My All Time Fave Albums Pt. 12

When is comes to the music that really grabs me, especially when I was younger, it was always the bands that had a great image to along with the tunes.  Stuff like KISS, Bowie, Queen...then later stuff like Motley Crue, W.A.S.P. and Twisted Sister. All very talented acts who knew how to put on a show and deliver kick ass songs.  But the Granddaddy of them all is this band...great image, incredible tunes, and a stage show that brought theatrics into rock, in which we have never seen since.  Ladies and Gents, one of the greats, the legendary Alice Cooper, and his 1973 masterpiece Billion Dollar Babies.

I have always loved Alice Cooper.  Like alot of my fave bands, I may not listen to them all the time, but when I do, it's usually the entire catalog!  So I have been on an Alice kick lately (again!), and driving my girlfriend and family crazy...I enjoy almost all of his stuff, from the mid to late 70's solo career, to his experimental early 80's, even his comback in the late 80's hard rock scene.  As well, his past few records have been pretty solid, and a little more "Alice".  However, the string of albums in the early 70's from Love It To Death to Muscle Of Love is my fave era, and is some of the most groundbreaking and creative music in all of rock music history.  Hard rock, jazz, glitter, vaudeville, it's everywhere on those early records.

To pick a best of those is a pretty tricky task for me, because Killer and School's Out are up there too, but I am trying to stick with some of the records that had an effect on me I haven't forgotten.  The photo to the right is on the insert of the original LP, and that is my earliest Alice memory.  A friend of mine in Grade 4 was showing me his olders brother's albums, and when we found the Alice records it was all over.  It was like KISS, but somehow creepier, and we had to check it out.  When the first notes of Hello, Hooray came out of the speakers, I was a fan.  It was hard rock, but different.  That photo to the side is still a reminder of that afternoon, and still as cool as ever.

There was a reason B$B was the Alice Cooper Group's biggest seller in America....it has incredible tunes.  It went to Number 1 ,and had 3 Top 40 singles (No More Mr. Nice Guy, Elected, and Hello, Hooray). It also contains other gem that would always be his trademark. The theatrical Unfinished Suite, the twisted and creepy I Love The Dead and Sick Things, and the straight ahead rock of Generation Landslide and Raped and Freezin'.  All of them done with Alice's sense of humour.  He has taken alot of crap over the years for some of his material and stage show, but if you don't get the humor and showmanship, you are missing out.  Trust me, flip on CNN and tell me what's more frightening.

So this week I will continue my Alice Cooper marathon, and you will probably see another one of his albums pop up on the blog.  A true American rock hero, who has seen and done it all, and who continues to remind us that rock n' roll should be fun, entertaining and ROCK!  Here is a clip from the tour, the pinnacle of the original bands theatrics.  Enjoy!