welcome to my nightmare

REVIEW: Alice Cooper – Welcome To My Nightmare Live at The Forum, Los Angeles 6/17/75 (2025)

ALICE COOPER – Welcome To My Nightmare Live at The Forum, Los Angeles 6/17/75 (2025 Rhino)

For the first time ever, Alice Cooper was on tour without the Alice Cooper Band.  Dennis, Michael, Neal and Glen were set adrift.  Supporting his first solo album, Alice brought with him Dick Wagner and Steve Hunter on guitars, Prakash John on bass, Whitey Glen on drums and Jozef Chirowski on keyboards.  A more dramatic show was presented, including almost the entire new album.  (Only “The Awakening” was never played.)  So focused on the new album was this set that a smaller ratio of old Cooper classics were included.

At this point, only a few years into his career, Alice was already introduced as “legendary”.  He opens with an ominous and “Welcome to My Nightmare” and the crowd begins screaming as soon as he enters.  Alice’s voice is a little off from the start, but the band behind him has every beat covered.  Compared to his previous group, this one truly sounds like a “backing band”, with the star up front and group of pros behind him taking care of business.  That’s not a criticism, just an observation, and the soloing on “Welcome to My Nightmare” prove how great they are.  It’s a very different sounding group from what we heard before.

Not playing the Nightmare album sequentially, “Years Ago” recurs throughout the early songs played.  Old songs framed by “Years Ago”?  Quite clever.  Here, the first verse leads into “No More Mr. Nice Guy”, a very slick version though Alice sounds hoarse.  Even still, he powers through the chorus and falsetto.  If anything, he is less able to deliver some of the melodic hooks accurately.  Back to “Years Ago”, we get the second verse before “Billion Dollar Babies”, which is the strongest performance so far.  The extra keyboards and guitars are more than welcome, beefing up Alice’s stage sound and adding a side of virtuoso musicianship.  On its third appearance, “Years Ago” consists of a creepy keyboard solo, extended from the album version.  This time, the crashing guitars of “I’m Eighteen” shake us from the nightmare.  Though he’s vocally great here, Alice does mess up a line and goes in for a re-do.  That’s what makes a real live performance so beautiful.  The lead soloists weave tapestries of tasty hooks as the song goes on.

The fourth and final “Years Ago” delivers the “I’m a little boy…” verse, and it’s a bit weird sounding live with that “Steeeeven, Steven come home!” part included.  A transitional segue consisting of some of the music from “Black Widow” and a lot of original riffing too leads into “Some Folks”.  This is done instrumentally with the twin lead guitars playing the first chorus, until Alice himself enters the fray.  His vocal is undeniable rough here, except when doing the falsetto.  Fortunately it’s a great song and a brilliant performance by the band.

“Cold Ethyl” rocks a little more straightforward than the last few minutes of music.  Cooper delivers the creepy vibe here; a pretty solid version.    A brief musical interlude sets up the opening chords to “Only Women Bleed”.  The keyboard provide the strings, and the delicate picking of Hunter and Wagner is spot on.  Alice is strong here.  He seems to struggle vocally when he sings in that “rough” raspy evil voice, but not so much when singing clean or falsetto.

There is a fade out before “Devil’s Food” and “The Black Widow”, but this duo is a show highlight.  Prakash John gets a bass solo moment between the two, as does everyone else, as it’s ten minutes of music before “Black Widow” begins.  As to that, Vincent Price’s part plays on tape and you know what is coming next.  “Black Widow” lacks the certain special haunting quality of the album version, but this one makes up for it in drum and guitar power.  This is much more a heavy metal exercise in Arachnology.  The only thing that could follow such a song is “Steven”, which is excellent except for some startling screaming during the song that is a big loud when it comes!  Your neighbors will wonder what the hell is going on at your house!

“Welcome to My Nightmare” is reprised, as the show ends appropriately with a trio of “Escape”, “School’s Out” and “Department of Youth”.  “Escape” is a show highlight, the irresistible riff blasting hard (and we get plenty of too).  Alice is pretty solid here too.  “Department of Youth” is an extended outro with loads of playing by the band (and band intros).  It sounds absolutely huge!

This album is really a treasure for Steve Hunter and Dick Wagner fans.  There is so much guitar, all over the entire show.  Jozef Chirowski is really outstanding on keyboards.  This is a player’s Alice Cooper album.  Vocal issues aside, the only issue I had was with the drum sound.  A little flat and thuddy.  This is a 50 year old recording and we admire it for its authenticity.

