar playing from Stef Burns amongst the guests. Vinnie Moore's solos are excellent.
And the fade out used to creep me out.
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I love Hey Stoopid. It's one of my favorite Alice albums. Burning Our Bed has to be one of the worst Alice songs though..same for Love's A Loaded Gun.
My favorite tracks are:
Wind Up Toy
Dangerous Tonight
Hurricane Years
Die For You
Might As Well Be On Mars
Really a great album.
Alice Cooper puts on an amazing live show. I don't have all of his albums but gotta say "Raise your fist and yell" is one of my favorite 80's metal albums.
Listened to this the other day and it stands up. I love the serial killer on the prowl... "She had an anklet with a name. It spelt M-A-R-Y... Jane!!"
This! Numbers, you might really like Raise Your Fist And Yell. Gail (really freaking creepy) and Roses On White Lace are incredible. Roses is a Top 10 Alice song for me.
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I'll probably listen to all of Hey Stoopid tonight. It depends on how my studying for my trig final goes.
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Boy you need Billion Dollar Babies if ya ain't got it.
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Roses on White Lace is top three favorite Cooper songs for me. Checked out that tour on youtube and he plays a killer rendition of it. It might seem cheesy, but I love "He's back (Man Behind the Mask) from Constrictor.
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Boy you need Billion Dollar Babies if ya ain't got it.
The title track was in our set list for quite a while. No keyboards on that song, so I played tambourine, and did a dance during the break. Not quite Phil Collins level, but inspired by his tambourine dance circa 1976, Seconds Out era "I Know What I Like". People thought it was pretty cool.
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Hey TAC I love those two song you don't like. I was an 80s Hair Metal (God I hate that term) child though. If Bon Jovi had done Burning Our Bed or Love's A Loaded Gun they would have been huge.
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Roses on White Lace is top three favorite Cooper songs for me. Checked out that tour on youtube and he plays a killer rendition of it. It might seem cheesy, but I love "He's back (Man Behind the Mask) from Constrictor.
Roses is probably Top 5, now that I think about it. I saw the tour and it was so cool when he did the Gail Trilogy.
He's Back is cheesy..but Constrictor is actually a damn good album. Alice came back very motivated in the mid 80's.
Hey TAC I love those two song you don't like. I was an 80s Hair Metal (God I hate that term) child though. If Bon Jovi had done Burning Our Bed or Love's A Loaded Gun they would have been huge.
:lol
Burning Our Bed has to be one of the all time worst Alice songs. You're right though, it would've made a much better Bon Jovi song.
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Listened to School's Out. Thoroughly unimpressed but I am very critical of albums after the first listen but I really did not like this one. School's Out is a hit for a reason and after that Public Animal #9 and Alma Matter are the only ones I would consider ok.
And TAC, You Gotta Dance is Alice's worst song, at least from what I've heard.
TAC, what do you think of Brutal Planet? I love it.
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Well sorry to hear that about School's Out. Give it some time. I wasn't crazy about it at first. I really find it's a 1972 album with no boundries really. I'm glad to hear you mention Alma Mater. That's a great song. Very cool.
My personal fave on School's Out is Blue Turk. Give Looney Tune another spin. It contains one of my favorite Alice vocals from any album. Another hidden gem is My Stars. I just find it very original. Alice sounds great on this, in my opinion.
You're right..considering what you've heard, You Gotta Dance is awful..I agree.
As far as Brutal Planet..I'm not in love with it. First off, I love Sanctuary. Probably a Top 20 Alice track for me. I also love Cold Machines. The chorus is great on that. After that, I like, It's The Little Things and Pick Up The Bones. I cannot stand the title track, and the rest is just ok. Wicked Young Man is also not bad. But to me, it's 50/50. I'm not surprised that you like that one. It is by far his heaviest album. If you like that, you might like Dragontown. It came right after Brutal Planet and is they are generally regarded as sister albums. Personally, I think Dragontown is terrible.
You also might want to check out Brutally Live. It's a DVD from that tour. It's outstanding.
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I haven't heard School's Out, but maybe it's one of those albums you find soooo boring the first 2 or 3 times you hear it. Then you go back to it after like 5 months and then it's awesome. That happened with me, Miles Davis' In A Silent Way.
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TAC, as you said, its heavy. So I am bound to dig it. I LOVE the title track and Take It Like A Woman is probably is best song song. (To me, it even might beat out Only Women Bleed.) The only songs I don't find to be good to amazing are Blow Me a Kiss and The Little Things. Once I am done with Hey Stoopid and I give School's Out a few good listens, I will listen to one old album, one new. I know I need Billion Dollar Babies and because you said Dragontown was like Brutal Planet, I might have to check that one out too...though I think Trash might be worth it as well.
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When Trash came out, I loved it. Just remember it's done with Desmond Child and has a distinct late 80's hair metal vibe to it. Also there's tons of sexual innuendo cliche shit too, which to me, caused it to not age that great. My favorite track is Why Trust You, which is also a Top 20 Alice track for me. But you'll hear Jon Bon Jovi on the title track, as well as Seteven Tyler on Only My Heart Talking. Lots of cool shit on this album.
You're doing it right going old and new. I'd be careful to enter the mid career era from Lace And Whiskey (1977) through Da Da (1983). Not until you're ready, even though that era is riddled with great songs, just not strong albums.
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Oh, I know about his middle career stuff being his weekest...I know I am looking way into the future here but I think, after listening to Hey Stoopid and School's Out enough times to get a good grip on the music, I will go...
Billion Dollar Babies and Trash
Love it to Death and Dragontown
Muscle of Love and Dirty Diamonds.
Also, Welcome To My Nightmare 2 is coming out this year and I'm pumped for that.
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Listening to Hey Stoopid...sorry TAC, Love is a Loaded Gun is a pretty damn good song. :P
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Oh well..I do love that album.
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Burning Our Bed was pretty cool too. I have no problem with the occasional power ballad. I just hated the cheesy Hair Metal ones. That was one of the worst genre of metal to have ever come out of the entire Heavy Metal genre.
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I seriously cannot even listen to that song! Yuck!
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I dug it. So far, I am really digging this album. Just finished Feed My Frankenstein.
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I dug it. So far, I am really digging this album. Just finished Feed My Frankenstein.
Can't go wrong with Joe Satriani and Steve Vai playing in the same songs.
Next up! Hurricane Years..cool song!
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Great album. Ending with Wind Up Toy was awesome, and I have to say, any and every spoken part in any and every Alice album creeps me the fuck out.
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Wind Up Toy is awesome. A Top 10 Alice song for me. Just love it. My other fave is Dangerous Tonight. I have fond memories screaming it out at the top of my lungs while driving.
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I think my next album will be Dragontown just because I am in the mood for some :metal
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First track, Triggerman kicks total ass..the rest..well enjoy...I hate it! :D
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:lol
Will report back later.
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DADDY WON'T DISCUSS ME!!!
WHAT I SIGHT I MUST BE!!!
:metal
Soon becoming one of my favorites.
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DADDY WON'T DISCUSS ME!!!
WHAT I SIGHT I MUST BE!!!
:metal
Soon becoming one of my favorites.
It's one of mine! A great song!
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So far, I have listened to 7 Alice Cooper albums and here are the rankings so far:
Welcome to My Nightmare
Brutal Planet
Hey Stoopid
Killer
Goes to Hell
Along Came a Spider
School's Out
One and two and four and five are incredibly close, and I would say I find all but the last album to be really good. School's Out just did not click at all.
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Dragontown is to Brutal Planet as Re-Load is to Load
Sounds like a crappy "part 2" version of the first fucking awesome album.
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The Black Widow is an awesome song. I must listen to it asap.
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Burning Our Bed was pretty cool too. I have no problem with the occasional power ballad. I just hated the cheesy Hair Metal ones. That was one of the worst genre of metal to have ever come out of the entire Heavy Metal genre.
Hey you just insulted 90% of my cd collection there lol :facepalm:
Listening to one of my faves now, From The Inside. Overlooked classic. Milly & Billie is awesome!
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Listening to one of my faves now, From The Inside. Overlooked classic. Milly & Billie is awesome!
" You with your pick axe and scissors....
...and you with your shovel and gun"
"I guess love makes you do funny things"
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Listening to one of my faves now, From The Inside. Overlooked classic. Milly & Billie is awesome!
" You with your pick axe and scissors....
...and you with your shovel and gun"
"I guess love makes you do funny things"
made me lol first time I heard it.
"And I liked your late husband Donald
But such torture his memory brings
All tied up and sealed tight in baggies...
Guess love makes you do funny things"
All done in a happy love song duet. Genius.
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My favorite song from that album is The Quiet Room.
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So, Dragontown was ok. I might need to listen to it some more to get more into it.
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I liked you ReLoad analogy.
After Triggerman, there's nothing I care to hear on that album, except for maybe Disgraceland.
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My favorite song from that album is The Quiet Room.
As I said earler in the thread, nobody does ballads like Alice. That and how You Gonna See Me Now are great songs. I am a psychiatric nurse so the subject matter is close to my heart.
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I liked you ReLoad analogy.
I was afraid you were not going to pick up on it. :lol
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I liked you ReLoad analogy.
I was afraid you were not going to pick up on it. :lol
Well it's the perfect analogy. An album where only half the songs are good, followed by an album with only one good song.
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Not so much. :P Load is fucking awesome, as is Brutal Planet.
Picked up my copy of Welcome to My Nightmare today!! :metal
While I was there, I also picked up Live at Montreux which seems fucking awesome.
Set:
"Department of Youth"
"No More Mr. Nice Guy"
"Dirty Diamonds"
"Billion Dollar Babies"
"Be My Lover"
"Lost in America"
"I Never Cry"
"Woman of Mass Distraction"
"I'm Eighteen"
"Between High School and The Old School"
"What Do You Want From Me?"
"Is it My Body?"
"Go to Hell"
"The Black Widow(instrumental)
"Drum Solo"
"Gimme"
"Feed My Frankenstein"
"Welcome To My Nightmare"
"The Awakening"
"Steven"
"Only Women Bleed"
"Ballad of Dwight Fry"
"Killer"
"I Love the Dead"
"School's Out"
"Poison"
"Wish I Were Born in Beverly Hills"
"Under My Wheels"
Tac, I know you have to have it, so, how is it?
edit: Looking back, I am wondering if I should have ordered Brutally Live instead of being impatient and just getting the DVD in the store. The set has more Brutal Planet stuff which is cool.
Brutally Live and the one I got both have:
"No More Mr. Nice Guy"
"Billion Dollar Babies"
"I'm Eighteen"
"Go to Hell"
"Gimme"
"Feed My Frankenstein"
"Only Women Bleed"
"Ballad of Dwight Fry"
"I Love the Dead"
"School's Out"
"Poison"
"Under My Wheels"
Brutally Live has:
"Brutal Planet" (Alice Cooper, Bob Marlette) - 4:52
"Blow Me a Kiss" (Alice Cooper, Bob Marlette, Bob Ezrin) - 3:06
"Pick Up the Bones" (Alice Cooper, Bob Marlette) - 4:54
"Wicked Young Man" (Alice Cooper, Bob Marlette) - 3:32
"Dead Babies" (Alice Cooper, Michael Bruce, Glen Buxton, Dennis Dunaway, Neal Smith) - 3:28
"The Black Widow" (Alice Cooper, Dick Wagner, Bob Ezrin) - 3:14
"It's Hot Tonight" (Alice Cooper, Dick Wagner, Bob Ezrin) - 2:46
"Caught in a Dream" (Michael Bruce) - 2:28
"It's the Little Things" (Alice Cooper, Bob Marlette) - 5:15
"Take It Like a Woman" (Alice Cooper, Bob Marlette) - 2:37
"You Drive Me Nervous" (Alice Cooper, Michael Bruce, Bob Ezrin) - 2:23
"My Generation" (Pete Townshend) - 1:28
"Elected" (Alice Cooper, Michael Bruce, Glen Buxton, Dennis Dunaway, Bob Ezrin) - 4:49
while the one I got has:
"Department of Youth"
"Dirty Diamonds"
"Be My Lover"
"Lost in America"
"I Never Cry"
"Woman of Mass Distraction"
"Between High School and The Old School"
"What Do You Want From Me?"
"Is it My Body?"
"The Black Widow(instrumental)
"Welcome To My Nightmare"
"The Awakening"
"Steven"
"Killer"
"Wish I Were Born in Beverly Hills"
It sucks that Brutally Live has Brutal Planet, Wicked Young Man, Pick Up The Bones, The Black Widow, Dead Babies, Take it like a Woman, and Elected. But the one I got has Department of Youth, Dirty Diamonds, Be My Lover, I Never Cry, Is It My Body, Welcome to My Nightmare and Killer, and what really is evening it out for me is the one I got has my favorite Alice song ever, Steven. I think the next DVD I get though will be Brutally Live because I watched some of the DVD on youtube and it was awesome! :metal
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Well I already recommended Brutally Live to you. Live In Montreaux is very cool. The band playing on a nice clean stage.
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So there are no theatrics?
That is so not Alice Cooper.
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Well, Live at Montreaux was at the Montreau Jazz festival or something like that, so you have a pretty clean stage, but what it does is show you that he and his band do not need props. They rock!
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Before I open up this one, which would you recommend?
edit: also, you can consider Theatre of Death, you are like the Alice master so I trust you completely.
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Brutally Live is definitely better. I'd take it over Montreax and Theater Of Death. But I'd also take The Nightmare Returns over all of them. But I think you'll love Brutally Live. After all it is the tour for the album you love so much! I saw that tour too, and it was very cool!
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Making me feel inadequate :P
I saw him on his Psycho Drama tour. Amazing shit but the problem was, I only knew the hits, so, I didn't die when he played Steven, Feed My Frankeinstein, Vengeance is Mine, Halo of Flies, Cold Ethyl, Dead Babies, and Devils Food.
And THAT is why I am so dead set on seeing him for WTMN2.
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So, it took a while, but Dragontown clicked. It isn't Brutal Planet but it has its awesome songs.
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Ordered Brutally Live!! :D :metal
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I think you'll be happy with that. It's the full Alice production. I still think you'd like The Nightmare Returns vid and the follow up album Raise Your Fist And Yell.
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Will definitely check into it! :metal
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Going to pick up Brutally Live tomorrow! I have not really checked more into Alice dear, but I have listened to Dragontown a lot, and I really dig it. It might be a bit cheesier than Brutal Planet, but I dig it, and Deeper is a fucking awesome! song. That chorus! In fact, I have not been listening to Alice a lot as of late. I need to change that. I think I shall listen to Hey Stoopid tonight.
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Woot!
https://alicecooper.com/latest/news-item/no-more-mr-nice-guy-world-tour-announced-w-revamped-band
I would dig the opportunity to see this dude when I know songs other than the massive hits.
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Hopefully the setlist gets a major overhaul.
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Well, I don't know. The songs I would like to see:
Devils Food
Black Widow
Only Woman Bleed
Steven
Be My Lover
Desperado
Dead Babies
Hey Stoopid
Feed My Frankeinstein
Wind Up Toy
Didn't We Meet
Going Home
Deeper
Elected
No More Mr Nice Guy
Billion Dollar Babies
Poison
Brutal Planet
Wicked Young Man
Take it Like a Woman
Cold Machines
Vengeance is Mine
Wrapped in Silk
Salvation
I'm Eighteen
So, anything comprised of those songs would work for me. Note that School's Out is not there. By far his worst hit. You?
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Well I'm a huge fan of School's Out the album. The title track is easily the worst song on it, but you'll forget all about that because it goes over well live.
The 4 songs that you are guaranteed to see are:
I'm Eighteen
Billion Dollar Babies
School's Out
No More Mr. Nice Guy
Those are the standards.
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So, Alice Cooper getting inducted into the Rock Hall is being aired tonight, and I'm going to watch it. Also, kinda on edge about this tour, I mean shit, he announced that he was having it almost 2 weeks ago and no dates yet. I check every day. :lol
Also TAC, he said that this summer tour will be an all hits tour and the next one done in Winter of 2012 will be a full blown Welcome 2 My Nightmare show. I am going to see the one this summer and I'm going to beg to see the one next year but I doubt it will happen. Which one are you planning on seeing if any?
I also don't expect a lot of new material live seeing as how Steve is the guitarist. I expect a decent amount of WTMN though which is cool.
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Got my DVR set to record Alice getting in.
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Alice on Jay Leno with Dweezil Zappa on guitar.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNLNXDA_jkY&feature=player_embedded#at=36
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Not sure if I'd catch a greatest hits tour, but the next one definitely sounds interesting.
I was just watching the Montreax DVD when it hit me: The beginning riff to Be My Lover sounds remarkably similar to Judas Priest's Lining After Midnight.
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Don't listen to him, but I saw him open after Queensryche and before Heaven and Hell...and it was an amazing show. Still, I don't think I'll be one to buy analbum from him, just not my style typically.
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What a f##king lame editing job.
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Oh, I didn't even watch it yet. What happened.
In other news, me and Alice Cooper, August 20th, 6th row center. :metal
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Well, they severely shortened the Induction and Alice's Acceptance speech. And they did so choppily at that.
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The World Needs Guts
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=plZZEEvbnIM
Tha Ballad Of Dwight Fry
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aq6yt0fGHfk
Easily my favorite version of this song
Both tracks are from The Nightmare Returns DVD filmed in Detroit in 1986.
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Those were sweet! :metal
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The Black Widow
Brutal Planet
I'm Eighteen
Under My Wheels
Billion Dollar Babies
No More Mr. Nice Guy
Hey Stoopid
Is It My Body
Halo of Flies
I'll Bite Your Face Off
Muscle of Love
Only Women Bleed
Cold Ethyl
Feed My Frankenstein
Clones (We're All)
Poison
Wicked Young Man
Killer (excerpt)
I Love the Dead (excerpt)
School's Out (w/Another Brick in the Wall pt. 2)
-----------
Elected
Fire (Hendrix cover)
HO.LY. SHIT.
That show's gonna be fun! :metal
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Frankenstein and Stoopid make that set god-tier. Probably two of my favorite Alice songs.
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That's a great set. I don't care for Brutal Planet (the song) but oh well.. I'm glad to see him playing Clones. It's such a great tune.
I really wish he would dive deeper into the whole Flush The Fashion-Special Forces-Zipper Catches Skin-Da Da era. So many great tunes.
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I just listened to Killer and I have to say, it was just all right. It had its good songs like Under My Wheels, Be My Lover, Halo of Flies, and Dead Babies...hell that is half the album. I just think it is missing something and to be honest, I can't put my finger on it. I think it might be the music is a bit different then Welcome to My Nightmare, an album that has already earned its spot in my top 10 albums of all time. This album has more of a classic rock/psych vibe to it while WTMN, to me, had a darker vibe. Granted, it could just be the subject matter. In my project of discovering bands, I have vowed to listen to Killer, School's Out, Alice Cooper Goes to Hell, Hey Stoopid, and Along Came a Spider (it is his latest album after all and Vengeance is Mine is fucking :metal)
Regarding Killer...just shut the lights out and listen to the title track! 6 of the 8 tracks are great. You may take some time to adjust to the band's sound, but this album was light years ahead of its time. You gotta remember, it was made in 1971, granted it was only 5 years before WTMN. It's a lot rawer.
You should also try and get to the last half of Raise Your Fist And Yell.
Good luck!
The song "Freedom" alone is worth getting it! I always rock out to that tune, fucking love it!! :metal :metal :metal
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Ahhh Alice Cooper. This was my 8 year old daughter's first ever concert, just earlier this year. That was also the first time my husband and I had seen him. Fantastic show!!
When I got back from the show I was checking out videos on youtube from that night and I grabbed a crappy screenshot that shows where our seats where ... my daughter was in all pink which you can't really make out -- inside the green box from left to right was my oldest son, me, and my daughter.
(https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v234/justjen/2010/alicesmall.png)
She absolutely LOVED the show... and until I saw her do it with my own eyes, I didn't even know that she knew what it was to throw the horns, but damn if she didn't do it with both hands while standing there with her blonde ponytail in her pink Disney Princess outfit. :lol :metal
(Incidentally, her second ever concert -- also at age 8, earlier this year -- was KISS. She knew almost every song. :metal )
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Frankenstein and Stoopid make that set god-tier. Probably two of my favorite Alice songs.
Exactly. The second I saw he was doing Hey Stoopid, I flipped out in the middle of the library. Also wicked wicked excited for Brutal Planet, Wicked Young Man, Cold Ethyl, and Black Widow. So much win.
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Ahhh Alice Cooper. This was my 8 year old daughter's first ever concert, just earlier this year. That was also the first time my husband and I had seen him. Fantastic show!!
When I got back from the show I was checking out videos on youtube from that night and I grabbed a crappy screenshot that shows where our seats where ... my daughter was in all pink which you can't really make out -- inside the green box from left to right was my oldest son, me, and my daughter.
(https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v234/justjen/2010/alicesmall.png)
She absolutely LOVED the show... and until I saw her do it with my own eyes, I didn't even know that she knew what it was to throw the horns, but damn if she didn't do it with both hands while standing there with her blonde ponytail in her pink Disney Princess outfit. :lol :metal
(Incidentally, her second ever concert -- also at age 8, earlier this year -- was KISS. She knew almost every song. :metal )
Jen, you're raising your kids right! :metal
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:hat
the KISS concert was extra special because it was relatively unplanned. We were in Florida this March and I saw they were in Hollywood that same night (we were right there in Fort Lauderdale anyway) at the Hard Rock Casino, so a friend of mine hooked us up with tickets and we dropped everything and drove over there. Our seats were behind the soundboard and about 20 minutes before the show started (but 10 minutes after it was SUPPOSED to start) the crowd went insane and we craned our necks and saw Shannon Tweed (Gene's wife) being led to the soundboard with her 3 bodyguards surrounding her. She turned and smiled and waved to the crowd of course.
Later my daughter and my middle boy (age 15) were standing by the nearest exit because her ears were bothering her despite her ear plugs, and Shannon and her bodyguards walked up to them and past them to get out the exit, so my boy waved and Shannon waved and smiled back at him and then broke into a big smile when she saw my daughter. A small but cute moment (and one my 15 year old son surely won't forget... I mean she's a freakin Playmate for goodness sake :lol)
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BUMP!
Well, as it turns out, Welcome 2 My Nightmare is being released in September, and I'm stoked. I'm seeing this dude in less than a month, and I'm pumped for that.
The albums sounds interesting to say that least. WTMN has always been my favorite Alice Cooper album, so I'm excited for this one. The only issue is that he is saying the album is very out there, combining very different styles into one disk. This can work, and it can also fail miserably. Also, fucking Ke$ha is singing on a song or two so that's a big WTF.
Without further ado:
(https://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/soulflypremiere/coopernightmare2.jpg)
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BUMP!
Well, as it turns out, Welcome 2 My Nightmare is being released in September
Not just September...but September 13th!!!!!!!!!!!!
An epic day indeed.
That's an awesome album cover BTW.
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This can work, and it can also fail miserably.
True.
I really like Alice, but I just hate "sequels" to albums. Can't an album have its own title? Why not "Welcome to Another Nightmare" or Welcome to My New Nightmare" or something? Just taking the original title and sticking a "2" on it (or in it) is the worst kind of laziness and lack of creativity.
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Tomorrow's the big day! :metal
I'm so pumped. LOOK AT THAT SET!!!!!
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https://www.bravewords.com/hardwares/1001878
10 out 10 on Bravewords.
Releasing a sequel album is always a risky proposition and even riskier when the first disc was released over thirty-five years ago and is considered a masterpiece by the rock community, but Alice Cooper has never backed away from a musical challenge and fans can rejoice as the veteran rocker and Canadian-born producer Bob Ezrin have created an equally comparable chef d’oeuvre. Stealing musical motifs from the first Nightmare album, Cooper takes his fans on a musical journey through his best work of the ‘70s. 'A Runaway Train' is a long lost cousin to 'Ubangi Stomp' (from Lace & Whiskey). 'Last Man On Earth' features a sneering Cooper vocal and feels like it was lifted straight out of a Vaudeville show while 'Disco Bloodbath Boogie Fever' (witty lyrics and all) sounds like a 2011 update of the Cooper classic 'Clones (We’re All)'. Pop starlet, KE$HA, shares the mic with The Coop on 'What Baby Wants' for a strangely entertaining Alice dance tune (think KISS’ 'I Was Made For Lovin’ You', but with tongue firmly planted in cheek). 'The Underture' closes out the album with snippets (a megamix if you will) of the original 'Welcome To My Nightmare', 'Only Women Bleed', 'Black Widow' and more. The reuniting of the members of the original Alice Cooper band (Neal Smith, Michael Bruce, and Dennis Dunaway) can only be described as ‘magical’. While original Nightmare band member, Dick Wagner, is the ‘cherry-on-top’. In all, Welcome 2 My Nightmare is Cooper’s best and most consistent work since 1975 and will reignite the passion in long-time fans.
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That's a pretty hefty weight to put on the album.
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Absolutely fucking amazing. Like holy fucking shit that was awesome.
The set was:
The Black Widow
Brutal Planet
I'm Eighteen
Under My Wheels
Billion Dollar Babies
No More Mr. Nice Guy
Hey Stoopid
Is It My Body
Halo of Flies
I'll Bite Your Face Off
Muscle of Love
Only Women Bleed
Cold Ethyl
Feed My Frankenstein
Clones (We're All)
Poison
Wicked Young Man
Killer (excerpt)
I Love the Dead (excerpt)
School's Out (w/Another Brick in the Wall pt. 2)
-----------
Elected
And everything was awesome. Like...holy shit awesome. I mean, I saw him before, but I was young and couldn't appreciate it. Now, holy crap. One of the sickest shows I've seen and by far the best show of this year's concert season.
Highlights (granted, there were no "low"lights):
Brutal fucking Planet
I'm Eighteen
No More Mr Nice Guy (for some reason, this kicks so much more ass live)
A 46784567 minute Halo of Flies
Me forgetting Cold Ethyl was on the set and flipping shit when they started to play it
Some chick a few rows ahead of us started getting visibly ticked off and throwing Alice the finger because he was kicking the crap out of a woman doll in Cold Ethyl. :lol Had me cracking up so hard I nearly pissed myself.
I also scored a pick from one of the guitarists. I was ready to go and my step dad saw it at my feet.
Also, the new song was pretty badass. It's hard to judge when you listen to a song first in a live setting but it seemed pretty badass.
Now, the show was different from last time. Last time seemed to be more "show" and less "rock." This time, there weren't very many antics, just straight up ass kicking music. Alice flung money into the crowd during Billion Dollar Babies, brought out the snake in Is It My Body, danced on stage with a fake woman doll in Only Women Bleed, and proceeded to kick the shit out of it in Cold Ethyl, erected a massive Eddie like monster in Feed My Frankenstein, and he chopped his head off after killing some rock press dude in Wicked Young Man.
Awesome show.
-
I really need to see Alice live.
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EEEEEELEEEEECTEEEEED!!!!
(https://a8.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/298677_241326499239095_100000852410872_651693_5871757_n.jpg)
And me with Eddie Trunk after the show:
(https://a3.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/298892_241100879261657_100000852410872_650943_7471122_n.jpg)
:metal
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So, the album came out...early. I'm going to give it a blast tonight after everyone is asleep, as to really let it sink in. Hell yeah!!!!
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So, the album came out...early. I'm going to give it a blast tonight after everyone is asleep, as to really let it sink in. Hell yeah!!!!
give us a review asap
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Cole, do you ever eat?
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Yeah, why?
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So, the album came out...early. I'm going to give it a blast tonight after everyone is asleep, as to really let it sink in. Hell yeah!!!!
give us a review asap
Will do. I need to listen to it a few times before it will be a good one.
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Yeah, why?
You're the skinniest motherfucker I've ever seen.
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Oh, now I get it. Oh yeah, I'm pretty skinny. Not insanely insane, but yeah, I'm pretty thin. I used to weigh a lot and it all fell off...and then some.
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Starting now. :caffeine:
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Well, I'm done with my first listen...
-
...and?
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And, I don't want to give a definite opinion after one listen but has of my first listen, I am very disappointed.
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Fair enough. In that case, please be sure to get back to us after a second or third listen. Maybe it still start to grab you more. Like, hopefully.
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I listened to it again. It sounded a lot better. There is still one song that makes me go "WTF were you thinking" and surprisingly, it was not the one with Ke$ha. I'll listen to it a few more times tomorrow and post a review. A real one.
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I've heard a similar impression from a friend of mine who's a huge Alice Cooper fan. I'll still give the album a spin for myself. I won't lie, my expectations for the album plummeted when I heard that he'd collaborated with Kesha. Not just for the track she's on, but because it doesn't exactly speak well to the decisions that went into the writing process.
Along Came A Spider was awesome, so I'll at least give this a shot.
Also, he really needs to come to Halifax again.
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Along Came a Spider was pretty sweet, and to be honest, the track with Ke$ha is one of the best on the album.
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Third listen done. I'll give it another one or two between now and tonight and post a review.
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Last Alice album I enjoyed was Last Temptation, played it the other night and it stood up well.
I've heard a couple of songs from W2MN and they sounded alright; not great but ok. Will still probably pick it up though.
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I thought Along Came A Spider was easily his worst album ever. I'd even put it below Dragontown.
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Really? Damn, I thought it was a sweet album.
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Here's my long ass song by song (sort of) review. I spoil some little nuances, so if you don't want to read it, that's fine.
So, here we go:
Track list:
1. I Am Made of You
2. Caffeine
3. The Nightmare Returns
4. Runaway Train
5. Last Man on Earth
6. The Congregation
7. I'll Bite Your Face Off
8. Disco Bloodbath Boogie Fever
9. Ghouls Gone Wild
10. Something to Remember Me By
11. When Hell Comes Home
12. What Baby Wants
13. I Gotta Get Outta Here
14. The Underture
Welcome 2 My Nightmare kicks off with it's opening track entitled I Am Made of You. A song that starts of appropriately with the famous Steven keys. It starts off quiet mellow, but builds during the choruses to reach a solo that is 70's cigarette-lighter-waving worthy. Great opening track and it left me wanting more. Moving on to Caffeine. The intro sounds like Alice is trying to get a classic rock vibe going on this one, and it works to an extent. The verse is catchy and solid, and the pre-chorus is badass as well. However, when the song hit's its chorus, it really makes me think "...the hell?" It it really doesn't fit the mold as it has Alice and his cronies screaming "Caffeine Caffeine...Amphetamine" in high pitched screams. The song ends on a rather annoying note with Alice screaming "Gimme Gimme Gimme" for the last 20 seconds of the songs. The Nightmare Returns doesn't have much music, just a character, Steven I presume, talking about his life. The "song" does build a little and includes some decent music reminiscent of that on Welcome to My Nightmare.
Next comes A Runaway Train; a song that begins similarly to Billion Dollar Babies. Not much can be said about this song honestly. It is not worthy of intense praise, nor is it worthy intense criticism. It's not good, but it's not bad. Fortunately, does not take away from the overall feel of Welcome 2 My Nightmare, however, it doesn't really add to the album either. The next song is a pretty different one for Alice with Last Man on Earth. No guitars but horns, pianos, violins, and drums. The entire song is rather catchy, and I dig it. I also think the song marks where the album starts to kick it up a notch.
The following song is vying for my favorite track on the album. The Congregation starts off with a few acoustic guitar parts but kicks off soon after. The verse is sweet, but where the song takes off his during the chorus. I am a fan of gang vocals; having always found them to be epic and badass. Here, Alice sings the chorus with himself, himself, himself, and his cronies. Yay for multi-tracking. This song is begging to be played live, and I think it would fit perfectly as a concert opener. The next song seems to be the song Alice chose to release and to play live to get everyone interested in the album, entitled I'll Bite Your Face Off. The song is pretty good, nothing more, nothing less. It was a welcome addition to the album though I don't quite know why Alice chose to use this song to promote it.
Now, the next song, entitled Disco Bloodbath Boogie Fever is by far the biggest "WTF" song on the album. The thing is, it's pretty damn good. The first half of the song has an almost disco-like dance vibe to it. The lyrics are a tad strange, but that's Alice for you. The song breaks out of it's disco-ness into a hard rocking almost metally half equipped with a monster solo. It's a tad weird, even for Alice, but it is very good. I think only Alice could pull off putting a disco/dance song on his rock album and make it work. Now, Ghouls Gone Wild...well, imagine Alice gone the Beach Boys. Very surf rockish, very catchy, and like it is supposed to, it makes you want to have some fun. It's not a great song, but it isn't awful either.
The next song on the album, entitled Something to Remember Me By is Welcome 2 My Nightmare's Only Women Bleed. It's a song that tries to be ballady, and a little something gets lost in the trying. It is probably the only song on the album that I would go as far as calling "boring." The following song, When Hell Comes Home kicks you in the face with an evil plodding riff from the second the song kicks off. The song never really get's any louder nor does it get softer from the song's, but it plods on with an evil intensity that is trademark Alice. The song is badass, and is by far the most "evil" of any track found on the album. The next song, What Baby Wants is probably the second biggest "WTF" song on the album. I mean, when you think Alice Cooper, you don't think Ke$ha. Thing is, the song works, and it works intensely well. It is tied with The Congregation for my favorite song on the album as of right now. The song is a rocker with an electronic feel pulsing through it. The song is catchy, it's badass, it's heavy at times, and it is just fucking awesome. Ke$ha works on the song, and it just makes you want to get up and do an inverted headbang dance. (Ok, that was my failed attempt at humor, it just makes you want to dance.) Now, I must warn, that most of you guys, especially the old fogies who expect old classic rock Alice on this album, will hate this song. I like it because their is an infectious pulsating dance groove throughout the entire thing that is much more evil and badass than I Was Made For Loving You.
The de facto last song on the album is entitled I Gotta Get Outta Here. It is definitely old Alice working here. The song is pretty happy, despite it's title and probable lyrical content (Escape anyone?) The songs is a pretty decent way to wrap up the story that is Welcome 2 My Nightmare. It's not a phenomenal song, but it works. It has a classic rock vibe to it, so it is a potential pleasure for all. The real album closer is an instrumental entitled The Underture which is just a megamix of some of the more famous bits and pieces of Welcome to My Nightmare and some bits from the new album played by his current band. To be honest, I find it rather superfluous, but I do understand Alice's need to wrap up the Welcome to My Nightmare duo and make everything come full circle.
Overall, the album's good. It has some really good songs, some that are middle of the road, and a few where there is a little something missing. I enjoyed it. I really did. I'd give it a solid 7/10. The problem is, when you have a man like Alice who has devoted the last 42 years making awesome music with albums like Killer, Welcome to My Nightmare, Hey Stoopid, Brutal Planet, and many more, a 7/10 kinda gets lost in the crowd. I enjoyed it and will continue to enjoy it until Alice releases another album in 2 or 3 years, at which point, he will be in his mid 60's. The man is an icon and he knows how to release good, enjoyable music, and here, he did just that.
