1997 |
A Fistful Of Alice
 Alice has mentioned numerous times he wasn’t happy with “Alice Cooper Show” live album back in 1977. Mostly because he wasn’t in his healthiest state. Well finally Alice now had the opportunity to rectify his past album with a new live recording. 20 years later Alice shows his live performance is just as good. In fact Alice’s vocals are ten times better than the ‘77 album. Recording down at Sammy Hagar’s Cabo Wabo Catina in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. Alice is also on a new label Hollywood Records. Alice brings down a great backing band consisting of Reb Beach, Ryan Roxie, Paul Taylor, Todd Jensen and Jimmy DeGrasso. Also Alice invites a few close friends to join him on this live performance such as Sammy Hagar (guitar on School’s Out), Slash (guitar on Lost In America, Only Women Bleed, and Elected), and Rob Zombie (vocals on Feed My Frankenstein, and Elected). I do remember hearing that Alice invited Joey Ramone but unfortunately The Ramones were on tour. When I first heard “School’s Out” I didn’t know who was on guitar until I read the credits. I was very impressed by Hagar’s guitar work. I never really listened to him before so this gave me a new view of Sammy Hagar. “Desperado” a favorite of mine which Alice speaks before the song saying he wrote this song about Jim Morrison (see “Desperado” on “The Killer” album for more details). Slash’s work on “Only Women Bleed” is also a great piece. Slash was known to do a little intro of “Only Women Bleed” when playing live with Guns N’ Roses. So I know Slash had a ball performing this number with Alice. Rob Zombie was the perfect person to team up with on “Feed My Frankenstein.” As for a live album this is an excellent recording. The backing band is one of the best in years. They even give the old tunes more of an edge and fresher sound. An extra studio track was included titled “Is Anyone Home?” which was recorded in Arizona. This is a very cool song about a person who’s always on his computer and that’s his only form of socializing. One night the power goes off and he’s home alone. I live in a big dark house and nobody's home just me and my mouse This would be the only album from Hollywood Records Alice would produce. Matter of fact Hollywood Records dragged their feet on releasing this album so EMI subsidiary Guardian Records released it. There was also going to be a VHS concert release of this show but Hollywood shelved it. There is a half hour performance of this show that was shown on VH-1. So we had a chance to view some of the songs. Hopefully someday Hollywood will release the whole concert but I won’t hold my breathe over it. Unless Rhino Records gets the rights to it. Note: There is also a European version of this CD which includes "Under My Wheels" and "No More Mr. Nice Guy" but "Billion Dollar Babies" is deleted. Best bet is to purchase the Japanese Import which includes these bonuses and more. Artwork: The CD itself has a picture of Alice as it appears to be from the same photo shoot as the cover. Alice standing in the doorway just positioned a bit differently and close cropped. Front of the CD booklet has Alice standing in front of a doorway which looks to be in Mexico or appears to be. Alice for the first time I must say is dressed impeccable. He has a great suit on him as he leans against the doorway twirling a black cane. The title “A Fistful of Alice” is scrawled on the wall next to him. A little lower you see “Alice for Patron” translated “Alice for President.” Above the doorway is the number 9 as reference to song “Public Animal #9”. Back of the booklet has three kids carrying a snake behind them up on the wall you see a small plaque embedded in the wall that reads “The Alice Is Here”. In Dale Sherman's book he notes a hair was in the back photo on the left hand corner of the grated window. I thought it was an extended wire protruding from the window bars. I wouldn't have notice it was a hair. Inside the booklet includes the credits, song lists and mostly pics from the Cabo Wabo show. Live shots of Alice, one with Rob Zombie another with Slash. There is also a shot of Alice walking the streets of Mexico wearing the same smart looking clothes as on the cover. The back of the CD case shows Alice standing outside at night under a street lamp with the song listings to the right side. |
