24. Alice Cooper / A Fistful Of Alice. 1997. 5/5

Alice Cooper’s comeback over the previous decade leading up to this album had been built on excellent collaborations with songwriters who had found their sweet spot with where the music scene was at the time, and then having guests come in to lend a hand as well, which meant that he had plenty of fans of music drawn in by this method. The albums “Trash” and “Hey Stoopid!” were huge and spawned a number of top ten singles, while the 1994 concept album “The Last Temptation” is an underrated album even to this day.
This album was from a show recorded on June 2 of 1996, a year before this album’s release. It was from a gig held at Sammy Hagar’s Cabo Wabo club in Mexico. There were a number of special guests who played at the gig, including Sammy Hagar himself who guested on “School’s Out” and Rob Zombie, while Slash also played on a couple of songs.
When you have a career as long as Alice and as many albums as he has released, it isn’t easy to put together a set list that will showcase that period and be able to play songs that the fans want to hear. At this point of his career, there is no doubt that some of those hits from his current albums were what the younger fans wanted to see, while the older fans were still more interested in those hits from the first seven albums of the original Alice Cooper Band. Trying to juggle that and keep everyone happy would not have been easy (even less so today another 25 years on), and there will always be songs left out that fans want to hear. The added benefit of that is that no matter what songs are chosen to be a part of an Alice Cooper set list, you know they are going to be top shelf.

I recently reviewed another live album on this podcast (Rainbow’s “On Stage” for those that are interested) and said then that it is ‘unfortunate’ when the songs are chopped and changed from their original play order, which was done on that album to allow them to fit on the vinyl. Here on “A Fistful of Alice” it is also done, though it seems as though it was done more for convenience than it was to fit, given this was released on CD. Several changes exist, and also on different releases. Of the gig that was played, only “Hey Stoopid” didn’t make any of the releases of the album. “Welcome to My Nightmare” was replaced on a couple of versions of the album by “Bed of Nails”. And “School’s Out” appears as the opening song even though it was towards the end of the set. None of this is particularly important of course, but it is informative.
When it comes to the quality of this live album, it really is top shelf. The band at this time, consisting of Reb Beach and Ryan Roxie on guitar, Todd Jensen on bass, Paul Taylor on keyboards and Jimmy DeGrasso on drums, sound amazing throughout, but especially on the older songs, which they give a terrific modern updated feel to the music, giving them a full sound and a slightly faster tempo that works brilliantly.
While the old and the new are spread evenly throughout the album, they all come together seamlessly on the track list which is a difficult thing to achieve. And in a way it is a shame that there are basically four versions of this album – the US, the UK, Japan and Australia – because it would have been great to have the whole set list on one edition. So as it turns out, you don’t hear “Under My Wheels” on the US version but you do on the other three, you hear “Billion Dollar Babies” on the US and Japanese version, but not the other two, “Bed of Nails” appears on the Japan and Australia version, but not the other two. So, whichever version you have, or that you stream, you are missing out on something.
But it is the added power and presence of the old track here, such as “School’s Out”, “I’m Eighteen”, “Desperado”, “I Never Cry” and “Teenage Lament ‘74” that are really impressive, showcasing those songs in their best possible light, and in the process proving to the younger crowd that the older songs are still relevant. So too “Welcome to My Nightmare” and especially “Only Women Bleed”, which is a truly fantastic song and brilliantly performed here. And of course the newer songs and better known hits are here, “Poison” and “Feed My Frankenstein” (we’re not worthy), and a ripping version of “Elected’ to close out the live show. There is also the single from his latest album at the time, “Lost in America”, and then one new studio track at the end of the album, “Is Anyone Home?” which is also a good song.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – a live album should always be a great album because it should have the best songs and showcase a band in their natural environment. Apart from the stated different versions problem I have already spoken of, this album does the job. Alice and the band have so many brilliant songs and albums in the 1970’s that don’t always get their due, and the ones on this album most definitely have been treated in the right way. Updated from their 1970’s versions to spit and polished 1990’s versions gives them a new lease on life, introduces them to new fans, and showcases their brilliance. This is an album that demands constant rotation, multiple plays, and the joy will continue no matter how often you put this album on.
I bought this not long after its release, and enjoyed it thoroughly. I still do. It’s a terrific live album, one that often got journeys in the car as well. In the early 2000’s, on my return to my home town, I often spent Saturday nights after the golf club I used to drink at had closed up on the headland overlooking the ocean, sitting in the car with this pumping through the speakers, myself and one of my cricket mates with a couple of roadies and singing every word. Great days. And this album is good for that, because Alice wrote anthems, made for singing loud and possibly while drunk.
As I said, there had been only one official live Alice Cooper album before this one, and there have been several released since. But this will always be my favourite. It has the essential and the awesome, and it’s pretty hard to beat.