Alice Cooper
continues to perform classics from his original
band era, and while
Mr. Furnier
is still in fine voice, his various backing bands usually offer turbo-charged,
heavy metal
accompaniments. But most fans will attest that the original
Cooper
band was not a one-dimensional
band -- musically, they were equal parts classic
rock
,
proto-punk
, and
garage rock
, with a splash of
vaudeville
(albeit in a sick and twisted way). And original
guitarist/songwriter
Michael Bruce
has been surprisingly able to bottle it all up on his 2002 live release,
Halo of Ice
. Although he largely fell off the radar after the split of the original
group in 1974,
Bruce
was responsible for penning or co-penning many of the group's early classics. And as evidenced by
Ice
's voice is quite akin to
's on the early recordings, and he's assembled quite a band, one that has no problem replicating the
Love It to Death
/
Muscle of Love
era. Comprised entirely of
material, the expected classics are included --
"Under My Wheels,"
"Desperado,"
"I'm Eighteen"
-- but the real attraction for long-timers are such underrated gems as
"Second Coming,"
"Caught in a Dream,"
and
"Hard Hearted Alice."
With
still in such fine form, you have to wonder -- if
Alice
isn't interested in bringing
back into the fold, why not at least welcome a few new songwriting contributions from his old partner in crime? One of the better and more interesting
-related live releases to come out in some time. ~ Greg Prato