Published on Oct 5, 2001
A very unexpected shift in style on this 1972 release from the
Alice Cooper group, but for the most part it works. One thing I
forgot to mention in previous Cooper reviews is that long time
producer/collaborator Bob Ezrin not only contributed heavily to the
creation of the shocking Alice Cooper stage show, but he also
brought his great skills as a classically trained (i.e.
perfectionist) musician to the band, and, as one can plainly hear
on
School’s Out, he probably was very key in not only greatly
improving the technical ability of the band members, but also the
ever increasing variety of styles and instrumentation present on
this album and future releases.
The album starts off roaring with the heaviest and most
aggressive song they had probably recorded to that point, “School’s
Out”. Everybody knows this song, and if you don’t, then you’ve got
little green antennae on yer ass. It was an absolute smash hit when
released in summer ’72, becoming an instant classic (and rock radio
staple to this day) and probably is the definitive Alice Cooper
song; it’s loud, abrasive, rebellious, fun, celebratory,
theatrical, satirical, joyous, raw, bombastic, heavy, over the top,
humourous, witty, melodic, memorable, eccentric, inventive,
playful, and dramatic…in a nutshell, an accurate microcosm of the
quintessential essence of the vintage Alice Cooper style, all
conveniently rolled up into a splendidly catchy three and a half
minute rousing, adrenalized anthem.
The thunderous riff is one the most instantly recognizable in
rock. This, combined with the almost military beat of the bass and
drums, Alice screaming his tongue-in-cheek anti-school lyrics and
some nifty little organ sounds, make for a very unique and
unforgettable song…you can just hear the passion involved by all
the players, and it really must have seemed almost like a playful
call to revolution for all teenagers at the time. The song
“School’s Out” has all the qualities of what REAL rock ‘n roll
should sound like, which is what surprises me about the rest of the
album; it’s the only example on the whole album of what you’d
really call a rock song, but more on that later.
It should be pointed out right now that no matter how dark,
creepy, twisted, or provocative the myriad of taboo subjects that
Alice Cooper has dealt with, the intention never seems to be angry
or mean spirited. Most of Cooper’s brilliant lyric writing ability
encapsules witty intentional parody, biting satire, and a healthy
dose of dark humour.
Part of Alice’s appeal is that he isn’t just on a high horse
arrogantly preaching down to us perverted common folk; he has a
knack for being able to make you think AND have fun doing it at the
same time, which is far more creative and intelligent in my opinion
than many modern bands that come across as being full of themselves
with their cartoonish seriousness and forced anger. Time and time
again Alice Cooper has effortlessly demonstrated how not to be a
cliche.
But strangely enough, and this is what used to befuddle the
bejeezus out of me, everything else on the album is completely
different from the anthemic gritty rock of the lead-off title
track! Don’t expect any other rousing, blistering anthems, because
you won’t find them here. The remainder of the album is quite
experimental, awash with a proverbial cocktail of distinctive
influences ranging between soul, jazz, funk, and lounge, of all
things, sounding more like a Broadway musical in a martini glass,
which is no surprise considering the band drew inspiration (and
even borrowed a few musical themes) from
West Side Story!
While there weren’t any other hits on this album, there’s still
plenty of great material here, even if some of it doesn’t quite
match the raw power and energy of the last two albums…
School’s Out you could say is a more refined album, with
more complexity in everything from the arrangements to the
songwriting basics.
Bob Ezrin was really coming into his own as a producer at this
point, evidenced by the tons of stuff he threw on here. A great
example of this is the song “Blue Turk”; there are so many diverse
instruments here playing together and it sounds awesome! It starts
with Dennis Dunaway’s unique bass riff, and then a happy
organ/keyboard melody, then the drums kick in, with great use of
bongo drums, not to mention unorthodox time shifts, then some weird
guitar effects, and then finally Alice himself sounding amusingly
like a Vegas act!
The song “Alma Mater” is quite interesting in that it uses
distorted (well, muffled) vocals, which must be one of the earliest
examples that I’ve heard using this effect. It’s a nifty little
mellow tune, and that in itself is strange because the band had up
to this point shied away from ballads and mellow songs. The
wistful, melancholy vocal melody softly floating along a gorgeously
strummed acoustic vibrato guitar riff creates that warm, fuzzy
feeling you get hangin’ out with a best friend or that special
someone on a hazy summer night or around the camp fire, talking
about the good old days.
“Grande Finale”, the final song, indeed lives up to its name.
Bob Ezrin threw the book at this instrumental, filling it with
diverse, full sounds, including very prominent horn and string
sections, which are actually used to great effect on most of the
album’s material. The song starts off sounding like the funky theme
to Shaft before some of the familar West Side Story themes kick in
and end the disc with a show tune bang! You see what’s possible
when you suddenly have a decent recording budget?
So, all in all, with the exception of the title track, and
despite the obvious improvement and diversification of the
musicians, the song writing takes a far different approach than
we’re used to seeing from these guys. If you’re expecting the
meaner, nastier sounding Alice Cooper, then go back one year to
Killer…
School’s Out is not a rock album, but an experimental and
diverse loungey-jazz-rock musical with a loose concept based on
school life. As amazing as this music is, I just feel like there’s
something missing, like the aggression, ferocity, and vintage
macabre sense of creepy humour.
It’s to the group’s credit though for not going the obvious
route, and offering up something that was decidedly unexpected
makes for a more interesting band, right? I mean let’s face it,
this is still a great album, with a bunch couple of superlative
tunes, like “School’s Out”, “Alma Mater”, “Public Animal #9”, and
“Blue Turk”. Most of today’s bands would kill for the skill and
talent required to come up with an album half this good, but when
compared with Alice’s own strongest material, it comes up perhaps a
tad short…now
that’s scary.
I hate criticizing this record because I have this sinking
feeling that maybe I just don’t understand it enough yet to feel
justified in doing so…it’s just mellower, with neat jazzy and
funky vibes going on, in a sort of weird
early-70’s-hard-rock-meets-50’s-Broadway-rockabilly musical
framework…who knows? Maybe it’s a misunderestood masterpiece
beyond our comprehension and none of us have really explored it
intricately enough, for this could very well be the case; as far as
I an tell, this band’s sound, especially on this album, is very
unique. For now it’s a B+ to me, but due to it’s mysterious content
I suspect that I’ll be shifting my opinion of it quite frequently
in the future.