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thanks for the review
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I love this album so much.
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I'm interested in what you thought of my review, and I would be very interested in reading your own.
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For me your review is pretty spot on, though you seem to like Last Man On Earth alot more than I do. You were right in that it was a wtf moment but not in a good way! I love the disco song too, sounds rather like something Bill Bailey (British musical comedian) would do, and I love the German accents-very Kraftwork.
There's alot of autotune on this album, sometimes for the effect as in the opening, but it is a bit distracting at times. Good album, and alot better than I expected after recent output. It won't be toppling Hey Stoopid, RYFAY, From The Inside, Killer etc from the top of the pile though.
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Hey Pod, here is the thread. I'll have to reread it to catch up!
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So I finally was able to watch Super Duper Alice Cooper. It's the new movie from Banger Films (Metal Evolution, Flight 666, Beyond The Lighted Stage).
Just want to say that it was incredible. I'm very familiar with his story so I wondered how it would be presented but I figured two things:
1. It would be well done, and
2. There would be tons of great old footage and photos.
It was very well done, fantastically edited, from the opening narrative to Hello Hooray, to the brilliantly placed Alma Mater played during the credits. The way they did it with the story being narrated over photos and video clips was great. You actually never see anyone speaking. Really awesome film. Everyone should check it out.
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Dick Wagner passed away yesterday. Did a lot of work in Alice's early solo career.
https://bravewords.com/news/former-alice-cooper-guitarist-dick-wagner-dead-at-71
Used to do secret solos for Aerosmith, Kiss, and many others in the 70's.
One of his best moments is his solo on Pass The Gun Around.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6hsMtP5zSQ
Pass The Gun Around is the final track on Alice's 1983's DaDa album. Alice would enter rehab for the final time when this album was finished. If you listen to the lyrics to this song, it gives a pretty clear picture of where Alice was at this point.
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Damn, I love that song, and DaDa is such an underrated gem. I wasn't too familiar with Dick Wagner, but still, sad news.
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M, Dick Wagner was on a Pod Cast a few weeks ago discussing DaDa in depth for about an hour. I'm trying to find it for you.
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I'll be sure to spin Welcome To My Nightmare tonight.
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M, Dick Wagner was on a Pod Cast a few weeks ago discussing DaDa in depth for about an hour. I'm trying to find it for you.
I'd love to hear that, man, if you manage to find it. Such an odd album, very mysterious.
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M, Dick Wagner was on a Pod Cast a few weeks ago discussing DaDa in depth for about an hour. I'm trying to find it for you.
I'd love to hear that, man, if you manage to find it. Such an odd album, very mysterious.
Here it is, bro.
https://dbgeekshow.blogspot.com/2014/04/albums-unleashed-dada-wdick-wagner-ep.html
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Thank you, I'll give it a listen tonight. :tup
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I didn't see this thread prior to posting the RIP thread. Sorry TAC.
I'll try to set some time aside to read this thread this weekend.
Used to do secret solos for Aerosmith, Kiss, and many others in the 70's.
If memory serves, didn't he do the solo on "Train Kept a Rollin'"?
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I didn't see this thread prior to posting the RIP thread. Sorry TAC.
I'll try to set some time aside to read this thread this weekend.
Used to do secret solos for Aerosmith, Kiss, and many others in the 70's.
If memory serves, didn't he do the solo on "Train Kept a Rollin'"?
Yes he did. He and Steve Hunter did the "live" solo duel". He talks about it in the Podcast I linked.
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Steve Hunter. Yes, that was the name of the other guy.
Cool beans!
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Having a Friday night beer and listening to From The Inside (appropriate, huh :lol ). Such a great album, especially the title track and Inmates (We're All Crazy).
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Having a Friday night beer and listening to From The Inside (appropriate, huh :lol ). Such a great album, especially the title track and Inmates (We're All Crazy).
Agreed. Great album. As a mental health nurse the album resonates with me, especially the ballads - How You Gonna See Me Now and The Quiet Room.
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Love The Quiet Room.
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Just got back from his concert at Casino Rama. Man, I'm so glad I got to see him. Amazing show as one could expect! Nothing short of perfection.
I got a question though, if anyone happens to know. Has Tommy Henriksen played with anyone outside of Alice Cooper recently? I just can't shake the feeling that I've seen him somewhere before, and with his "I'm not Johnny Depp" T-Shirt to boot. It wouldn't have been with Alice, since I'm fairly sure I haven't seen any footage of Alice Cooper since Tommy has been in the band. But I feel like I've seen him on stage, and maybe even in person. Has he maybe done any session work for someone else? Or am I just having some strange deja-vu?
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I saw him live a couple of years ago and it was an awesome show!
Has anyone bought his new live cd/dvd wacken show?
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No, but I definitely want to check out a few of his DVDs in near future, money permitting.
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I probably will not get it until after Christmas. Looking forward to it.
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A teaser for the just released album of Hollywood Vampires.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1T8GSIiD8lc&list=RDDle5XEVmwCk&index=4 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1T8GSIiD8lc&list=RDDle5XEVmwCk&index=4)
Sounds interesting. This is surely an epic line-up:
Alice Cooper, Joe Perry and Johnny Depp, joined by producer Bob Ezrin and an amazing group of modern day vampires, including Perry Farrell, Dave Grohl, Sir Paul McCartney, Joe Walsh, Slash, Robbie Krieger, Zak Starkey, Brian Johnson and Kip Winger.
Will listen to it soon.
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Joe Perry collapsed at the Hollywood Vampires show tonight. According to Alice Cooper, he is in stable condition
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Joe Perry collapsed at the Hollywood Vampires show tonight. According to Alice Cooper, he is in stable condition
Yikes!
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https://loudwire.com/alice-cooper-paranormal-album-original-members-zz-top-u2/
New album next month.
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https://loudwire.com/alice-cooper-paranormal-album-original-members-zz-top-u2/
New album next month.
I am looking forward to this. We talked about this in Brent's thread a couple of weeks ago. The last couple Alice albums have been quite weak.
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Having original members will be cool
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The original band was so freaking great.
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Bob Ezrin on board is also a good thing. :tup
All those names they were tossing around there, I was kinda hoping to see Derek in there. Didn't he do a couple of tours with Alice back in the day?
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Ya....when Kane Roberts was in the band.
Might be nice to see "Rambo" with his machine gun guitar again for that matter.
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(https://assets.blabbermouth.net.s3.amazonaws.com/media/alicecooperparanormalcover.jpg)
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Ya....when Kane Roberts was in the band.
Might be nice to see "Rambo" with his machine gun guitar again for that matter.
Alice has done a guest vocal on Kane Roberts' forthcoming album.
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Great to have new stuff from Alice again!
He will play my hometown the day after my birthday, that's gonna be my party! :metal
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Ya....when Kane Roberts was in the band.
Might be nice to see "Rambo" with his machine gun guitar again for that matter.
Did someone say Kane Roberts?
I was bloodied, but I eventually escaped his clutches!
(https://i195.photobucket.com/albums/z246/TACPics/Kane_zpsciicnsio.jpg) (https://s195.photobucket.com/user/TACPics/media/Kane_zpsciicnsio.jpg.html)
November 17, 1987
Boston Garden
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Now we know why Kane disappeared off the face of the Earth for a while.........caught those chickenpox.
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disappeared off the face of the Earth for a while.........
Too bad Kip Winger wasn't part of that tour.
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:lol
You're not going to believe this but guess what number Ben has on BOTH his football and basketball tops (total coincidence - issued by two different clubs) :rollin
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18?? ;D
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:lol
I saw the Raise Your Fist And Yell tour at the Worcester Aud. Moterhead was the opening act. What a story I have about that.
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You've told that. Something about a buddy of yours and Motorhead, right?
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Yup. And the Lemmy pics. I'll post about it tomorrow. :lol
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I saw that tour. It was a New Year's Eve show in Seattle (1987/88).
Motorhead was supposed to open but couldn't for some reason. The show ended up being opened by Armored Saint and Faster Pussycat.
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Saw it in November at The Garden. Frehley's Comet and Faster Pussycat as support. But Frehley's Comet didn't play that night.
Alice came back with Motorhead and played the Vet's Memorial Auditorium in Providence on the same night that Paul Dianno's Batttlezone played The Living Room, which was walking distance to the Vet's. I was away on a family vacation at the time. So bummed I missed those shows.
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I saw that tour. It was a New Year's Eve show in Seattle (1987/88).
Motorhead was supposed to open but couldn't for some reason. The show ended up being opened by Armored Saint and Faster Pussycat.
Poor Alice and Armored Saint......................having to try and come out and get close to matching Faster Pussycat. The toughest gig in rock :)
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Brent, no lie. Faster Pussycat was the worst band I've ever seen. They sucked! I saw them at The Living Room in Providence 2 months earlier and they almost singe handedly caused me to blow off the GnR show there a month later. I figured if this is what LA bands were all about, why would I bother with GnR. Thank God I didn't skip GnR, which was amazing!!
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Actually....Faster Pussycat's set made me go to the record store the very next day to buy their debut album.
EDIT - I actually like the first album. Babylon is a great song. Kinda goofy, but really gritty.
I liked the LA bands when they were unwashed and unpolished. :rollin
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Saw the same tour w/ Frehley's Comet (I can only remember 'Cold Gin'), Faster Pussycat, and then Alice. 'All business' with zero crowd interaction. Finally got to see my boyhood 'idol'. Sadly, memories fade. I'm pretty sure he went to the guillotine, but I'm not 100% certain.
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I had a "fun" story with discovering Alice Cooper.
Of course he's so famous and iconic that I always knew about him, and the occasional super famous song here and there, but I never bothered to listen to him.
He came THREE times in TWO years in Italy, then I discovered him, and he never returned, it took me years to finally see him one year ago, it was wonderful to finally see him ;D
It's kinda weird also how I finally decided to listen to his albums; I found on YouTube a cover of Hell is Living without You by Sonata Arctica, found out the song was on the same album as Poison, and thought "Well, maybe I should listen to this album"... one thing led to another and in a short time I listened to ALL of his 26 albums.
I let gut instict guide me, I read the stories of the albums on Wikipedia and on fansites and jumped back and forth in time, I remember listening to Trash and Hey Stoopid first, then I must have moved to Brutal Planet and Dragontown, then back in the '70s for the classics, and I left for last the first two albums and the controversial ones of the '80s.
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Saw the same tour w/ Frehley's Comet (I can only remember 'Cold Gin'), Faster Pussycat, and then Alice. 'All business' with zero crowd interaction. Finally got to see my boyhood 'idol'. Sadly, memories fade. I'm pretty sure he went to the guillotine, but I'm not 100% certain.
Nope...on the Raise Your Fist And Yell tour, it was a hanging!
(https://i195.photobucket.com/albums/z246/TACPics/Alice%20Hang_zpsjjdiqesa.jpg) (https://s195.photobucket.com/user/TACPics/media/Alice%20Hang_zpsjjdiqesa.jpg.html)
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I let gut instict guide me, I read the stories of the albums on Wikipedia and on fansites and jumped back and forth in time, I remember listening to Trash and Hey Stoopid first, then I must have moved to Brutal Planet and Dragontown, then back in the '70s for the classics, and I left for last the first two albums and the controversial ones of the '80s.
He has so many styles, he's one artist that you can really jump around. Really only a few duds.
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The "dud" that surprised me the most was Dada. My understanding was that it was a drunk album that he didn't even tour for, but the songs there are actually good, at least 3-4 tracks are very nice.
It's Special Forces and Zipper Catches Skin that I consider easily the worst.
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I'm with you on Special Forces.
I actually love Zipper Catches Skin, especially the second half.
The run of Adaptable-I Like Girls-Remarkably Insincere -Tag You're It- I Better Be Good is fantastic. This is really one of Alice's best tongue in cheek albums.
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15 albums. $70!
https://www.amazon.com/Studio-Albums-1969-1983-CAB-15/dp/B00ZGVMKU6/ref=sr_1_7?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1497045851&sr=1-7&keywords=Alice+cooper
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The World Needs Guts live
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gtLOcTcmO8
:metal
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The World Needs Guts live
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gtLOcTcmO8
:metal
Hey, I was at that exact show. Between this song, Pain, Halo of Flies, and Lost in America (and Ballad of Dwight Fry of course), it was definitely my favorite setlist of his that I've seen.
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Wow, those are some obscure gems!
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So the other day, I stumbled upon this:
https://www.amazon.com/Nightmare-Returns-Alice-Cooper/dp/B002B464C6/ref=sr_1_1?s=dmusic&ie=UTF8&qid=1497910750&sr=1-1-mp3-albums-bar-strip-0&keywords=alice+cooper+the+nightmare+returns
It's the mp3 album of The Nightmare Returns tour. Basically the soundtrack to the awesome video. Not a proper CD, but definitely worth buying the download. Love the 80's Metal leanings of those classic songs like Welcome To My Nightmare and Dwight Fry. A great live album from one of the best concerts I've ever seen.
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It's missing one of my personal favorites- He's Back (The Man Behind the Mask)!
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It's missing one of my personal favorites- He's Back (The Man Behind the Mask)!
It wasn't played on that tour. It might've been in Europe.
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So the other day, I stumbled upon this:
https://www.amazon.com/Nightmare-Returns-Alice-Cooper/dp/B002B464C6/ref=sr_1_1?s=dmusic&ie=UTF8&qid=1497910750&sr=1-1-mp3-albums-bar-strip-0&keywords=alice+cooper+the+nightmare+returns
It's the mp3 album of The Nightmare Returns tour. Basically the soundtrack to the awesome video. Not a proper CD, but definitely worth buying the download. Love the 80's Metal leanings of those classic songs like Welcome To My Nightmare and Dwight Fry. A great live album from one of the best concerts I've ever seen.
How is the sound quality?
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Excellent. Totally worth the $8.99!
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New song!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NlEcM53kj_I (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NlEcM53kj_I)
I like it, definitely piques my interest for the upcoming album.
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The two songs released so far is a sign that this album is already better than the last couple. I can't wait. I actually preordered it this morning. I like this song. It's very Alice.
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I was not convinced at all by the first song, but this one is very classic Alice. A bit weird and without a proper chorus, but it has a nice atmosphere. I liked however a lot Welcome 2 My Nightmare, it had many oddball songs and the twist in the storyline at the end is hilarious.
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Oh, man. Tim don't beat me up too much for this...
Aren't we getting a bit too old for this stuff? I mean the song is pretty good, and the instrumental break is very moody, interesting, and enjoyable but the lyrics...they're just so, obvious. Aaaaand, just about what a bunch kids on and elementary school playground would come up with if they were told to write a scary song about a ghost.
I think Alice always did funny/creepy better when it was intentional.
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Oh, man. Tim don't beat me up too much for this...
Aren't we getting a bit too old for this stuff? I mean the song is pretty good, and the instrumental break is very moody, interesting, and enjoyable but the lyrics...they're just so, obvious. Aaaaand, just about what a bunch kids on and elementary school playground would come up with if they were told to write a scary song about a ghost.
I think Alice always did funny/creepy better when it was intentional.
At this point, whatever Alice gives me is gravy. I honestly didn't think he had another studio album in him. His last two albums sucked, and he's been touring the same set for the last 10 years. All I ask is that this one doesn't suck, and after sampling the first two tunes, I think we'll be OK. Honestly, if these are the two best tracks, that's not going to be good news, but I'm hopeful.
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It seems Alice still has it when it comes to Aussie audiences Tim - his upcoming gig in Melbourne has been upgraded from a venue holding 5000 to 15,000 capacity. Surprises me to be honest . Maybe they all think Kip's on bass ;D
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I'm an SURE that's most definitely NOT the case..
Who knows, this could literally be his last trip to Australia. I think the couple tweaks to his setlist (Pain, The World Needs Guts) have been good things.
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It seems Alice still has it when it comes to Aussie audiences Tim - his upcoming gig in Melbourne has been upgraded from a venue holding 5000 to 15,000 capacity. Surprises me to be honest . Maybe they all think Kip's on bass ;D
I enjoyed this second track - yeah the lyrics aren't up to much but the song is ok.
And yay, Brent's back. Good to see you pal :biggrin:
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Thanks Paul - good to "see" you too. Just cruising around hunting down what I missed in the last month or so. Pretty much up to date apart from the metal thread and hopefully getting a good read of the QR discog thread.
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Welcome 2 my nightmare was actually the first Alice Cooper album I bought with my own money. I think its a fun cd. Really the only track I dont listen to is Disco Bloodbath Boogie Fever.
The 2 tracks for the next one sounds promising as well. Cooper Rarely Disappoints for me.
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Really the only track I dont listen to is Disco Bloodbath Boogie Fever.
It's so absurdingly funny that I don't mind it. The chorus is kinda catchy otherwise.
What Baby Wants is more annoying to me, but I have to admit the duel with the she-devil is comedy gold.
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Really the only track I dont listen to is Disco Bloodbath Boogie Fever.
It's so absurdingly funny that I don't mind it. The chorus is kinda catchy otherwise.
What Baby Wants is more annoying to me, but I have to admit the duel with the she-devil is comedy gold.
I will agree the Chorus in DBBF is catchy but I would've rather had Under the Bed make the album instead.
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I meant DUET, not duel.
And yes, Under the Bed is one of the best of the bunch! Also a shout out for the very Tom Wait-esque Last Man on Earth, the impression is spot on.
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Also a shout out for the very Tom Wait-esque Last Man on Earth, the impression is spot on.
Best song on the album by a mile.
Also love the Eminem impression on DBBF.
I actually don't mind What Bay Wants and When Hell Comes Home grew on me like moss.
But overall, Welcome 2 sucks.
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I thought Welcome 2 was a hunk of junk; I ended up just tossing it in the Trash :)
Ozzy mentioned the song Under the Bed. For me that was above and beyond the best song on Welcome 2. How it was just a bonus song is a head scratcher. Besides that song, the album was tripe.
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https://bravewords.com/news/alice-cooper-paranormal-full-album-preview-audio
Sounds good to me!
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Sounds very old school, vintage in style and in sound... seems all very rock n' rollish, I would have hoped for something more sinister and a bit heavier ike Paranormal.
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Vintage. That's a good word.
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I don't mind vintage sounding Alice but I would've liked to hear a bit more of his heavier side. Something like Dragontown, Brutal Planet, or Along Came a Spider but I know a return to that sound is probably unlikely with Ezrin at the helm.
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I don't mind vintage sounding Alice but I would've liked to hear a bit more of his heavier side. Something like Dragontown, Brutal Planet, or Along Came a Spider but I know a return to that sound is probably unlikely with Ezrin at the helm.
Two of my least favorite albums in his entire catalog. And I only like half of Brutal Planet. :)
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I don't mind vintage sounding Alice but I would've liked to hear a bit more of his heavier side. Something like Dragontown, Brutal Planet, or Along Came a Spider but I know a return to that sound is probably unlikely with Ezrin at the helm.
Two of my least favorite albums in his entire catalog. And I only like half of Brutal Planet. :)
To each their own. I pretty much like every era of Alice. Though my overall least favorite part of his career is probably his commercial more glam sound of the late 80s early 90s. Though even those still have songs I love on them.
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Trash hasn't aged nearly as well as Hey Stoopid.
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Trash hasn't aged nearly as well as Hey Stoopid.
Which is why Trash is one of my least favorites.
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Sound like a huge 70s throwback and I like the sound of it so far, certainly more than the last 20 years worth of Alice.
I loved hair metal Alice and From The Inside, but not much else tbh.
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Trash hasn't aged nearly as well as Hey Stoopid.
Hey Stoopid is far superior to Trash, it should have been the big hit album, but Poison made all the money instead.
About the heavy albums: I completely love and adore Brutal Planet, I like half of the songs on Dragontown but the other half are quite forgettable, and Along Came a Spider is in the middle - it doesn't have either the highs of Brutal Planet, or the lows of Dragontown.
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I Kinda listened to Paranormal at around 2 in the morning once I realized it went up on Spotify lol. I thought it was a fun and solid album. My favorites off the album (not counting the singles) are Fireball, Dynamite Road, and The Sound of A.
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Just had my first listen to the new Alice album.
I like it. It is very good. Classic Alice/Ezrin. Not in love with every track, but there are many that I really like. And lyrically, Alice always makes me chuckle. This is so much better than Welcome 2, or the piece of shit that is Along Came A Spider.
Reminds me a bit of Zipper Catches Skin, which is one of my favorite Alice albums. Also vocally, Ezrin seems to push him into different character voices reminding me of DaDa or Goes To Hell.
I wouldn't recommend it to my heavy metal friends, as that is not Alice, not that he hasn't done those kinds of albums.
Larry Mullen turns in a great performance. Surprising that he did the album. Pretty cool.
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Just had my first listen to the new Alice album.
I like it. It is very good. Classic Alice/Ezrin. Not in love with every track, but there are many that I really like. And lyrically, Alice always makes me chuckle. This is so much better than Welcome 2, or the piece of shit that is Along Came A Spider.
Reminds me a bit of Zipper Catches Skin, which is one of my favorite Alice albums. Also vocally, Ezrin seems to push him into different character voices reminding me of DaDa or Goes To Hell.
I wouldn't recommend it to my heavy metal friends, as that is not Alice, not that he hasn't done those kinds of albums.
Larry Mullen turns in a great performance. Surprising that he did the album. Pretty cool.
These are pretty much my thoughts on the album too. I really enjoy it, definitely his best in years. I also like that it's not overly long.
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After a few more listens...yes, he is totally tapping that early 80's Flush the Fashion/Special Forces/Zipper Catches Skin/DaDa era.
Which is an ignored Alice era that is FULL of great tunes. Not coincidentally, he is playing Pain this year. Other than Clones, he hasn't touched any of those 4 albums since his 1986 return.
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The album at first left me quite underwhelmed. I know it wasn't 6 years in the making, but after such a long time we get barely over 30 minutes of new music, and they're all rock n' rollish songs, without the usual variety from the previous albums? It starts with a somehow heavy and dark song and ends with a curveball (The sound of a), but all the rest are short vintage-sounding rock songs, I realize that was probably the intent but I expected a bit more.
Here and there I'm spotting good songs however on further listenings - favorites so far are the title track, Fireball and Private Public Breakdown. But the gem is not even on the album, it's in the bonus disc - Genuine American Girl is absolutely hilarious, I love the chorus, the lyrics and especially the post-chorus bridge where it goes "I'm only thirty out of 50 shades of grey" :lol classic Alice humor there.
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Bumping the thread 'cause the world needs more Alice Cooper! :metal
Oh, and also because yesterday I've seen him live for the second time:
https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/alice-cooper/2017/alcatraz-milan-italy-3e0155b.html
Excellent show, too much similar to the one of the last year (I figured he would change the stage set) but at almost 70 Alice is still commanding the stage with unchallanged charisma, he essentially created the shock rock genre and he's still the absolute archvillian of it. And from what I could figure out between the loud sound and the adrenaline running, he also sang quite good and consistent. He's one of the guys I guess I'll try to see whenever he stops by, there won't be another one like him so better enjoy him while he's still going strong!
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:metal
I've always liked Alice Cooper. Somehow not enough to buy his albums or go see him live, but I do have his Greatest Hits and I'll crank him up when I hear him on the radio.
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:metal
I've always liked Alice Cooper. Somehow not enough to buy his albums or go see him live, but I do have his Greatest Hits and I'll crank him up when I hear him on the radio.
O, I'm glad you have his Greatest Hits. Obviously those are from the original Alice Cooper band. It's a nice enough collection of songs, but doesn't even scratch the surface of what that band was about. The tracks are taken from the 5 Classic albums. I consider School's Out (the album) the musical peak of the band, yet it is represented only by the Title Track on the Greatest Hits.
I know this summer, I talked about doing a UFO Discog Thread, but I feel like the world needs an Alice Cooper Discog Thread. Anyone have any interest in that?
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I would follow along with that.
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I've heard every single album Alice Cooper has ever done so I would be totally up for it!!!
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https://bravewords.com/news/alice-cooper-joins-nbc-s-jesus-christ-superstar-live-as-king-herod
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Wife is a huge JCS fan. We were fortunate to talk with Ted Neely and Barry Dennan at a meet n greet a few years back.
She's actually thrilled with the Alice choice for Herod. I just wonder if he's accurate at throwing bagels. ;)
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I have no idea who the character is or what JCS is all about. But I will definitely check him out in this.
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Jesus Christ Superstar is basically an early 70's rock treatment of The Passion, the last seven days of Christ. From just before the arrival in Jerusalem to the point where he is captured, tried, and eventually executed via crucifixion. JCS introduced Andrew Lloyd Webber to most of the world, as he was the composer and Tim Rice the lyricist.
King Herod is a minor role, but a very memorable one. Herod is always portrayed as over the top, and his scene usually includes the keyboard solo and accompanying dance number. Alice will be amazing, I'm sure.
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https://bravewords.com/news/alice-cooper-premiers-the-sound-of-a-music-video-named-best-international-artist-at-19th-annual-sse-scottish-music-awards
The Sound Of A is a great tune. I like the video too.
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I still don't get the title. I thought it meant "The sound of a...... [suspence to not name the scary thing or whatever]", but it looks like it's just, well, "A".
It vaguely reminds me, for its vibe, of Zombie Dance off Dirty Diamonds.
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Reading the article, this is a song from the vaults that Dennis Dunaway found. If written back then, I've wondered if the A stands for Anarchy.
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THAT was a treat !!! Thank you!!!
I wish it had the Neal Smith 70s sound and touch on percussion. If this song was called 'The Sounds of Anarchy', IMHO it would have worked well on 'School's Out' after 'Public Enemy #9' to flesh out side two (since the album always seemed one song short). Heck, 'The Sounds Of A' would still work, since that's what one tries to earn in school.
And....good grief, speaking of '70s'.....Vincent turns 70 in February. :o
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I wish it had the Neal Smith 70s sound and touch on percussion. If this song was called 'The Sounds of Anarchy', IMHO it would have worked well on 'School's Out' after 'Public Enemy #9' to flesh out side two (since the album always seemed one song short). Heck, 'The Sounds Of A' would still work, since that's what one tries to earn in school.
I agree. I consider School's Out the original band's musical peak, and also consider School's Out ESSENTIAL. But yes, it does seem to stop short.
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Well that's a relief. I thought maybe "The Sound of A" was a five-minute track of someone just playing an A chord. I mean, I guess that could be cool, but this is much better.
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Just saw Alice in Baltimore tonight at The Lyric.....same venue as Dream Theater last November.
I am a little surprised to say that I had an absolutely great time. This 'old' man was a little boy at times again tonight. And, my wife enjoyed it 99% as I did. She enjoys theater, and was not disappointed.
The ultimate showman still puts on one hell of a show.....for all ages. He really looks like he is enjoying his 'sunset' years. Well worth checking out.
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The ultimate showman still puts on one hell of a show.....for all ages. He really looks like he is enjoying his 'sunset' years. Well worth checking out.
I agree. I plan to see him whenever he'll come back around here again until he retires. Better seeing him one time too many rather than regret not having seen him once he will retire.
Anyway, he's healthy and still going strong, and I remember reading about this that he said that he's six years younger than Mick Jagger, and that when he quits, he knows he still has six years because he's not gonna let him beat him in longevity :D
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I really wanted to see him this month but I kinda need to save money for my disney vacation lol.
Oh well the man certainly isnt slowing down anytime soon. He'll probably be back around my area within a years time.
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I listened to Alice Cooper's Greatest Hits yesterday, the one from the 70's, and it sounded great. It has stood up well.
That is all.
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I listened to Alice Cooper's Greatest Hits yesterday, the one from the 70's, and it sounded great. It has stood up well.
That is all.
It has stood up well, but it doesn't begin to scratch that band's surface.
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Oh shit, he's playing 20 minutes from where I work tonight. I loved his show last summer, felt like he blew Deep Purple off the stage even though he opened. My gf also really enjoyed the show. The music and show can really be for anyone. I'd totally go see him again, but I haven't been following and I can't really make it to this show tonight even though he's soo close right now. His band is really tight too, should definitely mention how hot Nita is too.
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Yeah, at first I was sceptical about her - she looked more like an Orianthi replacement rather than a guitarist replacement (I mean, for 40 years you had guys, and now you get a blonde guitarist, she leaves, and you get another blonde guitarist?), but I've warmed up to her by now. She's obviously good and she has a great stage presence and badass poses.
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I figure if you're putting together a touring band, you go through a list of potential players for each position, and all else being equal, you might as well go with the hot babe for any given spot. Maybe not fill the stage with them if you want to be taken seriously, but one or two, sure. Anyone who has doubts but an open mind should be convinced once they hear a song or two.
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Yeah, he started that position of Chick Guitarist with Orianthi a few years back and ended up bringing Nita on. Nita is the real deal, man.
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On his upcoming role Sunday night as King Herod (again)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZscvEnnxFrE (from approx. 4:25 to 7:00)
Looking forward to this.....and ya just gotta love the Coop!
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Totally forgot it was on last night. :facepalm:
Found this on YouTube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mk9JZYSmmdw
Classic Alice.
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Video not avalaible.
This one is:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVapiOu7Hkc
Man, he steals the show!!!
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That's the one I posted.
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To me it tells me it's not avalaible period, not just not avalaible in my country...
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^
One is posted by 'MrTreknation', the other from 'NBC'.....and visible here in the states ???
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Found this video a while back of ‘Halo of Flies’. The first couple of minutes are filmed from the same angle as our Balto seats. Love the lighting and the ‘conductor’. Glen Sobol excels on drums throughout, with a most enjoyable solo.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4_SY5pJW-Y
Went through the credits for the ‘Welcome To My Nightmare’, ‘Goes To Hell’, and ‘Lace And Whiskey’ LPs recently. A notable name on bass: Tony Levin!
And on piano for his tours in the late 70s: Fred Mandel. He became the first additional onstage musician for Queen, touring in 1982. He also played on their ‘Works’ LP, as well as Brian and Freddie’s solo efforts (as well as Pink Floyd’s ‘The Wall’, later Elton John and Supertramp amongst others).
I did not know that Bob Ezrin produced 'The Wall' until recently. Alice certainly was surrounded by some talent (google Dick Wagner as well)
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He also used Elton John's lyricist for From the Inside (reminder for those who don't know on the fly: his 1978 album which is a concept about his stay in rehab, terrific and poignant disc with many overlooked songs). Yeah, he always had a thing to find the right people to work with.
I also like how his live band in recent years is always more and more stable, it gives more of an actual band feeling rather than "Alice Cooper and whoever plays alongside him for this tour".
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Alice is in my hometown tonight and it's a beautiful day here for an outdoor show :metal :metal
Halestorm is opening, looks like Lzzy plays guitar with Alice Cooper for the School's Out encore, should be a fun one!
Also, I've seen Alice twice now, both times as the opener so it'll be nice to see a headliner show
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I'm sure it's gonna kick ass and having Halestorm there is gonna be a wonderful bonus! :metal
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I'm sure it's gonna kick ass and having Halestorm there is gonna be a wonderful bonus! :metal
Been listening to them the last couple days, don't love them or hate them. Definitely a few songs I'm looking forward to seeing and I definitely like Lzzy way more than I did when I first gave them a try some years ago. Also love seeing new bands so this is going to be fun. Still need a ticket though, but just waiting to see if a deal comes up, otherwise I know exactly which seat I'm going to buy.
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I bought Hey Stoopid for a dollar at a used cd store on a whim and I can honestly say it's probably become one of my favorite albums of all time. The only Alice Cooper song I ever heard prior to this was Feed My Frankenstein from Wayne's World, and that's probably my least favorite on the album after dozens of listens. How's the rest of his output compare to this one?
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I bought Hey Stoopid for a dollar at a used cd store on a whim and I can honestly say it's probably become one of my favorite albums of all time. The only Alice Cooper song I ever heard prior to this was Feed My Frankenstein from Wayne's World, and that's probably my least favorite on the album after dozens of listens. How's the rest of his output compare to this one?
Hey Stoopid is a GREAT album.
How is the rest of his output? It's hard to say. If you really like Hey Stoopid, I'd point you to the one before it, Trash, and then the one that came after it, The Last Temptation.
Alice tends to be all over the place. He is generally molding his style to what is popular at the time.
DTA, to me there are essential Alice albums. Killer and School's Out, both from 1972. Welcome To My Nightmare from 1975. I consider Hey Stoopid essential, and I might also suggest The Eyes Of Alice Cooper from 2003. That has a great garage type feel to it.
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Wow
School's Out with Halestorm and Motionless in White (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7R90mdA6gG4)
:metal :metal :metal
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That's cool, Cram! :metal
As popular as School's Out (the song) is, that album is one of the most underrated albums of the early 70's.
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I just love all the people on stage and Alice trying to remember their names :lol He gets them all, it's awesome plus just seeing Lzzy rocking out in the back the entire time, plus Nita. What a show
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I bought Hey Stoopid for a dollar at a used cd store on a whim and I can honestly say it's probably become one of my favorite albums of all time. The only Alice Cooper song I ever heard prior to this was Feed My Frankenstein from Wayne's World, and that's probably my least favorite on the album after dozens of listens. How's the rest of his output compare to this one?
Hey Stoopid is a GREAT album.
And way better than Trash, which anyway is the one who made all the money because of Poison.
I agree that Alice's discography is all over the place, that's the beauty of it; I also agree that if you like Hey Stoopid, checking out Trash is the first option.
Then depends on how you want to move on.... if you like the heavy stuff, go for Brutal Planet. If you like the more rock n' roll vibe, The Eyes of Alice Cooper is a nice and fun album. The albums of the '70s should be checked out if only for their historical value: Killers and Billion Dollar Babies first and foremost, but also Love it to Death and School's Out, all made by the Alice Cooper band.
Once Alice went solo, Welcome to My Nightmare is another seminal album that can't be missed. Albums that maybe are a bit overlooked but are quite great are 1978's From the Inside (basically a concept about rehab) and 1994's The Last Temptation, another good to check after Hey Stoopid.
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I also like how his live band in recent years is always more and more stable, it gives more of an actual band feeling rather than "Alice Cooper and whoever plays alongside him for this tour".
Yeah, but when it comes time for them to record an album he uses almost zero of them. Drives me nuts but yeah, they are a really tight band. I got to see them this last year the night the night before a local alice show. The whole band was there minus Alice. Alice's daughter Calico even flew in for it (and stuck around for the next nights show and got up on stage for that). They all played a bunch of covers and just had a blast. Stuck around and hung out afterwards too.
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Thanks guys. I actually like the ballad/epic side a bit more than the heavier tracks. Might As Well Be On Mars in particular, though Dangerous Tonight is a close 2nd. Trash and The Last Temptation will probably be next along with the popular 70’s ones (BDB, WTMN). Hopefully I can find them super cheap though I liked Hey Stoopid so much that I don’t even mind paying more for other ones.
