Under My Wheels

DVD REVIEW: Alice Cooper – Special Edition EP (2003)

ALICE COOPER – Special Edition EP (2003 ClassicPictures)

Special Edition EP…on a DVD?  Sure, why not.  This unofficial Alice Cooper DVD on a now-defunct label recycles three music videos that Alice recorded for German television in the early 1970s.  It’s the kind of thing that you bought because it was cheap and, again, why not?  Before YouTube made such videos easy to find and watch on demand, a DVD like this was a good way to get some obscure Alice Cooper video clips.

The menu music is generic rock, not Alice, but again this is very unofficial.  “Under My Wheels” (live 1971) begins the DVD, with music recorded live as well as video.  There is a cool “Pop-Up” feature that gives you some trivia as you watch.  Nothing ground breaking that fans were dying to know:  More like “Alice Cooper virtually invented rock theatre.  He changed trends in fashion.  A guy can dress like a girl now.”  Those are actual pop-ups that you get on this DVD.  Fortunately, Alice and the band’s performance is great.  Alice is rocking the spider eye makeup.  The audio isn’t superb or up to modern standards but this probably sounded great on your TV in 1971.

“I’m Eighteen”, recorded in 1972, has more pop-ups such as Alice’s birth date and location.  The band look super psychedelic with rear screen visuals. Alice sings the first verse as “Ma ma ma ma ma, la la la la la,” which is certainly different.  Dennis Dunaway is covered in sequins.  Neal Smith is a monster on the kit.  This is one of the versions where Alice quotes “American Pie” at the end of the song.  One of the 50 most important songs in rock history, according to the pop-up trivia.

“Public Animal #9” is a rare treat from School’s Out.  Recorded in 1972, the rear screen remains, now showing close ups of the band as they play.  The song begins with an instrumental intro that is not on the album.  This instrumental bit is dominated by the melodic basswork of Dennis Dunaway.  Then Michael Bruce and Glen Buxton come in with the riff and the opening guitar melody.  The band “hey hey hey’s!” behind a leather-clad Alice.  A rarity, this is one of the few live versions of this song you can easily buy, behind one on The Sound of A EP.  Alone, worth the price of the DVD.

There are more features.  “Previews” contains 30 second clips of other releases in the series, including:  Deep Purple (with a bit of “Highway Star”), Motorhead (“Ace of Spades”),  and so on.  Each of these artists has a three-song DVD in the series you can buy, with similar TV appearances.  The “DVD Jukebox” feature includes some bonus previews.  This is basically 33 minutes of ads for other DVDs.  Some, but not all, are full songs, but with ads over top rendering them unwatchable.  Jack Bruce’s “Sunshine Of Your Love” is only 90 seconds.  A pretty useless special feature.

The Alice Cooper Special Edition EP (DVD) is only worth the three songs in the main feature.  Purchase accordingly!

3/5 stars

 

REVIEW: Alice Cooper – For Britain Only (EP)

It’s the end of THE WEEK OF SINGLES!  Each day this week we saw reviews and images of a recent CD or vinyl single acquisition.  Thanks for hanging out and reading along!  

Monday:  Van Halen – “Best of Both Worlds” 7″ single
Tuesday:  Deep Purple – “Above and Beyond” CD and 7″ singles
Wednesday:  Aerosmith – “Dude (Looks Like A Lady)” 12″ single
Thursday:  David Lee Roth – “Stand Up” 12″ promo remix single

ALICE COOPER – For Britain Only (1982 Warner UK EP)

Long ago, when I first acquired the uber-cool The Life and Death of Alice Cooper box set, I discovered the Alice Cooper song “For Britain Only”.  According to the liner notes, this was from a 1982 EP produced (you guessed it) for Britain only.  I think it’s cool when an artist records a song for a specific region such as this.  W.A.S.P. did something similar with a song called “Tokyo is Burning” from a Japanese release.

I need to preface my review by saying that I do not own the Special Forces album.  Subsequently I don’t know a lot about this period of Alice Cooper.  It’s one of the few albums I’m still missing.  (The “need” list:  Easy Action, Special Forces, Zipper Catches Skin, Constrictor, and a few live CDs.)  I know some people hold Special Forces as a hidden gem.  This EP was released after Special Forces,  and contains three live tracks from that tour. These were recorded in Glasgow on February 19, 1982.

The live tracks are pretty good.  “Who Do We Think We Are” has a long, atmospheric intro.  Alice’s delivery is very current for the time, and the song has one foot in New Wave.  Even Alice’s look on the sleeve is a little more punky.  Note the Samurai hair, which would return around the time of Brutal Planet and Dragontown.  This merges seamlessly into “Model Citizen” from Flush the Fashion.  It’s not one of my favourite tracks, as I find the chorus a little annoying.  I like it much better in this live guise.  The final live track is an oldie, “Under My Wheels”.  It’s a little faster than the original, but pretty cool.  Alice is in good voice, and the band is tight, as Cooper’s backing bands always are.  The players are not credited, but they would have been Mike Pinera and John Nitzinger (guitars), Erik Scott (bass), Duane Hitchings (keyboards) and Jan Uvena (drums).

Although the title track, “For Britain Only” has never been one of Alice’s most notable, it’s grown on me a lot through the years.  It kind of reminds me of Killers-era Kiss.  It has a similar sound and direction to the new songs Kiss did for that album.  I like that there’s a basic stripped-back hard rock sound to “For Britain Only”.  It has a basic riff and hooks, it’s catchy, and it’s rock and roll.  For Alice Cooper fans in 1982, that was probably enough.   It rocks hard enough, and it sounds great to my ears.

And that’s the EP. I paid £6.00 for my copy, perhaps a bit steep for 14 minutes of music (only 11 minutes that I didn’t have before) but I’m still satisfied.

4/5 stars

More ALICE COOPER at mikeladano.com:

Old School (1964-1974) (4 CD/DVD/LP/7″ single & book box set) – Lace and Whiskey – “Keepin’ Halloween Alive” (single) – Alice Does Alice (EP) – Welcome 2 My Nightmare (all editions and bonus tracks) – “I’ll Bite Your Face Off” (7″ single) – VIDEO: Record Store Tales Part 139 – Billion Dollar Baby by Bob Greene