I've read two, one called Me, Alice which I don't think is entirely accurate. It came out in '76 and he was busy getting himself into all sorts of drunken messes. It's interesting though. The second book is the more sober Golf Monster which is a really interesting read and he talks about overcoming addiction.

Golf Monster is a good read, but I would have got more out of it if I played (and understood) golf!

APPENDICE #4: Back By Popular Demand - The Final Lists

Albums

Not counting live or compilations, Alice has released 26 albums! Some of these are better than others so, in descending order, my choice for the good, the bad and the ugly

1 - From The Inside (1978) - Essential 10/10. A controversial choice to be sure, but 'From The Inside' just edges it as my favourite album. It has everything from fast rockers ('Serious') to tender ballads ('How You Gonna See Me Now') to songs that chill the listener ('The Quiet Room'). It's chocka with catchy songs and the trademark black humour we all know and love from the man - the sleazy 'Nurse Rozetta', the hilarious 'Millie And Billie' and the bad taste of 'Inmates (We're All Crazy)'. When I was younger, this is the album I always used to put on when I was glamming myself up for a night on the town.

2 - Billion Dollar Babies (1973) - Essential 9.5/10. The best album from the original band. Again, it contains wall to wall classics, including 'Elected', 'Billion Dollar Babies', 'No More Mr. Nice Guy' and 'I Love The Dead'. It was the only Alice album that made the #1 spot on both the US and British album charts. It's hugely enjoyable album through and through! I don't want to refund a single second of the time I invested in listening to this. In fact, I'm going to listen to it many more times in the future

3 - Welcome To My Nightmare (1975) - Essential 9.5/10. I love musical theatre, and this album is a celebration of that. It's fully deserving of its status as one of rocks most celebrated albums. The foremost reason is that the songs are very well-written, and the arrangements are inspired. Furthermore, the campy horror movie theme is a complete blast, and that's a quality that manages to make this work stand out as among the finest and most unique albums in rock 'n' roll.

4 - Killer (1971) Essential 9/10. For many people, this album would be top of the list, and rightly so. From the opening twin salvo of 'Under My Wheels' and ''Be My Lover' to the closing majesty of the title song, there is nothing shoddy about this release.

5. Love It To Death (1971) - Essential 8.5/10. Another 'must own' album, although (for me) the song 'Black Juju' drags at over nine minutes and the inclusion of the Rolf Harris cover 'Sun Arise' was a mistake. But there are enough classics to make up for these songs - 'Caught In A Dream', '18', 'Long Way To Go', 'Is It My Body' and 'The Ballad Of Dwight Frye'.

6. Welcome 2 My Nightmare (2011) - Very Good 8/10. Easily Alice's best album since the 70's, it's let down by too many different musical styles and a confusing storyline.

7. Dirty Diamonds (2005) - Good 7/10. While this is not one of his most satisfying albums ever released, there are plenty of moments I like. Some songs are very catchy, but we are starting to get to the kind of songs that a generic pub band would play

8. Along Came A Spider (2008) - Good 7/10. A mixed bag of the good and the not so good! When it's dark and brooding, it's a classic Alice album, but sadly a lot of it is lightweight

9. Raise Your Fist And Yell (1987) - Above Average 6.8/10. Heavy metal! Standard heavy metal at that! The opening song ('Freedom') suggests this is going to be a great album, but the rest of the songs on side 1 disprove this. However, the serial killer trilogy at the end of the second side save this record

10. Constrictor (1986) - Above average 6.5/10. The first of the 'hair metal' albums. I probably liked it a lot more when I was 20, but now I listen to it and there is nothing to distinguish it from every other hair band of the time. Sadly, for every great song ('Teenage Frankenstein', 'The World Needs Guts') there is a poor song ('Thrill My Gorilla', 'The Great American Success Story')

11. The Last Temptation (1994) - Average 6/10. A good album

12. Schools Out (1972) - Average 5/10. The title track means that this album is always going to be popular, but other than that and 'Gutter Cats Vs. The Jets', as far as I am concerned there is very little here. Average at best

13. Goes To Hell (1976) - Average 5/10. One or two good songs, but nothing special

14. Special Forces (1981) - Average 4.8/10. One of Alice's least loved albums, 'Special Forces' still has something to offer to anyone willing to take a chance. There is only one real classic here ('Who Do You Think We Are') and the cover of Love's 'Seven and Seven Is' is a good one. Other than that tho...