3.25/5 stars

#816: Escape

GETTING MORE TALE #816: Escape

 

Depression is a bugger.   I’m a fighter but even a fighter can’t keep it up all the time.  We all have our struggles.  Mine are usually against myself.

Can’t write.  No words.  No interest in words.  No fresh ideas.  Nothing worth putting down on paper.

So much to do.  No energy to do any of it.

Talked to someone for a bit.  Felt better for a bit.  Wrote something for a bit.  But it was temporary at best.

The couch called.  And them something interesting happened.  I ran across a Youtube video.

“I could use this bit for the Sausagefest countdown this summer,” I thought.  It’s usually best to get the idea down right away before I forget it.

I went to my work station, downloaded some audio clips, recorded some dialogue and started editing.  Had something to eat.  Came back to it.  Tinkered and tweaked.  Listened back.  It’s good; it’s funny.  It just needs some more originality.  Went back at it the next morning and finished it to my satisfaction.  Then I started work on the next one.

In my mind, it was already July.  I closed my eyes and imagined my fellow Festers’ reactions to the bits I was recording.  I was blissfully unaware of the snow coming down outside.  There was no slush on my sidewalks.  Just sun and Sausagefest.  Eyes closed, I pictured the scene.  When are they laughing?  When is the bit dragging?  Tweak and tinker some more.

I managed to escape, if only for a little while.

Escaping to the summer.  To the happy place.  Not just escaping though, but also working on making the 2020 event happen.  An escape, but a productive escape at least.

Paint on my cruel or happy face,
I hide me behind it,
It takes me inside another place,
Where no one can find it.

Escape, I get out when I can,
I escape anytime I can,
It’s all escape, I’m crying in my beer,
Come on, let’s escape, just get me out of here.

Don’t get me wrong, don’t get me right,
I’m not like you are,
When I get home from work at night,
I’m blacker and bluer.

So I escape, I get out when I can,
I escape anytime I can,
It’s all escape, I’m crying in my beer,
Escape, just get me out of here.

But where am I running to?
There’s no place to go.
Just put on my make-up,
And get me to the show, yeah, escape.
Yeah, what are you waiting for?

My doctor said, just come around,
And you’ll be taken care of,
And while he ran my problems down,
I stole his mascara.

That’s how I escape, I get out when I can,
I escape anyway I can,
I escape, I’m crying in my beer,
Let’s escape, just get me out of here,
Escape, let’s get out while we can,
It’s escape, anyway we can,
Come on, let’s escape,
Nobody wants us around here anyway.

REVIEW: Alice Cooper – Welcome To My Nightmare (1975)

WELC0ME TO_0001ALICE COOPER – Welcome To My Nightmare (1975)

My sister used to have a tradition.  Because I’ve always been a collector, she would have an easy time buying gifts for me as a young rock fan.  When I was 17 years old,  I only had a few albums by certain artists.  She’d sneak into my room and go over my collection.  She saw that I only owned a few of Alice Cooper’s:  Trash, Prince of Darkness, Billion Dollar Babies, and Greatest Hits.  For Easter of 1990, she got me Alice’s Welcome to My Nightmare.  Not knowing what to except from the Coop, it was pretty much instant love.

I played that cassette a lot and grew to know its track sequence, which was completely different from CD.  Later on I purchased the original CD release, but what Welcome To My Nightmare needed (and the rest of the Cooper catalogue needs) is a proper remaster with bonus tracks.  Rhino took care of that in 2002.

Now the album itself sounds so much better than the original CD. This sounds more like vinyl, the way it should, rich and deep. The liner notes, unfortunately, are somewhat crappy. They basically just explain to the youth of today why Alice Cooper is cooler than the bands they like. There’s not much about the genesis of the album, which is disappointing. This is, after all, the very first solo album by Vincent Furnier aka Alice Cooper. By 1975, the Alice Cooper band (Furnier, Michael Bruce, Dennis Dunaway, Neil Smith, and the late Glen Buxton) was no more. Never again would they share a stage or a recording studio, at least the original five.  The four survivors did finally re-team for a couple songs on 2011’s sequel, Welcome 2 My Nightmare.

Welcome To My Nightmare was a revelation to me when I received it, and it is still mind-blowing today. I think that is due to the production talents of Bob Ezrin. The man who later produced Destroyer and The Wall really came into his own on this album. His production is, for lack of any better words, jaw dropping. You can totally tell it’s him, if you know his style well enough: that creepy horror movie piano, all the orchestrations, sound effects, the kids singing. Those are trademarks. My favourite moment for the kids was in the song “Department of Youth”. Cooper and the kids sing in the fade-out:

Together – “We’re the Department of Youth, ahh ahh, we got the power!”
Alice – “Who got the power?”
Kids – “We do!”
Alice – “And who gave it to you?”
Kids – “Donny Osmond!”
Alice – “WHAT?”

