Alice Cooper – The Revenge Of Alice Cooper
(Ear Music – 2025)
(Genre: Shock Rock)
The Alice Cooper Band released their last album, 'Muscle Of Love' in 1973 without legendary producer Bob Ezrin’s involvement, it was a patchy directionless affair.
They then embarked on a tour of South America and for some reason this was still called 'The 'Billion Dollar Babies Tour'. They were massive in scale, drawing huge crowds. When the tour finished the various members decided they needed a break. They never expected to not record another album together. The intention was to work on various solo projects and reconvene a year later.
Neal Smith recorded 'Platinum Gods' in 1975 to little acclaim or success. Collectively, minus Vincent Furnier, the other members formed 'Billion Dollar Babies', the album called 'Battle Axe' suffered the same fate: a tour with a massive stage show only managed a few dates before collapsing with huge financial losses in 1976.
That was really the strange case and demise of the Alice Cooper Band. But why did a band so successful fall apart? Well, Vincent Furnier had an idea, that idea was 'Welcome To My Nightmare'. He approached long term mentor Bob Ezrin for the project. More importantly he changed his name to Alice Cooper, essentially, he was now a solo artist. The success of WTMN stunned both Alice and the world, such was the impact of this album the Alice Cooper Band would never record another album together again, until now!
51 years after Muscle! Miraculously there never seemed to be any animosity between the band and Alice. They kept in contact over the ensuing years and this has finally led to 'The Revenge Of Alice Cooper'. It is a moment of huge expectation and excitement! Bob Ezrin who has been at Alice’s side through most of his solo career is in the producer’s chair. Could he Neal Smith, Michael Bruce, Dennis Dunaway and the late Glenn Buxton (who passed in 1997) turn back time and recreate the sounds of the past?
'The Revenge Of Alice Cooper' manages to recapture much of the original sound which is remarkable considering the duration of time and modern producing techniques. ‘Black Mamba’ sees the album slip and slide into vision with an eerie feel that gets the album off to a creepy start: a great one and hopefully placed in the set for the forthcoming live shows, it is a night-time 'Killer'!
Revenge has many highpoints, those are; ‘Kill The Flies’, I hate flies! Is Steven institutionalised, fearing those flies are waiting for him to die? ‘Blood On The Sun’ sees the band stretch out with Alice in reflective mood as he deals with the horrors and the power of the gun. It is absolute genius. ‘One Night Stand’ has a sinister twisted slasher movie feel.
‘Wild Ones’ roars with sounds of rampaging Rockers, motorcycle villains and they’re not looking for redemption. Don’t get under their wheels! Actually, all of these should make the cut when the tour hits the stage. In addition to these, ‘Money Screams’ is a successor of sorts, a Billion Dollar classic, money rules! ‘What A Syd’ adds depth with its vaudeville swing on acid. ‘Intergalactic Vagabond Blues’ is harmonica fused Blues, a bit of 'Easy Action'. ‘See You On The Other Side’ is deep, battling the demons that make you want to dance with the Devil. I’ll see you one day, on the other side.
Having the Alice Cooper Band back together is a joy, not a revenge. All aspects are covered, all members involved, each get their moment to shine. It is a Titanic effort! All that remains is to see how many of the songs make the set list. Judging by the recent past, 'Brutal Planet' (2000), the last one to be plundered, not many. At least four should be nailed on, they are theatrical and should enhance the show.
As a huge Alice Cooper fan since the mid-seventies, I have to acknowledge that the album is not flawless. Apparently 60 plus songs were considered and presented. I think the sequencing could be better and maybe that causes a lack of flow. The 14 that make the album (not including 2 bonus ones) make it too long by a couple of tracks.
For me, towards the end, the album loses direction. The songs that don’t work for me are; ‘Crap That Gets In The Way Of Your Dreams’ because it borrows too heavily from The Kinks ‘You Really Got Me’. ‘Up All Night’ is something that would maybe be perfect for Trash era Alice, but not here. ‘What Happened To You’ has a great intro but then takes us to ‘New Orleans’ or very close to that song. These are minor gripes and have to be put into context.
I have waited a few decades for this release and really hope this continues for at least one more album. After all, there are plenty of songs already written, with more to come. What I am saying is I really ‘Love It To Death’, if you don’t, well you can go to hell!
By Paul Mace