15. Hey Stoopid (1991) - Average 4.5/10. Entertaining, but sounding oh, so dated.

16. Easy Action (1970) - Average 4.5/10. The bands second album is not the place for a newcomer to start with, but it shouldn't be ignored. It contains the signs of greatness to come

17. Brutal Planet (2000) - Below average 4/10. It could so easily have been a better album, but I am not a fan of the industrial metal genre. The songs on the album are very good, but they sound much better when played live. Here, they are just noise

18. Dragontown (2002) - Below Average 4/10. More industrial metal. See my comments for 'Brutal Planet'

19. The Eyes Of Alice Cooper (2003) Below Average 3.5/10. The opposite of the above two albums. This is much too poppy for my liking

20. Trash (1989) - Below Average 3.3/10. It's not an Alice Cooper album. It's a Desmond Child and Friends album. Yes, it contains 'Poison', but it also contains 'House Of Fire', 'Bed Of Nails' and 'I'm Your Gun' - songs with cringe-worthy lyrics and tunes that wouldn't be out of place on a Bon Jovi album

21. Flush The Fashion (1980) - Below Average 3/10. New wave Alice

22. Muscle Of Love (1974) - Below Average 3/10. Middle-Of The Road Alice. The last album recorded by the original Alice Cooper Group sadly doesn't hit the heights of its' predecessors

23. Lace And Whiskey (1977) - Below Average 2.5/10. Musically, it's too diverse. Disco, rockabilly, Euro-dance, country-western, church music and ballads sit uncomfortably next to each other

24. Zipper Catches Skin (1982) - Below Average 2/10. It's not an Alice Cooper album!

25. DaDa (1983) - Below Average 1/10. The album Alice made before cleaning himself up for good. None of the songs from this album have ever been played live. Maybe it should never have been recorded!

26. Pretties For You (1969) Below Average 1/10. A real psychedelic oddity!

DVD's

With the possible exception of KISS, no other musical act gives itself to the medium of DVD as much as Alice Cooper. These are the official releases, with my comments about them

Glad To See You Again. This is a recording featuring the original Alice Cooper Band, taken from the 'Billion Dollar Babies' tour, filmed in Dallas and Houston in April 1973. The DVD features the original cut of the film (including skits featuring the band) which was given a very limited theatrical run (mostly at midnight screenings) in the mid-'70s. The actual concert is intercut with a series of 'comedy' narrative featuring a German film director chasing the "Cooper gang" for revenge after they abandoned his would-be masterpiece movie! Ignore the film, and just watch the concert

TrackListing: Hello, Hooray / Billion Dollar Babies / Elected / I'm Eighteen / Raped And Freezin' / No More Mr. Nice Guy / My Stars / Unfinished Sweet / Sick Things / Dead Babies / I Love The Dead / School's Out / Under My Wheels / The Lady Is A Tramp (studio)

DVD Special Features:
. Audio Commentary by Alice Cooper
. "Play concert only" viewing option
. Original Theatrical Trailer and Radio Spots
. Deleted Scene and Outtakes
. Easter Eggs
. Poster Gallery with Original Promotional Material
. Band Biographies

Welcome To My Nightmare was filmed in 1975 at Wembley. It's a good concert, although it's hideously edited, and I have no idea why they put 'The Awakening', which is the penultimate song on the album, as the opening song

Track Listing: The Awakening (Opening Credits) / Welcome To My Nightmare / Years Ago / No More Mr Nice Guy / Years Ago (reprise) / Billion Dollar Babies / Years Ago (reprise) / I'm Eighteen / Some Folks / Cold Ethyl / Only Women Bleed / Devil's Food / The Black Widow / Steven / Welcome to My Nightmare (reprise) / Escape / School's Out / Department of Youth / End Credits with Only Women Bleed (alternate version)

The DVD is vanilla, with no extra features

The Strange Case Of Alice Cooper is from the 1979 'Madhouse Rocks' tour, promoting the album 'From The Inside'. Sadly, it's only available as a region 1 release

Tracklist: From The Inside / Serious / Nurse Rozetta / The Quiet Room / I Never Cry / Devil's Food / Welcome To My Nightmare / Billion Dollar Babies / Only Women Bleed / No More Mr. Nice Guy / I'm Eighteen / The Black Widow / Wish I Was Born In Beverly Hills / Ballad Of Dwight Fry / It's Hot Tonight-instrumental / Go To Hell - Wish You Were Here / How You Gonna See Me Now / Inmates (We're All Crazy) / School's Out

