1340. Alice Cooper Band / Love It to Death. 1971. 4/5

If you were to sit down and listen to the first two albums by the Alice Cooper Band, you would be hard pressed to believe that they would develop into the successful and popular outfit they became, both as the original band and then by Vincent Furnier as the solo artist following this. There is very little on those two albums, “Pretties for You” and “Easy Action”, that resembles the music that they eventually popularised. Those first two albums concentrated on a 1960’s psychedelic freak-rock aesthetic that involves long jam sessions in the recording studio, recorded live and brought to life in that arena. The band itself was finding its audience mainly through its outrageous stage shows and performances, something that created word of mouth and brought the crowds in. Those first two albums were by the record label owned by Frank Zappa, Straight Records, which he then sold to Warner Bros in 1970 for $50,000. It meant that Alice Cooper was now a part of Warner Bros, but only if Warner Bros wanted to keep them.
Manager Shep Gordon approached highly sought after producer Jack Richardson to produce the band’s next album, but he was uninterested in doing so, and so he sent his young protégé to do the job instead. This young producer also had little interest in producing the band, but changed his mind when he saw them perform live in October of 1970. He was impressed with the band’s rock-theatre of their gig, as well as the audience adulation they received. He went back to Richardson to convince him that he should produce this band, which Richardson only agreed to do if his protege worked directly with the band and he would oversee from afar. This led to one of the most enduring partnerships in music history coming together, that of Alice Cooper and producer Bob Ezrin. Band and producer came together and produced the single “I’m Eighteen” with the B-side “Is It My Body” which was released in November of 1970. Warner Bros had agreed that the band could proceed with an album if single sold well. On the back of this, the band and others went on a quest, posing as fans to ring radio stations everywhere and request the song be played. The result was that the song began to find traction, and eventually peaked on the US singles chart at #21, and Warner Bros informed Richardson to go ahead and produce an album.
It was Ezrin who fought with the band to have them come together in a more focused and regimented fashion. The band resisted changing their style, but it was the success of “I’m Eighteen” that helped convince them that he knew what he was talking about. Ezrin had rearranged “I’m Eighteen” from an eight minute jam piece originally titled “I Wish I Was 18 Again” to the three minute single that marked the true starting point of their career. From here, the band worked 10-12 hours a day in rehearsals to produce a collection of tracks that eschewed their past and brought forth the more modern hard rock sound of the songs that comprised the album that was to transform the way the world saw the Alice Cooper Band, with the release of “Love it To Death”

The album opens up with Michael Bruce’s musically upbeat “Caught in a Dream”, a great hard rocking track which trades off guitar licks while incorporating the melody of guitars and vocals that has the album up and running from the start. It begs the question when you first put the album on, where did this come from? It is so completely different from everything that the band produced on those first two psychedelic driven albums. This is a hard rock song, pure and simple, replete with great solo and terrific rhtyhm from the drums and bass guitar. This was released as the second single from the album, and surely had those at the time wondering the same thing. The successful early released single “I’m Eighteen” comes next, positioned nicely on the album to follow up the great tempo of the opening track. Everyone in the world knows this song. It is one of the bands best and most famous songs, and is one of the songs here that brings to the fore Alice out front playing the part of the protagonist within the song, something that proved a winner for the band here and through the future.
“Long Way to Go” once again lifts the tempo with Michael Bruce again at the helm as songwriter. Glen Buxton’s guitar solo in the middle of the track is complemented by Neal Smith’s off the rails drum solo combining to make a point of difference within the song. Dennis Dunaway’s bass line is a powerful melodic factor throughout. The influence on the change on this album from Bruce’s songwriting is significant – as is, I suspect, the influence of Bob Ezrin, in pushing the band to tighten everything they did and not warble on aimlessly and then just throw it on a record. These opening three songs on the album, that showcase how far the band has moved in a short space of time, is perhaps the best argument for Ezrin’s major influence.
"Black Juju" was the only track recorded live in the studio, in the way the band wrote and recorded their first two albums, and as such is the most similar sounding song to those that came on those first albums. Even the sinister organ from Bruce here mirrors those early recordings. At over 9 minutes it is by far the longest track on the album, with only “Ballad of Dwight Fry” also exceeding 3.5 minutes. “Black Juju” probably works here because it is the EXCEPTION rather than the rule.
The second side of the album opens with the B-side from the first single, “Is it My Body?”. Another song where Alice sings as the protagonist, this is such a simply composed song lyrically and musically, but its greatness is driven by the great bass line, the staccato strum of the guitars, and Alice’s emotional expression of his vocals. Buxton’s solo cuts through as well, finishing off the perfect short single. Great mood and energy throughout, and still one of the band’s best.
“Hallowed Be My Name” offers Alice up as the priest listening to the travails of his parishioners, though of course he is not and they are not. The jaunty style of the track gives the lyrics an offbeat character, something that this band has begun to craft to their own style here on this album, the beginning of what was to come. Alice delights in his expression, asking ‘Come all you sinners, come now in your glory, and my ears will listen to your dirty stories, you’re fighting to go up ‘cause you’re on your way down”. Neal Smith offers up a an easy to visualise scene with his lyrics here, so much so that you would thinnk that personal experience may well have been drawn into them. Lyrically this segues into “Second Coming” from Alice himself, a short sharp burst where the consequences of the previous track appear through Alice’s lyrics “I couldn’t tell if the bells were getting louder, The songs they ring I finally recognise, I only know Hell is getting hotter, Devil’s getting smarter all the time”. This is a track where you truly hear exactly what sound and style this band is going to take forward with it over the next few years. It encompasses the entire band, offering great melody, a great marching drum beat from Smith and bass line from Dunaway, while the piano keyboard outro from Bob Ezrin leads straight into the wonderfully brilliant strains of “Ballad of Dwight Fry”. And here again, it is that rhythm of drum and atmospheric bass line that makes this song. It is David Bowie-esque in its moody trance like style and even in Alice’s vocals through the early part of the song. Michael Bruce and Alice have created a song and character here that will be replicated through the ages in other forms. Alice crying insanely ‘I’ve got to get out of here!” through the middle of the track breaks this out of the standard song technique into the character of the protagonist breaking out of the song and becomng alive, away from the constraints of the song itself. This three song arc, of “Hallowed Be My Name”, “Second Coming” and “Ballad of Dwight Fry”, became the template that finally saw this band find their true calling, the music they were supposed to create, to match the stage show that would follow and be the drawcard for the live performances. But musically, for the albums, this is where it began, these three songs, but especially “Ballad of Dwight Fry”.
And then, another segue, and surprisingly – still, even after all of these years – it is “Sun Arise” that it segues into, the final track of the album. It is a cover of a Rolf Harris song, one that the band had apparently been opening their live shows with for a year. This was written by Rolf Harris, a name that sadly was sullied in his final years due to historic cases of sexual abuse, as incorporating and paying tribute to the music of the first nations people of his home country of Australia. And this is a surprisingly faithful version of the original track, and also more upbeat lyrically compared to most of the rest of the album. Indeed, it brings a nice lift to conclude the album, and album that is now seen as far more important and influential that it was on its release 55 years ago.

