The Strange Case of Alice Cooper: Live 1979 - The Madhouse Rock Tour

Glad to see this coming out after all these years. I had this concert in Beta Max back in 1982. It was originally titled "The Strange Case of Alice Cooper." Alice looks very pale and skinny as this was shortly after his release from the clinic for his alcohol abuse. The opening song "From the Inside" features dancing bottles of vodka,scotch and tequilla. Typical of Alice's sense of humor. It features several songs from that excellent album. It's the only time I've seen Alice electrocuted on stage. It was also cool to see Davey Johnston from Elton Johns band as lead guitar. The show features songs that Alice doesn't do live anymore along with his classics. For all of Alice fans, buy this dvd.

Count me among the many waiting patiently for this to finally be released on DVD. Was it worth it? Well, yes & no. First off, the picture is clearer than the bootleg copy of this that I found a few years ago, so that's a definite plus. But the soundtrack is where this release fails. The audio for this show was multi-tracked and broadcast on various radio concert shows, the King Biscuit Flower Hour being one of them. I've downloaded copies of these radio shows, and they are in excellent, clear stereo, with the 2 guitars mixed on opposite channels (so you can really hear who's playing what), the drums separated, etc. This soundtrack seems to be in mono, and is probably straight off the copy that was made for TV broadcast, which is what I believe this show was originally filmed for (at least it was shown on TV back then, as I remember watching it). Wolfgang's Vault now owns the King Biscuit library, so the producers of this release should have worked a deal with them to get the audio. (To add insult to injury, the back of the DVD case says, "NOTE: Vidoe and audio were mastered from the best available sources.")

And of course, there are the missing songs and a few other edits, but I didn't really expect the original footage to be assembled & re-cut after all these years.

I would say that all this release did was take the TV copy and transfer it to DVD, edits and all. There is even one spot where the picture tracking flutters, as old VHS tapes would do (I think it's during 'Wish I Were Born in Beverly Hills'?).

Alice's commentary is sparse, as other reviews have mentioned, which is a shame, as this is a very interesting point in his career, and a very unique show. I'm sure he must have more to say about it!

All in all, worth having, since it hasn't been available in any form for many years, but it's too bad they didn't get it right. Maybe some day...

Over the years I've seen many various consumer treatments of this show. Finally someone has taken the care and time to get it right. The show is blistering, but edited. But all versions I have seen have been edited. It doesn't help I guess when School's Out runs 15 minutes, but many great parts of this show have always been on the cutting room floor.

The main reason I got this was for the fact that I knew I would finally have a clean copy and also for the Alice commentary. If you watch the Nightmare show with commentary on, it was almost a laugh a minute. Ren (RIP) certainly added significant contributions to the commentary. So, it is with surprise that I say that the commentary on this DVD was a big snooze. The biggest insight Alice offered in the commentary was information on who dated whom. He really should have had someone else in the room with him, maybe Shep or Cheryl. She was as huge part of this show.

Even with this flaw, it is a great show and a must see for Alice fan.