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Dangerous Tonight is an amazing song. That chorus is great. I've screamed that at the top of my lungs in my car many times.
Burning Our Bed might be my least fave Alice tune of all time though.
Wind Up Toy is a Top 15 Alice track for me.
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Dangerous Tonight is an amazing song. That chorus is great. I've screamed that at the top of my lungs in my car many times.
Burning Our Bed might be my least fave Alice tune of all time though.
Wind Up Toy is a Top 15 Alice track for me.
I literally have Dangerous Tonight in my head all day. It's almost an obsession at this point. And Burning Our Bed is awesome! Great ballad. Wind-Up Toy is really good as well. Seriously, there's no weak points on this album for me. It's rare that I buy an album on a whim from the dollar bin and have it become a favorite.
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I suppose I have to give that era of Alice a chance. I didn't like it when it came out (it reminded me of Ozzy, and I wasn't enamored with Ozzy at the time) and only TAC's patience opened my eyes to what I consider the "good" Alice, the Bob Ezrin years of the ACB. But I've warmed to Alice in general and so it's only fair to give that Trash/Hey Stoopid period a shot.
(Still skeptical of all the guest stars, though the base band, at least on Trash, is, I think, Billy Squier's old band so that can't be bad).
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This is pretty awesome. Kind of feels like a modern (and lets be real, not quite as epic) Live Aid. This guy is such a great leader for rock n roll.
Alice Cooper (Live Fire Fight 2020) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EhaS4l42SgQ) - The festival for the Australian fire aid
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This is pretty awesome. Kind of feels like a modern (and lets be real, not quite as epic) Live Aid. This guy is such a great leader for rock n roll.
Alice Cooper (Live Fire Fight 2020) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EhaS4l42SgQ) - The festival for the Australian fire aid
:metal :metal :metal :metal
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Thanks for posting Marc. Alice Cooper rules!
Oh, and I LOVE daytime concert footage.
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Now I'm watching the Queen set. Pretty cool too, I don't think I ever listened or watched anything with Adam Lambert [url]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijntCN1BVlI[/url
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Now I'm watching the Queen set. Pretty cool too, I don't think I ever listened or watched anything with Adam Lambert https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijntCN1BVlI (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijntCN1BVlI)
The Lovely Mrs TAC loves Queen, and we watched Adam lambert tear it up on AI, but she has no interest is going to see this show. Adam Lambert is actually pretty amazing.
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That show is too expensive for me, I'm not that into them to pay those prices. But I'm sure it's good. He sounds good in the video, but being at night, doesn't give me the "live aid feel" that Alice's set does.
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Saw Alice Cooper a couple years ago. If you get a chance to see him, go! you will not be disappointed. He puts on a great show and his voice has held up amazingly well. Frankly, he’s in a class all on his own as far as singers over 60 (over 70?!?) go. The man’s still got it and sounds like he could easily tour another ten years.
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Yea, totally go see this man! I saw Alice Cooper open for Iron Maiden in 2012, but didn't see them again until 2017 and again last summer... and have my ticket for this summer. Guy is non stop and puts on a great show. Also, it's legit. He's not fake. He's got a good touring package this summer:
(https://alicecooper.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/AliceCooper_Tesla_2020_LF_1080x1350_TourPoster_FINAL1a-1.jpg)
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That show is too expensive for me, I'm not that into them to pay those prices. But I'm sure it's good. He sounds good in the video, but being at night, doesn't give me the "live aid feel" that Alice's set does.
Ironic given that they played all of the songs that Queen did in 1985 in the original Live Aid here for the Australia show.
Anywho, I'm pretty excited to see Alice Cooper in LA at the Hollywood Bowl. Thankfully, he's headlining rather than being a main support to either a GNR, Motley Crue, or Iron Maiden-sized band so tickets are more easily obtainable and cheaper. Nabbed a nosebleed ticket on Groupon for $27.00. Going to be worth the value and lots more.
Also, that Australia set shows that they do not need the props to carry the set, those props and productions in their usual shows just enhances it.
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This is pretty awesome. Kind of feels like a modern (and lets be real, not quite as epic) Live Aid. This guy is such a great leader for rock n roll.
Alice Cooper (Live Fire Fight 2020) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EhaS4l42SgQ) - The festival for the Australian fire aid
Saw this on the TV live Sunday arvo. Really good. Not the biggest Alice fan but should have went and seen him. Great set and a very tight band too.
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I'm seeing him in Boston on this tour. His setlist for the past year is much improved. It is amazing how he can carry a crowd.
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The last time I saw him was New Year's Eve 87/88 on the Raise Your Fist and Yell Tour. Faster Pussycat and Armored Saint opened. I remember I had a blast at that show.
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That tour was a great show.
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Alice Cooper and Armored Saint together.......wowzers :metal
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As I did in the Judas Priest thread, I wanted to use the vast and diverse Alice Cooper discography to try and pay homage to some deep cuts, some "forgotten songs" that are great and deserve a mention.
What is a "forgotten song" varies according to how much one knows Alice's work; let's just call this a list to remember cool songs without going through the usual suspects such as School's Out, Poison, No More Mr. Nice Guy, Welcome to My Nightmare etc...
So, let's begin going through all the Alice Cooper albums!
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Well, almost all. Sorry but I have to cheat right at the beginning - I've listened to every Alice Cooper album, included the first two, but they're so different and unrelated to his following albums that I never returned to them, so apologies to PRETTIES FOR YOU and EASY ACTION.
So let's officially start from the third one...
LOVE IT TO DEATH: The album that gave us two immortal Alice tracks (we all know which ones) has a pretty cool tune in Long Way to Go, easy rocking one and to the point, heard it live recently.
KILLER: Maybe not exactly a forgotten gem, but Desperado is an awesome song, very atmospheric and one of my very favorites from the band era.
SCHOOL'S OUT: Not one of my favorite albums, I have to confess. My Stars is a cool interesting tune.
BILLION DOLLAR BABIES: How do you pick a deep cut on an album that's famous from beginning to end? since it's not a fixed presence in the live set I go for Sick Things, very eerie and menacing in a classic Alice way.
MUSCLE OF LOVE: The swan song of the original band is another album I don't connect to that much. I like however the relative simplicity of the opening track, Big Apple Dreamin'.
WELCOME TO MY NIGHTMARE: Another album when there's no such thing as a "deep cut". I'll spend a word to praise the catchy and jazzy feel of Some Folks.
ALICE COOPER GOES TO HELL: I always thought that Didn't We Meet was a great track, theatrical and witty. The whole album is a bit underrated as a whole.
LACE AND WHISKEY: The beginning of the slippery road... another album that I hardly appreciate, but the title track is great and should have been brought back live some time.
FROM THE INSIDE: Another forgotten gem as a whole, this album is a touching journey through mental illness and addiction. Half of the songs on this album would make me so happy if played live. I pick The Quiet Room, very haunting and brutally honest insight into the head of a suicidal person.
FLUSH THE FASHION: Here we enter into "Wow, Alice has lost the plot" territory. Not to crap on these albums because some gem here and there still shines; in this case I spend a word for Pain, a great moody and wicked song that was deservingly brought back live recently.
SPECIAL FORCES: Not into this album. So I'll go the easy way and mention the decent and rocky opener, Who do you Think We Are. A modern re-working would do wonders for this song.
ZIPPER CATCHES SKIN: Pass on this one. I'm not saying it sucks, off the top of my memory someone on this forum likes it a lot, but I can't remember any song from it, aside from the wacky final track "I'm Alive (That Was the Day My Dead Pet Returned to Save My Life)".
DADA: Now this is a surprising album! my favorite by far of his "lesser" ones. Surprisingly deep and diverse. I mention the haunting Former Lee Warmer, dramatic as Steven.
CONSTRICTOR: His comeback album. It's very uneven but, since He's Back is clearly the most famous song (and by far my favorite), I'll mention the gloriously cheesy Life and Death of the Party. '80s cheesy teen drama at its best. So bad that it's good!
RAISE YOUR FIST AND YELL: A more convincing output than its predecessor, this one has a terrific closing song: Roses on White Lace. Heavy, brutal in its lyrics and a kickass song though and through.
TRASH: Another "Every song is famous" album. One of the slightly lesser famous songs is the magnificent ballad: Hell is Living Without You. Way better than the other slow piece (Only my heart talkin').
HEY STOOPID: One of my favorite albums, and miles better than the best-selling Trash. Another classic in the Steven saga comes in the form of the final track, Wind-up Toy: great chorus and a reminder of past greatness. Also this album has my favorite Alice ballad, Might as Well Be on Mars which I'll never understand why it didn't became famous as other power ballads of the era.
THE LAST TEMPATION: A mature and more refined album. I think that Bad Place Alone is very groovy and addictive in its own way. The whole album is a forgotten gem however.
BRUTAL PLANET: Alice turns the heaviness to 11! another one of my favorite albums. The closing track, Cold Machines, as heavy as it is I consider it a great love song. Dystopian love song, of course, but it reminds me of the forbidden love in a totalitarian state of 1984.
DRAGONTOWN: The other heavy album, more inconsistent however. Every Woman has a Name is a sweet delicate ballad worth mentioning.
THE EYES OF ALICE COOPER: Back to rock n' roll! so many great songs, I have a soft spot for Novocaine, so catchy and captivating.
DIRTY DIAMONDS: An album that gives me the idea of a wacky assortment of weird characters living in the same dead-end town, somewhere between Texas and Lousiana, dunno. I have to mention the histerical The Saga of Jesse Jane, hilarious from beginning to end.
ALONG CAME A SPIDER: I've always found Catch me If you Can extremely.... catch-y.
WELCOME 2 MY NIGHTMARE: I find it a brilliant sequel: theatrical, witty and all over the place. I love the tribute to Tom Waits that is the song Last Man on Earth. Word of mention also for the final song, I Gotta Get Outta Here, and the revelation of the twist in the storyline.
PARANORMAL: Hopefully for not long, the latest Alice Cooper album, which is a bit hit and miss. I've gotta go looking at the bonus track for this one - one of the two tracks written with the original band, Genuine American Girl. Catchy and rocky, and Alice's humour at its finest. Not to miss!
Now feel free to listen to his entire discography to argue back! :metal
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Completely agree on Hey Stoopid. Wind-up Toy is my favourite track on that album.
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You couldn't have posted this at a better time. I'm working my way through Alice's catalog (along with Motorhead) and I'm really surprised by how consistently great I'm finding everything. I have everything from Constrictor through Dragontown (and also Welcome To My Nightmare) and Hey Stoopid is without a doubt my favorite and has become one of my favorite albums of all time. Brutal Planet and Trash would be 2nd and 3rd favorite.
Agreed on Might As Well Be On Mars, a really unique and interesting ballad though Dangerous Tonight is the standout track for me on there. Bed Of Nails, The World Needs Guts, Take It Like A Woman, You're My Temptation, and Roses On White Lace are also my standouts from each album I own. Welcome To My Nightmare and Dragontown are my least favorite so far. I enjoy the heavier side of Alice a bit more but Dragontown just feels like a weaker Brutal Planet.
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Thank you Andrea for brightening up my lunch break. I will absolutely reply later today when I have a keyboard.
Suffice to say :metal :metal
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You couldn't have posted this at a better time. I'm working my way through Alice's catalog (along with Motorhead) and I'm really surprised by how consistently great I'm finding everything. I have everything from Constrictor through Dragontown (and also Welcome To My Nightmare) and Hey Stoopid is without a doubt my favorite and has become one of my favorite albums of all time. Brutal Planet and Trash would be 2nd and 3rd favorite.
Agreed on Might As Well Be On Mars, a really unique and interesting ballad though Dangerous Tonight is the standout track for me on there. Bed Of Nails, The World Needs Guts, Take It Like A Woman, You're My Temptation, and Roses On White Lace are also my standouts from each album I own. Welcome To My Nightmare and Dragontown are my least favorite so far. I enjoy the heavier side of Alice a bit more but Dragontown just feels like a weaker Brutal Planet.
Hey Stoopid made my top 50 albums.
Title track doesn’t do anything for me but the rest is killer (pardon the pun😀).
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though Dangerous Tonight is the standout track for me
:metal
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TRASH: Another "Every song is famous" album. One of the slightly lesser famous songs is the magnificent ballad: Hell is Living Without You. Way better than the other slow piece (Only my heart talkin').
HEY STOOPID: One of my favorite albums, and miles better than the best-selling Trash. Another classic in the Steven saga comes in the form of the final track, Wind-up Toy: great chorus and a reminder of past greatness. Also this album has my favorite Alice ballad, Might as Well Be on Mars which I'll never understand why it didn't became famous as other power ballads of the era.
THE LAST TEMPATION: A mature and more refined album. I think that Bad Place Alone is very groovy and addictive in its own way. The whole album is a forgotten gem however.
These are the only three albums of Alice Cooper I own and listened to them when they came out. I still think The Last Temptation is one of the best albums of all time. I believe Derek Sherinian plays on it. Chris Cornell is amazing on the tracks he sings.
Hey Stoopid comes very close to it as well, a huge list of guest players and Slash and Mick Mars Joe Satriani play on some of my fav tracks.
It's a shame I never checked out anything else, might have to do it one day and your descriptions certainly are tempting me to do so.
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DADA is in my opinion his most underrated album. Fresh Blood and Pass the Gun Around are two of my favorite Alice songs in general.
I also have a soft spot for King of the Silver Screen from Lace and Whiskey
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DADA is in my opinion his most underrated album. Fresh Blood and Pass the Gun Around are two of my favorite Alice songs in general.
I also have a soft spot for King of the Silver Screen from Lace and Whiskey
Yes and yes.
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Songs mentioned so far that I totally love:
Dangerous Tonight
Bed of Nails
You're My Temptation
But also Fresh Blood and Pass the Gun Around are quite nice. And yes, King of the Silver Screen is prime witty Alice.
TRASH: Another "Every song is famous" album. One of the slightly lesser famous songs is the magnificent ballad: Hell is Living Without You. Way better than the other slow piece (Only my heart talkin').
HEY STOOPID: One of my favorite albums, and miles better than the best-selling Trash. Another classic in the Steven saga comes in the form of the final track, Wind-up Toy: great chorus and a reminder of past greatness. Also this album has my favorite Alice ballad, Might as Well Be on Mars which I'll never understand why it didn't became famous as other power ballads of the era.
THE LAST TEMPATION: A mature and more refined album. I think that Bad Place Alone is very groovy and addictive in its own way. The whole album is a forgotten gem however.
These are the only three albums of Alice Cooper I own and listened to them when they came out. I still think The Last Temptation is one of the best albums of all time. I believe Derek Sherinian plays on it. Chris Cornell is amazing on the tracks he sings.
Hey Stoopid comes very close to it as well, a huge list of guest players and Slash and Mick Mars Joe Satriani play on some of my fav tracks.
It's a shame I never checked out anything else, might have to do it one day and your descriptions certainly are tempting me to do so.
Well, from this lot, you can either go back in time, or go forward.
If you go back in time, the classic era when "Alice Cooper" was a band is essential in the history of hard rock. Love it to Death, Killer, School's Out and Billion Dollar Babies are hard rock royalty and they're absolutely essentials. Equally famous and important is Alice's first solo album, Welcome to My Nightmare - from that album onwards, "Alice Cooper" no longer represents a band but the man himself, and various lineups for the studio albums and the tours.
The period that goes from Goes to Hell to Dada is the most experimental and divisive ones. There are some great albums there and the albums that aren't great still have a killer song or two, but they're best left for last.
Trash was coming off the heels of two comeback albums, riding on the hair metal wave of the '80s; you can see for yourself the progression that happened from Trash to Hey Stoopid, and from that to The Last Tempation.
Then he went in pairs for a while: he did two ultra heavy albums (Brutal Planet, most will agree it's the best of the two) and Dragontown, and then he did two back to the roots, very basic hard rock albums, The Eyes of Alice Cooper and Dirty Diamonds. My personal preference is for Eyes.
Then the lastest albums after that are a mixed bag. Along Came a Spider is dark and a bit heavy, Welcome 2 My Nightmare is very theatrical and diverse, and Paranormal is another back to basic album full of short hard rock songs.
My personal suggestions would be either travel back in time and listen the absolute essentials album of the Alice Cooper band that made history, or go forward in time from where you left and pick up Brutal Planet.
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Well, almost all. Sorry but I have to cheat right at the beginning - I've listened to every Alice Cooper album, included the first two, but they're so different and unrelated to his following albums that I never returned to them, so apologies to PRETTIES FOR YOU and EASY ACTION.
So let's officially start from the third one...
Yup.
OK.
Love It To Death The first album they did with Bob Ezrin. He basically teaches them how to play and write. This is a cool album and features my all time favorite Alice track, The Ballad Of Dwight Fry. I love Is It My Body too.
Killer This and School's Out are essential to me. Killer is amazing and proves that this band was ahead of its time by a mile. The songwriting still stands up today. As Mask mentioned, Desperado is so damn cool. The one-two punch of Dead Babies and Killer to close the album is jaw dropping. Gripping lyrics and Killer is so intense it makes me hyperventilate.
Killer also has what I consider one of the original prog-metal song with Halo Of Flies.
School's Out I consider Schools Out way underrated and underappreciated. Sure everyone knows the title track, but this album is masterful in its storytelling and really interesting musically. There was just no blueprint for them. My Stars is incredible, but my favorite is Blue Turk. I also love Alma Mater. Everyone owes it to themselves to listen to this album.
Billion Dollar Babies To me, I consider B$B well below the previous three albums. It is nowhere near as heavy, but it certainly has its creepy moments in I Love The Dead.
Muscle Of Love Alice, wanting to keep the concepts with Ezrin going vs the band that did not. They record the unconceptual Muscle Of Love without Ezrin. There's still a few great tunes on this. Teenage Lament, The Man With The Golden Gun (which they submitted for the movie), and Big Apple Dreamin'.
Welcome To My Nightmare Alice's first solo album. This is a masterpiece, and really threw Alice into the mainstream. The tour was amazing with a ridiculously talented band. The Steven Trilogy (Years Ago-Steven-The Awakening) is incredible. Really creepy. The title track is a classic.
Goes To Hell I love this album. As good as WTMN is, I find I enjoy this just as much. My only issue with it is that it is basically the same story. I love Give The Kid A Break, especially the back and forth with the devil singers. I love what he does with I'm The Coolest, where he plays the Devil in a totally campy way.
Lace And Whiskey I agree, this album is a little weak. I think King Of The Silver Screen is excellent as is You And Me. Side 1 is pretty decent, but Side 2 is rough.
From The Inside This album was cowritten with Bernie Taupin. Good call on the Quiet Room. It's one of my all time favorites. Also like Millie And Billie. Creepy stuff, though so beautifully sung.
Flush The Fashion Definitely not hard rock, but I love this album. In fact, I'm a huge fan of this era. Alice is pretty fried for the next few years, but there are some great songs. Pain, Clones, Nuclear Infected, Grim Facts, Model Citizen, Headlines.
Special Forces As Mask said, other than the great Who Do We Think We Are, there's not much else. There's tons of footage of Alice doing promos for this album.
Zipper Catches Skin Sorry mask....I freaking love love love this album. It is so quirky and funny.
Adaptable, I Like Girls, Remarkably Insincere, Tag, You're It, I Better Be Good. Holy crap, that run of songs is excellent. Alice rules on this album.
Dada Really interesting album. Alice was so out of it on this. This album was really Bob Ezrin and Dick Wagner's. Speaking of Wagner, his guitar solo on the incredible Pass The Gun Around is spine tingling. I love Alice's humor on I Love America, and Fresh Blood and Former Lee Warmer is downright creepy.
Constrictor I wish Constrictor had Raise Your Fist And Yell's production. There's some really powerful tunes on this that are castrated by the production. The World Needs Guts, Thrill My Gorilla, and Teenage Frankenstein could have been so much better. Really enjoyable album that's quite easy on the ears.
Raise Your Fist And Yell This is a great album. A couple of clunkers on Side 1, but Side 2 is all out incredible. As Mask Says, Roses On White Lace is great, and is one of my all time favorite Alice tracks. He finally put it in the set, and then the lockdown happened. Prince Of Darkness is fantastic, and Gail is so freaking wild, especially as it leads into Roses.
Trash Alice goes all Desmond Child. Brings in Bon Jovi and Aerosmith to help out. I really liked this when it came out. My favorite song on this is Why Trust You. Love the lyrics and the delivery. Alice is great on it. Sorry Mask, but Hell Is Living Without You makes me gag. I don't consider this a great album, as many more have aged much better.
Hey Stoopid As many of you have said, this is a great album. If they could just cut Burning Our Bed and Loves A loaded Gun, it'd be much better. Dangerous Tonight and Wind Up Toy are the standouts for me. But Might As Well Be On Mars, Snakebite, Hurricane Years, Die For You. Mon...all so good.
The Last Temptation Alice was on a roll at this point. This album is solid as hell. I even love the single, Lost In America. But Nothing's Free, Bad Place Alone, and Cleansed By Fire are all excellent tunes. But puleeze Chris Cornell, shut yer yap.
Brutal Planet I was first really thrown off by this album. It took me a long time for it to click. I'm not really a fan of this style. But I actually love half the album and I don't care for the rest. I love Sanctuary, Pick Up The Bones, It's The Little Things, and Cold Machines with its great chorus.
Dragontown Easily one of my least favorite Alice albums. I love The Triggerman, but after that, aside from Disgracedland, there's nothing here I care for.
The Eyes Of Alice Cooper I personally think this album is amazing and I recommend it whenever I can. This is an old school garage styled rocker. This is the only album he's done that makes me think of the original band. The only song I don't care for is Detroit City, but I could just list every other song on this album. This is a fantastic Alice Cooper album, and if you've never heard it, then do it!
Dirty Diamonds Kind an eclectic mix of songs. But it's a nice album that's easy on the ears. Best song is easily Six Hours. Really cool track. I love Perfect. Very funny.
Along Came A Spider Besides Easy Action and Pretties For You, this is easily my least favorite Alice Cooper album. At least Dragontown has Triggerman. This has nothing.
Welcome Two My Nightmare I must say, I never liked this when it came out. But I think it's an OK album. Not much to write home about.
Paranormal Not sure it was worth the six year wait but I like this album. Short and sweet. Fireball is amazing, and I love Dynamite Road. Reminds me a lot of Zipper Catches Skin. The album ends strong with Holy Water, Rats, and the very cool but unlike anything else on the album The Sound Of A.
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The Sound of A is one of my favorites from paranormal and I agree that it's a strong end to the album. Sounds so unlike the rest because it was written decades ago. Basically everybody was surprised how good it was so they dusted it off for the album.
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Is that right? I've never followed up on the backstory.
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Cool breakdown TAC and MirrorMask I have heard some of the classic Killer and Babies songs, just not whole albums. I haven't followed any of the post Temptation stuff. I'll have to carve out some time to dig in.
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Post Temptation, if you like the 2000's hard rock sound, check Brutal Planet. If you like Old School Garage style rock, then check out The Eyes. Those are the two strongest albums post Temptation.
Me, I highly prefer The Eyes.
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TAC, Mask, I have a question for Alice experts:
I feel there's a great magical Alice with Glen Buxton, and a great Alice without Glen, but with less magic. Kinda like Bowie with or without Mick Ronson.
Do you feel the same? Is it a plausible impression?
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TAC, Mask, I have a question for Alice experts:
I feel there's a great magical Alice with Glen Buxton, and a great Alice without Glen, but with less magic. Kinda like Bowie with or without Mick Ronson.
Do you feel the same? Is it a plausible impression?
I can't relate to anything Bowie...
Regarding Buxton, the real genius of that band was Michael Bruce. And I think Dennis Dunaway was incredible. Incredible.
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:tup
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Honestly Alex, the lead guitar is the least impressive thing about those early albums. To me, the songwriting on the longer songs...The Ballad Of Dwight Fry, Dead Babies, Halo Of Flies, along with the catchy songs like No More Mr Nice Guy, School's Out that really separate them. They adhered to no blueprint and were quite versatile on those albums. I have forever called them America's most underrated classic rock band.
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Oh, I agree, especially about Halo. I was thinking more along the lines of someone keeping Alice in check. But you know me, I love to fantasise on this shit :lol
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How do you mean keeping him in check?
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Ego in songwriting
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I think in those days, the ego in songwriting belonged to Ezrin. The band were more or less brothers on those early albums. Once Billion Dollar Babies broke, it really became more about Alice Cooper, the singer. He was out there doing all of the press and became the focal point. The band really fought to dial that back for Muscle Of Love, even refusing to work with Ezrin, but by that time the cat (Alice) was out of the bag.
Of the original 5 members, Buxton has always struck me as being the guy most "along for the ride".
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Gotcha, thank you. I need an Alice dive, it's been too long.
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Let mew know when. I'll buddy up with you. I love Alice Cooper.
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When I started going to elementary school my mom had to hide the Killer album ( I liked to recite the tune " Dead Babies " , lol ). But that album is a musical adventure man , some organized heavy music with a mood that had not been done before. It has always seemed that this album held something that his other albums at the time lacked , integrity maybe. This album is burned into the root directory of my brain falling asleep with headphones at 3-4 years old for sure.
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Going through TAC's list....
- I wanted to avoid the classics but yeah, The Ballad of Dwight Fry is a timeless masterpiece. Is it my body is fun too.
- Halo of Flies for the longest time didn't really register me, but now I like it a lot. I think it was their very intention to show (off) that they could write long and complex songs.
- Yeah, the Steven trilogy is stellar.
- I think too that all things considered, Goes to Hell is pretty cool.
- Millie and Billie would have been my other choice to mention a gem from this album. It's so apparently cheesy but turns creepy real fast.
- Glad for you that you like Zipper Catches Skin : D Dada has indeed many great songs and yeah, I Love America is prime Alice humour. Also Scarlet and Sheba is quite cool.
- The World Need Guts when played live was pretty nice.
- Indeed side two of Raise your Fist and Yell is fantastic. He played Roses on White Lace live? damn!!! I wish he had put it earlier in the set for my gig!
- Trash is definitively "Alice goes Bon Jovi / Aerosmith". House of Fire is basically a Bon Jovi song, I can so picture Jon singing it.
- Hey, Love's a Loaded Gun is nice! : P but all the album is great. Hey Stoopid, Snakebite, the other songs you mentioned... really, how THIS was not the smash hit success that Trash was?
- So I'm not the only one not crazy about Chris Cornell's guest spot in Silent Prayer... great album however, there's not really a bad track on this.
- Pick Up the Bones is one of my all time favorite Alice songs. And yeah, Dragontown didn't live up to its predecessor.
- The Eyes is indeed full of awesome songs! What do you Want from Me, Man of the Year, Love Should Never Feel Like This, the absurdity of The Song that Didn't Rhyme, the funny but creepy This House is Haunted... really, garage rock at its best.
- Six Hours is indeed so cool! also another word for the eerie and pyschedelic Zombie Dance that closes the album.
- Fireball is surely one of the best songs on Paranormal. I also like the title track, but it seems to end the moment it was starting to turn into something great. The Sound of A reminds me vaguely of the trippy atmosphere of Zombie Dance.
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I'm more a fan of the 80s hair metal Alice and haven't liked anything post Last Temptation. I got on board with Constrictor, which was half great, then I got The Alice Cooper Show, which I loved. The ballads on there were great.
I love RYFAY - I saw Alice for the first time on this tour.
Trash is great.
Hey Stoopid made my top 50. Saw him again this tour but was gutted when the band started and Vinnie Moore wasn't there like he had been on the US tour.
Last Temptation is excellent too.
Going back, I struggled with the 70s production on the masterpieces like B$B, Killer, School's Out didn't do anything for me. WTMN is great.
But I absolutely love From The Inside. It has a special place in my heart as a psychiatric nurse. The Quiet Room and How YOu Gonna See Me are such great ballads. Alice has always done great ballads.
I've never bothered with the other albums tbh.
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Ok, I'm diving. Pretties for You, I'm in the midst of a spectral speech in Fields of Regret as I'm writing.
This was totally unexpected. It seems to me we're in freak-beat territory here, and bouncing between Zappa / Captain Beefheart and early Pink Floyd.
I like some dissonances though, the freak drumming, and the fuzz guitar doing psychedelic shit.
I would have never guessed they had a psych-avantgarde debut. It's funny.
I'm at Levity Ball right now.
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I'll run through them tonight.
And yes, they should sound like Zappa since he basically recorded them.
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Oh, that explains a lot. I'm at Reflected and I sense some garage rock spunk and winks to UK music in contrast with the overall Zappism
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Love Dennis Dunaway's baseline on the Fields Of Regret solo.
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Love Dennis Dunaway's baseline on the Fields Of Regret solo.
Yup, Fields of Regret, with maybe Living, Reflected and Changing Arranging are the songs I'm liking better.
I'm also digging the crazy bass on BB on Mars and the guitar interplay in Earwigs to Eternity.
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I love when Alice does really poppy songs. It's Much Too Late is a great one from Dragontown, and Only My Heart Talkin' is another favorite. Is Trash his "poppiest" album?
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I love when Alice does really poppy songs. It's Much Too Late is a great one from Dragontown, and Only My Heart Talkin' is another favorite. Is Trash his "poppiest" album?
"Poppiest"... dunno. But it's definitively Alice's mashup of Bon Jovi, Aerosmith and Guns n' Roses, and that's as mass appeal as it gets.
House of Fire feels like a forgotten Bon Jovi song from Slippery When Wet or New Jersey.
Bon Jovi himself wrote Hell is Living without You, alongside with Desmond Child and Sambora (Child cowrote the entire album anyway).
Only My Heart Talkin' has literally Steven Tyler doing guest vocals and I can imagine him singing the whole song.
It's hard to pinpoint the songs because Alice is a bit "meaner" than good guy Bon Jovi, less bluesy than Aerosmith and as not as "deranged" as Guns n' Roses (or better, he's more oriented on horror which is lacking from this record), but the ballpark is definitively there.
I understand it made all the money led by Poison, which is kinda his Enter Sandman and is a terrific hard rock catchy song, the epitome of '80s hard rock and I'm still not yet tired of it, but as it has already been said, the following Hey Stoopid has far stronger songs than Trash and it's the album that SHOULD have been the major hit.
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On Easy Action.
Budget must have gone up, because production is miles ahead the previous one
At Shoe Salesman right now: is McCartneysm what I sense?
Still No Air. Zappa still strong, with more prominent guitars.
Below Your Means. First time since I started this dive I can hear a bit of Alice to come. Of course that psych jam came up just to contradict me.
Return of the Spiders. Dunaway is having a lot of fun.
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Mr And Misdeamenor really shows some of their grand style of writing. They really had a show tunes type of feel in their blood.
Yes Shoe Salesmen is Beatle-esque.
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Mr And Misdeamenor really shows some of their grand style of writing. They really had a show tunes type of feel in their blood.
Yes Shoe Salesmen is Beatle-esque.
Laughing at Me is veeeeery theatrical
Refrigerator Heaven's central part is infectious
Beautiful Flyaway could have been a respectable Tommy tune
I don't know what to do with Lay Down and Die, Goodbye. Were it '67 I'd get it, but in 1970 those freeform collages were dime a dozen. In hindsight, it sounds like a FUThanxBye to all and sundry before moving to a more desirable creative path.
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Well I haven't run through Easy Action in YEARS! Pretty happy with my listen so Thanks Indiscipline!
Dennis Dunaway rules LDADGB.
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Dirty Diamonds is a really good album. On my first listen, I pretty much hated it. But I've listened through about 10 times now and it's a lot better (and fun) than I gave it credit for. It's definitely a continuation of The Eyes... but I think this one is a bit more well-rounded and interesting overall. Saga Of Jesse Jane, Run Down The Devil, and Zombie Dance are some of my new favorite songs of his.
Onto Along Came A Spider...
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Dirty Diamonds is a really good album. On my first listen, I pretty much hated it. But I've listened through about 10 times now and it's a lot better (and fun) than I gave it credit for. It's definitely a continuation of The Eyes... but I think this one is a bit more well-rounded and interesting overall. Saga Of Jesse Jane, Run Down The Devil, and Zombie Dance are some of my new favorite songs of his.
I agree, at first Dirty Diamonds sounds, well, dirty, and inferior compared to The Eyes, but in the long run you get attached to the songs.
Speaking of the album, while definitively it's NOT a conceptual or themed ones, some lines here and there in the lyrics - Jesse Jane being in Texas, the pychedelic feel of Zombie Dance that makes me think of voodoo, the show True Blood and therefore Louisiana, the "dust in the hair" from Six Days and everyone sleeping in the morning in Run Down the Devil (because it's so hot), makes me imagine of a fictional southern town filled with wacky losers and peculiar people.
If we leave out the cover and the title track (which is a fictionalized James Bondesque song), I can imagine the same lazy, uneventful and almost-lost-in-the-desert southern town where you can find all together the characters of the album, such as:
- The femme fatales (Woman of Mass Distraction, the Sunset Babies and the one that makes you wanna uh uh uh)
- The shy girl of Perfect that can sing only under the shower
- Jesse Jane the transgender who travels to Texas and shoots rednecks in a one horse town
- The lunatic that, in a sleepy morning where everyone hides from the scorching heat, thinks he can run the devil down
- The good for nothing dude that steals cars
- The lovers of Six Hours who meet in secret after a hot sweaty day
- The other good for nothing dude who is his own worst enemy
And to top it all, when the night comes down, there's weird vampiresque stuff happening at the cemetery, True Blood style.
I can picture all the protagonists of the song living in the same town.
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That's very interesting, Mask.
I like most of Dirty Diamonds a lot. I cannot do the Zombie song though.
I love Perfect. And Six Hours.
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To me, Dirty Diamonds is like a greatest hits album with all original music. There are tons of cohesive songs that still sound like they are taken from different eras.
Love it much more than Eyes.
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That's very interesting, Mask.
I like most of Dirty Diamonds a lot. I cannot do the Zombie song though.
I love Perfect. And Six Hours.
September 2011 can’t come fast enough! Welcome 2 My Nightmare :metal :metal
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To me, Dirty Diamonds is like a greatest hits album with all original music. There are tons of cohesive songs that still sound like they are taken from different eras.
That's probably the best description of DD that I could think of.
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Dirty Diamonds is a really good album. On my first listen, I pretty much hated it. But I've listened through about 10 times now and it's a lot better (and fun) than I gave it credit for. It's definitely a continuation of The Eyes... but I think this one is a bit more well-rounded and interesting overall. Saga Of Jesse Jane, Run Down The Devil, and Zombie Dance are some of my new favorite songs of his.
I agree, at first Dirty Diamonds sounds, well, dirty, and inferior compared to The Eyes, but in the long run you get attached to the songs.
