Well this is a biggie – in more ways than one. The first album from the Alice Cooper band (as opposed to the spin-off solo artist) in more than fifty years. And it weighs in at a generous 16 tracks if you include the bonuses. More than just a cash-grab, this seems to be an album / event that fans actually want given that the one-off supporting London show featuring the original (mainly) lineup sold out in a couple of hours. As an aside, if you didn’t snag one of the 900 tickets, The event will be live streamed globally via the earMUSIC and Alice Cooper YouTube channels , as well as TalkShopLive.
The Revenge of Alice Cooper features Alice himself alongside Michael Bruce, Dennis Dunaway, Neal Smith and a posthumous appearance by Glen Buxton (on “What Happened To You”) who passed away back in 1997. This is one of those albums where I wish I had more PR bumph to pull from as I’m sure its writing and recording is a story in itself, but I’ll focus on the music.
“Black Mamba” is a great opener. Creepy, groovy and with some riffage courtesy of Robby Krieger (a founding member of The Doors, for crying out loud), and leads into “Wild Ones” which is as good a pairing as you’ll get.
“Up All Night” is superb, though, and I’d have picked this one as a single. A great bass line, simple yet effective guitar solos, wonderfully sleezy singalong lyrics… Yeah, this is what I’m here for. It partners well with “Kill The Flies” where Alice is the lyrical focus. With some great harmonics in the background, this is the creepy we expect from Alice and company. Listening it, you can absolutely see Alice acting it out on stage. Also, given that its fruit fly season in Glasgow, I can relate to the desire to commit Diptera genocide!
Talking of bass lines, the one leading us into and through “One Night Stand”… ooft. It absolutely throbs, which kind of goes along with this song. Alice’s vocals seem to be at the lowest octave-wise that I’ve ever heard through this three minute number. How he’s been going for over fifty years in the music industry and still throwing out something that sounds original compared to his older material is beyond me. Is it the influence of his old bandmates? If they’d stuck together would we have heard this in 1980? All that matters is that we’re hearing it now.
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By the time we get to “Blood On The Sun”, with its two-act presentation, I’m convinced that we’ve opened a time warp to the mid-70s. We’re not even halfway through and there’s not a song that sounds “modern” and I absolutely don’t mean that in any negative way whatsoever. The Revenge… is a beautiful step backwards.
I’ve fallen into a trap I try to avoid of going through every track on the album, but it’s because every track is so damn good. “Crap That Gets In The Way Of Your Dreams” is probably the only song that wouldn’t have made it onto an album back in the day, and that’s only because of the word “Crap” in the title. It joins the list of angry songs railing at society that have interspersed Alice’s career. Amusingly the lyrics state that “now I’m 65” when Alice is currently 77, but if he only feels 65 then that’s good for us all!
After “Famous Face” we have “Money Screams” where Alice’s voice again drops to a lower tone. I confess I’ve said for years that Alice doesn’t have a great singing voice, but what he has is the perfect voice for what he does. With “Money Screams” we’re actually hearing more of him singing than performing and… hands up the guy can actually sing. Towards the end, the more familiar Alice comes through backed by the rest of the band (along with a reference to an older song). Again I wonder how the sound of “Alice Cooper” would have been different had Alice and the band not parted ways in 1975.
“What A Syd” is very much blues-influenced with definite Cab Calloway overtones! The pace ramps up again with “Inter Galactic Vagabond Blues” which is as cheesily sci-fi as you could possibly hope for. And has a harmonica in it. For reasons that will become obvious once you hear the lyrics, this should be Captain James T Kirk’s anthem.
As mentioned in the intro, “What Happened To You” features a recording of Glen Buxton which has stood the test of time and forms a part of this classic rock n’ roll song. Piano, mentions of “Kalamazoo” and a thumping rhythm that would have Chuck Berry going green with envy… Get your dancing shoes on for this one.
The album begins its journey towards the climax as we hit “I Ain’t Done Wrong”, another blues-led number. Harmonica and some work on Alice’s vocals give this one a “Jailhouse Rock” vibe. Largely musical with only a smattering of lyrics it gives the band a chance to shine and shine they do. We often focus on Alice’s age, but we have to remember that every one of these noise makers is in their late 70s as well. To still have such nimble fingers as well as the creativity to be a part of this album is testament to their abilities.
“See You On The Other Side” is the perfect album closer with the message obvious from the title, and I don’t mean “flipping the vinyl back to Side A”. It’s heartfelt yet still pretty rocking, with some genuinely lovely lyrics.
With the album “proper” finished, there are two more songs to be added for the box set and limited “smart” editions. First up is an alternative version of “Return of the Spiders” from 1970. For a “raw take” it’s pretty well produced but obviously not along the same lines as the album proper. Listening to it alongside the full album it sits well musically, and you really do feel that Revenge is almost a “what could have been” had the whole band stayed together. “Titanic Overunderture” is a short and rather odd extra song which for some reason makes me think of The Beatles perhaps as it’s a little off-kilter. An interesting number that I’m sure those who punt up for the extra material will enjoy.
Overall, this is very much an early 1970s album presented with 21st century audio tech and clarity. From “Black Mamba”‘s swagger through to the heartstrings being tugged on “See You On The Other Side”, this is yet another quintessential Alice Cooper album – and I mean both the man and the band. The original lineup have never sounded so good.
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The Revenge of Alice Cooper is out on July 24th
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