The Alice Cooper thread

[Stadler]

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?? 

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.

[Madman Shepherd]

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.

[a51502112]

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.

[DTA]

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.

[DTA]

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.

[DTA]

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.

[Madman Shepherd]

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.

[DTA]

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

[Madman Shepherd]

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.

[TAC]

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.

[Stadler]

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.   

[Stadler]

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. 

[Madman Shepherd]

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.   

 

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.

[Stadler]

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).

[Madman Shepherd]

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.

[Stadler]

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.

[Madman Shepherd]

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.

[DTA]

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.   

 

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. 

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.

[DragonAttack]

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

[TAC]

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

 

[TAC]

Joe, did you see any Alice shows in the 70's?

[DragonAttack]

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.

[Stadler]

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. 

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.

[Madman Shepherd]

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. 

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.

[Stadler]

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?

[MirrorMask]

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.

[DTA]

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. 

[Madman Shepherd]

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?

[MirrorMask]

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. 

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.

[DTA]

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. 

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.

[TAC]

So much of his show is based on a visual component, and she really stands out.

[DTA]

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.

[Orbert]

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.

[Madman Shepherd]

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

[TAC]

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.