Speaking of the album, while definitively it's NOT a conceptual or themed ones, some lines here and there in the lyrics - Jesse Jane being in Texas, the pychedelic feel of Zombie Dance that makes me think of voodoo, the show True Blood and therefore Louisiana, the "dust in the hair" from Six Days and everyone sleeping in the morning in Run Down the Devil (because it's so hot), makes me imagine of a fictional southern town filled with wacky losers and peculiar people.
If we leave out the cover and the title track (which is a fictionalized James Bondesque song), I can imagine the same lazy, uneventful and almost-lost-in-the-desert southern town where you can find all together the characters of the album, such as:
- The femme fatales (Woman of Mass Distraction, the Sunset Babies and the one that makes you wanna uh uh uh)
- The shy girl of Perfect that can sing only under the shower
- Jesse Jane the transgender who travels to Texas and shoots rednecks in a one horse town
- The lunatic that, in a sleepy morning where everyone hides from the scorching heat, thinks he can run the devil down
- The good for nothing dude that steals cars
- The lovers of Six Hours who meet in secret after a hot sweaty day
- The other good for nothing dude who is his own worst enemy
And to top it all, when the night comes down, there's weird vampiresque stuff happening at the cemetery, True Blood style.
I can picture all the protagonists of the song living in the same town.
:o
I definitely get that creepy southern town vibe from it, though I'm so bad with listening to lyrics that I couldn't really tell what any song is about (though Perfect/Saga have lines that stand out). Is this just a theory you've come up with or is this the actual context behind the album?
Once I finish Spider, Nightmare2, and Paranormal I'm going to start at DaDa and work my way back. I've had a blast working my way through his catalog...so much variation and I'm really enjoying the "pairs" that have come up.
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:o
I definitely get that creepy southern town vibe from it, though I'm so bad with listening to lyrics that I couldn't really tell what any song is about (though Perfect/Saga have lines that stand out). Is this just a theory you've come up with or is this the actual context behind the album?
Totally my interpretation that has no connection with reality whatsoever. It's just a fun idea that dawned on me - the combination of the sound and atmosphere of the album, some lyrical snippets here and there and the fact that all the songs are basically about weirdos or wacky losers, gave me the idea of "they all live in the same southern town". It's just an additional, imaginary nugget - it's not that there's "proof" for what I say (which I don't claim to be the truth anyway), it's just that there's nothing that blatantly contradicts it (such a mention of any other geographical location), that's all :D
Once I finish Spider, Nightmare2, and Paranormal I'm going to start at DaDa and work my way back. I've had a blast working my way through his catalog...so much variation and I'm really enjoying the "pairs" that have come up.
Have fun! :tup I think that listening to all these diverse album will prepare you better for the most obscure and controversial Alice albums. It's not guaranteed that you will like them all - but at least you'll listen to them knowing what Alice is all about and this might help to digest them.
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Along Came A Spider is easily my favorite album of his since Hey Stoopid. I guess a lot of people dislike it, but I honestly think it's probably his catchiest album (from what I've heard) and it has a lot of songs I'd consider standouts in his post-2000 work.
Catch Me If You Can is my favorite, but I Am The Spider, Wake The Dead (which sounds like a missing Achtung Baby track), and Killed By Love are also tracks I love. I'm disappointed to find out that the sequel to this was axed in order to make Welcome 2 My Nightmare (which I'm actually really looking forward to since I already have the original WTMN).
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I think Spider is one of his all time worst albums. I don't get it.
I thought W2MN kind of sucked when it came out, but I've warmed up to it over the years.
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I think Spider is one of his all time worst albums. I don't get it.
I thought W2MN kind of sucked when it came out, but I've warmed up to it over the years.
Spider is just a bunch of catchy songs, I'll take an album like that any day.
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Catch Me If You Can is my favorite, but I Am The Spider, Wake The Dead (which sounds like a missing Achtung Baby track), and Killed By Love are also tracks I love.
Replace Wake the Dead with Vengeance is Mine (or Wrapped in Silk) and I could have written this post myself.
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Catch Me If You Can is my favorite, but I Am The Spider, Wake The Dead (which sounds like a missing Achtung Baby track), and Killed By Love are also tracks I love.
Replace Wake the Dead with Vengeance is Mine (or Wrapped in Silk) and I could have written this post myself.
Those are great songs too. There's really no songs on the album I dislike. It's disappointing that a lot of his albums have such little representation live though, there's so many songs that seem built for the stage but they just never get played.
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So I agree with that last part. His setlists have been way too similar over the years.
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So I agree with that last part. His setlists have been way too similar over the years.
In absolute terms I agree, but if we judge the reality of him being a legendary act that could have stopped doing new albums 20 years ago and still live off his greatest hits, he has acceptable setlists. The order of the staples changes often, so it's not that there's the "Fear of the Dark always before Iron Maiden" syndrome, and he still pulls out some deep cuts here and there from tour to tour. Could be better? yes. Could be MUCH WORSE? absolutely.
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Finally reached the end of my modern-Alice journey. I've gone through W2MN and Paranormal and loved both of them. I guess I'm in the minority but there's really no album of his I've listened to yet that I even remotely dislike...all of it is high-quality to my ears and while there's some goofy shit, it all kind of fits. Now I'm going to listen to his pre-sobriety albums and work my way through them. I was going to start at DaDa and work backwards but I like hearing the progression and growth from album to album so I'll start right at Pretties For You and move forward.
Current Album Rankings (Favorite / Least Favorite):
1. Hey Stoopid (Dangerous Tonight / Dirty Dreams)
2. Along Came A Spider (Catch Me If You Can / I'm Hungry)
3. Paranormal (Paranoiac Personality / Dynamite Road)
4. Welcome 2 My Nightmare (Something To Remember Me By / A Runaway Train)
5. Dirty Diamonds (The Saga Of Jesse Jane / Dirty Diamonds)
6. Dragontown (It's Much Too Late / Disgraceland) **this album is a lot better than it gets credit for imo
7. Trash (Bed Of Nails / Why Trust You)
8. Brutal Planet (Take It Like A Woman / Pessi-Mystic)
9. Raise Your Fists And Yell (Prince Of Darkness / Give The Radio Back)
10. The Eyes Of Alice Cooper (Novocaine / Man Of The Year)
11. The Last Temptation (You're My Temptation / Unholy War)
12. Welcome To My Nightmare (Steven / Only Women Bleed)
13. Constrictor (The World Needs Guts / Trick Bag)
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Finally reached the end of my modern-Alice journey. I've gone through W2MN and Paranormal and loved both of them. I guess I'm in the minority but there's really no album of his I've listened to yet that I even remotely dislike...all of it is high-quality to my ears and while there's some goofy shit, it all kind of fits. Now I'm going to listen to his pre-sobriety albums and work my way through them. I was going to start at DaDa and work backwards but I like hearing the progression and growth from album to album so I'll start right at Pretties For You and move forward.
That will be a really tough start and ending, but the long ride in the middle will be worth savoring.
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Finally reached the end of my modern-Alice journey. I've gone through W2MN and Paranormal and loved both of them. I guess I'm in the minority but there's really no album of his I've listened to yet that I even remotely dislike...all of it is high-quality to my ears and while there's some goofy shit, it all kind of fits. Now I'm going to listen to his pre-sobriety albums and work my way through them. I was going to start at DaDa and work backwards but I like hearing the progression and growth from album to album so I'll start right at Pretties For You and move forward.
Awesome!! I'd definitely start at the beginning.
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I haven't really dug into his other "blackout" albums yet but I loved DaDa. One of his most underrated albums IMO and "Pass The Gun Around" is actually a fitting final song for that part of his life
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I haven't really dug into his other "blackout" albums yet but I loved DaDa. One of his most underrated albums IMO and "Pass The Gun Around" is actually a fitting final song for that part of his life
Pass The Gun Around is a Top 10 Alice Track for me. Dick Wagner's guitar solo is amazing!
I love Zipper Catches Skin a ton. When I asked him to sign my copy, he was like "I don't even remember making that!".
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Current Album Rankings (Favorite / Least Favorite):
1. Hey Stoopid (Dangerous Tonight / Dirty Dreams)
2. Along Came A Spider (Catch Me If You Can / I'm Hungry)
3. Paranormal (Paranoiac Personality / Dynamite Road)
4. Welcome 2 My Nightmare (Something To Remember Me By / A Runaway Train)
5.
6. Dragontown (It's Much Too Late / Disgraceland) **this album is a lot better than it gets credit for imo
7. Trash (Bed Of Nails / Why Trust You)
8. Brutal Planet (Take It Like A Woman / Pessi-Mystic)
9. Raise Your Fists And Yell (Prince Of Darkness / Give The Radio Back)
10. The Eyes Of Alice Cooper (Novocaine / Man Of The Year)
11. The Last Temptation (You're My Temptation / Unholy War)
12. Welcome To My Nightmare (Steven / Only Women Bleed)
13. Constrictor (The World Needs Guts / Trick Bag)
Lots to chew on here...
If I was ranking, I'd do this..
1. Hey Stoopid (Dangerous Tonight / Burning Our Bed)
2. Welcome To My Nightmare (Steven Trilogy / Only Women Bleed)
3. The Eyes Of Alice Cooper (What Do You Want From Me / Detroit City)
4. Raise Your Fists And Yell (Roses On White Lace / Give The Radio Back)
5. The Last Temptation (Cleansed By Fire / Unholy War)
6. Constrictor (The World Needs Guts / Trick Bag)
7. Paranormal (Fireball / Dead Flies)
8. Trash (Why Trust You / Hell Is Living Without You)
9. Dirty Diamonds (Six Hours / Zombies Dance)
10. Brutal Planet ( Sanctuary / Take It Like A Woman)
11. Welcome 2 My Nightmare (I Am Made Of You / Something To Remember Me By)
12. Dragontown (Triggerman / everything else except Disgracedland)
13. Along Came A Spider (Vengeance Is Mine / Everything else...)
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Finally reached the end of my modern-Alice journey. I've gone through W2MN and Paranormal and loved both of them. I guess I'm in the minority but there's really no album of his I've listened to yet that I even remotely dislike...all of it is high-quality to my ears and while there's some goofy shit, it all kind of fits.
Glad that you enoyed them all! yes, I agree that all in all they're all good album and while some might be better than the others, there's no dud that makes you think "Geez, what was Alice thinking with this one?".... occasional and very forgiveable meh song aside.
Now I'm going to listen to his pre-sobriety albums and work my way through them. I was going to start at DaDa and work backwards but I like hearing the progression and growth from album to album so I'll start right at Pretties For You and move forward.
Keep in mind that the first two albums are very weird, experimental, and from a young band that still hadn't find their sound. I don't remember right off the bat if you listened to their classic albums, since you listed Welcome to My Nightmare anyway, but once you go into the string of albums that starts with Love It to Death.... wow.... you're in for a four string of albums that made rock n' roll HISTORY and LEGEND.
I haven't really dug into his other "blackout" albums yet but I loved DaDa. One of his most underrated albums IMO and "Pass The Gun Around" is actually a fitting final song for that part of his life
I agree, DaDa is such an underrated album. I believe that in his "blackout albums" (the ones he didn't tour for, or that he did tour but they had a very different sound) everyone will find something different to like and to appreciate.
So get ready from Goes to Hell until DaDa to find some VERY WEIRD stuff, but hey, potentially you'll find hidden gems here and there. I'm sure everyone's opinion will differ on those records, for example I completely don't like Zipper Catches Skin but I'm not gonna try to convince TAC otherwise, I'm glad he - and many others surely - find something to appreciate on that record. Maybe you'll love that and dislike DaDa, who knows! there's so much diversity in those records to appeal potentially to anyone.
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I haven't listened to all of Alice Cooper (I think I've only heard a third of his discography), but DaDa has always been one of my favorites. Truly an underrated record.
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Finally reached the end of my modern-Alice journey. I've gone through W2MN and Paranormal and loved both of them. I guess I'm in the minority but there's really no album of his I've listened to yet that I even remotely dislike...all of it is high-quality to my ears and while there's some goofy shit, it all kind of fits.
Glad that you enoyed them all! yes, I agree that all in all they're all good album and while some might be better than the others, there's no dud that makes you think "Geez, what was Alice thinking with this one?".... occasional and very forgiveable meh song aside.
Now I'm going to listen to his pre-sobriety albums and work my way through them. I was going to start at DaDa and work backwards but I like hearing the progression and growth from album to album so I'll start right at Pretties For You and move forward.
Keep in mind that the first two albums are very weird, experimental, and from a young band that still hadn't find their sound. I don't remember right off the bat if you listened to their classic albums, since you listed Welcome to My Nightmare anyway, but once you go into the string of albums that starts with Love It to Death.... wow.... you're in for a four string of albums that made rock n' roll HISTORY and LEGEND.
I haven't really dug into his other "blackout" albums yet but I loved DaDa. One of his most underrated albums IMO and "Pass The Gun Around" is actually a fitting final song for that part of his life
I agree, DaDa is such an underrated album. I believe that in his "blackout albums" (the ones he didn't tour for, or that he did tour but they had a very different sound) everyone will find something different to like and to appreciate.
So get ready from Goes to Hell until DaDa to find some VERY WEIRD stuff, but hey, potentially you'll find hidden gems here and there. I'm sure everyone's opinion will differ on those records, for example I completely don't like Zipper Catches Skin but I'm not gonna try to convince TAC otherwise, I'm glad he - and many others surely - find something to appreciate on that record. Maybe you'll love that and dislike DaDa, who knows! there's so much diversity in those records to appeal potentially to anyone.
First to DTA, I definitely suggest starting from the beginning. I did that a few years ago. I had never done that with any artist but for some reason with Alice, I never got several albums. So when I finally completed my collection, instead of listening to the ones I hadn't heard, I started at the beginning. It was fascinating and Alice is probably one of the best artists to listen to in this way since his style always vaguely followed trends.
Mirrormask, when I got to the blackout albums I was psyched. I had only heard Flush the Fashion which I loved but then got to Zipper Catches Skin and feel the exact same way you do. I also didn't like Special Forces. I was actually kind of bummed because I wanted to like the bizarro years so bad.
THEN, I got to DaDa. The only Cooper album I had never heard. I expected more crap that I would have to begrudgingly sit through and I was blown away. I mean, its weird as hell but....i couldnt help but love it. By the point Warner was dropping him, he was depressed and on the verge of divorce, he had Bob Ezrin and Dick Wagner back, and I think everybody had a very "fuck it" attitude. If I'm not mistaken, not a single song has ever been played live from that album but shit, they need to play the album in its entirety!
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Mirrormask, when I got to the blackout albums I was psyched. I had only heard Flush the Fashion which I loved but then got to Zipper Catches Skin and feel the exact same way you do. I also didn't like Special Forces. I was actually kind of bummed because I wanted to like the bizarro years so bad.
THEN, I got to DaDa. The only Cooper album I had never heard. I expected more crap that I would have to begrudgingly sit through and I was blown away. I mean, its weird as hell but....i couldnt help but love it. By the point Warner was dropping him, he was depressed and on the verge of divorce, he had Bob Ezrin and Dick Wagner back, and I think everybody had a very "fuck it" attitude. If I'm not mistaken, not a single song has ever been played live from that album but shit, they need to play the album in its entirety!
I also think Special Forces is really weak, save for the title track, which is one of my favorite Alice Tunes.
I just think the second half of ZCS is great. The entire run of
Adaptable
I Like Girls
Remarkably Insincere
Tag, You're It
I Better Be Good
I'm Alive
Lyrically it's great, and the delivery is total Alice. Love the sense of humor on these as well. Tag, You're It is really a funny spoof on the Halloween movies.
I also like Jan Uvena's drumming on this. He would go on to play in Alcatrazz after this.
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THEN, I got to DaDa. The only Cooper album I had never heard. I expected more crap that I would have to begrudgingly sit through and I was blown away. I mean, its weird as hell but....i couldnt help but love it. By the point Warner was dropping him, he was depressed and on the verge of divorce, he had Bob Ezrin and Dick Wagner back, and I think everybody had a very "fuck it" attitude. If I'm not mistaken, not a single song has ever been played live from that album but shit, they need to play the album in its entirety!
That is correct. Both Zipper Catches Skin and DaDa never got a tour, since Alice was too wasted to play live, and not a single song has ever been played live. And like you I was in a "come on, at this point I have to hear them all" phase with Alice, and I was surprised how DaDa was great in his wacky weirdness.
I also think Special Forces is really weak, save for the title track, which is one of my favorite Alice Tunes.
Indeed, only redeeming factor of a very weak album.
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That album is rather funny, I don't think it was meant to be serious. For example, You look good in rags is absurd and catchy, but I understand that it does get old. Flush the fashion, on the other hand, is silly but still convincing and on a high level.
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Current Album Rankings (Favorite / Least Favorite):
1. Hey Stoopid (Dangerous Tonight / Dirty Dreams)
2. Along Came A Spider (Catch Me If You Can / I'm Hungry)
3. Paranormal (Paranoiac Personality / Dynamite Road)
4. Welcome 2 My Nightmare (Something To Remember Me By / A Runaway Train)
5.
6. Dragontown (It's Much Too Late / Disgraceland) **this album is a lot better than it gets credit for imo
7. Trash (Bed Of Nails / Why Trust You)
8. Brutal Planet (Take It Like A Woman / Pessi-Mystic)
9. Raise Your Fists And Yell (Prince Of Darkness / Give The Radio Back)
10. The Eyes Of Alice Cooper (Novocaine / Man Of The Year)
11. The Last Temptation (You're My Temptation / Unholy War)
12. Welcome To My Nightmare (Steven / Only Women Bleed)
13. Constrictor (The World Needs Guts / Trick Bag)
Lots to chew on here...
If I was ranking, I'd do this..
1. Hey Stoopid (Dangerous Tonight / Burning Our Bed)
2. Welcome To My Nightmare (Steven Trilogy / Only Women Bleed)
3. The Eyes Of Alice Cooper (What Do You Want From Me / Detroit City)
4. Raise Your Fists And Yell (Roses On White Lace / Give The Radio Back)
5. The Last Temptation (Cleansed By Fire / Unholy War)
6. Constrictor (The World Needs Guts / Trick Bag)
7. Paranormal (Fireball / Dead Flies)
8. Trash (Why Trust You / Hell Is Living Without You)
9. Dirty Diamonds (Six Hours / Zombies Dance)
10. Brutal Planet ( Sanctuary / Take It Like A Woman)
11. Welcome 2 My Nightmare (I Am Made Of You / Something To Remember Me By)
12. Dragontown (Triggerman / everything else except Disgracedland)
13. Along Came A Spider (Vengeance Is Mine / Everything else...)
Burning Our Bed was an early favorite of mine...what's your issue with it? And Why Trust You seems like an odd choice for Trash. I like most of the songs on there but Bed Of Nails seems like a clear step above all the others. Zombie Dance is another I think is pretty unique and interesting. I disliked Dragontown at first but it really grew on me. I think it's incredibly solid and was surprised when I began to like it more than Brutal Planet.
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First to DTA, I definitely suggest starting from the beginning. I did that a few years ago. I had never done that with any artist but for some reason with Alice, I never got several albums. So when I finally completed my collection, instead of listening to the ones I hadn't heard, I started at the beginning. It was fascinating and Alice is probably one of the best artists to listen to in this way since his style always vaguely followed trends.
Yeah, I figure going in sequence is the best way to do it instead of jumping around. I like how his style mirrored the times so going in sequence makes sense just to hear that evolution in sound.
Keep in mind that the first two albums are very weird, experimental, and from a young band that still hadn't find their sound. I don't remember right off the bat if you listened to their classic albums, since you listed Welcome to My Nightmare anyway, but once you go into the string of albums that starts with Love It to Death.... wow.... you're in for a four string of albums that made rock n' roll HISTORY and LEGEND.
I've heard the first two are pretty out-there but I listen to so much music at work that I can blast through those albums pretty quickly (I have a self-imposed rule that I must listen to an album 10 times before moving onto the next one). I only have Welcome to My Nightmare of his pre-Constrictor output but I'm honestly most excited to hear Flush the Fashion through DaDa. I tend to gravitate towards the albums everyone hates so I expect Alice will be no different. I'm really excited for DaDa based on how many interesting descriptions it's been given.
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Burning Our Bed was an early favorite of mine...what's your issue with it? And Why Trust You seems like an odd choice for Trash. I like most of the songs on there but Bed Of Nails seems like a clear step above all the others. Zombie Dance is another I think is pretty unique and interesting. I disliked Dragontown at first but it really grew on me. I think it's incredibly solid and was surprised when I began to like it more than Brutal Planet.
You seemed to gravitate to the power ballad style.
I have always detested Burning Our Bed. I think is it so sappy and awful. I'm with you on Dirty Dreams. That song blows. But all in all, that is a GREAT album.
Why Trust You gets me going big time. I love the vocal. There's a few songs that I find myself totally screaming out when I listen in the car, and that is the main one. It's a deep track on that album for sure, but I've always loved it. It has the energy of I'm Your Gun, but without the cringeworthy lyrics.
I am generally not a fan of the whole Brutal Planet/Dragontown era. But I like 5 songs on BP and 2 on DT (the other being Disgracedland).
First to DTA, I definitely suggest starting from the beginning. I did that a few years ago. I had never done that with any artist but for some reason with Alice, I never got several albums. So when I finally completed my collection, instead of listening to the ones I hadn't heard, I started at the beginning. It was fascinating and Alice is probably one of the best artists to listen to in this way since his style always vaguely followed trends.
Yeah, I figure going in sequence is the best way to do it instead of jumping around. I like how his style mirrored the times so going in sequence makes sense just to hear that evolution in sound.
Keep in mind that the first two albums are very weird, experimental, and from a young band that still hadn't find their sound. I don't remember right off the bat if you listened to their classic albums, since you listed Welcome to My Nightmare anyway, but once you go into the string of albums that starts with Love It to Death.... wow.... you're in for a four string of albums that made rock n' roll HISTORY and LEGEND.
I've heard the first two are pretty out-there but I listen to so much music at work that I can blast through those albums pretty quickly (I have a self-imposed rule that I must listen to an album 10 times before moving onto the next one). I only have Welcome to My Nightmare of his pre-Constrictor output but I'm honestly most excited to hear Flush the Fashion through DaDa. I tend to gravitate towards the albums everyone hates so I expect Alice will be no different. I'm really excited for DaDa based on how many interesting descriptions it's been given.
Yeah, Alice would usually make his albums to reflect the current movement in music, but would put his spin on them.
And get ready to break your 10 Listen rule. :lol
To me, Killer and School's Out are his two best albums.
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Burning Our Bed was an early favorite of mine...what's your issue with it? And Why Trust You seems like an odd choice for Trash. I like most of the songs on there but Bed Of Nails seems like a clear step above all the others. Zombie Dance is another I think is pretty unique and interesting. I disliked Dragontown at first but it really grew on me. I think it's incredibly solid and was surprised when I began to like it more than Brutal Planet.
You seemed to gravitate to the power ballad style.
I have always detested Burning Our Bed. I think is it so sappy and awful. I'm with you on Dirty Dreams. That song blows. But all in all, that is a GREAT album.
Why Trust You gets me going big time. I love the vocal. There's a few songs that I find myself totally screaming out when I listen in the car, and that is the main one. It's a deep track on that album for sure, but I've always loved it. It has the energy of I'm Your Gun, but without the cringeworthy lyrics.
I am generally not a fan of the whole Brutal Planet/Dragontown era. But I like 5 songs on BP and 2 on DT (the other being Disgracedland).
First to DTA, I definitely suggest starting from the beginning. I did that a few years ago. I had never done that with any artist but for some reason with Alice, I never got several albums. So when I finally completed my collection, instead of listening to the ones I hadn't heard, I started at the beginning. It was fascinating and Alice is probably one of the best artists to listen to in this way since his style always vaguely followed trends.
Yeah, I figure going in sequence is the best way to do it instead of jumping around. I like how his style mirrored the times so going in sequence makes sense just to hear that evolution in sound.
Keep in mind that the first two albums are very weird, experimental, and from a young band that still hadn't find their sound. I don't remember right off the bat if you listened to their classic albums, since you listed Welcome to My Nightmare anyway, but once you go into the string of albums that starts with Love It to Death.... wow.... you're in for a four string of albums that made rock n' roll HISTORY and LEGEND.
I've heard the first two are pretty out-there but I listen to so much music at work that I can blast through those albums pretty quickly (I have a self-imposed rule that I must listen to an album 10 times before moving onto the next one). I only have Welcome to My Nightmare of his pre-Constrictor output but I'm honestly most excited to hear Flush the Fashion through DaDa. I tend to gravitate towards the albums everyone hates so I expect Alice will be no different. I'm really excited for DaDa based on how many interesting descriptions it's been given.
Yeah, Alice would usually make his albums to reflect the current movement in music, but would put his spin on them.
And get ready to break your 10 Listen rule. :lol
To me, Killer and School's Out are his two best albums.
Killer and School's Out were also two of the last of Alice's albums I listened to in their entirety simply because I had almost every song on one compilation or another yet what I discovered was those two albums need to be listened to front to back. Damn near perfect albums and a shame that the few songs I had not heard were not considered up to snuff for a compilation because those really help make the albums.
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Burning Our Bed was an early favorite of mine...what's your issue with it? And Why Trust You seems like an odd choice for Trash. I like most of the songs on there but Bed Of Nails seems like a clear step above all the others. Zombie Dance is another I think is pretty unique and interesting. I disliked Dragontown at first but it really grew on me. I think it's incredibly solid and was surprised when I began to like it more than Brutal Planet.
You seemed to gravitate to the power ballad style.
I have always detested Burning Our Bed. I think is it so sappy and awful. I'm with you on Dirty Dreams. That song blows. But all in all, that is a GREAT album.
Why Trust You gets me going big time. I love the vocal. There's a few songs that I find myself totally screaming out when I listen in the car, and that is the main one. It's a deep track on that album for sure, but I've always loved it. It has the energy of I'm Your Gun, but without the cringeworthy lyrics.
I am generally not a fan of the whole Brutal Planet/Dragontown era. But I like 5 songs on BP and 2 on DT (the other being Disgracedland).
First to DTA, I definitely suggest starting from the beginning. I did that a few years ago. I had never done that with any artist but for some reason with Alice, I never got several albums. So when I finally completed my collection, instead of listening to the ones I hadn't heard, I started at the beginning. It was fascinating and Alice is probably one of the best artists to listen to in this way since his style always vaguely followed trends.
Yeah, I figure going in sequence is the best way to do it instead of jumping around. I like how his style mirrored the times so going in sequence makes sense just to hear that evolution in sound.
Keep in mind that the first two albums are very weird, experimental, and from a young band that still hadn't find their sound. I don't remember right off the bat if you listened to their classic albums, since you listed Welcome to My Nightmare anyway, but once you go into the string of albums that starts with Love It to Death.... wow.... you're in for a four string of albums that made rock n' roll HISTORY and LEGEND.
I've heard the first two are pretty out-there but I listen to so much music at work that I can blast through those albums pretty quickly (I have a self-imposed rule that I must listen to an album 10 times before moving onto the next one). I only have Welcome to My Nightmare of his pre-Constrictor output but I'm honestly most excited to hear Flush the Fashion through DaDa. I tend to gravitate towards the albums everyone hates so I expect Alice will be no different. I'm really excited for DaDa based on how many interesting descriptions it's been given.
Yeah, Alice would usually make his albums to reflect the current movement in music, but would put his spin on them.
And get ready to break your 10 Listen rule. :lol
To me, Killer and School's Out are his two best albums.
I'm definitely a sucker for a power ballad (Only My Heart Talkin' is another favorite) though I hate sappy music. Burning Our Bed is definitely sappy, however, I'm good with Alice being sappy for some reason...I think he gets a lot of leeway with me because I like him as a person so much. I'll have to revisit Why Trust You. I don't dislike it, but it falls through the cracks when I think of the tracks on Trash. I like I'm Your Gun quite a bit though but I never paid attention to the lyrics (that's possibly a good thing if they're cringy).
I'm excited for the early material. I listened to Pretties For You and Easy Action today and they were about what I expected. They almost remind me Can's Tago Mago a bit. Experimental as hell. I'll be happy to get past them and never listen to them again.
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Especially considering the four albums that come after those :yarr
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Love It To Death is pretty good so far, but I can already tell that I'm just more a fan of the production and overall direction of his "newer" stuff (1986-onward) and I'll never quite be as into the 70's stuff as the later albums. It kinda just feels like standard 70's rock, and while there's some cool moments (Dwight Fry is the clear highlight), nothing on here hits me like the more metallic Prince of Darkness, The World Needs Guts, or even the poppier Novocaine and a bunch of other tracks from the 80's through present-day.
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Burning Our Bed was an early favorite of mine...what's your issue with it? And Why Trust You seems like an odd choice for Trash. I like most of the songs on there but Bed Of Nails seems like a clear step above all the others. Zombie Dance is another I think is pretty unique and interesting. I disliked Dragontown at first but it really grew on me. I think it's incredibly solid and was surprised when I began to like it more than Brutal Planet.
You seemed to gravitate to the power ballad style.
I have always detested Burning Our Bed. I think is it so sappy and awful. I'm with you on Dirty Dreams. That song blows. But all in all, that is a GREAT album.
Why Trust You gets me going big time. I love the vocal. There's a few songs that I find myself totally screaming out when I listen in the car, and that is the main one. It's a deep track on that album for sure, but I've always loved it. It has the energy of I'm Your Gun, but without the cringeworthy lyrics.
I am generally not a fan of the whole Brutal Planet/Dragontown era. But I like 5 songs on BP and 2 on DT (the other being Disgracedland).
First to DTA, I definitely suggest starting from the beginning. I did that a few years ago. I had never done that with any artist but for some reason with Alice, I never got several albums. So when I finally completed my collection, instead of listening to the ones I hadn't heard, I started at the beginning. It was fascinating and Alice is probably one of the best artists to listen to in this way since his style always vaguely followed trends.
Yeah, I figure going in sequence is the best way to do it instead of jumping around. I like how his style mirrored the times so going in sequence makes sense just to hear that evolution in sound.
Keep in mind that the first two albums are very weird, experimental, and from a young band that still hadn't find their sound. I don't remember right off the bat if you listened to their classic albums, since you listed Welcome to My Nightmare anyway, but once you go into the string of albums that starts with Love It to Death.... wow.... you're in for a four string of albums that made rock n' roll HISTORY and LEGEND.
I've heard the first two are pretty out-there but I listen to so much music at work that I can blast through those albums pretty quickly (I have a self-imposed rule that I must listen to an album 10 times before moving onto the next one). I only have Welcome to My Nightmare of his pre-Constrictor output but I'm honestly most excited to hear Flush the Fashion through DaDa. I tend to gravitate towards the albums everyone hates so I expect Alice will be no different. I'm really excited for DaDa based on how many interesting descriptions it's been given.
Yeah, Alice would usually make his albums to reflect the current movement in music, but would put his spin on them.
And get ready to break your 10 Listen rule. :lol
To me, Killer and School's Out are his two best albums.
Dirty Dreams is awesome. Vinnie Moore rips on it. I also love BOB (if you see what I mean ;)). The only crap on Hey Stoopid is the title track - I always skip that.
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Love It To Death is pretty good so far, but I can already tell that I'm just more a fan of the production and overall direction of his "newer" stuff (1986-onward) and I'll never quite be as into the 70's stuff as the later albums. It kinda just feels like standard 70's rock, and while there's some cool moments (Dwight Fry is the clear highlight), nothing on here hits me like the more metallic Prince of Darkness, The World Needs Guts, or even the poppier Novocaine and a bunch of other tracks from the 80's through present-day.
I can see that. When I first got Alice Cooper's greatest hits when I was a teenager I was kind of surprised by how basic a lot of it was. I was a very casual fan for several years until somebody gave me an extra ticket to see him on the brutal Planet tour. Totally changed my outlook and I became a hardcore fan that night. Went back and viewed those early songs totally differently. Killer was where the albums started getting more theatrical along with their stage show. Still kind of garage rock but really started to get s different vibe.
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I can say there is absolutely nothing about the music on the first two Alice Cooper albums that I like or find enjoyable. The psychedelic artsy music is not my thing. But all of his greatest hits from the 70s are awesome. He lost me again with what I’ve heard from the early 80s but his mid 80s-early 90s is right up my alley and my favorite from him. I’ve only heard songs here and there from him since then but everything sounds good for the most part. I did buy Welcome 2 My Nightmare and didn’t really like it.
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Love It To Death is pretty good so far, but I can already tell that I'm just more a fan of the production and overall direction of his "newer" stuff (1986-onward) and I'll never quite be as into the 70's stuff as the later albums. It kinda just feels like standard 70's rock, and while there's some cool moments (Dwight Fry is the clear highlight), nothing on here hits me like the more metallic Prince of Darkness, The World Needs Guts, or even the poppier Novocaine and a bunch of other tracks from the 80's through present-day.
I can see that. When I first got Alice Cooper's greatest hits when I was a teenager I was kind of surprised by how basic a lot of it was. I was a very casual fan for several years until somebody gave me an extra ticket to see him on the brutal Planet tour. Totally changed my outlook and I became a hardcore fan that night. Went back and viewed those early songs totally differently. Killer was where the albums started getting more theatrical along with their stage show. Still kind of garage rock but really started to get s different vibe.
Cool, I'm still working my way through the albums and am going to hit Killers next week sometime. I've watched live clips and everything I've seen has been amazing (especially the ever-present camera that follows Nita Strauss in every video ;D) so I'm sure seeing it live would totally transform the earlier songs.
I can say there is absolutely nothing about the music on the first two Alice Cooper albums that I like or find enjoyable. The psychedelic artsy music is not my thing. But all of his greatest hits from the 70s are awesome. He lost me again with what I’ve heard from the early 80s but his mid 80s-early 90s is right up my alley and my favorite from him. I’ve only heard songs here and there from him since then but everything sounds good for the most part. I did buy Welcome 2 My Nightmare and didn’t really like it.
Yeah the first two are rough besides maybe Shoe Salesman which is the only thing I've managed to really enjoy due to its dumb, upbeat poppiness.
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Ballad of Dwight Fry is indeed the masterpiece of the album, but while I understand that maybe the original studio version feels just like another song of the era, I'm Eighteen is a riot live and another more than memorable song.
Apples and oranges but I'm experiencing this while discovering Bruce Springsteen's music - more often than not, I find live versions of old classics better than the original studio songs, which of course are great but feels, if not dated, just a product of the era. I can imagine it can be the same for you listening the original albums, but as it has been mentioned Alice Cooper live was something to behold.... and for the record, he still is!
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TAC set me up with some early Alice and I'm grateful to this day. I too had a little trouble with the first two; they are what they are. But I think those next four are transcendent. I think you can really hear the influence of Bob Ezrin, and that "metallic" clear sound really does wonders for what is - as someone here just said - a garage band. For me it was also about influence. Being a big Aerosmith and Kiss fan, it was clear that those bands were listening to those Alice records. "Get Your Wings" and "Destroyer" (and, to a lesser extent, Peter Gabriel's first solo album; listen to "Moribund the Burgermeister" or "Modern Love") clearly are of a kind with those Alice records.
