655 Alice Cooper - Muscle of Love (1973)

 655 Alice Cooper - Muscle of Love (1973)

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 seventh and final album of the band called Alice Cooper

 My History with this Album:

None

Review:

Apparently, most of the songs are about sex. Not all, I reckon maybe about half, and even then they are mostly fairly euphemistic or even dare I say, subtle. The title track, Muscle of Love even claims "the heart is a muscle". The other songs are about other things (duh) including Crazy Little Child about a guy who loses his way, and Teenage Lament '74 about a teenager struggling to fit in, and Man with the Golden Gun, about... well...

It was designed as a title song for an upcoming Bond movie. A lot of work went into making it a song that fit the Bond mould, but apparently they were a day late submitting it, and they had already gone with Lulu.

The song writing is strong, the lyrics are well-formed, it's mostly story stuff, and not particularly deep. It's definitely about the song, though, and the lyrics are worthy of attention.

Musically, in the main, it is rock, even blues-rock, with a reasonable sophistication to it. There are added elements at times like brass sections, but the main appeal is pretty gutsy rock. For a band/man with a reputation for being shocking and crude, I find it surprisingly mature musically. The Bond track is fuller and more cinematic, as you might expect, and the track Crazy Little Child is actually more like New Orleans Jazz than anything, including floaty clarinet lines.

It's quite good fun, but not really safe for work or kids. 

7.2/10


Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/4NYhlYA28LAzzElE3HSSfp

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLtO3qLgs5z6aib8wNrmuPNiC3k2Pcc7H0

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



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