1091. Alice Cooper / A Paranormal Evening with Alice Cooper at the Olympia Paris [Live]. 2018. 5/5

While Alice Cooper’s output of albums has been remarkably consistent given the length of his career as an artist, over the course of this time there have been less live albums released by his band than you may have expected. Given his legendary status as a live artist this may be construed as unusual, but the scarcity of them actually improves their output. Indeed, when this release was announced I found myself looking forward to it immensely to not only hear what he and his current band sound like live but what flavours we were likely to get from it.

Choosing any set list for any tour is a tough ask, trying to find the balance between the old and the new, the popular and the obscure, the songs you can’t possibly leave out and the ones that the fans really want to hear. There is nothing easy about it, and the longer an artist has been around the more difficult it is. Alice Cooper has 27 studio albums worth of material to choose from and only a finite time on stage in which to play, and given the amazing hits that have been produced over the years it must be a crazy decision to decide what to shoehorn in to that allowed time.
I have always loved A Fistful of Alice because it not only managed to put together a great set list comprising both the great hits from both the past and that present time, but it gave the whole show a modern sound without being detrimental to the source material. It is a great live album. The gratifying thing is that A Paranormal Evening with Alice Cooper at the Olympia Paris is exactly the same. It is a brilliant mix of all pieces of the Alice Cooper story, and every song sounds brilliant in its own way. The band and entourage sounds brilliant, a terrific ensemble of musicians and singers who do justice to every track.
From the very start this clicks into gear with a great selection of songs. Opening with the underrated “Brutal Planet”, you are then hit with three of Alice’s all time classics, the hard rocking trio of “No More Mr. Nice Guy”, the brilliant “Under My Wheels” and the timeless “Department of Youth”. It’s a nice touch having these legendary track opening the set, as well as having “I’m Eighteen” and “School’s Out” closing out the album in style. The way in which Alice mixes the lyrics from the other schoolkid rebellious song of that era, Pink Floyd’s “Another Brick in the Wall”, into the melody lines of “School’s Out” is a particularly effective way of closing out the show. Within the middle of the set we are also favoured with high energy versions of “Billion Dollar Babies”, “Cold Ethyl” and constant companion “Only Women Bleed”. All of these legendary tracks still hold their own after all of these years, and the versions played here are superb. Most fans know these songs off by heart and are crowd favourites from that era.
However, what makes this such a great live album is that there are plenty of surprises here from the first third of Alice’s career apart from those classic tracks, and each of them comes off superbly. “Pain” from Flush the Fashion, “Ballad of Dwight Fry” from Love It to Death , “Halo of Flies” from Killer and the duo of “Killer” the same album and “I Love the Dead” from Billion Dollar Babies are excellent reminders of the strength of much of the material from the 1970’s that doesn’t always get a look in when the best of Alice Cooper gets thrown around.
On the flipside the modern day material gets a fair showing. Along with the aforementioned “Brutal Planet” there are also excellent versions of “Woman of Mass Distraction” from Dirty Diamonds and “Paranoiac Personality” from his most recent release Paranormal. And as always the two big tracks from his modern day revival come in, with “Poison” and “Feed My Frankenstein”. However, for me the best track on this whole double album is the appearance of “The World Needs Guts” from the Constrictor album. I loved this album as a teenager, and hearing this song given the live treatment is a joy. It is a raucous version too which makes it even better. Thanks Alice just for this!

Do you need a new Alice Cooper live album? The answer is a resolute absolutely! At 70 years of age he shows no signs of slowing down, and this album reminds you of how huge his legacy is and how he has managed to continue to be relevant through so many decades of change in music. There is something here for everyone, for the old fans who have been around for the whole journey, and the young fans who have only cottoned on to the legend in recent times. This is a worthwhile addition to the catalogue.

Rating: “Hey you! Fighting for your life where you’ve never fought before!” 5/5