For me the high point is Killer, especially "Halo Of Flies".
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It's interesting that Muscle of Love reverts back to more basic rock since the band was getting disenchanted with the theatrics.
Has anybody kept up with the other members solo careers?
Michael Bruce's first album was pretty good and from what I remember reading, intentionally buried so that Alice could run his solo career with the name. Good classic/pop rock.
I think Neal Smith's Platinum God was also shelved for a number of year for similar reasons but was more in line with the Alice Cooper sound.
The Billion Dollar Babies band was excellent but again, I suspect it was a little malicious that they didn't get a bigger push.
Sad that Glen Buxton fell of the face of the earth minus a few bootleg clips of his bar band Virgin.
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I still spin everything from Hey Stoopid to Dragontown on a regular basis. Wind up toy is such a stellar song.
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I’ve made it through all the Alice Cooper Band albums and have just begun listening to Goes To Hell. I enjoyed every album more than the previous one with Muscle of Love being my favorite out of all them. I didn’t find Love It To Death or Killer to be as engaging as they’ve been made out to be, but Schools Out and Billion Dollar Babies were enjoyable all the way through. Muscle just has the overall best songs and sound that I like. I’d still rate every pre-Constrictor album below every post-Constrictor album but there’s a lot of great stuff on what I’ve heard.
Top 10 songs from ACB (in no order):
1. Big Apple Dreamin’
2. Working Up A Sweat
3. Man With The Golden Gun
4. Teenage Lament
5. Woman Machine
6. Be My Lover
7. Unfinished Sweet
8. Shoe Salesman
9. No More Mr. Nice Guy
10. Generation Landslide
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Surprised at the love for Muscle of Love! but it's always nice when it's nost just the big ones that receive acclaim.
Curious to know what your reactions will be for the weirdest (which sometimes is meant in a good way and some others in a bad way) part of Alice's carrer! :tup
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Surprised at the love for Muscle of Love! but it's always nice when it's nost just the big ones that receive acclaim.
Curious to know what your reactions will be for the weirdest (which sometimes is meant in a good way and some others in a bad way) part of Alice's carrer! :tup
I always tend to enjoy the albums that people disregard. Looks like Goes To Hell is going to be another highlight for me. I'm looking forward to the weird ones and I'll most likely enjoy them a lot...I can't believe I only have 6 more to get through, what the hell am I going to binge-listen to after this??
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Yeah, Goes to Hell is quite good, and had there been a tour (Alice was too wasted to play), maybe it would have been considered more a classic successor to Welcome to My Nightmare. The title track, Didn't we Meet, Wake me Gently and Going Home are all great songs.
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I’d still rate every pre-Constrictor album below every post-Constrictor album but there’s a lot of great stuff on what I’ve heard.
Below?? Wow!
Top 10 songs from ACB (in no order):
1. Big Apple Dreamin’
2. Working Up A Sweat
3. Man With The Golden Gun
4. Teenage Lament
5. Woman Machine
6. Be My Lover
7. Unfinished Sweet
8. Shoe Salesman
9. No More Mr. Nice Guy
10. Generation Landslide
Wow, that is definitely Muscle Of Love heavy.
My Top 10 original Alice Cooper Band...
1. The Ballad Of Dwight Fry
2. Blue Turk
3. Halo Of Flies
4. Desperado
5. Dead Babies
6. Killer
7. Teenage Lament
8. Alma Mater
9. Luney Tune
10. My Stars
Big Apple Dreamin' is an awesome tune too!
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I’d still rate every pre-Constrictor album below every post-Constrictor album but there’s a lot of great stuff on what I’ve heard.
Below?? Wow!
Top 10 songs from ACB (in no order):
1. Big Apple Dreamin’
2. Working Up A Sweat
3. Man With The Golden Gun
4. Teenage Lament
5. Woman Machine
6. Be My Lover
7. Unfinished Sweet
8. Shoe Salesman
9. No More Mr. Nice Guy
10. Generation Landslide
Wow, that is definitely Muscle Of Love heavy.
My Top 10 original Alice Cooper Band...
1. The Ballad Of Dwight Fry
2. Blue Turk
3. Halo Of Flies
4. Desperado
5. Dead Babies
6. Killer
7. Teenage Lament
8. Alma Mater
9. Luney Tune
10. My Stars
Big Apple Dreamin' is an awesome tune too!
Yeah Muscle of Love surprised me by how much I like it. I think it may be above Constrictor and The Last Temptation if I'm reevaluating my ranking, but the rest of the post-hiatus albums are just too good.
Your list is pretty good...School's Out was the first one where I liked pretty much every song, though I hear a lot of fans rate it below Killers, LITD, and BDB. Halo is one I feel like I should like since it's a bit more adventurous but it just does nothing for me. I like Black Juju way better if we're comparing the 2 long tracks. Teenage Lament really grew on me which is odd because I typically can't stand male/female duets in music. The song feels pretty modern too, like something from an indie band in the early 2010's. But still, I've enjoyed stuff from every single album (even Pretties) so I'm quite happy with this journey so far.
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So.... new album from Alice Cooper coming in the next months!!!
https://www.blabbermouth.net/news/alice-cooper-to-release-detroit-stories-album-in-february-cover-artwork-track-listing-revealed/
"Detroit Stories" will be available on CD, CD+DVD digipak, CD box set (including CD, Blu-ray, t-shirt, face mask, torch light and 3 stickers), and 2LP gatefold.
The DVD and Blu-ray will show the incredible live performance "A Paranormal Evening At The Olympia Paris" for the first time on video. With the whole concert culture being shut down due to covid-19, Alice Cooper felt the need to share one of his latest shows with his fans as he cannot wait to get back on the road — better than ever.
Tracklist
01. Rock 'N' Roll
02. Go Man Go (Album Version)
03. Our Love Will Change The World
04. Social Debris
05. $1000 High Heel Shoes
06. Hail Mary
07. Detroit City 2021 (Album Version)
08. Drunk And In Love
09. Independence Dave
10. I Hate You
11. Wonderful World
12. Sister Anne (Album Version)
13. Hanging On By A Thread (Don't Give Up)
14. Shut Up And Rock
15. East Side Story (Album Version)
Looks like he will pick up where he left off - on the rock n' roll mindset he was with Paranormal and the short EP Breadcrumbs, which we find out now was a preview of things to come because all the songs of the EP will be on this record.
On one hand, artists of his stature and age still delivering new music is a blessing and a godsend no matter what. On the other hand... I already forgot what Breadcrumbs is like and Paranormal was not outstanding either. If he goes further down the "back to the roots super Detroit-ish rock n' roll" style, I'm afraid we'll be "stuck" with his easier and rockier side without a glimpse of the darkness that we only heard basically on Paranormal the song (recently, I mean).
I mean, if he has another Eyes of Alice Cooper in him, I'll welcome it, no matter if it's gonna be more rock than "metal" / dark / spooky. But if it doesn't blow Paranormal out of the water making it look like a bad album, I'm afraid it might be in a style that won't terribly attract me. Uh well, we'll get an idea soon, this Friday the 13th (of course, when else?) there's a new song out!
(Also.... did they forget to use a proper logo for the title on the album cover? : D )
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This will be the first album he's released since I discovered his music so I'm pretty excited just by that aspect. I'm absolutely obsessed with Paranormal (haven't heard Breadcrumbs) so hopefully it keeps up the high quality of that album (imo). 15 song albums tend to be on the "overkill" side for me, but hopefully there's enough variety to keep it interesting.
Also, Lace & Whiskey is incredible and Goes To Hell is very high on my list of favorites at the moment. I really can't figure out what other people are missing from these albums....there's so much diversity that I can't get enough of them. I just started on From The Inside and it's looking to be another winner for me.
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Goes To Hell is one of my favorites. Lace And Whiskey is cool but I don't consider it one of his best.
Andrea, I'm a huge Eyes fan. Great album. But I also really like Paranormal.
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Goes to Hell is indeed very good and probably suffered for the lack of a tour to promote it.
Lace and Whiskey is kinda forgettable, but the title track is an absolutely brilliant song!
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Mark me down as another one who enjoys Goes to Hell. I get songs like Give the Kid a Break in my head, and I always really enjoyed Going Home.
I'll be interested in how Detroit Stories shapes up. I wasn't a huge fan of Paranormal, and found it pretty forgettable IMO. Same with Breadcrumbs. But there's usually always something on any Cooper album that's worth checking out.
Maybe it's just me but I've kind of wanted to hear a 7 or 8 string kind of album. Doesn't have to be anything super technical, but I feel it could fit in so well into the discography. Maybe it's because I'm such a fan of Brutal Planet.
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I’m the opposite. I’m not a fan of the Brutal Planet (I do like half of the album) and Dragontown era.
I do enjoy Paranormal though. It’s not great but still quite pleasant.
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That's the thing I love about Alice. You'll find fans of nearly every era or album.
I knew the hits obviously, but really got into him from the 80s era and then made my way backwards and forwards simultaneously.
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New song out!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmkf57yffT0
Alice sounds quite good and not old or tired at all. Seems like a cool tune, I hope however the new album is not 15 variations of this and that there's gonna be a bit of everything.
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New song out!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmkf57yffT0
Alice sounds quite good and not old or tired at all. Seems like a cool tune, I hope however the new album is not 15 variations of this and that there's gonna be a bit of everything.
Yeah it's decent, but I'm not going to be happy if this is my favorite song on the album.
Still, it's good to hear him release new material. It's all icing at this point.
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Just an update:
I'm now a few listens into Special Forces and yeah, it's not really doing it for me. Maybe it'll reveal better things to me after a few more listens, but so far it sounds pretty lifeless and uninspired. I liked Flush The Fashion quite a bit after being heavily disappointed in From The Inside, and I'm hoping Zipper and DaDa let me end things on a high note. Still, what a brilliant catalog and I'm actually sad that I'm nearing the end of my 1.5 year trip through Alice's catalog. I'm hoping to do some more in-depth rankings once I finish but here's where my album rankings are at this point:
1. Hey Stoopid
2. Along Came A Spider
3. Paranormal
4. Alice Cooper Goes To Hell
5. Welcome 2 My Nightmare
6. Lace & Whiskey
7. Dirty Diamonds
8. Raise Your Fists And Yell
9. Dragontown
10. Trash
11. Brutal Planet
12. The Eyes Of Alice Cooper
13. Muscle Of Love
14. The Last Temptation
15. Constrictor
16. Billion Dollar Babies
17. Flush The Fashion
18. Welcome To My Nightmare
19. School's Out
20. From The Inside
21. Killer
22. Love It To Death
23. Special Forces
24. Easy Action
25. Pretties For You
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I liked Flush The Fashion quite a bit after being heavily disappointed in From The Inside
Whaaaaat? pity, From the Inside is a forgotten gem from the '80s and half of those songs would make me so happy if I'd get to hear them live!
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I liked Flush The Fashion quite a bit after being heavily disappointed in From The Inside
Whaaaaat? pity, From the Inside is a forgotten gem from the '80s and half of those songs would make me so happy if I'd get to hear them live!
I enjoyed the title track, The Quiet Room, Nurse Rozetta, and How You Gonna Save Me Now, but the album has this cheesy musical theatre type sound to it that just turns me off. And Millie And Billie might be the worst AC song I've heard yet. Luckily, the sound changed completely on Flush The Fashion (for the better imo) and the opening trio of songs on that album might be my favorite opening trio of any album of his.
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Well, the day has finally come. I've listened to the entire Alice Cooper catalog (with each album getting at least 10 plays, but in most cases more than 10, and in some cases, many many many more than 10).
My preferred period is still everything post-hiatus, but the stuff leading up to that is also pretty unique and interesting. As with Kiss and Motorhead (two other older bands I've gotten into recently), I just do not enjoy their "classic" era stuff as much as I like their less-appreciated eras. With Kiss, I'll take everything they did in the 80's over the 70's, and with Motorhead, their 90's stuff is the stuff I really love.
Here's my latest ranking along with my favorite and least favorite song from each album. Hey Stoopid was the first album of his I ever heard and it's still my favorite. It's got the best of everything and just sounds really good to my ears. I also don't know how so many other fans rate certain albums really low and others really high. It boggles my mind that I see Love It To Death in a lot of Top 5's but something like Lacy And Whiskey so low and it annoys me because I know if I see AC live, most of the albums I love will be ignored while the LITD-WTMN stuff will be played heavily. People like what they like and that's fine, but dammit why do I always wind up liking the unpopular stuff more?? :lol
1. Hey Stoopid (Dangerous Tonight/Dirty Dreams)
2. Along Came A Spider (Catch Me If You Can/Wrapped In Silk)
3. Paranormal (Paranoiac Personality/Dynamite Road)
4. Alice Cooper Goes To Hell (Wish You Were Here/I'm Always Chasing Rainbows)
5. Welcome 2 My Nightmare (Something To Remember Me By/A Runaway Train)
6. Lace & Whiskey (My God/Ubangi Stomp)
7. Dirty Diamonds (The Saga Of Jesse Jane/You Make Me Wanna)
8. Raise Your Fists And Yell (Prince Of Darkness/Give The Radio Back)
9. Dragontown (It's Much Too Late/Sex, Death, and Money)
10. Trash (Bed Of Nails/Why Trust You)
11. DaDa (Enough's Enough/Former Lee Warmer)
12. Flush The Fashion (Pain/Dance Yourself To Death)
13. Brutal Planet (Take It Like A Woman/Pessi-Mystic)
14. The Eyes Of Alice Cooper (Novocaine/Man Of The Year)
15. Special Forces (You're A Movie/Seven & Seven Is)
16. Muscle Of Love (Teenage Lament '74/Never Been Sold Before)
17. The Last Temptation (You're My Temptation/Unholy War)
18. Constrictor (The World Needs Guts/Trick Bag)
19. Billion Dollar Babies (No More Mr. Nice Guy/Mary Ann)
20. Welcome To My Nightmare (Cold Ethyl/Department Of Youth)
21. School's Out (Blue Turk/School's Out)
22. From The Inside (How You Gonna See Me Now/Millie And Billie)
23. Zipper Catches Skin (Zorro's Ascent/Remarkably Insincere)
24. Killer (Be My Lover/Halo Of Flies)
25. Love It To Death (Ballad Of Dwight Fry/Second Coming)
26. Easy Action (Shoe Salesman/Lay Down And Die, Goodbye)
27. Pretties For You (I can't remember anything from this and have no desire to hear it again)
Biggest surprise: Special Forces. I really love this album after initially disliking it heavily. I enjoy the more simplistic sound and early 80's quirkiness. I get why fans don't like it, but it's nowhere near as abysmal as I thought it would be.
Biggest disappointment: From The Inside. This album gets universal praise, but I'm just not hearing it. The back half is really weak imo (a criticism often given to L&W which I feel has a really strong back half aside from Ubangi Stomp). The first half has some excellent songs like the title track, Quiet Room, and Nurse Rozetta but then there's Millie And Billie. My absolute least favorite AC song out of all 27 albums.
Top 10 Songs: (it's changed frequently, but this core group seems to always rise to the top - Dangerous Tonight has been my #1 since the beginning and still has that spot...such an amazing track)
1. Dangerous Tonight
2. Pain
3. Novocaine
4. Catch Me If You Can
5. The World Needs Guts
6. Bed Of Nails
7. Wish You Were Here
8. The Saga Of Jesse Jane
9. Wind-Up Toy
10. Prince Of Darkness
Time to go reread this thread and see what discussions I missed back when I only owned Hey Stoopid!
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Glad to see DaDa relatively high in the list! that's a forgotten gem in its discography. As I said pity you don't like From the Inside but as it was before, that's the beauty of a discography as varied and diverse as Alice's, everyone has their "why nobody likes this album more" and "why everyone seem so fixated on this album" moments.
I couldn't even begin to form a top 10, but it's cool to see Pain, Novocaine, Catch me if you Can and The Saga of Jesse Jane there (also Wind up Toy!!).
How I'd rank the albums... gosh, difficult to say! going very briefly over them in chronological order...
First two... nah
Classic band era: all great but peak are Love it to Death, Killer and Billion Dollar Babies, I like the remaining two a bit less.
Alice solo in the '70s: Nightmare, Hell and From the Inside are all great, Lace and Whiskey is so-so but it has a terrific title track.
Alice loses the plot in the '80s: by far my favorite is DaDa, on the other ones there's the occasional good song and I'm glad if anyone finds more stuff on those to like.
Alice comes back across the '80s and the '90s: it's a continuous progression, from Contrictor to Hey Stoopid every album is better than the previous (In the sense that Stoopid > Trash > Fist > Constrictor), it's hard to rank The Last Temptation 'cause it's so mature and diverse but it's a great album for sure.
Third millennium and onwards: I like basically everything. Brutal Planet over Dragontown, Eyes over Diamonds (but it's cool anyway), Spider is quite okayish, Nightmare 2 is absolutely flamboyant and all over the place and I love it, Paranormal is middle of the road.
Now let's wait for Detroit Stories which I believe will be Paranormal part II in its style, let's hope for some more diversity but at this point, anything that comes from Alice is just a blessing, he had his carrer over 40 years and the sole fact he's still recording and, when it will be possible, touring, is a treat to not miss no matter what.
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Lots to chew on.
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Well, the day has finally come. I've listened to the entire Alice Cooper catalog (with each album getting at least 10 plays, but in most cases more than 10, and in some cases, many many many more than 10).
My preferred period is still everything post-hiatus, but the stuff leading up to that is also pretty unique and interesting. As with Kiss and Motorhead (two other older bands I've gotten into recently), I just do not enjoy their "classic" era stuff as much as I like their less-appreciated eras. With Kiss, I'll take everything they did in the 80's over the 70's, and with Motorhead, their 90's stuff is the stuff I really love.
Here's my latest ranking along with my favorite and least favorite song from each album. Hey Stoopid was the first album of his I ever heard and it's still my favorite. It's got the best of everything and just sounds really good to my ears. I also don't know how so many other fans rate certain albums really low and others really high. It boggles my mind that I see Love It To Death in a lot of Top 5's but something like Lacy And Whiskey so low and it annoys me because I know if I see AC live, most of the albums I love will be ignored while the LITD-WTMN stuff will be played heavily. People like what they like and that's fine, but dammit why do I always wind up liking the unpopular stuff more?? :lol
1. Hey Stoopid (Dangerous Tonight/Dirty Dreams)
2. Along Came A Spider (Catch Me If You Can/Wrapped In Silk)
3. Paranormal (Paranoiac Personality/Dynamite Road)
4. Alice Cooper Goes To Hell (Wish You Were Here/I'm Always Chasing Rainbows)
5. Welcome 2 My Nightmare (Something To Remember Me By/A Runaway Train)
6. Lace & Whiskey (My God/Ubangi Stomp)
7. Dirty Diamonds (The Saga Of Jesse Jane/You Make Me Wanna)
8. Raise Your Fists And Yell (Prince Of Darkness/Give The Radio Back)
9. Dragontown (It's Much Too Late/Sex, Death, and Money)
10. Trash (Bed Of Nails/Why Trust You)
11. DaDa (Enough's Enough/Former Lee Warmer)
12. Flush The Fashion (Pain/Dance Yourself To Death)
13. Brutal Planet (Take It Like A Woman/Pessi-Mystic)
14. The Eyes Of Alice Cooper (Novocaine/Man Of The Year)
15. Special Forces (You're A Movie/Seven & Seven Is)
16. Muscle Of Love (Teenage Lament '74/Never Been Sold Before)
17. The Last Temptation (You're My Temptation/Unholy War)
18. Constrictor (The World Needs Guts/Trick Bag)
19. Billion Dollar Babies (No More Mr. Nice Guy/Mary Ann)
20. Welcome To My Nightmare (Cold Ethyl/Department Of Youth)
21. School's Out (Blue Turk/School's Out)
22. From The Inside (How You Gonna See Me Now/Millie And Billie)
23. Zipper Catches Skin (Zorro's Ascent/Remarkably Insincere)
24. Killer (Be My Lover/Halo Of Flies)
25. Love It To Death (Ballad Of Dwight Fry/Second Coming)
26. Easy Action (Shoe Salesman/Lay Down And Die, Goodbye)
27. Pretties For You (I can't remember anything from this and have no desire to hear it again)
Biggest surprise: Special Forces. I really love this album after initially disliking it heavily. I enjoy the more simplistic sound and early 80's quirkiness. I get why fans don't like it, but it's nowhere near as abysmal as I thought it would be.
Biggest disappointment: From The Inside. This album gets universal praise, but I'm just not hearing it. The back half is really weak imo (a criticism often given to L&W which I feel has a really strong back half aside from Ubangi Stomp). The first half has some excellent songs like the title track, Quiet Room, and Nurse Rozetta but then there's Millie And Billie. My absolute least favorite AC song out of all 27 albums.
Top 10 Songs: (it's changed frequently, but this core group seems to always rise to the top - Dangerous Tonight has been my #1 since the beginning and still has that spot...such an amazing track)
1. Dangerous Tonight
2. Pain
3. Novocaine
4. Catch Me If You Can
5. The World Needs Guts
6. Bed Of Nails
7. Wish You Were Here
8. The Saga Of Jesse Jane
9. Wind-Up Toy
10. Prince Of Darkness
Time to go reread this thread and see what discussions I missed back when I only owned Hey Stoopid!
Let's talk Kiss sometime. Seriously. I think it would be interesting in a good way.
To be fair, I've not heard ALL of those Alice Cooper albums, but when my two favorites are 19 and 24, it's not like our conversation will be "yeah, what he said". HAHA.
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I was disappointed in From the Inside when I first heard it. I even found a pristine copy of the vinyl with all of the characters appearing behind doors you can open. I mean, how can you not be psyched to hear an album written about Cooper's time in a mental facility? Well, if you make it really showtuney, then yeah, it's not nearly as dark as one would anticipate.
I saw Cooper a few years ago and he played the song Serious. It rocked. It made me give From the Inside another chance and ya know what, I finally "got it." I still don't love the album but I can enjoy it now.
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I was disappointed in From the Inside when I first heard it. I even found a pristine copy of the vinyl with all of the characters appearing behind doors you can open. I mean, how can you not be psyched to hear an album written about Cooper's time in a mental facility? Well, if you make it really showtuney, then yeah, it's not nearly as dark as one would anticipate.
I saw Cooper a few years ago and he played the song Serious. It rocked. It made me give From the Inside another chance and ya know what, I finally "got it." I still don't love the album but I can enjoy it now.
Even though it's not so rockin', I love From the Inside.
My faves are The Quiet Room and Nurse Rosetta.
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Glad to see DaDa relatively high in the list! that's a forgotten gem in its discography. As I said pity you don't like From the Inside but as it was before, that's the beauty of a discography as varied and diverse as Alice's, everyone has their "why nobody likes this album more" and "why everyone seem so fixated on this album" moments.
I couldn't even begin to form a top 10, but it's cool to see Pain, Novocaine, Catch me if you Can and The Saga of Jesse Jane there (also Wind up Toy!!).
How I'd rank the albums... gosh, difficult to say! going very briefly over them in chronological order...
First two... nah
Classic band era: all great but peak are Love it to Death, Killer and Billion Dollar Babies, I like the remaining two a bit less.
Alice solo in the '70s: Nightmare, Hell and From the Inside are all great, Lace and Whiskey is so-so but it has a terrific title track.
Alice loses the plot in the '80s: by far my favorite is DaDa, on the other ones there's the occasional good song and I'm glad if anyone finds more stuff on those to like.
Alice comes back across the '80s and the '90s: it's a continuous progression, from Contrictor to Hey Stoopid every album is better than the previous (In the sense that Stoopid > Trash > Fist > Constrictor), it's hard to rank The Last Temptation 'cause it's so mature and diverse but it's a great album for sure.
Third millennium and onwards: I like basically everything. Brutal Planet over Dragontown, Eyes over Diamonds (but it's cool anyway), Spider is quite okayish, Nightmare 2 is absolutely flamboyant and all over the place and I love it, Paranormal is middle of the road.
Now let's wait for Detroit Stories which I believe will be Paranormal part II in its style, let's hope for some more diversity but at this point, anything that comes from Alice is just a blessing, he had his carrer over 40 years and the sole fact he's still recording and, when it will be possible, touring, is a treat to not miss no matter what.
DaDa is a really interesting album to me. It sounds so much different than Zipper/Special Forces even though it's only a year or two after and the vibe throughout is kinda spooky. Totally unique and engaging album that'll never be my favorite of his, but one I always want to listen to. I agree with your 3rd millennium sentiment....it's all very likeable to me and retains the heavier edge of Hey Stoopid but also branches out into so many unique areas. I haven't liked the few songs I've heard from Detroit Stories but I rarely like singles that are released prior to the album. I think I need them in context to appreciate them.
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Let's talk Kiss sometime. Seriously. I think it would be interesting in a good way.
To be fair, I've not heard ALL of those Alice Cooper albums, but when my two favorites are 19 and 24, it's not like our conversation will be "yeah, what he said". HAHA.
I'd love to talk Kiss, though I'm not quite as into them as Alice. Alice has become probably my favorite artist of all time whereas Kiss remains just a fun diversion. I'm only missing Monster and Peter Criss at this point.
To be fair with my AC ranking, I honestly enjoy every album he's made except the first two. Even the lower-ranked albums have a lot I enjoy and Billion Dollar Babies is excellent throughout. Mary Ann is a little goofy and I don't think Elected is as great as it's made out to be, but the rest is really good stuff.
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I was disappointed in From the Inside when I first heard it. I even found a pristine copy of the vinyl with all of the characters appearing behind doors you can open. I mean, how can you not be psyched to hear an album written about Cooper's time in a mental facility? Well, if you make it really showtuney, then yeah, it's not nearly as dark as one would anticipate.
I saw Cooper a few years ago and he played the song Serious. It rocked. It made me give From the Inside another chance and ya know what, I finally "got it." I still don't love the album but I can enjoy it now.
Serious is a cool song. I actually forgot about that one. I dislike Millie & Billie so much though, and am pretty meh on For Veronica's Sake, Jacknife Johnny, Wish I Were Born In Beverly Hills, and Inmates. The rest is all good so that's still 5/10 songs that I can get into. I'm sure I'll come back to it at some point and try again, but yeah, the "showtuney" nature of it was a pretty big turn-off.
I was disappointed in From the Inside when I first heard it. I even found a pristine copy of the vinyl with all of the characters appearing behind doors you can open. I mean, how can you not be psyched to hear an album written about Cooper's time in a mental facility? Well, if you make it really showtuney, then yeah, it's not nearly as dark as one would anticipate.
I saw Cooper a few years ago and he played the song Serious. It rocked. It made me give From the Inside another chance and ya know what, I finally "got it." I still don't love the album but I can enjoy it now.
Even though it's not so rockin', I love From the Inside.
My faves are The Quiet Room and Nurse Rosetta.
Both great songs. Nurse Rozetta has a killer guitar part and The Quiet Room is what I wish a lot of the other songs would sound like.
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Let's talk Kiss sometime. Seriously. I think it would be interesting in a good way.
To be fair, I've not heard ALL of those Alice Cooper albums, but when my two favorites are 19 and 24, it's not like our conversation will be "yeah, what he said". HAHA.
I'd love to talk Kiss, though I'm not quite as into them as Alice. Alice has become probably my favorite artist of all time whereas Kiss remains just a fun diversion. I'm only missing Monster and Peter Criss at this point.
Even if you don't have the 1978 Peter Criss album, you're not "missing" it, just to be clear.
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Let's talk Kiss sometime. Seriously. I think it would be interesting in a good way.
To be fair, I've not heard ALL of those Alice Cooper albums, but when my two favorites are 19 and 24, it's not like our conversation will be "yeah, what he said". HAHA.
I'd love to talk Kiss, though I'm not quite as into them as Alice. Alice has become probably my favorite artist of all time whereas Kiss remains just a fun diversion. I'm only missing Monster and Peter Criss at this point.
Even if you don't have the 1978 Peter Criss album, you're not "missing" it, just to be clear.
Knowing the way my tastes run, it'll probably wind up being my favorite of the entire discography
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Oh god, don't say that.
I mean, I have weird tastes. I absolutely love Black Sabbath's Forbidden for instance but the Peter Criss album is every bit as bad as everybody said. I was looking forward to hearing it too. In fact, I think my wife and I listened to all four blindly while traveling to see Dream Theater. We were reading Fargo Rock City where the author talks about driving across Montana and being on a mission to listen to all four Kiss solo albums, "...even the Peter Criss one."
This is one time I think the general consensus is spot on.
Ace's is by far the best.
Paul's is second, and practically a Kiss album
Gene's would be third. He was trying too hard to be different but still has some good moments.
Peter's is abysmal.
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Regarding From The Inside...
I don't love the album. It's not one of my faves. However The Quiet Room is one of my all time favorite Alice tracks, and I also like How You Gonna See Me Now a lot.
I do like Millie And Billie. It's pretty fucked up when you think about it.
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Oh god, don't say that.
I mean, I have weird tastes. I absolutely love Black Sabbath's Forbidden for instance but the Peter Criss album is every bit as bad as everybody said. I was looking forward to hearing it too. In fact, I think my wife and I listened to all four blindly while traveling to see Dream Theater. We were reading Fargo Rock City where the author talks about driving across Montana and being on a mission to listen to all four Kiss solo albums, "...even the Peter Criss one."
This is one time I think the general consensus is spot on.
Ace's is by far the best.
Paul's is second, and practically a Kiss album
Gene's would be third. He was trying too hard to be different but still has some good moments.
Peter's is abysmal.
I'm a completist to the point of actually buying (most of) the greatest hits records because there are different mixes. I have gone through and ripped all the live stuff from the Kissology DVDs to my iPod. I have the CD singles for the Psycho Circus record.
I do not have the Peter Criss solo album. For a band that means so much to me, I really dislike Peter after 1977 (I give him a pass before that, though; check out the live show from Winterland in '75. He is ON FIRE) both as an artist and as a person. Hooligan (won't go to school again) is probably my least favorite song in the catalogue (though Mr. Blackwell is close). He's just so cheesy and fake to me, and yes, that's compared to Gene Simmons. When he says "to you, baby" in that lounge singer way like Wayne Friggin' Newton.... GAHHH. Makes me want to kick something.
Ok, I'm done. :)
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Regarding From The Inside...
I don't love the album. It's not one of my faves. However The Quiet Room is one of my all time favorite Alice tracks, and I also like How You Gonna See Me Now a lot.
I do like Millie And Billie. It's pretty fucked up when you think about it.
I never heard that song before; I just checked out the lyrics. It certainly does go dark there at the end. ;) :) :) Not what I expected as a song, though. I dug "Serious" and "For Veronica's Sake", and I like "How You Gonna See Me Now".
That album is interesting with the connections. Bernie Taupin (Elton John) wrote a lot of the lyrics. Steve Lukather is all over it, and it's produced by David ("Chicago", "Mr. Katherine McPhee") Foster. Rick Nielsen from Cheap Trick is somewhere on there too (though I haven't identified his playing yet). But it seems to work.
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Oh god, don't say that.
I mean, I have weird tastes. I absolutely love Black Sabbath's Forbidden for instance but the Peter Criss album is every bit as bad as everybody said. I was looking forward to hearing it too. In fact, I think my wife and I listened to all four blindly while traveling to see Dream Theater. We were reading Fargo Rock City where the author talks about driving across Montana and being on a mission to listen to all four Kiss solo albums, "...even the Peter Criss one."
This is one time I think the general consensus is spot on.
Ace's is by far the best.
Paul's is second, and practically a Kiss album
Gene's would be third. He was trying too hard to be different but still has some good moments.
Peter's is abysmal.
I'm a completist to the point of actually buying (most of) the greatest hits records because there are different mixes. I have gone through and ripped all the live stuff from the Kissology DVDs to my iPod. I have the CD singles for the Psycho Circus record.
I do not have the Peter Criss solo album. For a band that means so much to me, I really dislike Peter after 1977 (I give him a pass before that, though; check out the live show from Winterland in '75. He is ON FIRE) both as an artist and as a person. Hooligan (won't go to school again) is probably my least favorite song in the catalogue (though Mr. Blackwell is close). He's just so cheesy and fake to me, and yes, that's compared to Gene Simmons. When he says "to you, baby" in that lounge singer way like Wayne Friggin' Newton.... GAHHH. Makes me want to kick something.
Ok, I'm done. :)
:lol
I'm a completist too although not quite to the extent of buying all the singles, greatest hits, etc. I do that for DT, but not for Kiss of which I'm a big enough fan but they're not one of my favorites. I even spent a pretty penny tracking down some Peter Criss solo albums on CD that I listened to exactly one time. If anything, they provide good conversation fodder and I'm not even above listening to all four solo albums again just to bash the Peter Criss one. My wife and I travel by car a lot so we have A LOT of time to kill.
BTW, not to hijack this thread with Kiss stuff, but what do you guys think of Psycho Circus? When DTA mentioned his unorthodox tastes which will probably lead him to love the Peter Criss album, I thought of how I also have unorthodox tastes and absolutely love Psycho Circus. It is the perfect mix of cheesy ass, melodic, rocking tunes. It is honestly the perfect reunion album, minus the fact that it's mostly not a reunion album.
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It's an underrated record, in my opinion. Not perfect - I don't really like the chorus to the title track (the song itself is great), I hate the token ballad, and I can do without the fan-service of You Wanted The Best - but Within, Into The Void, Dreamin' and Journey of 1,000 Years are top shelf Kiss, and I like the I Pledge Allegiance, We Are One, and Raise Your Glasses for what they are.
Sad to say, I knew the first time I heard it that Peter wasn't on that record (except for Into The Void) and I think Ace is only on Into The Void and one other track. That's not a deal-breaker to me, but it does matter to some.
For the record, Paul hates it (though they played the title track a lot).
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The ballad is so terrible that it's perfect. It almost makes the album better that they threw Peter a bone, and a shitty bone at that.
I actually don't really like the title track. You Wanted the Best is the perfect amount of cheese for me. They actually wrote a song based on their famous concert intro, and the song basically says, "We don't like each other but we do all this for you the fans...". I'm almost getting a cheese high thinking about it. I love it!
Pledge and We Are One are similarly cheese fests. Into the Void is just a great rocker and Journey is excellent but seems like it should be an epic and at least 5 minutes longer.
That said, I can't believe I actually like Monster. The band was running on fumes but still wrote some good songs. Cheesy sure, but very subtle cheese. The one before I can't even remember a single song from but I kinda dug the rerecorded disc that came with it of classic songs.
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The ballad is so terrible that it's perfect. It almost makes the album better that they threw Peter a bone, and a shitty bone at that.