With so many albums released by the band as well as the artist known as Alice Cooper over the last 56 years, you get to hear me talk about my love of the artist a lot more than you probably do any other band. And though some of those episodes no longer exist – eventually to be replaced by brand new episodes as those albums come around again – no doubt many of you are still familiar with my origin story with Alice Cooper. It is the singles I remember most vividly from my pre-teen years, especially “School’s Out” and “Department of Youth” which were sung on the bus on the way home during the last afternoon of term, and also “You and Me” that Mum had recorded on one of her mixed tapes of the age. My first album that I discovered of Alice’s was “Constrictor” and “Raise Your Fist and Yell”, recorded for me by my heavy metal music dealer during my final years of high school. And obviously, from that point on, it was a time to begin to search out the many many other albums that they had released.
The original run of albums by the original Alice Cooper Band came almost in a block, or a couple of blocks at least. And the first two stand out apart from the next five because they are so different, and very much of their own era. And when you listen to those two albums, and then put this album on, the third released by the band, you are immediately hit by the massive difference of style of music, structure of song, but the sheer leap in professionalism of the album. These songs are a mile in front of their predecessors. They are tight and driven, musically adept with the twin guitars and the rhythm of the bass and drums, and in Alice’s vocals they have a purpose at last. Getting this album on its release, having only had those first two albums, must have been a blast, a really defining moment in the love of the band.
Even over this past couple of weeks, when I have put the album back on again, I still notice the true first visit from the Alice Cooper Band. From the opening of the first song, there is still that momentous coming together of the five members of the band that makes this era so special. And the excellence of the album is still immediately noticeable. This is one of those albums where there are the three songs that are very well known that make their presence felt when they come on, those being “I’m Eighteen”, “Is it My Body” and “Ballad of Dwight Fry”, but the quality of the surrounding tracks is still so important. “Caught in a Dream”, “Long Way to Go”, “Second Coming” and “Sun Arise” all help to keep this album forward in your mindset while listening. And the variety of the songwriters on this album is not compromised by that. Each has a contribution to make, and each seems to slip seamlessly into the mood of the album throughout. And without a doubt, this is at least partially due to the arrival of Bob Ezrin on the scene, as he would showcase over the next half a century.
This still ranks as a landmark album. It took Alice Cooper into the charts, reaching #35 on the US charts and #28 in the UK. It became the catalyst for what was to come, in all of its shapes and forms. The tour that followed cemented this and the band’s reputation. “Love it To Death” is still an album everyone should listen to once. It is a fun and enjoyable ride.