After 50 years the original Alice Cooper band are back with a new album. They believe their shock rock set the scene for Bowie, Kiss and others to succeed and reveal how their late guitarist managed to collaborate on the new music.
THE original Alice Cooper band are back and ready to claim their flowers for opening the doors for Bowie, KISS and Frank Zappa.
Out now, after a 50 year wait, The Revenge Of Alice Cooper heralds the return of their brand of theatrical rock that gave the world anthems School’s Out and Elected.
Frontman Alice AKA Vince Furnier back in the day, is proud of what they achieved: “We never once listened to what’s going on on Top 40 and said, ‘Oh, we gotta do that’. We made our hit records on our own terms. That was really unique, because it opened the doors for Bowie, KISS.
“You couldn’t be a theatrical band and have hit records. That just never happened. Frakz Zappa never had a hit record with the ‘Mothers. And so we were the first band that outraged everybody and still had hit records right down the middle.”
Indeed Alice Cooper wasn’t just rock music, it was a melting pot of many influences.
Alice agreed: “If you go back to the roots of Alice Cooper, it’s gonna be the Yardbirds, The Who, James Bond, some West Side Story. We let all of that stuff come into the music.”
As well as all four surviving members the new album also boasts an appearance from later guitarist Glen Buxton. Bassist Dennis Dunaway spilled: “The one concern that we would have, that that missing element of the chemistry wouldn’t be there, but we’ve all learned his humour so much that we kind of fill in for that.
A tape of him playing was found and transformed into the song What Happened to You.
Dennis explained: “I told (producer) Bob Ezrin about this (tape), he said, ‘Well, send it to me’. And he had the ability to surgically add Glen to the song, and it’s actually one of the greatest songs on the album.
“He’d probably say, ‘The ain’t too shabby, except it’s missing me’.”
Alice Cooper, the singer, adopted the band name when he went solo but he’s aware that rejoining his pals delivers a different sound: “Everybody says what I sing with this band, I sing entirely different than I sing with the other band. They said it’s heavier. because the band plays heavier.”
And he’s convinced it’s up there with their finest work: “It is exactly what you think it’s going to be. It’s an Alice Cooper album. It doesn’t go straight down the middle. It goes left, right, up, down, and in the end, you will love it. It will absolutely change your life. And your underwear.”
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