I actually don't really like the title track. You Wanted the Best is the perfect amount of cheese for me. They actually wrote a song based on their famous concert intro, and the song basically says, "We don't like each other but we do all this for you the fans...". I'm almost getting a cheese high thinking about it. I love it!
Pledge and We Are One are similarly cheese fests. Into the Void is just a great rocker and Journey is excellent but seems like it should be an epic and at least 5 minutes longer.
That said, I can't believe I actually like Monster. The band was running on fumes but still wrote some good songs. Cheesy sure, but very subtle cheese. The one before I can't even remember a single song from but I kinda dug the rerecorded disc that came with it of classic songs.
Sonic Boom. I LOVE both Sonic Boom and Monster. I mean, they aren't Rock And Roll Over, but for a band of such limited scope (meaning, you're not going to get album length opuses, you're getting 4:30 songs about love, sex, and rock and roll) they're pretty solid. I don't like "Modern Day Delilah" too much, but the bulk of Sonic Boom is solid; I think "Stand" is as catchy as anything in the catalogue. Monster is as good, as solid, but for me it's mastered a bit hot for me; it's got that dense feel to it that I don't care for. "Shout Mercy" is a top ten or 15 Kiss song for me.
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The ballad is so terrible that it's perfect. It almost makes the album better that they threw Peter a bone, and a shitty bone at that.
I actually don't really like the title track. You Wanted the Best is the perfect amount of cheese for me. They actually wrote a song based on their famous concert intro, and the song basically says, "We don't like each other but we do all this for you the fans...". I'm almost getting a cheese high thinking about it. I love it!
Pledge and We Are One are similarly cheese fests. Into the Void is just a great rocker and Journey is excellent but seems like it should be an epic and at least 5 minutes longer.
That said, I can't believe I actually like Monster. The band was running on fumes but still wrote some good songs. Cheesy sure, but very subtle cheese. The one before I can't even remember a single song from but I kinda dug the rerecorded disc that came with it of classic songs.
Sonic Boom. I LOVE both Sonic Boom and Monster. I mean, they aren't Rock And Roll Over, but for a band of such limited scope (meaning, you're not going to get album length opuses, you're getting 4:30 songs about love, sex, and rock and roll) they're pretty solid. I don't like "Modern Day Delilah" too much, but the bulk of Sonic Boom is solid; I think "Stand" is as catchy as anything in the catalogue. Monster is as good, as solid, but for me it's mastered a bit hot for me; it's got that dense feel to it that I don't care for. "Shout Mercy" is a top ten or 15 Kiss song for me.
I agree about the mastering of Monster. I think the band said, in the lead up to the release, that Monster was like a cross between Destroyer, Revenge, and Sonic Boom, and I'll be damned but they were actually right. Most bands say that just to create hype, and maybe they were too, but I feel that's the perfect description.
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Oh god, don't say that.
I mean, I have weird tastes. I absolutely love Black Sabbath's Forbidden for instance but the Peter Criss album is every bit as bad as everybody said. I was looking forward to hearing it too. In fact, I think my wife and I listened to all four blindly while traveling to see Dream Theater. We were reading Fargo Rock City where the author talks about driving across Montana and being on a mission to listen to all four Kiss solo albums, "...even the Peter Criss one."
This is one time I think the general consensus is spot on.
Ace's is by far the best.
Paul's is second, and practically a Kiss album
Gene's would be third. He was trying too hard to be different but still has some good moments.
Peter's is abysmal.
Haha, well my expectations can't get any lower so if I even manage to like one song, it might be a victory. Oddly enough, I buy amazon mp3s and his album is the most expensive one.
I think I'd switch Paul's and Ace's albums around, but Gene definitely ranks behind them.
I'm a completist to the point of actually buying (most of) the greatest hits records because there are different mixes. I have gone through and ripped all the live stuff from the Kissology DVDs to my iPod. I have the CD singles for the Psycho Circus record.
I do not have the Peter Criss solo album. For a band that means so much to me, I really dislike Peter after 1977 (I give him a pass before that, though; check out the live show from Winterland in '75. He is ON FIRE) both as an artist and as a person. Hooligan (won't go to school again) is probably my least favorite song in the catalogue (though Mr. Blackwell is close). He's just so cheesy and fake to me, and yes, that's compared to Gene Simmons. When he says "to you, baby" in that lounge singer way like Wayne Friggin' Newton.... GAHHH. Makes me want to kick something.
Ok, I'm done. :)
:lol
I'm a completist too although not quite to the extent of buying all the singles, greatest hits, etc. I do that for DT, but not for Kiss of which I'm a big enough fan but they're not one of my favorites. I even spent a pretty penny tracking down some Peter Criss solo albums on CD that I listened to exactly one time. If anything, they provide good conversation fodder and I'm not even above listening to all four solo albums again just to bash the Peter Criss one. My wife and I travel by car a lot so we have A LOT of time to kill.
BTW, not to hijack this thread with Kiss stuff, but what do you guys think of Psycho Circus? When DTA mentioned his unorthodox tastes which will probably lead him to love the Peter Criss album, I thought of how I also have unorthodox tastes and absolutely love Psycho Circus. It is the perfect mix of cheesy ass, melodic, rocking tunes. It is honestly the perfect reunion album, minus the fact that it's mostly not a reunion album.
I don't know much about the personalities of Kiss except the obvious Paul and Gene, but I'm guessing there's a reason why Peter and Ace are no longer involved. And I LOVE Psycho Circus. To me, it's exactly what I want to hear from these guys after their peak-era. Catchy songs and anthemic type choruses. The ballad does suck so I agree with Stadler there, but everything else is pretty great. I also think Hot In The Shade is better than any 70's album besides Dynasty so there's also that. :biggrin:
Sonic Boom has Say Yeah, which is a top 10 Kiss track for me and All For The Glory is a big favorite of mine too. If Monster is in the vein of SB, then I'm sure I'll be happy with it.
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Getting back to Alice, it's the time of year to give this one a listen https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=In3sApWlY1s
The wife got me this last year, to go along with meet n' greet tix (which, of course, didn't happen). Still my favorite holiday shirt
(https://zannashirts.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/alice-cooper-christmas-tree-gift-sweater.jpg)
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Getting back to Alice, it's the time of year to give this one a listen https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=In3sApWlY1s
Wow, that is some suck ass guitar tone.
The wife got me this last year, to go along with meet n' greet tix (which, of course, didn't happen). Still my favorite holiday shirt
(https://zannashirts.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/alice-cooper-christmas-tree-gift-sweater.jpg)
:metal :metal
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Joe, did you see any Alice shows in the 70's?
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No. My Mom would not let me go to a Billion Dollar Babies show. Not because of my young age, but because of the 'group' that would have taken me to Detroit. sigh
Saw him in '87 in Kzoo, with Ace Frehley's Comet and Faster Pussycat as warm ups, and then twice on his last tour.
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I don't know much about the personalities of Kiss except the obvious Paul and Gene, but I'm guessing there's a reason why Peter and Ace are no longer involved. And I LOVE Psycho Circus. To me, it's exactly what I want to hear from these guys after their peak-era. Catchy songs and anthemic type choruses. The ballad does suck so I agree with Stadler there, but everything else is pretty great. I also think Hot In The Shade is better than any 70's album besides Dynasty so there's also that. :biggrin:
Sonic Boom has Say Yeah, which is a top 10 Kiss track for me and All For The Glory is a big favorite of mine too. If Monster is in the vein of SB, then I'm sure I'll be happy with it.
My opinion only, but for Paul, it's art and business; I've met him twice, and I think he's a very serious guy, but he has something to say in his "art" and there's a creative streak that never really gets totally buried under the nonsense. For Gene it's fun and business; I've met him twice as well, and he genuinely seems to enjoy the parts that most artists hate; the meet and greets, the fan interactions. He also has hundreds, if not more, songs written. Some are good, some aren't, but he IS a musician too, Rick Nielson and some other critics notwithstanding. For Ace, it's art and the party, and that's where this runs afoul of Paul and Gene. I like Ace a lot, but I think Ace has that rock star "I don't give a fuck", and it's not always fun at that point for everyone else. He's not a great player, but he is a unique player; you kind of always know it's him, which is high praise, but he's a liability in a band like Kiss. He just is. For Peter, it's... I don't know. "Peter Criss and business"? I've never met him, myself, but in reading his biography and countless interviews, he's really not a team player, and has an inferiority complex. Around two strong, confident people like Paul and Gene, that's going to be a problem. If you read his book, he takes responsibility for NOTHING. NOTHING. It was Paul and Gene's fault for his substance abuse; it was Paul and Gene's fault for his songs not getting on the record. it was Paul and Gene's fault for this, for that, and the other. Paul and Peter's frequent co-writer, Stan Penridge, both maintain that Pete didn't write all or even most of Beth himself, he just sang it. Yet to hear Peter tell it, "Beth" carried the band through the 70's and they wouldn't have achieved stadium success without it and they OWE him. I saw his last tour - the co-headlining tour with Aerosmith - and he SUCKED. Worst performance I've ever seen by a headline, household name act (and I've seen Ozzy while he was drinking and Steven Tyler fall off a drum riser off his tits). The rest of the band picked it up, but I'm convinced to this day there was a drummer behind the stage covering him. And HE had the nerve to put a "tear" in his makeup implying HE was being fucked over.
Sorry to divert the thread again, but...
I think I'd like to see Alice live at some point. I worry that now it's past the glory days, but from all I've heard it's still a strong show, and his band is solid.
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I don't know much about the personalities of Kiss except the obvious Paul and Gene, but I'm guessing there's a reason why Peter and Ace are no longer involved. And I LOVE Psycho Circus. To me, it's exactly what I want to hear from these guys after their peak-era. Catchy songs and anthemic type choruses. The ballad does suck so I agree with Stadler there, but everything else is pretty great. I also think Hot In The Shade is better than any 70's album besides Dynasty so there's also that. :biggrin:
Sonic Boom has Say Yeah, which is a top 10 Kiss track for me and All For The Glory is a big favorite of mine too. If Monster is in the vein of SB, then I'm sure I'll be happy with it.
My opinion only, but for Paul, it's art and business; I've met him twice, and I think he's a very serious guy, but he has something to say in his "art" and there's a creative streak that never really gets totally buried under the nonsense. For Gene it's fun and business; I've met him twice as well, and he genuinely seems to enjoy the parts that most artists hate; the meet and greets, the fan interactions. He also has hundreds, if not more, songs written. Some are good, some aren't, but he IS a musician too, Rick Nielson and some other critics notwithstanding. For Ace, it's art and the party, and that's where this runs afoul of Paul and Gene. I like Ace a lot, but I think Ace has that rock star "I don't give a fuck", and it's not always fun at that point for everyone else. He's not a great player, but he is a unique player; you kind of always know it's him, which is high praise, but he's a liability in a band like Kiss. He just is. For Peter, it's... I don't know. "Peter Criss and business"? I've never met him, myself, but in reading his biography and countless interviews, he's really not a team player, and has an inferiority complex. Around two strong, confident people like Paul and Gene, that's going to be a problem. If you read his book, he takes responsibility for NOTHING. NOTHING. It was Paul and Gene's fault for his substance abuse; it was Paul and Gene's fault for his songs not getting on the record. it was Paul and Gene's fault for this, for that, and the other. Paul and Peter's frequent co-writer, Stan Penridge, both maintain that Pete didn't write all or even most of Beth himself, he just sang it. Yet to hear Peter tell it, "Beth" carried the band through the 70's and they wouldn't have achieved stadium success without it and they OWE him. I saw his last tour - the co-headlining tour with Aerosmith - and he SUCKED. Worst performance I've ever seen by a headline, household name act (and I've seen Ozzy while he was drinking and Steven Tyler fall off a drum riser off his tits). The rest of the band picked it up, but I'm convinced to this day there was a drummer behind the stage covering him. And HE had the nerve to put a "tear" in his makeup implying HE was being fucked over.
Sorry to divert the thread again, but...
I think I'd like to see Alice live at some point. I worry that now it's past the glory days, but from all I've heard it's still a strong show, and his band is solid.
Spot on with the Kiss stuff. Peter is just miserable. Ace was definitely fun and art but the fun got in the way too much.
As for Alice, go see him. I've seen him 10-14 times since 2000 and for a hardcore fan like me, yeah, his performance isn't the same as it used to be BUT it is still one of the best rock shows out there. I saw him in 2017 or 18 last and managed to get front row seats (way stage left but at least I caught some of the fake money) and it was an amazing show.
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I just looked up who his band is; I went to the Paranormal page and have a couple questions.
It doesn't look like he used his full touring band to record that record; is that unusual or the norm?
How do those songs sound with the original Alice Cooper Band members? Are those the first recordings with them since the mid-70's?
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I just looked up who his band is; I went to the Paranormal page and have a couple questions.
It doesn't look like he used his full touring band to record that record; is that unusual or the norm?
How do those songs sound with the original Alice Cooper Band members? Are those the first recordings with them since the mid-70's?
He basically never uses his touring band in the studio.
The touring band is fixed and has been for many years, with the occasional line-up change that can occour to every band, but it's not a collection of musicians hired for a tour. Once you're in his live band, you're in, it's up to you to leave or get fired because you deserve it. It's been quite some years that his live band is a stable one, with only one recent change if I remember correctly (Orianthi left and Nina Strauss joined).
The two songs with the original Alice Cooper band are indeed the first recordings since the band was together back then. They were recorded along with the album so production wise you don't hear differences, but one of them is a kickass funny song (Genuine American Girl) and is better than 2/3 of the actual album.
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My opinion only, but for Paul, it's art and business; I've met him twice, and I think he's a very serious guy, but he has something to say in his "art" and there's a creative streak that never really gets totally buried under the nonsense. For Gene it's fun and business; I've met him twice as well, and he genuinely seems to enjoy the parts that most artists hate; the meet and greets, the fan interactions. He also has hundreds, if not more, songs written. Some are good, some aren't, but he IS a musician too, Rick Nielson and some other critics notwithstanding. For Ace, it's art and the party, and that's where this runs afoul of Paul and Gene. I like Ace a lot, but I think Ace has that rock star "I don't give a fuck", and it's not always fun at that point for everyone else. He's not a great player, but he is a unique player; you kind of always know it's him, which is high praise, but he's a liability in a band like Kiss. He just is. For Peter, it's... I don't know. "Peter Criss and business"? I've never met him, myself, but in reading his biography and countless interviews, he's really not a team player, and has an inferiority complex. Around two strong, confident people like Paul and Gene, that's going to be a problem. If you read his book, he takes responsibility for NOTHING. NOTHING. It was Paul and Gene's fault for his substance abuse; it was Paul and Gene's fault for his songs not getting on the record. it was Paul and Gene's fault for this, for that, and the other. Paul and Peter's frequent co-writer, Stan Penridge, both maintain that Pete didn't write all or even most of Beth himself, he just sang it. Yet to hear Peter tell it, "Beth" carried the band through the 70's and they wouldn't have achieved stadium success without it and they OWE him. I saw his last tour - the co-headlining tour with Aerosmith - and he SUCKED. Worst performance I've ever seen by a headline, household name act (and I've seen Ozzy while he was drinking and Steven Tyler fall off a drum riser off his tits). The rest of the band picked it up, but I'm convinced to this day there was a drummer behind the stage covering him. And HE had the nerve to put a "tear" in his makeup implying HE was being fucked over.
Sorry to divert the thread again, but...
I think I'd like to see Alice live at some point. I worry that now it's past the glory days, but from all I've heard it's still a strong show, and his band is solid.
Paul goes off on Peter in his book and it always seemed partially like sour grapes for not being the one to write Beth, but you kind of corroborate that with your observations. I'm sure you've read Paul's autobiography, and he is very dismissive of all things Peter. Sucks that he had such an amazing opportunity and let himself get to the point where he can't continue it. Ace does seem like a lot of fun, which comes out in a lot of his interviews.
I just looked up who his band is; I went to the Paranormal page and have a couple questions.
It doesn't look like he used his full touring band to record that record; is that unusual or the norm?
How do those songs sound with the original Alice Cooper Band members? Are those the first recordings with them since the mid-70's?
He basically never uses his touring band in the studio.
The touring band is fixed and has been for many years, with the occasional line-up change that can occour to every band, but it's not a collection of musicians hired for a tour. Once you're in his live band, you're in, it's up to you to leave or get fired because you deserve it. It's been quite some years that his live band is a stable one, with only one recent change if I remember correctly (Orianthi left and Nina Strauss joined).
The two songs with the original Alice Cooper band are indeed the first recordings since the band was together back then. They were recorded along with the album so production wise you don't hear differences, but one of them is a kickass funny song (Genuine American Girl) and is better than 2/3 of the actual album.
I can't begin to describe how big a crush I have on Nita. She's an awesome player, has great stage presence, and I'd love to see Alice live just to watch her. :o
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I just looked up who his band is; I went to the Paranormal page and have a couple questions.
It doesn't look like he used his full touring band to record that record; is that unusual or the norm?
Sadly it's common for him. I don't get it. It's actually a bit disrespectful to his band AND the fans. When I met the band, I brought a single from Paranormal that had some live tracks so that they would actually sign something they were all on. The cover was similar to Paranormal so they didn't notice and politely said, "I didn't play on this, do you still want me to sign it?" I then told them they did play on it because it had live tracks. That's gotta be annoying.
While I LOVE Paranormal and the musicians they got were awesome, it's not like the album was setting the world or the charts on fire. Could it have hurt to let the band play in the studio?
What's weird is that he invites a few band members for odd things here and there. I think Ryan Roxie had a solo or two on there (or maybe it was another one) and maybe the drummer play on some songs. What's up with that?
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I can't begin to describe how big a crush I have on Nita. She's an awesome player, has great stage presence, and I'd love to see Alice live just to watch her. :o
At first I didn't really like the change 'cause she looked like an Orianthi replacement, rather than a guitarist replacement. I mean, a female blonde guitarist leaves the band, and the replacement is.... a female blonde guitarist? felt like a "we gotta keep a chick" move.
But man, she won me over, both in looks and, what's more important, substance. She is the real deal and not just the least worst of all the blonde guitarists out there. I wouldn't even swap her back with Orianthi now.
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I can't begin to describe how big a crush I have on Nita. She's an awesome player, has great stage presence, and I'd love to see Alice live just to watch her. :o
At first I didn't really like the change 'cause she looked like an Orianthi replacement, rather than a guitarist replacement. I mean, a female blonde guitarist leaves the band, and the replacement is.... a female blonde guitarist? felt like a "we gotta keep a chick" move.
But man, she won me over, both in looks and, what's more important, substance. She is the real deal and not just the least worst of all the blonde guitarists out there. I wouldn't even swap her back with Orianthi now.
Yeah she's really impressive lookswise and as a player. I listened to a bit of her solo album and it was a bit too "shreddy" for me, but she absolutely kills it in AC's live band.
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So much of his show is based on a visual component, and she really stands out.
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Speaking of live shows, this is a long shot, but does anyone have any info from Alice himself on why he ignores so much of the "solo" portion of his catalog live and sticks to mainly Alice Cooper Band material? I'm looking at setlist.fm and it seems like every solo album besides WTMN gets a few songs played on the album tour, then disappears from the sets forever. I'd love to see him and get a rare Hey Stoopid song, but Feed My Frankenstein is the only one he touches. Not to mention, there's virtually nothing from Temptation through present day that lingers besides a random song.
Also, I know he doesn't remember making them, but I'm surprised no Zipper or DaDa songs ever made it to a setlist post-hiatus. I'm guessing there's bad memories associated with them, but I know he said he'd like to rerecord them so he can't dislike them that much.
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I just looked up who his band is; I went to the Paranormal page and have a couple questions.
It doesn't look like he used his full touring band to record that record; is that unusual or the norm?
Sadly it's common for him. I don't get it. It's actually a bit disrespectful to his band AND the fans. When I met the band, I brought a single from Paranormal that had some live tracks so that they would actually sign something they were all on. The cover was similar to Paranormal so they didn't notice and politely said, "I didn't play on this, do you still want me to sign it?" I then told them they did play on it because it had live tracks. That's gotta be annoying.
While I LOVE Paranormal and the musicians they got were awesome, it's not like the album was setting the world or the charts on fire. Could it have hurt to let the band play in the studio?
What's weird is that he invites a few band members for odd things here and there. I think Ryan Roxie had a solo or two on there (or maybe it was another one) and maybe the drummer play on some songs. What's up with that?
A lot of artists think of live performance and studio work as almost different media. Alice has a band that he's toured with for years, they're all comfortable and used to working together, and there's no reason to mess with that. But when he goes into the studio, he's thinking about the new material, what will work, what instrumentation to use, etc. I think back to his early years (which is what I'm more familiar with) and there are songs with horns, or a string section, or acoustic piano, etc. And of course plenty with a full-blown rock band backing him up. But studio work is a different animal. Getting the song in his head onto the tape is the primary consideration, not making sure everyone gets to play. That's the beauty and freedom of being a solo artist.
Then when it comes time to tour, things like how the song can be adapted to live performance come up. But again, that's a different part of the process.
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Speaking of live shows, this is a long shot, but does anyone have any info from Alice himself on why he ignores so much of the "solo" portion of his catalog live and sticks to mainly Alice Cooper Band material? I'm looking at setlist.fm and it seems like every solo album besides WTMN gets a few songs played on the album tour, then disappears from the sets forever. I'd love to see him and get a rare Hey Stoopid song, but Feed My Frankenstein is the only one he touches. Not to mention, there's virtually nothing from Temptation through present day that lingers besides a random song.
Also, I know he doesn't remember making them, but I'm surprised no Zipper or DaDa songs ever made it to a setlist post-hiatus. I'm guessing there's bad memories associated with them, but I know he said he'd like to rerecord them so he can't dislike them that much.
Keep looking at setlist because you'll see Alice is one of the few artists out there that throws in some deep cuts. Every tour usually has 2 or 3. Off the top of my head, just from the solo era, I know he has pulled out Go To Hell, It's Hot Tonight, Serious, Clones, Pain, Teenage Frankenstein, Man Behind the Mask, Hey Stoopid, Lost in America, Brutal Planet, Gimme, and a whole lot of others not to mention some deep cuts from the ACG years like Public Animal #9, Caught in a Dream, etc
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Alice long ago said you're going to get..
I'm Eighteen
No More Mr. Nice Guy
Billion Dollar Babies
School's Out
..at every show.
It really feels like in the last 10 years, he's started to dig deeper.
He's included 3 tracks from From the Inside including the Title Track, Serious, Nurse Rozetta, and has played It's Hot Tonight from Lace And Whiskey.
While Go To Hell is a relative staple too, Guilty made an appearance about 7 years ago.
From the Fashion through Zipper Era, he's only played three songs from FTF, Clones (which he really didn't start playing again until the 2000's), but he added Pain and more recently Grim Facts.
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The documentary "Super Duper Alice Cooper" is on Amazon Prime right now.
A Sam Dunn production, which I'm a fan of. It's really good, with footage I've never seen before.
Goes from childhood, all the way to his comeback for Constrictor.
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The documentary "Super Duper Alice Cooper" is on Amazon Prime right now.
A Sam Dunn production, which I'm a fan of. It's really good, with footage I've never seen before.
Goes from childhood, all the way to his comeback for Constrictor.
This is an amazing piece of filmaking. There's no narration, it's all strung together with interviews, yet there are no on screen interviews shown, just images.
Even if one is not an Alice Cooper fan, this is really impressive.
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^
Absolutely! :tup
And, the documentary about manager Shep Gordon is a must see. Not perfect, but we absolutely loved it.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supermensch:_The_Legend_of_Shep_Gordon
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Yeah the Shep one is interesting as hell. Again, you don’t have to be a fan. Pretty sure that’s a Mike Myers production. Can’t remember if Dunn is involved.
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Alice turns 73 years young today :hefdaddy
But he's the one making a gift to us! new song online, Social Debris: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8U0QhxO2kjQ
Free download for 24 hours of the track from his site (though I can't seem to find where ;D)
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Birthday well-wishes from one legend to another.
https://twitter.com/kipwinger/status/1357398678554562561?s=21
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An great interview with Alice from 1975. Quite funny but an amazing watch.
https://youtu.be/oW6DT4-1b9E?t=0
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That was a great interview. Even when Alice is drunk on Canadian whiskey, he still comes across as articulate. Also watched a related video, the 1975 Welcome to My Nightmare live concert. Holy smokes that was awesome. Seriously in 1975 could there be a better live show around?
Also how cool is the song “Dangerous Tonight”?
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That was a great interview. Even when Alice is drunk on Canadian whiskey, he still comes across as articulate.
This is a lie. No one has every been drunk on Canadian whiskey. That shit is weak.
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That was a great interview. Even when Alice is drunk on Canadian whiskey, he still comes across as articulate. Also watched a related video, the 1975 Welcome to My Nightmare live concert. Holy smokes that was awesome. Seriously in 1975 could there be a better live show around?
Also how cool is the song “Dangerous Tonight”?
That concert is great. I have the DVD. Welcome To My Nightmare was his first solo album, and he knocked it out.
I love Dangerous Tonight. It's a great roll down the windows and scream it out song.
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Also how cool is the song “Dangerous Tonight”?
My favorite AC song by far. I absolutely love it and I can’t believe it was never played live by him.
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If Guns n' Roses, Bon Jovi or Aerosmith (I see it more fit for GnR, a bit less for BJ who are not that "evil and dirty" in their songs), it would have been a smash hit.
I believe I have said it before, but on more general terms, Hey Stoopid as a whole SHOULD have been the big hit album, the most successful one, and it's far superior to Trash which instead got the honor of being Alice's most commercially successful album because of Poison.
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If Guns n' Roses, Bon Jovi or Aerosmith (I see it more fit for GnR, a bit less for BJ who are not that "evil and dirty" in their songs), it would have been a smash hit.
I believe I have said it before, but on more general terms, Hey Stoopid as a whole SHOULD have been the big hit album, the most successful one, and it's far superior to Trash which instead got the honor of being Alice's most commercially successful album because of Poison.
I guess I have to give those albums a shot. They seem gimmicky to me with all the guest stars, and the two songs I've heard - Poison and Hey Stoopid - don't do much for me. But people whose taste I trust speak highly of them, so... I might do that this weekend, maybe.
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Meanwhile, we're 8 days away from the new album and this trailer gives quite a good idea of what to expect from the new songs:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nITZJFsDZ4Q
As I imagined, it continues in Paranormal's style, of course we'll have to hear the full song to get a better and clearer picture but the style of the album is clear. Was hoping for more variety, heaviness and darkness but at this point of his carrer, anything that still comes from Alice is a godsend.
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If Guns n' Roses, Bon Jovi or Aerosmith (I see it more fit for GnR, a bit less for BJ who are not that "evil and dirty" in their songs), it would have been a smash hit.
I believe I have said it before, but on more general terms, Hey Stoopid as a whole SHOULD have been the big hit album, the most successful one, and it's far superior to Trash which instead got the honor of being Alice's most commercially successful album because of Poison.
I guess I have to give those albums a shot. They seem gimmicky to me with all the guest stars, and the two songs I've heard - Poison and Hey Stoopid - don't do much for me. But people whose taste I trust speak highly of them, so... I might do that this weekend, maybe.
Hey Stoopid is a great song. The lyrics are great. It's an anti suicide song.
The Hey Stoopid album is fantastic. It's 12 tracks, and I don't care for a few of them but there are a ton of killer tracks on it.
Wind Up Toy
Dangerous Tonight
Might As Well Be On Mars
Die For You (Yeah I love that song)
Hurricane Years
Trash has some great tunes too. My favorite is Why Trust You. Alice is great on that.
Lyrically though, it's one of my least favorite albums. Desmond Child too.
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Indeed, Trash is basically a Desmond Child and friends album. House of Fire could have been on Bon Jovi's New Jersey. Only My Heart Talkin' was actually co-written by Steven Tyler (or Joe Perry?) and you can imagine it as an Aerosmith song. The album is a mix of the pop rock style of the late '80s dressed with Alice's spin on it. It's good in the end (and I legit LOOOOVE House of Fire), but as I said, Hey Stoopid is way better.
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Anybody hear the new album? I bought it out of loyalty but haven't followed any of the hype nor listened to the singles. I'm kind of over Alice's obsession with Detroit (his home for all of 10 years or so, about 15% of his life). Also my interests go in phases and I haven't really been into it lately so throwing on the album yesterday was pretty fresh and I actually liked it quite a bit. Don't think I'm going to revisit it much though, at least until my next Alice obsession phase starts. In typical fashion, none of his solo band appears except Tommy Henrickson. A few tracks cowritten by the original guys, (yet not always appearing on tracks they cowrote) and a surprising song called "I Hate You" in which various original members blast each other for what they hate about them. Even Glen isn't spared although what they hate most about him is pretty hard to disagree with.
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Heard it a couple of times so far. It's kinda monothematic, and I miss the dark and creepy vibes and a little more of variety could have helped the album. I mean, Don't Give Up is a great and touching song, but it feels out of place on the album because the rest it's all rock n' roll and short songs. Some of them are quite good, gut feeling is that it's gonna be an enjoyable album with some good tracks here and there and some duds as well, but it will not have that much staying power.
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Only listened once so far at the gym and I liked it but I’ll need a few more plays to form an opinion. He sounds great though for being in his 70’s
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Got my second listen in tonight and things became much clearer.
Of the three covers, East Side Story is by far the best one. That is a great song. I pulled up the original on Spotify. It's from a 1966 album by Bob Seger, and the original version is amazing.
Detroit City blows. It blew on The Eyes, and it still sucks. Sorry, I consider that one of his worst songs. I would've much preferred him redo I Love America from DaDa.
I Hate You..what a great concept. I'm a long time fan of the original band and it's great that they're all still friends and can get together for this. And that's a great tribute to Glen Buxton.
Yeah, there's some duds here (Drunk And In Love) and while the chorus to Wonderful World is excellent, the rest of the song kind of blows.
Obviously Hanging On By A Thread is amazing, and I don't feel like it doesn't fit. And I love Independence Dave. That song is fantastic.
Alice sounds amazing. He's a great lyricist and and his vocals are fantastic. He doesn't need a huge range as he administers these songs with believability and feeling. He's a talented vocalist and has always been.
In the end, I think there'll be 4 or 5 songs I really latch onto, as is the case with most albums. Whatever Alice does at this point is nothing but gravy.
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Got my second listen in tonight and things became much clearer.
Of the three covers, East Side Story is by far the best one. That is a great song. I pulled up the original on Spotify. It's from a 1966 album by Bob Seger, and the original version is amazing.
Detroit City blows. It blew on The Eyes, and it still sucks. Sorry, I consider that one of his worst songs. I would've much preferred him redo I Love America from DaDa.
I Hate You..what a great concept. I'm a long time fan of the original band and it's great that they're all still friends and can get together for this. And that's a great tribute to Glen Buxton.
Yeah, there's some duds here (Drunk And In Love) and while the chorus to Wonderful World is excellent, the rest of the song kind of blows.
Obviously Hanging On By A Thread is amazing, and I don't feel like it doesn't fit. And I love Independence Dave. That song is fantastic.
Alice sounds amazing. He's a great lyricist and and his vocals are fantastic. He doesn't need a huge range as he administers these songs with believability and feeling. He's a talented vocalist and has always been.
In the end, I think there'll be 4 or 5 songs I really latch onto, as is the case with most albums. Whatever Alice does at this point is nothing but gravy.
I listened to Killer earlier tonight and I was thinking the same thing.
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Killer, and School's Out, are two albums that I just don't feel get their due. I get it, the Alice Cooper band is in the RnRHOF, whatever the hell that means. Probably that they had hits and were influential. But those albums have a depth that I feel to this day have gone unrecognized by far too many music fans.
Halo Of Flies is an original progressive metal song.
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Wow, I haven't listened to an Alice Cooper album in years. Like, since the 80's. We have his first Greatest Hits, of course. I don't know if he's done another greatest hits thing since. But my wife was really the big Alice Cooper fan. We have a bunch on vinyl, but only ever upgraded Greatest Hits to CD because that's the only one she really listens to. I'm the album guy. But like I said, it's been years.
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Okay, I take it back. I forgot we have Welcome to My Nightmare. I listen to that one once in a while. But that's actually solo Cooper, not Alice Cooper the band.
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Alice sounds amazing. He's a great lyricist and and his vocals are fantastic. He doesn't need a huge range as he administers these songs with believability and feeling. He's a talented vocalist and has always been.
Great point. In a sense, he's like Ronnie James Dio, he never needed an insane vocal range like Dickinson or Tate to deliver, his stong suit was the feeling, the power and the emotions put in the delivery.
And yeah, with today's technology you can get all the help you need, but damn, the man is 70 and counting and his performance is great, basically he reached a plateau when he was 55-60 and he never went down from it nor he showed signs of aging!
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Killer, and School's Out, are two albums that I just don't feel get their due. I get it, the Alice Cooper band is in the RnRHOF, whatever the hell that means. Probably that they had hits and were influential. But those albums have a depth that I feel to this day have gone unrecognized by far too many music fans.
Halo Of Flies is an original progressive metal song.
School's Out seems to be ignored a bit compared to the other ACB albums besides the title track but I think it's actually one of the better early releases. Blue Turk and My Stars are really great songs
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Heard it a couple of times so far. It's kinda monothematic, and I miss the dark and creepy vibes and a little more of variety could have helped the album.
I agree with this completely.
Almost sounds like he's regressed with this album a little bit. Not that it's bad at all.
BTW, does anybody know what "What a sid" means in I Hate You?
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The hell? Alice barely released a new album, and he's already thinking about a new one!
Source is this podcast that I haven't listened to, but that I copy and past here on trust: https://youtu.be/PLyEgsQhXSk
The big news about this tentative future album is that it would be written WITH HIS CURRENT TOURING BAND, written now and rehearsed aat soundchecks and even recorded in one of the live venues! tentative album name is, what a surprise, "Road".
I don't know what will come of it, but the idea of an album written by his live band while on tour and dedicated to life on the road sounds very cool!
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That sounds awesome!!
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I've never really been much of an Alice fan, but for sake of discussion, this from another thread:
Alice Cooper-School's Out
I have never heard the album, and have never been an Alice fan in general. I haven't disliked anything I have heard. But nothing really grabbed me either. Just another of many artists where, if a song of his came on, I enjoyed it well enough, but never felt compelled to seek out any of his music. The other day, while having YouTube cycle through stuff on autoplay while I was working, a pro-shot Alice show from Wacken a few years back came up, and MAN what a fun, fantastic performance that was! School's Out (the song) was one of many highlights.
Watched the show again, and it was REALLY good. A couple others came up on autoplay afterward that were also very good. I still don't feel like I would go out of my way to see him, but if he was playing nearby or playing with someone else I wanted to so, I would absolutely make the effort.
