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Rating: If they put my head in a guillotine, that’s fine, but if they put a needle nearby, I faint on the floor (Alice Cooper).
Finally, my persistence in hunting AAA vinyl records from the golden age of rock has paid off: I’ve scored two records I’ve been looking for a long time, which at least share the same cover aesthetics: photos of cocky-eyed American lads flaunting ostrich boas around their necks, shoes with enormous platforms on their feet, and shamelessly women-like makeup on their faces: the self-titled “New York Dolls” and the reviewed “Alice Cooper” (the band, which consisted of Vincent Fournier on vocals, Glenn Buxton on lead guitar, Michael Bruce on rhythm guitar and keyboards, Dennis Dunaway on bass, and Neal Smith on drums). Maybe one day I’ll talk about the “dolls”, but given the different reception of the two works I proudly presented with the vinyl displayed in the "Listening" section of the DEB (10 to 3 for the New Yorkers), I decidedly opt to advocate for Alice.
Although there would be much to tell*, this time I will not talk about the vicissitudes of Vincent Fournier because if you don’t know them, you’re the ones at fault, but you can easily remedy this given how much narrative about the character exists on the web. Nonetheless, for legitimate proselytism towards this psychotic lover of excess who, in 1971, decided to drive a stake through the heart of flower power, I’ll quote two of his statements: “The girls started talking to me and I got attached to the spotlight. That’s why I got into rock 'n' roll, for fame and sex”; “The hippies wanted peace and love. We wanted Ferraris, blondes, and switchblades.” Vincent's true nature was that of a guy born in the right era to dream of becoming a rockstar, also endowed with an irony and sarcasm out of the ordinary, unmistakable signs of a sharp mind. Evidence of this is the fact that, at a certain point, it became clear to him how the massacre game he initiated with his early works had reached such a level that it would be hard to backtrack, and he switched, indeed, to mockery, thus beginning his solo career. But that at the time of “Love It To Death” he was “serious”, trying to shock the audience not only with gruesome live shows, which would remain a trademark throughout his career but also by openly narrating mental discomforts, phobias, necrophilia, and homicidal urges in rock cocktail shaken with infernal rhythms and catchy choruses is beyond doubt. Ceremony and desperation share the same sky; riffs and melodies share the same ground.
As the needle is placed on the vinyl, it kicks off strong with “Caught in a Dream”, written by Bruce, demonstrating that at the time, Alice Cooper was a band in every sense. The lyrics (Well I’m runnin’ through the world/With a gun in my back/Tryin’ to catch a ride in that Cadillac/Thought I was livin’/But you can’t never tell/What I thought was heaven/Turned out to be hell) almost
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
02 I'm Eighteen (03:00)
Lines form on my face and hands
Lines form from the ups and downs
I'm in the middle without any plans
I'm a boy and I'm a man
I'm eighteen, and I don't know what I want
Eighteen, I just don't know what I want
Eighteen, I gotta get away
I've gotta get out of this place
I'll go runnin' in outer space, oh yeah
I've got a baby's brain and an old man's heart
Took eighteen years to get this far
Don't always know what I'm talkin' about
Feels like I'm livin' in the middle of doubt
'Cause I'm eighteen, I get confused every day
Eighteen, I just don't know what to say
Eighteen, I gotta get away
Woah, lines form on my face and my hands
Lines form on the left and right
I'm in the middle, the middle of life
I'm a boy and I'm a man
I'm eighteen and I like it
Yes, I like it
Oh, I like it, love it, like it, love it
Eighteen, eighteen, eighteen
Eighteen and I like it
05 Is It My Body (02:39)
What have I got
That makes you want to love me
Is it my body
Or someone I might be
Or somethin' inside me
You better tell me
Tell me
It's really up to you
Have you got the time to find out
Who I really am
What does it take
To get inside of your mind
Give me a break
And take a chance for the very first time
You better tell me
Tell me
It's really up to you
Have you got the time to find out
Who I really am
What have I got
That makes you want to love me
Now is it my body
Or someone I might be
Or somethin' inside me
You better tell me
Tell me
It's really up to you
Have you got the time to find out
Who I really am
08 Ballad of Dwight Fry (06:33)
Mommy where's daddy?
He's been gone for so long.
Do you think he'll ever come home?
I was gone for fourteen days
I coulda been gone for more
Held up in the intensive care ward lyin on the floor
I was gone for all those days but I, was not all alone
I made friends with a lot of people in the danger zone
See my lonely life unfold
I see it every day
See my only mind explode
Since I've gone away
I think I lost some weight there and I'm sure I need some rest
Sleepin don't come very easy in a straight white vest
Should like to see that little children
She's only four years old--- old
I'd give her back all of her play things
even, even the ones I stole
See my lonely life unfold
I see it everyday
See my lonely mind explode
when I've gone insane
I wanna get out of here
I wanna, I wanna get out of here
I gotta get out of here
I gotta get out of here
Igotta get out of here I gotta get out of here I gotta get out a'here
Ya gotta let me out of here
Let me outta here
I gotta get outta here
Let me outta here
I gotta get outta here
Let me outta here
I gotta get outta here
See my lonely life unfold
I see it everyday
See my only mind explode
Blow up in my face
I grabbed my hat and I got my coat and I, I ran into the street
I saw a man that was choking there
I guess he couldn't breathe
Said to myself this is very strange
I'm glad it wasn't me
But now I hear those sirens callin' and so I am not free
I DIDN'T WANNA BE
I DIDN'T WANNA BE
I DIDN'T WANNA BE
(See my lonely life unfold)
I DIDN'T WANNA BE
(I see it every day)
LEAVE ME ALONE I DIDN'T WANNA BE
DON'T TOUCH ME!!!!
See my lonely mind explode
when I've gone INSANE!!!
09 Sun Arise (03:50)
Sun Arise come every mornin'
Sun Arise come every mornin'
Sun Arise come every mornin'
Bringin' back the warmth to the ground
Sun Arise come every mornin'
Sun Arise come every mornin'
Sun Arise come every mornin'
Bringin' back the warmth to the ground
Sun Arise, she come every mornin'
Sun Arise, each and every day
Sun Arise, she come every mornin'
Sun Arise ever-y ever-y ever-y ever-y
She drive away the darkness everyday
She drive away the darkness everyday
She drive away your darkness everyday
Bringin' back the warmth to the ground
Sun Arise
Whoa-oh-oh
Sun Arise
Whoa-oh-oh
Sun Arise
Whoa-oh-oh
Ever-y ever-y ever-y ever-y
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Other reviews
By Masahiro
Thanks to a simple and immediate musical formula and the single 'I’m Eighteen,' the album forcefully reaches the higher echelons of the charts.
One cannot help but be enchanted by Vincent’s great theatricality.
