813 Alice Cooper - Easy Action (1970)

Studio Album - Rock

About the Act:

So I guess pretty much everybody has heard of Alice Cooper. Did you know, though, that from 1968 to 1975, "Alice Cooper" was not the name used by the singer, who went by his birth name Vincent Furnier, but was the name of the band he was part of. When the band started to fall apart, he legally changed his name in order to avoid legal issues and to retain control of the name.

Very brief history then. The band started out as psychedelic rock, got signed by Frank Zappa, and kind of invented the genre of "Shock Rock" with a horror theme. This led to highly theatrical concerts and horror-inspired song themes, which got more and more elaborate. In 1975 Alice took the name, and the concept and kept pushing the shock and controversy aspects. The band had 7 albums, and Alice as a solo artist has had 21 so far. Not all ahve been horror-themed, for example in 1977 he released "Lace and Whiskey" which is based around the persona of a reprobate gumshoe private eye.

Alice had some pretty major substance abuse issues (mostly alcohol I believe) in the 80s, and came out of the other side. He is now a born-again Christian and somehow balances that with a better-living lifestyle but still doing horror-related shows and stuff. 

About the Album:

This was the second album by the band Alice Cooper. It was not a commercial or critical success. The assigned producer hated their music so much that he barely engaged, and in fact the released album was taken from their rehearsal tapes instead of the producer's tapes. The band don't seem to have liked the album much either.

My History with this Album:

None

Review:

This is an odd album. The lack of attention to it shows, and the end result is raw, and lacking in production sophistication. It is rock, and it is of its time. The expected heavy-ish sounds and growly vocals are present on some tracks, but not all. Some of the tracks sound like Beatles songs, some a bit like the Kinks, Laughing At Me sounds like David Bowie, Lay Down and Die, Goodbye sounds like Hawkwind, and the two best tracks, to my mind, Return of the Spiders and Refrigerator Heaven, sound quite original and different.

Despite the disconnectedness of it, and the lack of production (in some bits they are not even in tune), it intrigued me. It's like Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans, you don't know what you are going to get next, but it's kind of intriguing. You can hear the beginnings of the shock-rock they developed into, but they seem to be exploring quite a bit. Like the previous Alice Cooper album I reviewed, there is definitely an air to this, an inventiveness and a lyrical confidence and sophistication, with some subtle humour, that I have not previously encountered with my little exposure to Alice Cooper. The songs are kind of story songs, or ideas, that are in the sort of vein of the Beatles and others of the time, not just one-dimensional.

So, all-in-all I actually found it enjoyable, despite the flaws.

6.6/10

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/2ti83AkWwgm7kMz9aqj46k

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLBzBwYhHpqLIhZnIOIQt-nsjxz3Xu3Iye

Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Easy_Action