Loosely, this is a concept album about the kind of nightmares Alice would have.  The result was a collection of remarkably timeless and classic songs:  “Only Women Bleed”, “Black Widow”, and “Escape” for example. “Escape” is the most straightforward rocker on the album, and a joy it is. The rest is often more complex, arrangement-wise and lyrically.

The title track is a fun rollercoaster ride with epic horns.  Same with “Devil’s Food” and “The Black Widow” which work together as a creepy classic featuring Vincent Price.  I would not want to live my life without these songs.  Alice is nothing if not diverse, and then “Some Folks” sounds showtune-y.  “Only Women Bleed” is the famous ballad, often misunderstood, but respected enough to be covered by artists such as Lita Ford, Tina Turner, and Etta James.

“Department Of Youth” and “Cold Ethel” are more rock and roll, and why not?  What better genre to sing about rebellion and necrophilia?  It’s worth pointing out the guitar charms of Steve Hunter and the late Dick Wagner.  These two incredible players, under the guidance of Ezrin, lent Welcome To My Nightmare the rock edge that it needed, lest it be swallowed up by the dramatic tendencies.

Of course, Welcome To My Nightmare features the first-ever appearance of the character of Steven. “Years Ago” has Alice singing in this incredibly creepy little-kid voice, as Steven. Then the song “Steven” kicks in, and it’s even creepier, but very epic in scale. Alice is at his most effective here.  Steven would pop up many times, such as on the next album Alice Cooper Goes To Hell, 1991’s Hey Stoopid, 1994’s Last Temptation, and the more recent Along Came A Spider.  Whether it’s supposed to be the same guy, or just a character who shares the same name, I do not know.

The bonus tracks are alternate versions of “Devil’s Food” (much extended), “Cold Ethyl”, and “The Awakening” with alternate lyrics and more Vincent Price! Not available on the Life and Crimes of Alice Cooper box set! These three tracks alone, to the Cooper collector, necessitate a re-buy.  The improved sound probably would have hooked them in anyway.

I could never say, “If you only buy one Alice Cooper album, buy this one.” The reason I can’t is that almost every album by the original Alice Cooper band was monumental, particularly School’s Out and Billion Dollar Babies. However, if you buy two or three Coops, please make one of them Welcome To My Nightmare, remastered!

5/5 stars

* There is also a DVD Audio of this album mixed in 5.1 by Bob Ezrin himself!

REVIEW: Alice Cooper – Alice Does Alice (2010 iTunes EP)

Mike Tam

Happy Anniversary!

One year ago today, I launched LeBrain’s Record Store Tales & Reviews.  It’s been a blast.  Keep on keepin’ on!

Alice

ALICE COOPER – Alice Does Alice (2010 iTunes EP)

It seems the latest thing to do these days is re-record your old classic hits and sell them again.  Alice’s reason for doing so was that they needed new multi-track recordings for use in the Guitar Hero video game.  I think only one was ever used, which is “No More Mr. Nice Guy” (Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock).  The Alice Cooper 6 Pack download for Rock Band is mostly live tracks, not the versions that Alice released on Alice Does Alice.

According to the official Cooper site, these re-recordings were produced by Bob Ezrin.  Ezrin, of course, helmed the originals.  That must be why these new versions sound so authentic.  Yes, part for part, note for note, they’re pretty much the same.  Just with Alice’s voice older and wiser, and today’s sound quality.  But of course you can’t duplicate a classic, no matter how hard you try nor who you work with.  It’s impossible.  It’s catching lightning in a bottle.  So, these versions will always remain inferior to the classic, magical originals.  They’re just too nice, clean and neat.

I will say though, it’s pretty amazing how close these are to the originals.  The drums don’t sound the same, they’re thuddier and more modern, but the guitar tones are remarkably similar.  All the strings and horns are there too, and they do benefit from the sonic clarity of today’s technology.  Kudos to Ezrin and the players for capturing this.   (Because this is an electronic release with no physical version, there’s no credits.)

Tracklist:

  1. “School’s Out”
  2. “No More Mr. Nice Guy”
  3. “Elected”
  4. “I’m Eighteen”
  5. “Welcome To My Nightmare”

According to sickthingsUK, six tracks were actually recorded.  The sixth was “Poison”, which of course was originally produced not by Bob Ezrin, but by Desmond Child.  The track remains unreleased in 2013.

3/5 stars