Published on Oct 8, 2001
After experiencing a combination of substance abuse and
squabbling over the future musical and artistic direction of the
band, the Alice Cooper group parted ways in 1974, ending an
extremely prolific period during which they recorded no less than
seven studio albums in four years, with practically non-stop
touring in between. You don’t see that sort of insane dedication
too often, and it’s no wonder that they suddenly burnt out. While
Alice Cooper himself would go on to have a highly sucessful solo
career which continues to this day, the other supremely talented
members of the band unfortunately went into total obscurity.
In light of this event, Warner Brothers records felt the time
was right to unleash this greatest hits compilation in 1974,
becoming yet another multi platinum success for this pioneering
group, and what a sweet compilation it is!
Twelve tracks of sheer early 70’s hard rock brilliance: “I’m
Eighteen”, “Is It My Body”, “Desperado”, “Under My Wheels”, “Be My
Lover”, “School’s Out”, “Hello Hooray”, “Elected”, “No More Mr.
Nice Guy”, “Billion Dollar Babies”, “Teenage Lament ’74”, and
“Muscle Of Love”.
Each song included here is an undisputed masterpiece, and it’s
all the more astonishing when you realize that all of the material
filling out this entire hits compilation was created over only two
years…what were these guys on?? Not a single one of these songs
does not deserve to be included here, and while this is an amazing,
if brief, overview of what many many believe to be the absolute
peak period of Alice Cooper’s career, there are a few minor
criticisms that I have.
Firstly, the band’s first two albums,
Pretties For You and
Easy Action, are not represented here at all. They both had
some tracks that were worth salvaging, but unfortunately the vinyl
format of the day only allowed for about 45 minutes of music per
record, and I don’t think it would have been right to leave off any
of the tracks on the compilation to make room for tracks from the
first two albums. As well, those first two records were not
technically Warner releases, so there was no reason for Warner to
include any tracks from them. It would also have been unecessary
overkill to have a two-record set of greatest hits for such a young
band, so I guess I can’t really complain…can’t have
everything!
Secondly, the emphasis here is very much on the raw, hard
rocking side of Alice Cooper, while the other essential aspects of
what made the band so special are for the most part ignored. The
more adventurous and highly theatrical leanings of the band are
nowhere to be found here, and neither is any of the sinister creepy
stuff, which played a large part in the appeal of the band in the
first place. “I Love The Dead”? “Unfinished Sweet”? “Halo Of
Flies”? “Man With The Golden Gun”? All are glaring omissions, but
the two songs that I think should have been a must for this album
in place of two of the others are “The Ballad Of Dwight Frye” and
“Dead Babies”…their absence was a huge mistake, and I would have
included those instead of “Be My Lover” and “Teenage Lament
’74”.
And what about the excellent yet shamefully ignored smoky jazz
honky tonk blues song “Crazy Little Child”, from 1973’s
Muscle Of Love?? The song would have perfectly captured the
essence of the excellent cover artwork, showing the band members in
black and white, leaning against a vintage 1920’s automobile in
pin-striped suits and the like, looking very much like hoods in
prohibition era urban America, about to carry out a “hit” (get
it?)!
These are very small criticisms, and admittedly, considering the
wealth of brilliant material over the five albums represented, I
would have a hard time coming up with 45 minutes worth of tracks
that I was totally happy with as a die-hard Alice fan, but I think
for the most part they did a decent job. Despite the inaccurate
portrayal of the band’s output, this is still a superb way for the
casual Cooper listener to get a taste of the power of a band during
arguably its creative and commercial peak.
But that’s just it; it should serve only as the appetizer to a
main course. For a truly wonderful journey into some of the most
original rock music of the 70’s you’re much better off getting the
individual studio albums…if you love the songs on
Greatest Hits, you’re bound to be blown away by the
diversity of the group that is not shown here.
But, if you insist on buying a greatest hits compilation of
Alice Cooper, it should be noted this this collection is out of
date. In 2001 Rhino records (a subsidiary of Warner) released an
expanded version of this album, called
Mascara & Monsters: The Best Of Alice Cooper. That CD
contains all of the songs included here, as well as one extra song
from the early era and nine tracks from Alice Cooper’s equally
amazing solo career since 1975, making it a much more complete
collection on one disc.