A couple of other observations: So...apparently Orianthi gained a lot of weight over the years, left the band for some reason, and was replaced by Nita Strauss?
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I've never really been much of an Alice fan, but for sake of discussion, this from another thread:
Alice Cooper-School's Out
I have never heard the album, and have never been an Alice fan in general. I haven't disliked anything I have heard. But nothing really grabbed me either. Just another of many artists where, if a song of his came on, I enjoyed it well enough, but never felt compelled to seek out any of his music. The other day, while having YouTube cycle through stuff on autoplay while I was working, a pro-shot Alice show from Wacken a few years back came up, and MAN what a fun, fantastic performance that was! School's Out (the song) was one of many highlights.
Watched the show again, and it was REALLY good. A couple others came up on autoplay afterward that were also very good. I still don't feel like I would go out of my way to see him, but if he was playing nearby or playing with someone else I wanted to so, I would absolutely make the effort.
A couple of other observations: So...apparently Orianthi gained a lot of weight over the years, left the band for some reason, and was replaced by Nita Strauss?
Richie Sambora laid down the law. :)
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Love It To Death was released FIFTY years ago today.
(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/81Hz8IpPulL._SL1425_.jpg)(https://images.genius.com/005421a1aa0d27cbfe2d74a36dfbdc52.1000x1000x1.jpg)
It's really the album that started it all, their first with Bob Ezrin. And it contains my all time favorite Alice song, The Ballad Of Dwight Fry.
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The time scale is impressive.... HALF A CENTURY passed by, and Alice Cooper is still here touring and playing those songs!!!
As you said, it's the album that really started it all, Dwight Fry is obviously a masterpiece but also I'm Eighteen is a song that became a classic and staple of their concerts.
I heard either Caught in a Dream or Long Way to Go live, probably the latter. Both are nice rocking tracks. Also Is It My Body was played live often, but obviously The Ballad of Dwight Fry is on a whole another level and seeing the guillottine live is amazing.
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I listened to that album recently for the first time in years and loved it. I actually forgot how awesome it was. :metal
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How's Detroit Stories aging for everyone? I think it's a really solid album and for being 15 songs long, there's not many songs that feel out of place or "filler"-ish (I hate that term but there's not really a more accurate word).
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It's ok. As I said, anything Alice still does is a godsend, but I was selfishly hoping for an album a bit different than Paranormal, with some darkness and heaviness here and there - it's so "yay rock n' roll in Detroit was great" from start to tend, that a serious and touching song like Don't Give Up feels out of place.
The songs range from quite good to OK, but I absolutely can't stand $1000 High Heel Shoes, god that song sucks.
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Love It To Death was released FIFTY years ago today.
(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/81Hz8IpPulL._SL1425_.jpg)(https://images.genius.com/005421a1aa0d27cbfe2d74a36dfbdc52.1000x1000x1.jpg)
It's really the album that started it all, their first with Bob Ezrin. And it contains my all time favorite Alice song, The Ballad Of Dwight Fry.
Wow! My first album purchase (well, half, since my friend's family had a turntable). Loved hearing 'I'm Eighteen' when I could legally buy a beer at 18. Time to grab my stroller and give it a spin....
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It's ok. As I said, anything Alice still does is a godsend, but I was selfishly hoping for an album a bit different than Paranormal, with some darkness and heaviness here and there - it's so "yay rock n' roll in Detroit was great" from start to tend, that a serious and touching song like Don't Give Up feels out of place.
The songs range from quite good to OK, but I absolutely can't stand $1000 High Heel Shoes, god that song sucks.
I think it feels pretty different from Paranormal actually. That felt a bit more "garage-rock" to me while this one has a more produced feel even if it's all pretty standard rock & roll. I like Don't Give Up a lot more within the context of the album than when I heard it as a single. I think Detroit City is the only low point for me, simply because it feels unnecessary. High Heel Shoes is one of my highlights actually! :lol I'm ready to hear him go somewhere really different after this, but like you said, anything he does now is just extra goodness.
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Detroit City was unnecessary the first time he recorded it.
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How's Detroit Stories aging for everyone? I think it's a really solid album and for being 15 songs long, there's not many songs that feel out of place or "filler"-ish (I hate that term but there's not really a more accurate word).
I'll admit, I haven't really spun it since it came out. My listening time has been limited, and there's been a number of great releases in 2021.
I need to hit it again for sure.
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Seeing Alice in Atlantic City tonight…this is the first time I’ve seen someone on opening night and didn’t know the setlist beforehand so it’s pretty exciting going in completely blank. Hoping he pulls out some rare stuff from the 80’s forward
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I'm jealous. I had tickets for June 2020 but it was obviously cancelled. He's playing in Boston next week, but it doesn't really work for me. Ace Frehley opening too.
I'm interested in the setlist too.
Guaranteed..
I'm Eighteen
No More Mr Nice Guy
Billion Dollar Babies
Schools Out
Poison
He was playing The World Needs Guts and Roses On White Lace, two of his best 80's tunes, before the shutdown.
And it seems like he's been playing Halo Of Flies for the last 15 years.
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I can probably guess a good portion of what he’s going to play aside from the staples you mentioned. I would be absolutely okay with hearing The World Needs Guts and Roses… though I wouldn’t mind hearing Prince of Darkness and Bed Of Nails too (and the live debut of Dangerous Tonight :biggrin:). It would’ve been cool seeing Ace too but he’s not playing this show for some reason.
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I love Dangerous Tonight!!
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Roses on White Lace is fantastic :metal
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The set is almost identical to what he was playing before the pandemic, with the addition of 3 Detroit Stories songs. Bed of Nails and Roses On White Lace were incredible, and even though the 70's stuff isn't my favorite, I really enjoyed the entire thing immensely. Nita is.... :yarr
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When was the last time he did Steven WITH the bookends of Years Ago and Awakening?
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When was the last time he did Steven WITH the bookends of Years Ago and Awakening?
I'm don't think he's ever done it. He has used the Years Ago music as interludes between songs but I'm not aware of him ever doing The Awakening.
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Sooo I saw Alice Cooper almost a week ago now. Figured I'd write up a review here to revive the thread.
Show was AWESOME. This was now my 4th time seeing him (all within the last 10 years or so). I think this was maybe the best show I've seen from him. I'm not sure anything he can do will top 2019's School's Out with Halestorm and Motionless in White, but for an overall show, this was better.
Buckcherry opened and sucked. Thought the singer was terrible, albeit energetic and trying. Just could not care for them in this opening role. Singer looked like he was coked up and this would have gone over much better in a bar, but not a real nice seated theater where people were slowly filing in. I'll say they were one of the worst bands I've seen in awhile.
Alice Cooper is just simply amazing for a 74 year old. He definitely sounds worse than 2019, but I think the music can work well with his current voice. It helps having a backing band support him on backing vocals. I think this was the first I really noticed Nita in the backing vocal mix. The band sounded 100% live to me which I really respect. I just don't know how he can do the whole show as well. There's always something going on to watch with the stage show. I've seen the stage and some of the show before from 2019, but it still felt somewhat fresh. My gf came with me and she also thought Alice was great. I think the liked the whole "theater" part of the show. It really made the whole thing feel larger than just the music.
He really didn't speak at all though. The negative was that it felt like a very rehearsed show that they walked through. It was a half sold venue on a Tuesday night. He finally talked during School's Out and said.. basically nothing. While he's very good with interacting with the crowd during the songs, without really addressing the people it kind of rubs off as "just another night". This is my only negative of the show. Buckcherry at least kept mentioning NJ and things live in the moment to get the crowd going. None of that from Alice.
I thought the set was pretty good. A few different songs from the last times seen and I really enjoyed the songs I wasn't familiar with. There really wasn't a dull moment music wise the entire set. I think his backing band must be keeping him going and feeling young. Nita has "it". She is just mesmerizing to watch and I'm not talking about her looks.
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FOkk9c7XoAMOI-w?format=jpg&name=large)
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FOf7uGRXEAQ4DB7?format=jpg&name=large)
Alice Cooper & Buckcherry LIVE @ NJPAC, Newark NJ 3/22/2022 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-oAeVD_nHo)
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He really didn't speak at all though. The negative was that it felt like a very rehearsed show that they walked through. It was a half sold venue on a Tuesday night. He finally talked during School's Out and said.. basically nothing. While he's very good with interacting with the crowd during the songs, without really addressing the people it kind of rubs off as "just another night". This is my only negative of the show. Buckcherry at least kept mentioning NJ and things live in the moment to get the crowd going. None of that from Alice.
Marc, I watched your video the other night and thought it was great.
The thing about Alice is that he NEVER talks to the crowd between songs. Never has. The only time he typically does is during School's Out and then it's really just band introductions.
I wouldn't take it as a negative. It's how he's always been. Remember, he's "playing" a character, "Alice Cooper" and "Alice" would never speak to a crowd.
But you're right about it being well rehearsed. Alice always has a tight AF band with him, and he's had this band with him for the better part of a decade and a half. They are locked in.
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I guess I just never noticed it before, felt a bit of a contrast with Buckcherry. But if that's my only negative, that means it's a good show. And thanks for watching the video :metal
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I love Alice and it's been a while since I've seen him. I last saw him in 2012 open for Iron Maiden. I had tix to see him in June 2020 but FU Covid.
But saw him a bunch of times back in the day including (in your back yard) the Brendan Bryne Arena in 1991.
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I love Alice and it's been a while since I've seen him. I last saw him in 2012 open for Iron Maiden. I had tix to see him in June 2020 but FU Covid.
But saw him a bunch of times back in the day including (in your back yard) the Brendan Bryne Arena in 1991.
My first time seeing him was ~10 years ago on that tour opening for Maiden. I was right up front too so got a great view for his show. Thought he was awesome then, and I remember Nita really wowing me then too.
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I believe that was still Orianthi in 2012.
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Oh damn, I only figured it was her from watching a few of my old clips from that show and assuming it was the same person. I guess he has a thing for blondes on guitar? :lol
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i just found out that Orianthi and Richie Sambora broke up. In 2018. :)
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i just found out that Orianthi and Richie Sambora broke up. In 2018. :)
She told me that she tried to contact you, but your inbox was full.
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i just found out that Orianthi and Richie Sambora broke up. In 2018. :)
She told me that she tried to contact you, but your inbox was full.
That's my life in a nutshell. :)
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:lol
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March 19th in Maryland
(https://scontent-lga3-2.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.15752-9/275939491_1071816146713647_867727723957181707_n.jpg?_nc_cat=107&ccb=1-5&_nc_sid=ae9488&_nc_ohc=3mYGHFAUm6kAX8Prpr5&_nc_ht=scontent-lga3-2.xx&oh=03_AVJ-Y7-6D05XDLpEqUXSVgj1c8d0V9Z5GR9iSELwClVjCA&oe=626A096B)
(https://scontent-lga3-2.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.15752-9/275643412_321000500127553_2195865777530031937_n.jpg?_nc_cat=100&ccb=1-5&_nc_sid=ae9488&_nc_ohc=8cY3smIWQHIAX8zJflO&_nc_ht=scontent-lga3-2.xx&oh=03_AVKnVFQUkI2DKNZsJdxPHvOE1CgxjHHVoxv4SpQg09c5Sw&oe=6267475A)
(https://scontent-lga3-2.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.15752-9/275714076_497165831944799_9128755788798991450_n.jpg?_nc_cat=103&ccb=1-5&_nc_sid=ae9488&_nc_ohc=DlIu9GdUF_oAX_ZNSNU&_nc_ht=scontent-lga3-2.xx&oh=03_AVIYDBSe7BKQMSTfGLQalN2StEqPlScDpy7ZtOZFyXaB5Q&oe=626AB8F4)
Great seats, but we were by the aisle, security sucked, and we ended up moving waaaaay in the back after 45 minutes. (and wow.....I feel for the singer of BuckCherry now, as well as when he's in his 60s with all those tattoes). We knew going in that his voice is finally beginning to faulter, but the band does well to cover that up. Third time in four years after a 30+ year gap. Such a showman, great band, and such fun. :tup
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The nice thing of having seen Alice Cooper live is reading other people's reviews, like cramx, and fully believing it.
I have no reason to doubt that you're just an overly enthusiastic fan. I just know your impressions are since. Alice is awesome :metal
And yeah, his thing is to never talk to the audience, that's the presentation of the show. I could do with some banter, but it's not a thing that bugs me or annoys me.
I always chuckle however how he introduces the band, and then he just says "and playing the part of Alice Cooper tonight......"
(music stops)
ME!!!!!
:lol
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What happened with security, Dragon? That sounds pretty shitty if you had to leave your seats which looked pretty good.
Mirror, if you are calling me an overly enthusiastic fan, I would disagree with that. (it may not have been directed at me). I don't even own a single Alice Cooper album (I do have a greatest hits CD from when I was younger). I just legit enjoy his live show. It's very much theater but he's more live than some other "theater" rock bands ;) which I find to be completely amazing given his age. Just got to give credit where credits due.
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It's very much theater but he's more live than some other "theater" rock bands ;)
(https://c.tenor.com/9JqiG4fW-VgAAAAC/oh-shit-ohh.gif)
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What happened with security, Dragon? That sounds pretty shitty if you had to leave your seats which looked pretty good.
Mirror, if you are calling me an overly enthusiastic fan, I would disagree with that. (it may not have been directed at me). I don't even own a single Alice Cooper album (I do have a greatest hits CD from when I was younger). I just legit enjoy his live show. It's very much theater but he's more live than some other "theater" rock bands ;) which I find to be completely amazing given his age. Just got to give credit where credits due.
No, my point was more simple: I have seen Alice live as well, I know his show is great.
So when someone says "I saw Alice and it was freaking cool", I just believe him because that was my experience as well. I don't think he's overpraising him or seeing what he wants to see. I know Alice can deliver ;)
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:tup (I didn't take offense or anything, just wanted to clarify if that were the case)
He's kind of become one of those bands that I just don't want to miss when he comes around. You never know when the last time will be and it's a guaranteed good night.
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I guess I've got to do this, huh.
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He's kind of become one of those bands that I just don't want to miss when he comes around. You never know when the last time will be and it's a guaranteed good night.
That's exactly how I see it!
I guess I've got to do this, huh.
Yes.
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I guess I've got to do this, huh.
If you don't like his music, no you don't. But if you do, I would recommend it. Bring the wife, my gf loved it and she hardly knows anything about Alice. It's just a good show and the music is pretty damn catchy and fun. (I didn't know all the songs, but they were all good)
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I see that Alice Cooper is playing at the Greek Theater on a Sunday in late April. I may get a ticket for it if it drops to a price I like to spend. Support will not be Buckcherry, but Ace Frehley instead.
I was ready to see him at Hollywood Bowl in 2020, but of course, the obvious happened and now LA got the rescheduled show soon.
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I guess I've got to do this, huh.
If you don't like his music, no you don't. But if you do, I would recommend it. Bring the wife, my gf loved it and she hardly knows anything about Alice. It's just a good show and the music is pretty damn catchy and fun. (I didn't know all the songs, but they were all good)
I LOVE the early Alice Cooper band records; not the first two Zappa-esque ones, but the first five or so that have the classic band and were produced by Bob Ezrin. And I like Alice, the guy. Vincent Furnier. What I don't necessarily care for is the 80's stuff.
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I guess I've got to do this, huh.
If you don't like his music, no you don't. But if you do, I would recommend it. Bring the wife, my gf loved it and she hardly knows anything about Alice. It's just a good show and the music is pretty damn catchy and fun. (I didn't know all the songs, but they were all good)
I LOVE the early Alice Cooper band records; not the first two Zappa-esque ones, but the first five or so that have the classic band and were produced by Bob Ezrin. And I like Alice, the guy. Vincent Furnier. What I don't necessarily care for is the 80's stuff.
There's the early 80's drug induced albums and (seperately) the mid to late 80's hard rock/metal albums.
I think you'd like these two post 80's albums:
The Last Temptation- has Jack Blades/Chris Cornell on it..
The Eyes Of Alice Cooper-has a real original garage style feel to it. And Eric Singer.
Also, Detroit Stories, his latest album is pretty good. I mean, I'd chop 5 of the 15 tracks off to make it better, but you might find it worth the listen.
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The closer it comes (in vibes) to latter day Aerosmith, the less I am likely to like it. If it says "John Kalodner, John Kalodner" on it, the less I am likely to like it.
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The closer it comes (in vibes) to latter day Aerosmith, the less I am likely to like it. If it says "John Kalodner, John Kalodner" on it, the less I am likely to like it.
Huh..then I'm not sure where to go with that. Alice's albums are all extremely varied. It's not like Aerosmith, where they were hard rocking and then turned into a softer big ballad band, to now what is basically Steven And The Tylers.
Sure, there are some musical styling similarities between The Last Temptation and Pump, in that they are both hard rock albums that are easy on the ears.
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Pump is probably my favorite of the latter day Aerosmith. I'm going to check out those records; you haven't steered me wrong with Alice Cooper yet.
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Pump is probably my favorite of the latter day Aerosmith. I'm going to check out those records; you haven't steered me wrong with Alice Cooper yet.
Those are the ones that I think you'd like.
Report back!
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I know I mentioned in this thread before, I've only heard three Alice Cooper albums - Trash, Hey Stoopid and The Last Temptation. Last Temptation is the favorite of them all and at the time had no clue Derek Sherinian played the keys on it.
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His catalog is so big that's it's kind of daunting to even begin listening to his albums. I'm cool with just enjoying his live shows and knowing I can always go check out the album if I want to. It's weird how I like him enough to want to see every live show, but I don't have much desire to sit back and listen to an album.
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His catalog is so big that's it's kind of daunting to even begin listening to his albums. I'm cool with just enjoying his live shows and knowing I can always go check out the album if I want to. It's weird how I like him enough to want to see every live show, but I don't have much desire to sit back and listen to an album.
His catalog is quite daunting. And 95% + won't be played live, so I understand that completely.
Me? I'm a huge fan, and I love all eras. His wit and talent for lyrics run throughout the entire catalog. Plus, he's an amazing vocalist. He can do many styles and accents. His does a great Eminem on Disco Bloodbath Boogie Fever.
I've often considered an Alice Cooper Listening Party™ And Discography Thread. The thing is, it would take probably 6 months to put it together properly as I would have to have it written before presenting it.
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I know I mentioned in this thread before, I've only heard three Alice Cooper albums - Trash, Hey Stoopid and The Last Temptation. Last Temptation is the favorite of them all and at the time had no clue Derek Sherinian played the keys on it.
Derek was also part of the live band for the Hey Stoopid tour.
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I think Flush The Fashion and DaDa might be his most consistent albums. They feel really stream-of-consciousness but work so well as whole pieces of art.
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I think Flush The Fashion and DaDa might be his most consistent albums. They feel really stream-of-consciousness but work so well as whole pieces of art.
I'd say they're at least consistent in feel, but definitely not in quality..IMO.
I really consider just half of each album strong.
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Alice is playing in my area at the end of April. I’m now thinking maybe I should go to that show, as I just realized I don’t think I’ve seen him live since 1997.
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Do it!
I know I mentioned in this thread before, I've only heard three Alice Cooper albums - Trash, Hey Stoopid and The Last Temptation. Last Temptation is the favorite of them all and at the time had no clue Derek Sherinian played the keys on it.
Derek was also part of the live band for the Hey Stoopid tour.
I think because of that, that's how he ended up in the background in the Wayne's World scene with Alice.
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I guess I've got to do this, huh.
Just announced a fall tour and he's stopping at the Oakdale
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I guess I've got to do this, huh.
Just announced a fall tour and he's stopping at the Oakdale
Oh! That's a good place to see a show. I'm going to try to do that.
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Off topic, but funny since you gave me some history about the Oakdale, I actually watched a concert someone recorded from inside the main lobby room that you mentioned would host concerts. Pretty cool, definitely enjoyed that venue.
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Finally saw Alice again for the third time, yesterday. What a freakin badass and enjoyable show!!! :metal
This is the setlist:
https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/alice-cooper/2022/alcatraz-milan-italy-3bb5f41c.html
It might be the "it's the third time so I already want to hear stuff I haven't heard" factor, but this might be the best setlist of him I've seen. The obvious hits that never get old, FINALLY I got to hear a bona fide classic like Steven, some personal favorites like Bed of Nails and Hey Stoopid (even back to back!), a forgotten gem like Roses on White Lace and also some reshuffle of the order of the classics.
Alice was great as usual. It was discussed the last time - he definitively belongs in the category "Must see while he's still around". He was awesome and I've seen no signs of aging. He's still him, he's still got it. The showmanship, the charisma on stage (let's face it, he's one of those guys who can stand still on stage and being cool just by being there), all his little tricks he does.... it's a pleasure to just watch him perform!
Also I got to enjoy some theatrics I didn't see last time around (gorgeous corpse bride-esque act during Roses on White Lace), so the show felt fresh. The band was great as usual as well, they're a very tight live band and after being together all these years, they're part of the experience as well. Usually with solo acts, or situations where the leader or frontman is the clear and undisputed draw, the live situation is "the guy people pay money for, and some random dudes playing the instruments". After all this time together I consider the Alice Cooper live band integral part of the experience, and their great playing and showmanship is part of the enjoyment. Obviously I go for Alice and I'd do it even if he'd change the entire band, but I consider his show a band experience, just like when I see Dream Theater I enjoy the five guys and not just the singer.
Opening act was Michael Monroe, I have to confess I have no idea who he was (ex singer for Hanoi Rocks, a band I knew only by name). Man what a freak straight out of the glam scene of the '80s!!! and I mean it as a compliment of course, he was absolutely wild and fun, a great opening act. He even came out for School's Out to sing it along with Alice.
So overall I had a very great and fun night from start to finish, and next time Alice is in town, you can be sure I'm gonna have another nightmare :metal :metal :metal
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Usually with solo acts, or situations where the leader or frontman is the clear and undisputed draw, the live situation is "the guy people pay money for, and some random dudes playing the instruments". After all this time together I consider the Alice Cooper live band integral part of the experience, and their great playing and showmanship is part of the enjoyment.
Not only just being a solo artist, but also having such a theatrical show, it's amazing how in the end it all boils down to still being a very good rock n roll band. You could take all the theatrics away and I think they'd still be a fun band to see.
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Indeed! actually, they could have two completely different show. Alice has such a big and different back catalogue, that he could perform a totally rock n' roll show, and a completely dark, heavier and "horror" show, with only the most sinister songs, and they'd both be awesome shows.
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Usually with solo acts, or situations where the leader or frontman is the clear and undisputed draw, the live situation is "the guy people pay money for, and some random dudes playing the instruments". After all this time together I consider the Alice Cooper live band integral part of the experience, and their great playing and showmanship is part of the enjoyment.
Not only just being a solo artist, but also having such a theatrical show, it's amazing how in the end it all boils down to still being a very good rock n roll band. You could take all the theatrics away and I think they'd still be a fun band to see.
He had Kip on bass, so of course the band was killer!
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Nita is out of Alice Cooper. At least for the rest of the year. She didn't say where she is going, but seems she is joining another band.
https://blabbermouth.net/news/nita-strauss-exits-alice-coopers-band-solo-festival-appearances-canceled (https://blabbermouth.net/news/nita-strauss-exits-alice-coopers-band-solo-festival-appearances-canceled)
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I imagine playing with AC has been a solid gig and it's definitely raised her profile as a guitar player. So what's next? Either a more creative play or she's been picked up by a stadium/arena act (pop star).
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I love how she immediately needed to clarify that she's not pregnant. :lol
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My first thought was that one of the guitarists in Judas Priest wants off of the road. For her to leave Alice's band, she must have had a pretty high paying gig lined up.
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I'm sad :'( I stand by what I said after the last concert I've seen with them, that even though Alice is obviously the main and unique draw, after all these years it felt like a proper band and every band member was integral part of the experience.
I will sorely miss Nina (and yeah, I find it weird too that she has to say that she's not pregnant), I'm sure Alice will find another excellent guitar player, but Nina was awesome.
I never saw Orianthi, I'm glad I saw Nina and with time I grew fond of her, let's see where she'll land!
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Figured it was a pop act! https://blabbermouth.net/news/rumor-nita-strauss-to-join-demi-lovatos-touring-band
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I'd take that with a grain of salt considering the source.
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Priest would be a lateral move for her, at best (a step up for them, though). Sure seems like Demi Lovato would be a big step backward. Playing with Alice is probably a pretty good gig. She's in a band and it looks like she has a lot of fun. Between more money, better touring conditions, and fun playing, I can't see DL being better for her in any capacity.
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Is Alice paying less them Demi? You all look at the art but money means so much for a touring musician.
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Well, the Demi Lovato dates do line up this fall.
I don't think Demi Lovato would necessarily be a step backwards. It may open up more opportunities for her in the industry. Lovato is basically playing venues similar to Alice, so it's not an arena tour by any stretch.
I definitely don't see her leaving Alice for Priest, that's for sure.
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Is Alice paying less them Demi? You all look at the art but money means so much for a touring musician.
I wouldn't think that was it, unless it was an offer she absolutely couldn't refuse. I believe Alice treats his band pretty well. His band has been together for over a dozen years.
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Tim, why would she leave? Creativity? To Demi Lovato?
Come on now.
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Same reason any working musician changes gigs: to change things up a bit. After years of playing with Alice, she wants to do something else. I don't blame her for that. It's not necessarily that Alice doesn't treat his band well, because I'm sure he does. But it's gotta be a demanding, intense show, and maybe doing something a little less intense for similar bucks sounded good.
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That's an absolutely reasonable answer Bob.
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Same reason any working musician changes gigs: to change things up a bit. After years of playing with Alice, she wants to do something else. I don't blame her for that. It's not necessarily that Alice doesn't treat his band well, because I'm sure he does. But it's gotta be a demanding, intense show, and maybe doing something a little less intense for similar bucks sounded good.
Also, it's "just" a touring band. They don't play on the albums nor do they write songs, I am sure too that Alice treats everyone in the band great and the pay is good but in the end, it's just going on tour to play songs from other people, after a while it must get old.
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Same reason any working musician changes gigs: to change things up a bit. After years of playing with Alice, she wants to do something else. I don't blame her for that. It's not necessarily that Alice doesn't treat his band well, because I'm sure he does. But it's gotta be a demanding, intense show, and maybe doing something a little less intense for similar bucks sounded good.
Also, it's "just" a touring band. They don't play on the albums nor do they write songs, I am sure too that Alice treats everyone in the band great and the pay is good but in the end, it's just going on tour to play songs from other people, after a while it must get old.
He said when Detroit Stories was released that the next album was meant to be done with the touring band.
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He said when Detroit Stories was released that the next album was meant to be done with the touring band.
His next two albums are already recorded. Not sure about the post production.
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I don't know; I'm not inclined to say that Demi Lovato is a step backward. I don't know the deets on this, but if she's musical director, or something like that, or if she gets the chance to write with/for Demi, that opens up new opportunities to create. WE look at Alice as "better" because we like Alice better, but they are close to the same age (Strauss is 35, Lovato is I think 30) and it's a different world. Plus, and I'm a huge Alice fan (well, big, not as big as some here) but in the press release he called her a "chick" like six times; I'm not a 35 year old woman, but that's by any measure a boys club. That MIGHT factor in.
Remember, Nuno Bettencourt did those tours with Rihanna and spoke highly of the experience.
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At least I got to see her with Alice for the third time a few months back. I occasionally read her Fbook posts, and will continue to do so. Wishing her
nothing but the best (and hope she does manage to tour with him again.....)
(https://scontent-iad3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.15752-9/275643412_321000500127553_2195865777530031937_n.jpg?_nc_cat=100&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=ae9488&_nc_ohc=xH6n195-7YYAX9GnFd-&_nc_ht=scontent-iad3-1.xx&oh=03_AVKoVBD6bhh0fBvZiyfGz2qLc6iVWiIuwtE1T-c9HjEIXg&oe=62F5A95A)
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There's a documentary that's on Amazon prime called "Hired Gun" and it's about musicians hired by bands to tour or play on their album. Alice and Nita are both featured on it. It's a very cool view into the music business. It would be no shock or surprise for me to see Nita move over to someone else and I would bet the reason is money. Alice may pay well and treat her well, but Alice tours non stop. She works hard for that money. She could very easily play for a pop act and not have to work as hard but still make the money. (like Orbert already said)
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There's a documentary that's on Amazon prime called "Hired Gun" and it's about musicians hired by bands to tour or play on their album. Alice and Nita are both featured on it. It's a very cool view into the music business. It would be no shock or surprise for me to see Nita move over to someone else and I would bet the reason is money. Alice may pay well and treat her well, but Alice tours non stop. She works hard for that money. She could very easily play for a pop act and not have to work as hard but still make the money. (like Orbert already said)
Oh wow. I'm going to check that out!
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On a very side note, I remember from interviews the three things Alice promises to his touring band:
- they're gonna get paid
- they're gonna see the world
- they're gonna get cut :lol
(he pulls out the sword during Billion Dollar Babies and a swing here and a swing there... some cuts to whoever passes by are bound to happen)
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If you notice, Demi has said she is making a move to a more Rock and guitar oriented sound. She is trying to shed her Pop stuff for a harder edge sound for her. I could see Nita being interested in that. I also checked out the video for her new single and it is definitely not Disney Pop.
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If you notice, Demi has said she is making a move to a more Rock and guitar oriented sound. She is trying to shed her Pop stuff for a harder edge sound for her. I could see Nita being interested in that. I also checked out the video for her new single and it is definitely not Disney Pop.
Isn't the album called Fvck That or something like that.
I can easily believe that rumor.
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If you notice, Demi has said she is making a move to a more Rock and guitar oriented sound. She is trying to shed her Pop stuff for a harder edge sound for her. I could see Nita being interested in that. I also checked out the video for her new single and it is definitely not Disney Pop.
It's also not particularly exciting or original. Kind of seems to me that playing with Alice she gets some stage presence. She's not the star of the show, but she's sill a big part of it. With Lovato she's essentially Cliff Williams.
I realize it was just baseless speculation, but the more I think about it the more Priest would be a really good fit for them both. Her and Faulkner would be a pretty good tandem, and my hunch is that she's been a longtime fan.
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If you notice, Demi has said she is making a move to a more Rock and guitar oriented sound. She is trying to shed her Pop stuff for a harder edge sound for her. I could see Nita being interested in that. I also checked out the video for her new single and it is definitely not Disney Pop.
It's also not particularly exciting or original. Kind of seems to me that playing with Alice she gets some stage presence. She's not the star of the show, but she's sill a big part of it. With Lovato she's essentially Cliff Williams.
I realize it was just baseless speculation, but the more I think about it the more Priest would be a really good fit for them both. Her and Faulkner would be a pretty good tandem, and my hunch is that she's been a longtime fan.
HAHAHA.
Sidebar, I saw an AC/DC tribute band Saturday, and beyond all expectations, they were GOOD. The rhythm guitar player and the singer are brothers, and neither one looks like Malcolm or Brian/Bon, but the guitar player was solid like Malcolm, and believe it or not, the singer pulled off a REALLY good Brian. Hells Bells was amazing.
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I have faith Nita is gonna come back. Alice just announced Kane Roberts is joining the band, but clarified it was for Sept/Oct shows. Why not just say “joining the band” if it’s anything real?
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I have faith Nita is gonna come back. Alice just announced Kane Roberts is joining the band, but clarified it was for Sept/Oct shows. Why not just say “joining the band” if it’s anything real?
February 17, 1987
Providence Civic Center
(https://i.imgur.com/2LCPtiL.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/hlsc5dG.jpg)
November 17, 1987
Boston Garden
(https://i.imgur.com/CbSpTJE.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/bgNZInG.jpg)
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I have faith Nita is gonna come back. Alice just announced Kane Roberts is joining the band, but clarified it was for Sept/Oct shows. Why not just say “joining the band” if it’s anything real?
Honestly was wondering that as well just by the way this whole thing was announced. Every article just says shes out of the band for the fall. No one really talks about the future here. I guess it's kind of an open door which Alice even talks about with Kane coming back.
TAC, what is up with that last picture? Is that blood?
And I'm not really familiar with the history of the band to know who Kane is, but damn he makes that guitar look tiny :lol
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And I'm not really familiar with the history of the band to know who Kane is, but damn he makes that guitar look tiny :lol
He played on two albums and their consequent tours - 1986's Constrictor, Alice's "comeback" after getting clean for good, and 1987's Raise your Fist and Yell. The following album was no longer with him, but it would have been 1989's Trash, with the super mega hit Poison.
If you put the best songs of those two album together, you probably have an album even better than Trash. Check for example Roses on White Lace, which is currently in the setlist, amazing dark and heavy track!
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TAC, what is up with that last picture? Is that blood?
Yes, it's stageblood. I have pics with a number of guys in the band and they all commented on the blood. I was pretty much in the front row, and he chopped a lady's head off during Dead Babies. Her torso squirted blood out into the audience and I took a direct hit.
It happened right HERE:
(https://i.imgur.com/foRvQPA.jpg)
But a 19 y/o TAC survived a Kane Roberts headlock. :lol
And I'm not really familiar with the history of the band to know who Kane is, but damn he makes that guitar look tiny :lol
He played on two albums and their consequent tours - 1986's Constrictor, Alice's "comeback" after getting clean for good, and 1987's Raise your Fist and Yell. The following album was no longer with him, but it would have been 1989's Trash, with the super mega hit Poison.
If you put the best songs of those two album together, you probably have an album even better than Trash. Check for example Roses on White Lace, which is currently in the setlist, amazing dark and heavy track!
Right. Kane was the the guitarist on Alice's comeback albums. Raise Your Fist was recorded with the touring band which included both Kip Winger and Paul Taylor from er..Winger, and Ken Mary who is now with Flotsam & Jetsam.
While Winger did the Constrictor tour, AKA The Nightmare Returns, he did not tour for RYFAY. Steve Steele was the bassist for that tour and well, he was another muscle man...here is not a great pic, but the only one I have of him..
(https://i.imgur.com/LKguF87.jpg)
Both Constrictor and RYFAH are great. Each has a couple of duds and they're both more than just a half an album of goodness. It's Trash that has not aged well at all.
The Nightmare Returns live touring band of Roberts, Winger, Devlin 7, Taylor and Mary was great. They put a true metal spin on the Alice classics. They still have my all time favorite version of The Ballad Of Dwight Fry, which is my fave Alice tune. The Metal interpretation of Welcome To My Nightmare is absolutely killer.
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Trash is good, but it feels like a product of its time and, moreover, it doesn't really feel like an Alice Cooper album, more a "Alice Cooper and friends" album. It's a (albeit original) mix of Guns n' Roses, Bon Jovi (they totally could have had House of Fire as their own song) and Aerosmith.
I still maintain my opinion that the following Hey Stoopid is WAY better and more consistent, and it should have been the mega hit - the honor however was bestowed upon Trash, no doubt thanks to Poison.
