Alice Cooper: Classic or Dud??

11th May 2011: Battersea Power Station, London

That wasn't a proper gig but some kind of "hologram" live broadcast.

who's the lead guitarist?

Ryan Roxie from the current Alice Cooper lineup.

makes sense. must have been a thrill for him.

have you got the time to tell me did they play "is it my body?"

They did. It was awesome.

Looks like they joined Alice for his set tonight opening for Motley Crue. I would totally go if they toured.

omg
did they do the extended "goin' to the graveyard" part or the album version?

I think it was just the shorter version.

Set list:

Caught in a Dream (sung by Michael)

Alice then joined them:

Be My Lover
I'm Eighteen
Is It My Body
No More Mr. Nice Guy
Under My Wheels
School's Out

Encore:

Elected

shut up

elected!!

Which he ended by urging us all to vote as long as it wasn't for him.

Full set is up. A little rocky, especially at the start, but once Alice comes out it's a lot of fun.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=sQuYnldPlqY

Whenever I get on a kick of listening to those Alice Cooper albums from 1971-1974, I always find myself thinking that it was a shame that a band that good didn't get back together after a temporary break. I often wonder how many great albums they had in them, and whether Muscle of Love (as much as I love the highlights of that record) would have been just a temporary dip.

Alice's dip into addiction and Bernie Taupin might've just meant we got the same albums with a better backing band

Hmm. I guess the lyrics could have had some of the same themes but musically they would have been very different, definitely. I couldn't imagine Bruce/Buxton/Dunaway/Smith going for some of the disco/funk type of tracks that ended up on Goes To Hell and I definitely can't imagine the original band going "new wave" as Alice did in the early '80s. There may have been some wet ballads, but on the whole I think the LP's would have rocked and had interesting musical passages.

I love a good alternate universe thought experiment, too, but how many hard rock bands made it past '74 without succumbing to some dumb fads or attempts at commercial accessibility?

Well yeah, I'm sure you could look at the discographies of various hard rock bands and point to a moment or two where they attempted to have a go at then-popular styles, it's just that I find it difficult to imagine the original band attempting to play funk or making an album like, say, Moving Pictures.

I think '75 and '76 were great years for hard rock, myself. '78 an underrated year, too.

The Strand has a pile of signed copies of Dennis Dunaway's book.

My piece about the reunion show went up today at Noisey:

http://noisey.vice.com/blog/surprise-alice-cooper-reunion

Man!

Listening to 'Dead Babies' right now and thinking "christ, how goth/post-punk is that bassline?"

That song always strikes me as pretty Beatle-esque. Something about the harmonies.

Yeah that song is so goth. Tied with Black Sabbath's "Born Again" for gothest songs by heavy rockers.

Finally saw "Good To See You Again" which is now on some streaming service. I can't believe it hasn't come up more here. The non-concert parts are terrible, though in a funny way, but the actual music footage is insanely good.

Lot of weird stuff in that stage act, like roadies running on stage and pretending to fight. So right about the comedy bits in that movie. Painful to watch! Whoever made that film probably thought they were making the next "Head."

'Lace and Whiskey' and 'Alice Cooper Goes to Hell' are pretty much show tunes for an unmade John Carpenter musical. Very strange, I can see why the hard rockers went WTF at the time.

Back in the late 80s I used to frequent this rock and roll tshirt/head shop and the crusty dude that owned it and the guy from the health foods store next door used to hold court telling the young ones how it is. Those two guys loved Alice Cooper and pretty much hated everything after 'Welcome to My Nightmare' with a passion. Kinda weird to finally get around to hearing the records 30 years later and getting "I can see why you did not like 'em."

That said, they do have a car wreck interest, so I will probably listen to them again.

Sinatra covered "I Love The Dead" "You And Me".

Heard "Is It My Body?" while shopping for groceries today. It was very weird.

haha wow that is an odd one

I assume it segued into Dead Babies

Lol
I think it segued into "I Can See for Miles" tbh

"Is It My Body?" is in my top 3 Alice Cooper songs so I was excited to hear it.

Never a bad day to repost this video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_vozLrSIrtU

i love that version and i wish the album version, as good as it is, had the breakdown in it

even though it seems like he's ad-libbing the lyrics during that whole part

the ad libbing is so great!! the dig at your bones ---> just might be my owowowowowowowowowown-whoaaaaa-own part definitely belongs in every version of this song, not just this bizarro live tv version

goddamn that clip smokes

you mean smocks

smocks in frocks

I now must listen to Love It To Death immediately. What a great band Alice Cooper were.

1971 they were hungry, confident and best rock band in the world.

Killer vs Love it to Death is such a close call, both are pretty much perfect

Yes! I have to strain a bit to enjoy Schools Out, and strain more as the theatrics thicken.

top tier: Killer, Love it to Death
2nd tier: School's Out, Easy Action
3rd tier: Billion Dollar Babies, Pretties for You
after that you're on your own

is how i break it down to an extent

Top tier: Love it to Death, Killer, Billion Dollar Babies
Second tier: School's Out
Third tier: Muscle of Love
Not a fan at all: Easy Action, Pretties For You

yep thats pretty much it. Billion Dollar Babies is peak pop Alice for me. intro to the title track is maybe my fave rock intro ever?!?

Billion Dollar Babies is top tier imo
The songs aren't all good but the really good ones (including title track, Hello Hooray) always put me in a good mood. LOVE Hello Hooray!!!

hmmm, upon reflection I am moving Billion Dollar Babies to 2nd tier

we'll be releasing a full statement later today :)

I think Easy Action is great I don't get why ppl diss it

and obv these are all really great records

GOD I FEEL SO STROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG
i love Hello Hooray
i was obsessed with that song for a while and the different versions of it. alice's is best imo. i would like to hear bob pollard give it a crack.

haha oh god yeah hello hooray chorus is totally GBV i never thought of that

even the "let the lights grow dim -- i've been ready" part sounds like BP's singing/songwriting to me