Article Database

Cover Features

Recently Added

Browse

Date Range
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
W
Y
Z
#

Sain
January 2004

Author: Justin Donnelly

Alice Cooper on Rock

One of rock music's more colourful characters, Alice Cooper is a legend whose career spans close to forty years. The king of horror is certainly one to keep fans guessing which direction he'll turn to next.

Cooper's latest album, The Eyes of Alice Cooper, is no exception with a sound that is reminiscent of his glory days back in the mid '70s. "The last two albums were so produced, and so big and gothic that I really wanted to do something opposite to that. I also wanted something fun to listen to and reminiscent of the early Detroit days. I told the band I didn’t want anything over the top, just straight ahead rock.

Although the title lends itself to a multiple number of meanings, Alice claims that the title The Eyes of Alice Cooper actually refers to the lyrical content outside the Alice persona. "I always thought that the emphasis on Alice Cooper was always in the eyes. It's always been about looking into Alice Cooper. Every song on this album is a little story, a little slice of life. None of these songs or stories relates to Alice Cooper, it's Alice talking about all these other people. The first guy (in "What Do You Want From Me?") is a trailer trash Romeo. To him it's really important that he wins this girl, not with diamonds and jewels, but winning her by buying her a car alarm and decals for her fingernails. He's just a total trailer trash sort of guy. So it was looking at the world through the eyes of Alice Cooper. I think that was the emphasis of that."

While it's not a highly known fact, Alice usually makes albums in pairs. If this calculation is correct, can fans assume that Alice's next album will be another slice of '70s-sounding hard rock like The Eyes of Alice Cooper?

"You know what, you're so right there! It's odd that few people have picked up on that. I find something I like, I do it, and then I do it again! There will be another album, and I hope it turns out just like this one. After that, I'm not really sure where it's going to go. When I listen to this album, my only question is whether this rocks or not. I don't care if it's out of time or whether it's perfect or not. I like to hear a band that sounds like a band!"

(Kindly submitted from the collection of Steve McLennan)