Rock legend Alice Cooper is reuniting with his original bandmates to release their first new album in more than five decades. The album, titled The Revenge of Alice Cooper, will feature all of the surviving members of the Alice Cooper Group. Cooper will be joined by guitarist Michael Bruce, bassist Dennis Dunaway, and drummer Neal Smith for the 14-track project.
Set to release on July 25, The Revenge of Alice Cooper marks the band’s first new album since 1973’s Muscle of Love. In an interview with Billboard, Cooper described the experience of making the album as feeling like riding a bike. “It was very much like this was our next album after Muscle of Love,” he said. “It just falls into place after 50 years.”
Producer Bob Ezrin, who worked with the group on several classic albums in the 1970s, such as Love It to Death, Killer, School’s Out, and Billion Dollar Babies, shared his thoughts on the band’s chemistry. “They revert to who they were as kids when they first got together,” Ezrin explained. “It’s like they just walked out of high school and were hanging out in the local cafe.”
The album will include a cover of The Yardbirds’ “I Ain’t Done Wrong,” a song the Alice Cooper Group frequently performed during their early days as The Spiders. The lead single, “Black Mamba,” will be released on Tuesday during Cooper’s syndicated radio show, Alice’s Attic.
The Revenge of Alice Cooper is also dedicated to the band’s late guitarist Glen Buxton, who passed away in 1997 at age 49. Buxton is honored on two tracks on the album. “Nobody wants to replace Glen,” Ezrin said. “But early on, Hues started playing some really cool stuff, and the guys looked around and thought, ‘That’s kinda great.'”
The original Alice Cooper Group, consisting of Cooper, Buxton, Bruce, Dunaway, and Smith, formed as The Spiders in Phoenix, Arizona, in the 1960s. After Cooper adopted his stage name, the band became known as the Alice Cooper Group until they split in 1974. They released seven albums between 1969 and 1973, with hits like “School’s Out,” “I’m Eighteen,” and “No More Mr. Nice Guy.” The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2011.
Since then, Cooper has had a successful solo career, releasing more than 20 albums and contributing to movie soundtracks like Wayne’s World, Dazed and Confused, and Halloween. He has also performed with Hollywood Vampires alongside Johnny Depp and Joe Perry and collaborated with artists such as Guns N’ Roses and Theory of a Deadman.
Cooper continues to tour as a solo artist, with an upcoming show at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut, on Friday, May 23. Fans can purchase tickets from trusted third-party sellers such as StubHub, VividSeats, and SeatGeek.
Related Topics