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Given Nita's own musical tastes , she must be getting big $ to ditch Alice Cooper and stand anonymously in the background playing power pop/rock
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6Cm-xIsr0Q
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Saw the Raise your Fist And Yell tour with Motorhead opening. I know I've told the funny story on seeing Motorhead before.
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Given Nita's own musical tastes , she must be getting big $ to ditch Alice Cooper and stand anonymously in the background playing power pop/rock
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6Cm-xIsr0Q
Those were my exact words to a couple of friends just mere minutes ago.
Man, watching that video made me throw.
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Given Nita's own musical tastes , she must be getting big $ to ditch Alice Cooper and stand anonymously in the background playing power pop/rock
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6Cm-xIsr0Q
Those were my exact words to a couple of friends just mere minutes ago.
Man, watching that video made me throw.
I don't know; there's a lot to criticize there - another one of those songs that takes nine people to write, and the irony of a chorus for a 2:40 single being debuted on Jimmy Kimmel being "Am I the only one looking for substance?" is pretty strong - but I think this is hard to judge from the outside. That's not a minor gig. Yeah, there's the musical stuff, and what little I heard of Nina's music seems to gel with Alice more, but Demi Lovato CAN sing, and she's not going to be touring clubs. There's going to be a LOT of exposure for Nina on that tour that she might not get with Alice. Money or not, I can't void her for taking that gig. And none of that is to mention the environment; as cool as Alice is, he's a 74 year old man, and Demi is a 29 year old woman. I can see Nina wanting to be in that creative environment for a while.
What's really concerning to me is not Nina, but Demi. That is one troubled woman, and while it's not for me to say, I can't imagine the touring lifestyle is of any benefit for that. What ought to happen (I say tongue in cheek, because it's not for me to say) is for DEMI to join ALICE'S band and have her hang around someone who's got their shit together.
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What's really concerning to me is not Nina, but Demi. That is one troubled woman, and while it's not for me to say, I can't imagine the touring lifestyle is of any benefit for that. What ought to happen (I say tongue in cheek, because it's not for me to say) is for DEMI to join ALICE'S band and have her hang around someone who's got their shit together.
Nita Strauss is sober and has talked about her sobriety before on her social media page. She credits her boyfriend for helping her kick her drinking addiction.
Maybe that was another factor for her joining. She's another female, is a hell of a player and can lend some rock cred to the band, likely make more money, and be there to support Demi while on the road.
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But for her being sober, that's a good reason to be in Alice's band not a drug addict's band. It's way to early to criticize her move though. We don't know her motives and what the plan is. I can't judge it based on a late night show performance that doesn't show Nita off. I got to imagine the full live show will have some spotlight on Nita during it.
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But her album's already done. There is no creativity to be had touring with Demi right now. There's only the Cliff Williams role.
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But for her being sober, that's a good reason to be in Alice's band not a drug addict's band. It's way to early to criticize her move though. We don't know her motives and what the plan is. I can't judge it based on a late night show performance that doesn't show Nita off. I got to imagine the full live show will have some spotlight on Nita during it.
That's a good point - we haven't seen a full live show/video to see if Nina is highlighted further.
A couple other thoughts on this (some of which have already been posted)
- Did Nina simply want to try something new or feel like her time with Alice had run it's course?
- Since her solo material is also metal/rock maybe she felt like expanding into pop/punk would be a good experience
- Is she looking to get into more session or studio work? I imagine major labels/studios will pay well and this would be a good way to get in there for her long-term benefit
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I can't tell from the video who's a chick and who's a dude. The drummer appears to be a female. Is that an all female band? That I could certainly see making a difference.
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OOC I checked the local Demi concert for tickets. Basically sold out the Beacon Theatre. Alice couldn't do that so from my small sample size, she's going to be in front of bigger audiences (generally, I know Alice played some of the big Euro festivals) and an audience that likely isn't familiar with her. If she does get some spotlight, she may win over a lot of new fans.
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OOC I checked the local Demi concert for tickets. Basically sold out the Beacon Theatre. Alice couldn't do that so from my small sample size, she's going to be in front of bigger audiences (generally, I know Alice played some of the big Euro festivals) and an audience that likely isn't familiar with her. If she does get some spotlight, she may win over a lot of new fans.
In Dallas, the same place you saw DT, she's barely sold any. There are actually front row center seats available right now that are regular tickets at face value. Now that I think about it. . .
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OOC I checked the local Demi concert for tickets. Basically sold out the Beacon Theatre. Alice couldn't do that so from my small sample size, she's going to be in front of bigger audiences (generally, I know Alice played some of the big Euro festivals) and an audience that likely isn't familiar with her. If she does get some spotlight, she may win over a lot of new fans.
In Dallas, the same place you saw DT, she's barely sold any. There are actually front row center seats available right now that are regular tickets at face value. Now that I think about it. . .
Wow, that's pretty crazy. I guess the markets are vastly different.
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Have either Nita's or Demi's social media announced Nita joining the band?
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Have either Nita's or Demi's social media announced Nita joining the band?
Nita for sure Did. Demi hasn’t.
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But for her being sober, that's a good reason to be in Alice's band not a drug addict's band.
Alice may not drink but the rest of the band sure does. I saw them do a club show minus alice (very cool experience) and afterwards everyone was drinking, minus Nita. Alice's daughter even flew in to sing some of the songs and she was walking around with two glasses of wine in her hands. Didn't stop her from signing whatever or chatting with whoever. Very cool people.
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But for her being sober, that's a good reason to be in Alice's band not a drug addict's band.
Alice may not drink but the rest of the band sure does. I saw them do a club show minus alice (very cool experience) and afterwards everyone was drinking, minus Nita. Alice's daughter even flew in to sing some of the songs and she was walking around with two glasses of wine in her hands. Didn't stop her from signing whatever or chatting with whoever. Very cool people.
I got to imagine it's almost impossible to avoid being around people drinking while in a touring band, but having the head of the band Alice/Demi be on the opposites on their stances of drugs/alcohol, it could be something to be concerned about. I don't really follow Demi to know much about her other than she has or had issues. Alice definitely comes off as a better role model these days. Maybe none of this comes into play though and I'm just speculating about something that is nothing.
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It's easy to sit and throw stones, and I'm sure there are angles to the story that are unknown to us, but the Demi story is sad to me. That's a beautiful, talented kid that essentially got thrown to the wolves and never really was able to climb out of the ring unscathed. Maybe it's me, but there seemed to be a lot of social media-type "grand pronouncements!" that probably were a good idea - or at least a good intention - at the time, but clearly didn't take in the long term. Again, wildly speculative and probably wholly inappropriate, but from my vantage-point, it seems to me that this is a woman who has issues involving self-worth and body image that make being in the public eye a very problematic thing.
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I can't tell from the video who's a chick and who's a dude. The drummer appears to be a female. Is that an all female band? That I could certainly see making a difference.
That's a bingo. I don't know how important it was for her, but it absolutely had to be a consideration.
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Quick clip from Twitter of Nita kicking ass on the opening night of the tour...no matter the act, I don't think anyone is going to keep Nita in the background, or could if it was even possible...
https://twitter.com/hurricanenita/status/1558710530885488641?s=20&t=xI2sn5zbVaEsdNFrflqq9g (https://twitter.com/hurricanenita/status/1558710530885488641?s=20&t=xI2sn5zbVaEsdNFrflqq9g)
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That's awesome!!
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I'd love to see Alice with Kane and will be there if he hits the UK. RYFAH was one of the first few metal albums i bought and I love it to this day. If they were to do Step On You, Lock Me Up or Freedom (as well as the already mentioned Roses On White Lace) I'd be made up.
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I'd love to see Alice with Kane and will be there if he hits the UK. RYFAH was one of the first few metal albums i bought and I love it to this day. If they were to do Step On You, Lock Me Up or Freedom (as well as the already mentioned Roses On White Lace) I'd be made up.
On the RYFAY tour, they played Freedom, Prince Of Darkness, Chop Chop Chop, Gail, and Roses On White Lace.
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I'd love to see Alice with Kane and will be there if he hits the UK. RYFAH was one of the first few metal albums i bought and I love it to this day. If they were to do Step On You, Lock Me Up or Freedom (as well as the already mentioned Roses On White Lace) I'd be made up.
Well, they'te playing three songs off the Kane albums so it's already a good moment for Kane to step back in!
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Quick clip from Twitter of Nita kicking ass on the opening night of the tour...no matter the act, I don't think anyone is going to keep Nita in the background, or could if it was even possible...
https://twitter.com/hurricanenita/status/1558710530885488641?s=20&t=xI2sn5zbVaEsdNFrflqq9g (https://twitter.com/hurricanenita/status/1558710530885488641?s=20&t=xI2sn5zbVaEsdNFrflqq9g)
I wonder how many people there who had no idea who she was was wondering who tf they just saw on guitar :lol I mean, seriously, she's such an impressive guitarist that even in Alice's band, if you didn't know, you probably were thinking the same thing.
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Quick clip from Twitter of Nita kicking ass on the opening night of the tour...no matter the act, I don't think anyone is going to keep Nita in the background, or could if it was even possible...
https://twitter.com/hurricanenita/status/1558710530885488641?s=20&t=xI2sn5zbVaEsdNFrflqq9g (https://twitter.com/hurricanenita/status/1558710530885488641?s=20&t=xI2sn5zbVaEsdNFrflqq9g)
I wonder how many people there who had no idea who she was was wondering who tf they just saw on guitar :lol I mean, seriously, she's such an impressive guitarist that even in Alice's band, if you didn't know, you probably were thinking the same thing.
Right? If Demi's idea is to expand her brand to a heavier style, it's probably the smartest thing she could've done, and if Nita's idea was to enamore herself to a whole shit ton of new fans in a completely different genre, definitely consider that mission accomplished
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And the next time the inevitable If James Leaves, Who Should Be The Next DT Vocalist Thread, we must now remember Demi Lovato.
She's got some fucking pipes.
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Let's take a moment to wish the one and only Alice Cooper happy birthday, 75 years young and still going strong :metal
Man, what a living legend. Definitively at one of the highest places on my list of "people to see every time there's a chance while they're still around".
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Let's take a moment to wish the one and only Alice Cooper happy birthday, 75 years young and still going strong :metal
Man, what a living legend. Definitively at one of the highest places on my list of "people to see every time there's a chance while they're still around".
:hefdaddy :hefdaddy :hefdaddy
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Still kicks ass at 75. Hopefully he never retires
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Alice is doing a summer tour with Rob Zombie, pretty bummed it's not coming to my local amphitheater.
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Still kicks ass at 75. Hopefully he never retires
I remembered a quote and I went looking for it. It was said in 2005 so it was a long time ago by now, but so far, he's living up to it:
"I look at Mick Jagger and he's on an 18-month tour and he's six years older than me, so I figure, when he retires, I have six more years. I will not let him beat me when it comes to longevity."
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I feel as long as Alice is able to physically perform he'll be performing. You can tell he's still having fun
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Last year, there were a lot more BVs, but still a great show.
There was an article in the paper today, and the wife asked me if I would be interested in this
https://www.amazon.com/Alice-Cooper-at-Gary-Graff/dp/0760378274
Oh, hell yes!
(https://media1.houstonpress.com/hou/imager/u/original/14667824/hou_mus_alicebook.jpg)
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That looks nice. $64 is kind of steep though. But it does look like a great product.
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Nita's coming back to Alice for the summer tour. I wish that tour was coming to my town.
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Yay :metal
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New album out 25th of August!!! :metal
ROAD is the name of the record, and here's the lead single, I'm Alice:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVxJwWgv5Gg&ab_channel=earMUSIC
Written with his touring band, as he said he would do. This is just confirmation of what has already been said, that he would write an album tentatively named "Road" with the current live band.
Tracklist:
I’m Alice
Welcome To The Show
All Over The World
Dead Don’t Dance
Go Away
White Line Frankenstein
Big Boots
Rules Of The Road
The Big Goodbye
Road Rats Forever
Baby Please Don’t Go
100 More Miles
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I've listened a couple of times, and hopefully musically, it'll grow on me, but lyrically and vocally, it's top shelf Alice, so I'm digging it.
I believe he actually has another album already in the can.
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"White Line Frankenstein". What a great title.
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Road Rats Forever…maybe a reworking of the Lace & Whisky song?
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I still think it's super weird to have a band and not record with them. Now Alice is acting like it's unfortunate he doesn't record with them. It actually makes me less excited for the album. Are they good enough or not?
Granted, an album like Paranormal was outstanding and only had one or two members appearing on a track or two so he does get results. Still kinda weird.
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Alice seems to think of his touring band and his tours as separate from his studio work and studio albums. It's pretty much always been this way, ever since Welcome to My Nightmare. Obviously he has to put together a band when he hits the road, and it's gonna be mostly folks he's worked with in the past, but in the studio it's track by track and who or what he needs on any given song. I mean, he went solo in the first place because he wasn't into being tied down to a band and a single vision. The vision is his and whatever he wants it to be.
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Alice seems to think of his touring band and his tours as separate from his studio work and studio albums. It's pretty much always been this way, ever since Welcome to My Nightmare. Obviously he has to put together a band when he hits the road, and it's gonna be mostly folks he's worked with in the past, but in the studio it's track by track and who or what he needs on any given song. I mean, he went solo in the first place because he wasn't into being tied down to a band and a single vision. The vision is his and whatever he wants it to be.
To an extent yes but he also used to have a revolving door for band members. Usually if a guy was a member of his band at the time, they would appear on the album. There were just so many that were coming and going that there was some inconsistency. He also has had a ton of guest musicians doing a lead here or there. Lately he has been almost exclusively using session musicians despite having the most consistent lineup he has EVER had (including the original band). Just kind of weird. And honestly, I think it would help sales to have a more consistent product. Probably not enough for Alice to give a crap though.
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Road Rats Forever…maybe a reworking of the Lace & Whisky song?
Yup!
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(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/68/Alice_Cooper_-_Road.png)
So I got one listen in and I have it on for a second listen right now.
My first impression isn't a great one. That said, I expect to warm up to it, but I think it's a bit of a step down from his previous two albums.
This is the fourth album in a row that he's done since reuniting with Bob Ezrin. I don't include Welcome 2 My Nightmare, because that's its own animal, but his last three albums, Paranormal, Detroit Stories, and now Road, all have a somewhat similar feel. Paranormal has more variety and is the best of the three.
I know he used his touring band, and I don't know what, if any, effect it had on the songs, other than they did share in some of the songwriting, but they all seemed to write the same song.
Too many of these songs, almost all actually, have the same plodding pace. Is it possible for a three minute song to feel too long.
I love Alice Cooper, and he's still the star of the album. His vocal ability is remarkable. Not as a singer, but as a vocalist. His sneer, sarcasm, humor, it's all there in his delivery. I will always find a way to enjoy him, even over mediocre garage rock. There are also some really nice guitar solos on this album too.
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Isn't this the first complete band effort for a studio album with the current lineup? I would have hoped for a better review. The last new Alice Cooper album I listened to was Welcome to My Nightmare 2 which was complete tripe.
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Isn't this the first complete band effort for a studio album with the current lineup? I would have hoped for a better review. The last new Alice Cooper album I listened to was Welcome to My Nightmare 2 which was complete tripe.
Welcome 2 has its moments, but all in all, I agree with you. The best part is hearing Alice's Eminem impression. :lol
Paranormal is actually pretty good overall.
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Warming up after my third listen.
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Is it better than Detroit Stories? That album is nothing special at all but I really enjoy listening to it for some reason.
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Is it better than Detroit Stories? That album is nothing special at all but I really enjoy listening to it for some reason.
In a way, this is quite similar. But like that album, it creeps up on you, and you just find yourself head bobbing out of the blue.
Alice has so many styles of music behind him on his albums, but he is the constant, and I think he is excellent on this album.
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Really enjoying this album so far (2 listens in). Feels like a continuation of Detroit Stories and Paranormal, but I like those a lot, so more is fine with me. Can’t say I hear too much different with the live musicians being involved, except maybe some Glenn Sobel drum stuff.
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Well I decided to blind-buy it and I just listened to it and I really liked it. I can already say I like it better than Detroit Stories.
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Yeah, I was a bit too harsh on it the first time through. I'm really enjoying it.
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YAY! Just scored two free tickets (albeit on the lawn; beggars, choosers, whatever) for Alice Cooper and Rob Zombie in Hartford. I finally get to break my Alice Cooper cherry!!
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YAY! Just scored two free tickets (albeit on the lawn; beggars, choosers, whatever) for Alice Cooper and Rob Zombie in Hartford. I finally get to break my Alice Cooper cherry!!
I know very little of his music, but I saw him on tour with Queensryche and I think Heaven and Hell over a decade ago. I was blown away. I hope you have just as good a time.
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YAY! Just scored two free tickets (albeit on the lawn; beggars, choosers, whatever) for Alice Cooper and Rob Zombie in Hartford. I finally get to break my Alice Cooper cherry!!
I wish this tour was coming to me, I would have definitely been there. I think that's a cool pairing. Alice is always a good show, and Rob (while his music is hit or miss) usually puts on a good stage show. I do wonder how his guitarist is these days since John 5 left for Motley Crue. ( I don't really actively follow ROb Zombie, but a big part of seeing him was to also see John 5)
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I saw Rob Zombie when White Zombie first came out. I saw them open for Anthrax in 1993, and they were amazing.
I also wish Alice was playing nearby. I had tix to see him in June 2020 and Covid knocked that out.
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YAY! Just scored two free tickets (albeit on the lawn; beggars, choosers, whatever) for Alice Cooper and Rob Zombie in Hartford. I finally get to break my Alice Cooper cherry!!
I wish this tour was coming to me, I would have definitely been there. I think that's a cool pairing. Alice is always a good show, and Rob (while his music is hit or miss) usually puts on a good stage show. I do wonder how his guitarist is these days since John 5 left for Motley Crue. ( I don't really actively follow ROb Zombie, but a big part of seeing him was to also see John 5)
I got them through my step son - who likes Rob - and I said I was more jazzed to see his guitar player, THEN I found out John wasn't doing both. Ah well. This is an "experience" concert for me, so I'm going in with an open mind and I see what I see!
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So Alice is being cancelled for his trans comments....
I'm actually mostly on his side here.
https://blabbermouth.net/news/alice-cooper-dropped-by-cosmetics-company-after-calling-gender-affirming-care-a-fad (https://blabbermouth.net/news/alice-cooper-dropped-by-cosmetics-company-after-calling-gender-affirming-care-a-fad)
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I ask discussion of the above be kept to P/R.
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Gave a couple of spins to the album and it's pretty solid. It might be my favorite of the last three. Paranormal had the title track and some other nice tracks here and there (Fireball for example) but one of my favorites was the bonus track, Genuine American Girl. Detroit Stories came and went and right now I can only remember the bridge to one of the singles, "You think I'm tragic but I know I'm magic". This one has some very good tunes like the first two, Go Away, and almost something resembling an "epic" in 100 More Miles. Love also the cleverness and the humour of the lyrics, such as in Rules of the Road.
It helps that there's an overall theme, it makes the album feel more cohesive.
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(not political or religious, so I did my best to stay within the guidelines....)
I'm going to debunk two myths: the cat stuff and the kitty litter boxes. Just such total BS, that I can't believe news organizations have had to ask questions of various districts named to dispel that idiocy. And so very disappointed that he quoted that nonsense.
Don't fall for what certain people put out as propaganda. Remember Toronto '69? Myth #2: no one bit the head off a chicken on stage at a concert.
I've been following an artist for 50+ years, with a woman's name, who has worn mascara and women's clothing, and never once made me want to 'switch' sides, even though I dressed as him on many occasions for Halloween (including five years ago).
I enjoyed my first listen of the new album Friday. I liked it, though much seemed to blend together. I'll need to wait a month or two to spin it again.
He didn't write the original, but I thought of him and these lyrics
"Roll out! Roll out with your American dream and its recruits
I've been ready
Roll out! Roll out with your circus freaks and hula hoops
I've been ready"
Nothing wrong in being 'different'. Not much to fear as well. He can believe what he wants. Just thought he was a bit wiser, more welcoming, and less gullible.
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Excellent post DragonAttack.
Anyway, my Deluxe Edition just came in the mail today. I don't have high hopes for it. Alice is pretty hit or miss or should I say miss and miss with the exception of Paranormal which I found excellent. Before that, Dirty Diamonds was really good and Brutal Planet/Dragontown were great. Sometimes I think Alice just does things just to do them. I haven't felt there has been much inspiration in the last 20 years.
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I ask discussion of the above be kept to P/R.
This is a bit frustrating as I'd like to respond to DragonAttack's post. No idea why any discussion of Alice Cooper's comments in the Alice Cooper thread about a newsworthy Alice Cooper story would need to be preemptively shut down.
I don't think anyone is here to debate the trans issue here, but to simply talk about what Alice said. At least we should allow an opening opinion on it, and if the thread needs to be redirected at that point then so be it. Now to even discuss it, we all have to register for P/R, wait however many weeks it takes to get approved...
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Anyway, my Deluxe Edition just came in the mail today. I don't have high hopes for it. Alice is pretty hit or miss or should I say miss and miss with the exception of Paranormal which I found excellent. Before that, Dirty Diamonds was really good and Brutal Planet/Dragontown were great. Sometimes I think Alice just does things just to do them. I haven't felt there has been much inspiration in the last 20 years.
We all have different opinions I guess. I thought Brutal Planet (which does have a few good songs) and Dragontown are generally not for me. I don't like the style they are in. You mentioned Dirty Diamond too, which is a fun album, but neglected to mention The Eyes Of Alice Cooper (which came between Dragontown and Dirty Diamonds), which to me is the best album he's released this century.
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Two cents on this millennium's albums:
Brutal Planet is fantastic, kickass, heavy, dark and awesome.
Dragontown is the lesser "heavy" brother, still good but inconsitent.
The Eyes of Alice Cooper is indeed a great rock n' roll, down to the basics album. Awesome stuff.
Dirty Diamonds - just like Dragontown, the second albium in the style of the previous is good but nowhere near its elder brother.
Along Came a Spider is ok, it has some very good songs, but I can see why people would overlook it.
Welcome 2 My Nightmare is great, I like how it's all over the place in its theatrical extravaganza. A fun wacky "anything goes record".
Paranormal has some strong tracks but some others leave me meh.
Detroit Stories is mostly forgettable.
Road feels promising, some very nice tunes.
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TWO DAYS LATER CORRECTION to my prior post:
Here's the actual interview (thanks, TAC)
https://www.stereogum.com/2233806/alice-cooper-new-album-keanu-reeves-trans-issues/interviews/weve-got-a-file-on-you/
Nowhere is the litter box part mentioned. Blabbermouth added that :censored So, I end up being a gullible party, which ticks me off to no end. My apologies to the forum, and to Alice.
I'll leave the totally unproven rest room comments for P/R. That said, it seems the company could have contacted him, Alice offers up the obligatory apology, and it ends up water under the bridge.
Now I can give 'Road' a second spin today without angst.
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I ask discussion of the above be kept to P/R.
This is a bit frustrating as I'd like to respond to DragonAttack's post. No idea why any discussion of Alice Cooper's comments in the Alice Cooper thread about a newsworthy Alice Cooper story would need to be preemptively shut down.
I don't think anyone is here to debate the trans issue here, but to simply talk about what Alice said. At least we should allow an opening opinion on it, and if the thread needs to be redirected at that point then so be it. Now to even discuss it, we all have to register for P/R, wait however many weeks it takes to get approved...
I'd like to ACTUALLY SEE (hear?) what he said, rather than someone's excerpts of what he said with their own counter arguments built right in.
NINJA'd by DragonAttack, but the point remains (and appears to be at least partially valid, to boot!)...
Some of what he said is pretty dicey (I sort think that if the various groups that are committed to preventing sexual assault against women aren't buying the "predator" argument, neither am I), but to say "I'm AFRAID it's a fad" is not the same as saying "I THINK it's a fad" or "It IS a fad". And that FEAR that TO SOME it MIGHT BE is not irrational. The incidence rate of "gender dysphoria" occurs anywhere from three to six times more frequently for adolescents than from adults (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6336471/#:~:text=Not%20all%20children%20and%20youth,of%2012%25–27%25.), and gender dysphoria only continues into adulthood somewhere between 20% to 30% of the time (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6336471/#:~:text=Not%20all%20children%20and%20youth,of%2012%25–27%25.). I know science is working on it, but at least SOME of that COULD be the general "searching" that kids do, and at least SOME of that COULD be "hey, I don't know what this is really, but maybe it's that thing I read about". Even well-meaning and caring parents, most of whom have never had to deal with this sort of thing before, might be susceptible to reading about this and thinking "my kid is searching... " and provide them with what they for all good intent think is the answer.
That doesn't mean it's any less valid, that doesn't mean there's "hate" or "transphobia" involved in getting to the bottom of things. We CANNOT have politics - or more correctly, some arbitrary political correctness - interfering in how we as parents and doctors give care to our kids.
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I ask discussion of the above be kept to P/R.
This is a bit frustrating as I'd like to respond to DragonAttack's post. No idea why any discussion of Alice Cooper's comments in the Alice Cooper thread about a newsworthy Alice Cooper story would need to be preemptively shut down.
I don't think anyone is here to debate the trans issue here, but to simply talk about what Alice said. At least we should allow an opening opinion on it, and if the thread needs to be redirected at that point then so be it. Now to even discuss it, we all have to register for P/R, wait however many weeks it takes to get approved...
I'd like to ACTUALLY SEE (hear?) what he said, rather than someone's excerpts of what he said with their own counter arguments built right in.
NINJA'd by DragonAttack, but the point remains (and appears to be at least partially valid, to boot!)...
Some of what he said is pretty dicey (I sort think that if the various groups that are committed to preventing sexual assault against women aren't buying the "predator" argument, neither am I), but to say "I'm AFRAID it's a fad" is not the same as saying "I THINK it's a fad" or "It IS a fad".
Not going to engage with you on LGBTQ+ stuff, as I've said, but....really?
If a loved one went into emergency surgery and the doctor came out and said "I'm afraid they didn't make it." You wouldn't be sure they died? You'd ask the doctor why they are afraid of this and then ask for further facts as to the status of the loved one?
I'm afraid I disagree with you.
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I opened a thread in PR quoting the last post, if anyone cares. It's probably best we don't continue that discussion here.
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This is a bit frustrating as I'd like to respond to DragonAttack's post. No idea why any discussion of Alice Cooper's comments in the Alice Cooper thread about a newsworthy Alice Cooper story would need to be preemptively shut down.
I'm not shutting it down, I'm asking it be kept to the appropriate part of the forum. This is Music Discussion. And conversations about trans people, people who comment on the "trans issue" and the very concept of "cancellation" almost always veer into P/R territory, as evidenced by the posts immediately responding to the topic. Don't you already have P/R permission anyway?
So yeah, keep the non-music discussion it to the thread cramx3 made:
https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=58559.0
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I’m just glad I was able to sit down and post my correction FOURTEEN seconds before Stadler’s post. Phew😀
Oh, I do like ‘Big Boots’. The song is kinda good, too.😉
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TWO DAYS LATER CORRECTION to my prior post:
Here's the actual interview (thanks, TAC)
https://www.stereogum.com/2233806/alice-cooper-new-album-keanu-reeves-trans-issues/interviews/weve-got-a-file-on-you/
Nowhere is the litter box part mentioned. Blabbermouth added that :censored So, I end up being a gullible party, which ticks me off to no end. My apologies to the forum, and to Alice.
To your credit, when someone brings up the myth about kids identifying as cats it's almost always followed with the completely fake claim about litter boxes.
That said, I do a pretty good job of separating the art from the artist so I finally listened to Road and boy am I unimpressed. Just bland. Dead Don't Dance was ok but man, Kane Roberts's solo was kind of painful. White Line Frankenstein was pretty good. The Big Goodbye was good and Road Rats Forever had the Dick Wagner feel which was nice. The last few songs were an OK way to end an underwhelming album.
But seriously what's up with I'm Alice aka Elected redux. It's like the spiritually successor to Hello Hooray if it was drunk and started playing the wrong parts to a different song.
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I finally listened to Road and boy am I unimpressed. Just bland. Dead Don't Dance was ok but man, Kane Roberts's solo was kind of painful. White Line Frankenstein was pretty good. The Big Goodbye was good and Road Rats Forever had the Dick Wagner feel which was nice. The last few songs were an OK way to end an underwhelming album.
100 More Miles is amazing and if the album was done in this style, it would've been interesting.
I'm with you in that my first listen was kind of disappointing. But I listened to this again yesterday, and as the songs separate themselves a little, I can find some breathing room. Yes, they are all stylistically similar, but I am finding that for the most part, they are all pretty catchy.
I'm a huge fan, so I can always find something to like. There are a couple of albums of his that I never listen to though. Along Came A Spider and Dragontown. Just have never been able to get into them.
But Road is pretty easy in the ears if one is not trying to be so serious about it.
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Ok, this album has completely conquered me like Paranormal and especially Detroit Cities never did.
I'm not calling it a modern masterpiece or anything but it manages to keep you on the hook from the beginning to the end. A bunch of very solid and enjoyable tracks and the fact that it's a themed album it helps, it makes it more cohesive.
Favorite tracks: I'm Alice, Welcome to the Show, Go Away, The Long Goodbye, and the magnificent 100 More Miles.
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I just saw him Sunday night in Hartford for the first time. Blown away, it was so good. Not in a "this music touched my soul and I cried the entire time" way, but in a "this is a professional who has been doing this for over 50 years and is still on the top of his game". Nita Strauss was a force to be reckoned with. The rest of the band was solid as a rock. The set list was stellar (spoilers, below).
Lock Me Up
No More Mr. Nice Guy
I'm Eighteen
Under My Wheels
Billion Dollar Babies
Hey Stoopid
Lost in America
Snakebite
Feed My Frankenstein
Poison
"The Black Widow" segment from Alice Cooper: The Nightmare
Guitar Solo (Nita Strauss)
Black Widow Jam
Ballad of Dwight Fry
Killer (Partial: band only)
I Love the Dead (Partial: band only)
Elected
School's Out (with Another Brick In The Wall)
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His live band is so much fun to watch. Which is why I’m surprised none of the new album has made an appearance yet.
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I just saw him Sunday night in Hartford for the first time. Blown away, it was so good. Not in a "this music touched my soul and I cried the entire time" way, but in a "this is a professional who has been doing this for over 50 years and is still on the top of his game". Nita Strauss was a force to be reckoned with. The rest of the band was solid as a rock. The set list was stellar (spoilers, below).
Lock Me Up
No More Mr. Nice Guy
I'm Eighteen
Under My Wheels
Billion Dollar Babies
Hey Stoopid
Lost in America
Snakebite
Feed My Frankenstein
Poison
"The Black Widow" segment from Alice Cooper: The Nightmare
Guitar Solo (Nita Strauss)
Black Widow Jam
Ballad of Dwight Fry
Killer (Partial: band only)
I Love the Dead (Partial: band only)
Elected
School's Out (with Another Brick In The Wall)
I'm amazed you live in a town of that size, near towns of a larger size, and have only just now seen Alice. I live in a town muuuuuuch smaller than yours and have seen Alice three times just down the street and another 5 within a few hours drive.
Glad you finally got to see him though. A friend had 4th row tickets a few weeks ago but I passed. Would have loved to have heard Lock Me Up though. I love that era.
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Yeah, it's kind of weird. That's kind of why I went; he's sort of a holy grail artist in the sense that he's top three acts I want to see. It's totally me, though, and my willingness to put in the effort. He plays here a lot and as some of you know, I'm not averse to traveling to an act I really want to see (NY or Boston). He's played Connecticut 10 times in the last ten years, including several headlining sets.
The problem, for me, is he plays the casinos a LOT (six of those ten were at the casinos) and at this point I try to avoid them. It's really hard to get decent seats for a decent price, and it's like seeing a show at a mall.
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The problem, for me, is he plays the casinos a LOT (six of those ten were at the casinos) and at this point I try to avoid them. It's really hard to get decent seats for a decent price, and it's like seeing a show at a mall.
I've never gone to a casino show, or to a casino for that matter (except once for dinner), but I've always imagined a small theater attached to the casino complex where the band plays, and I guess I further imagined that it was a pretty nice venue and a great show, especially considering the price. But seeing a show "at a mall" sounds horrible, so apparently I have a great imagination and reality is something else. What's it like seeing a show at a mall?
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What's it like seeing a show at a mall?
(https://i.makeagif.com/media/11-16-2016/8c0-wa.gif)
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Yeah, that looks pretty horrible. Not at all like a small intimate theater venue that you pay hundreds for.
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I saw Alice Cooper at The Wolf's Den at Mohegan Sun back in '98. We couldn't get into the smaller actual Den, but we stood on the outside between the slots, and you could still see and hear great. Saw UFO there as well a few years ago as well.
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Casino gigs are a totally different atmosphere. I honestly don't care for them at all. You'll have plenty of fans come in for the show, but you'll also have a ton of gambling degenerates. You also have to factor in that casino drinks are dirt cheap (or free), so it's almost always a seriously drunkenen crowd. My experience has mostly been drunk speedfreaks, to be honest. Casinos really don't attract the classiest patrons. There are some bands that'll only have their own crowd. There are other bands that'll really pack in the white trash degenerates.
One pro is that they often have free soft drink dispensers all about the place, and restrooms are abundant.
One con is that walking through a dense crowd of mindless zombies plunking money into slot machines to get to the actual theater is depressing to those of us with a functional conscience.
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I saw Alice Cooper at The Wolf's Den at Mohegan Sun back in '98. We couldn't get into the smaller actual Den, but we stood on the outside between the slots, and you could still see and hear great. Saw UFO there as well a few years ago as well.
I saw Asia that way as well.
To be clear, Orbert is sort of right. Sort of. Foxwoods has two world class theaters (one about 1,500 and one about 4,000 seats). It's beautiful. Mohegan has the Wolf's Den (300 seats, always free, first come first served) and the arena (10,000 more or less).
The larger Foxwoods theater is awesome; never saw a show at the smaller one. Wolf's Den is what it is, if you can get a seat, and the arena is okay, but it's an arena (and they will cut it down in size if the act warrants it; Extreme played there on the Pronograffiti 25 tour, and I'd guess the capacity was 6,000?). So watching the show isn't like being in a mall, but everything else is. I don't know; it's just personal preference for me, but I like going to Irving Plaza in NY, and walking the streets of NY to get to McSorley's before or meeting up with some of you guys in a local brewery... Plus, for some reason - and I went to college with the CEO of Mohegan (and golfed with him two weeks ago) - it's incredibly hard to get decent tickets at Mohegan. I know a little about how it works, and they, frankly, don't care, because invariably the places are full; they want a BODY there, not necessarily MY body, if that makes sense. I kind of am brewing a bit of a bug up my ass about the artists that play there, but that's for another thread.