Greatest Hits [Best of]

 

 

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If you're talking about the characters and persons that had an influence on rock and later metal (and there have been a few!) then you just have to include Alice Cooper in that group. Alice Cooper (the man) influenced some of the future band's visual styles with his makeup (think New York Dolls, KISS, Motley Crue, W.A.S.P., Marilyn Manson and the list goes on... They all owe something to Alice) and gave a terrific and terrifying show in his time. It may not seem like much today with bands like Slipknot and hardcore death metal bands, but Alice was the first to really scare and to give an impressive theater-like show to his audiences. Alice Cooper has released 25 studio albums so far (more to come) both solo and with the original incarnation of the band The Alice Cooper Band. Vincent Furnier, or Alice as some know him has been trough highs and lows during his career and he now considered a rock legend, and rightfully so. However, when most fans think of Cooper they think of the original band, when it was not Alice and some hired musicians, when it was a band. The original band are in my opinion without a doubt the best era of Alice Cooper, it's when the true classics were made, think Killer, School's Out and Billion Dollar Babies, yeah those! The Alice Cooper band released 7 albums from 1960's Pretties For You up to 1973's Muscle of Love, don't get me wrong when Alice continued on a solo career he certainly released some good albums but those first few ones are very special to me.

This greatest hits album covers exclusively The Alice Cooper Band, the early years if you will. Originally released in 1974 it was reissued in 2001. Greatest Hits cover the classics; I'm Eighteen, School's Out, No More Mr. Nice Guy, Billion Dollar babies and 8 others. 12 songs may not seem like much and perhaps it isn't when it comes to a compilation but they stand as a testament to the material's quality and how good the music was. Interestingly the compilation skips the first two albums, Pretties For You and Easy Action and starts with their 1971 breakthrough album, Love It To Death. Greatest Hits has omissions of course but there are only 12 songs and not everyone's favorite songs made the cut that's easy to understand. I like the choices for the compilation album and it gives an excellent idea of what the band was at that time. Quite a few Alice Cooper greatest hits collections have been released and I'm not doubting that more will come but this is a special one and remains the original collection and while it's not the most comprehensive one it does exactly what it should : give the listener a good look at the Alice Cooper band and that's good enough. If you're into classic rock you should already know Alice, if not it's never too late to get into Alice Cooper music (band & solo)!

Note: An Updated version Mascara and Monsters was released in 2001, it takes the original greatest hits and adds ten more songs from both the AC band and Alice's solo career. It's a better and more representative compilation of Alice Cooper, in terms of value it beats this one. This one has historical value but if you're not into collecting that much you might be better with another Cooper collection. Overall 3.5 stars out of 5 (for the music and the fact that it was the first compilation and represents the band really well).

This Warner Brothers CD release of a 1974 vinyl LP purports to present the greatest hits of the band known as Alice Cooper, from their first for Warner in 1971, Eighteen [# 21 in April 1971], to their last in January 1974, Teenage Lament '74 [# 48].

And, for the most part, they do just that in a compilation with flawless sound reproduction and, a rarity for major label releases at that time, one page of liner notes. But where is Caught In A Dream [# 94 in July 1971]. Granted, it barely made the definition of "hit" - but at least it charted. You can't say the same for Is It My Body [the uncharted B-side to Eighteen], Desperado [which backed Under My Wheels], and Muscle Of Love - which wasn't even the flipside of any hit, although it did appear on the charted album of the same name in 1973.

In putting together the CD they might have added a few "bonus tracks" to bring it up to 14 or 16 selections by including the omitted hit, and maybe some of the missing B-sides like Gutter Cat [b/o School's Out], Luney Tune [b/o Elected], and Hard Hearted Alice [b/o Teenage Lament '74]. That would have brought it to 5 stars in my estimation.

After 1973, of course, Vincent Furnier [born February 2, 1948 in Detroit and the real name of the lead vocalist who, after the band split up in 1974, assumed the "Alice Cooper" personae, based upon a 17th Century witch] would go on to register three more hits on the Atlantic label in 1975, return to Warner in 1976 and add four more to 1980, and then finish off his chart career with Epic from 1989 to 1991 where he chalked up another four.

The best in that period were Only Women [# 12 with Atlantic in 1975], I Never Cry [# 12 with Warner in 1976], You And Me [# 9 with Warner in 1977], How You Gonna See Me Now [# 12 with Warner in 1978], and Poison [# 7 with Epic in 1989].

Other band members up to 1973 were guitarist Glen Buxton [who passed away on October 19, 1997 at age 49], keyboardist Michael Bruce, bassist Dennis Dunaway, and drummer Neal Smith.

Wow! I forgot how great this album is!! It is well deserving of 5 stars!! There is not one terrible song!! I bought this album in the 70's and I still have it but it sure is nice to be able to listen to the CD now! Listening to this takes me back to my teenage years. You just have to love it!!! For anyone looking to purchase Alice Cooper, this would be the CD! Great tunes!!

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5.0 out of 5 stars Perfect Compilation
This is one of my favorite albums. I never really heard anything by Alice save School's Out, but I really liked that song, so I decided I would get it. Read more

Published on May 6 2004 by HeadbangerDuh

5.0 out of 5 stars They Should Live Forever
If they had only left the world with "I'm Eighteen" they would still be talked about today. He left and took the name, but they kept the soul of the music. Read more

Published on Mar 15 2004 by clarissa jones

5.0 out of 5 stars The singer's name was Alice
This is a compilation album of songs from the Warner Brothers recordings of Alice Cooper(the band). After this album came out, Alice Cooper(the singer) left the band that was... Read more

Published on Feb 5 2004 by Johnny Heering

3.0 out of 5 stars Get "Mascara And Monsters" instead
In the mid-seventies, after releasing 7 albums, the Alice Cooper band split up (though its frontman would become a solo artist just months later. Read more

Published on Sep 7 2003 by Taylor X

5.0 out of 5 stars The first Alice Cooper album to get
This is my very first Alice Cooper album and is tied as my favorite along with Billion Dollar Babies. Read more

Published on Aug 28 2003

5.0 out of 5 stars Truly The Best From Alice Cooper
GREATEST HITS features the twelve best singles that Alice Cooper ever made during the early 70s.The best songs on this collection are "I'm Eighteen", "Be My Lover", "School's... Read more

Published on Jan 3 2003

5.0 out of 5 stars Essential Rock and Roll
Every rock collection ought to include this album. It's a hard rocking collection of irreverent pop rock tunes from the slickest, raunchiest, coolest band of the early 1970s. Read more

Published on Jun 15 2002 by Psychedelic Cowboy

5.0 out of 5 stars Teenage Lament 74
If there was ever a song that told of a teenage boys view,(from the inside looking out) this would be the one. Read more

Published on Feb 15 2001 by Dane

5.0 out of 5 stars my very first alice
This was the very first alice record(yes, record. cd was a thing of the future)I ever bought. It blew me away. I was about twelve at the time. Read more

Published on Jan 4 2001 by rick milne

5.0 out of 5 stars Hello Hurray!
You can't contain his early works or 'greatest' stuff to one disc. This is a sin. Tho some of the material on the albums that these hits came from are somewhat dated, they will... Read more

Published on July 14 2000 by R. Gorham

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