Alice has been making music for 40 years, so where do I start? Can anyone recommend one or two studio records from each decade, or a multi-decade compilation?
Start with Welcome to My Nightmare.
Dio got it right. Either that or Billion Dollar Babies.
Those are definitely the first two. In that order.
Anything before Billion Dollar Babies, nothing after it.
“I’m a killer, and …
I’m a clown”
“She asked me why the singer’s name was Alice …”
Go play golf with him.
Appropot of nothing:
An old band mate of mine who was a bass player once sent an audition tape to Alice Cooper and got back a very kind and polite rejection letter signed “Vincent Furnier.” Class guy. The guy who sent him the tape wasn’t really that good, but Alice (or maybe I should say Vincent. He’s pretty insistent that “Alice” is just a stage character) blew him off in a very nice way. I remember that about him because he didn’t have to respond at all, but took the time to send a hand written letter. You never saw a bass player as proud of a rejection letter as the the dude who received it.
I recommend From the Inside, a concept album based on his experiences after he checked himself into a psych ward.
I love this album,and second the recommendation.
My favorites in order:
- Love It To Death
- Killer
- School’s Out
- Billion Dollar Babies
**Welcome To My Nightmare **is acceptable but he/they ceased to exist for me after that.
According to IMDB, Vincent legally changed his name to Alice Cooper in 1974. According to Cooper: 'Name Change Was The Best Decision I Ever Made' | Contactmusic.com, it was in the late 60s, but that’s just when he started using the stage name.
Where’s the Doper who wrangles boa’s for an Alice tribute band? Isn’t that faithfool? I am sure she’ll have a POV…
I’ll add my voice to Nightmare…
Thanks for the suggestions. I downloaded Babies and Nightmare. It sounds like Alice Cooper, the band, is more appreciated than Alice Cooper, the solo artist. Why is that?
Biiiiiiiiiiiiiingo!
Best wishes,
hh
The same reason that the stuff that the pizza delivery man leaves is more appreciated than the stuff that the neighbor’s dog leaves.
Best wishes,
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One of my favorite Alice songs, for no real reason, is Lost in America. It’s kind of exactly where a lot of people were when I was in high school. (Not me. I had a job and a bike. But no girl.)
A newer track that is completely acceptable is Vengeance is Mine. But then again, it’s got Slash on it.
Billion Dollar Baby, by Bob Greene. published by Atheneum in 1974.
Greene was a Chicago newspaper columnist, got to know Alice, AKA Vince, and went on the road with the original band as they were self-destructing.
Excellent writing, and a great story.
Enjoy
David
You were looking for things from various decades–I cannot recommend *Brutal Planet *(2000) more highly. It’s an absolutely fantastic album, and far and away my favorite Alice album. The sequel, Dragontown, is good but more hit-and-miss. There is not a bad song on Brutal Planet, IMO.
Alice Cooper Goes To Hell would have made a great off-Broadway musical.
My favorites in order…
Billion Dollar Babies
Killer
Goes to Hell
Welcome to my Nightmare
…and then all of the rest of his pre-Constrictor works. I even like his “rehab period” albums like Dada and Special Forces, but save those until you have become a very tolerant super-fan.