The Nightmare Returns is the successful return of Alice Cooper, filmed at the Joe Louis Arena in his home town of Detroit on Halloween 1986. Originally broadcast live on MTV, it was finally released on DVD in 2006. It is a great show, with all performers at the top of their game, a great setlist and some incredibly theatrics. For reasons unknown, 'I'm 18' is entitled '18 (Little Flower Of Ulysses)' on the DVD case

Tracklist: Welcome to My Nightmare / Billion Dollar Babies / No More Mr. Nice Guy / Be My Lover / 18 (Little Flower Of Ulysses) / The World Needs Guts / Give It Up / Cold Ethyl / Only Women Bleed /Go to Hell / Ballad of Dwight Fry / Teenage Frankenstein / Sick Things / I Love the Dead / School's Out / Elected / Under My Wheels

DVD special features are the promo videos for 'Freedom' and 'Teenage Frankenstein'

Alice Cooper Trashes The World was filmed at the Birmingham NEC in 1989. It's a disappointing show, badly edited and with a lack of theatrics. The DVD is vanilla, with no special features

Setlist: Hello Hooray / Trash / Billion Dollar Babies / I'm Eighteen / I'm Your Gun / Desperado / House of Fire / No More Mr. Nice Guy / This Maniac's In Love With You / Steven / Welcome to My Nightmare / Ballad of Dwight Fry / Gutter Cat versus the Jets / Only Women Bleed / I Love the Dead / Poison / Muscle of Love / Spark in the Dark / Bed of Nails / School' Out / Under My Wheels

After the disappointment of the last release, Brutally Live, recorded at the Hammersmith Odeon in 2000, is very much back on track. It is a great show, and the DVD is highly recommended. The DVD also contains the video for the song 'Gimme'

Tracklist: Brutal Planet / Gimme / Go To Hell / Blow Me A Kiss / I'm Eighteen / Pick Up The Bones / Feed My Frankenstein / Wicked Young Man / Dead Babies / Ballad Of Dwight Fry / I Love The Dead / Devil`s Food / Black Widow / Dwight Fry / No More Mr Nice Guy / It`s Hot Tonight / Caught In A Dream
/ It`s The Little Things / Poison / Take It Like A Woman / Only Women Bleed / You Drive Me Nervous / Under My Wheels / School`s Out / Billion Dollar Babies / My Generation / Elected / Brutal Planet (Reprise)

In 2002, Classic Pictures released a fascinating DVD-EP featuring performances by the Alice Cooper Group from the German music show 'Beat Club' in the early 70's. The songs featured are 'Under My Wheels', 'I`m Eighteen' and 'Public Animal #9'. There are two versions of each track - a 'clean' version, and a version with pop-up information about the band.

The Ultimate Clip Collection was released in 2003, and a cynic would describe it as being a cheap and cheerful way for Sony to get more money out of the Alice Cooper material it owned! It features all the promo clips from the Epic era ('Trash' - 'The Last Temptation'), although 'House Of Fire' is omitted. Other than the videos, there are no extra features

Tracklisting: Poison / Only My Heart Talking / Bed Of Nails / Feel My Frankenstein / Hey Stoopid / I Got A Line On You / It's Me / Lost In America / Love's A Loaded Gun

Prime Cuts, released in 2005, is an informative documentary telling the Alice Cooper story. It's available as bot a single disc version and a double disc version. The first disc features the documentary while the second disc features interview outtakes and rehearsal footage from the 'Raise Your Fist' tour. However...this is accessed through an incredibly annoying game of 'snakes and ladders'. Mind you, there is a cheat that enables you to skip the game and just see all the additional footage. Using the DVD remote control, just manually input Title 2 chapter 1

Live At Montreaux was recorded at the Montreaux Jazz Festival in 2005. It's entertaining, but the theatrics don't really start until the 'Welcome To My Nightmare segment. It's a vanilla release

Tracklist: Department of Youth / No More Mr. Nice Guy / Dirty Diamonds / Billion Dollar Babies / Be My Lover / Lost in America / I Never Cry / Woman of Mass Distraction / I’m Eighteen / Between High School and Old School / What Do You Want From Me? / Is it My Body? / Go to Hell / The Black Widow / Gimme / Feed My Frankenstein / Welcome To My Nightmare / The Awakening / Steven / Only Women Bleed / Ballad of Dwight Fry / Killer / I Love the Dead / School’s Out / Poison / Wish I Were Born in Beverly Hills / Under My Wheels

If you only buy one Alice Cooper DVD, make it the Theatre Of Death DVD. Simply put, this is the greatest theatrical rock concert ever released. You might need to watch it a few times to get the full story, but it is worth it. Packed to the gills with hits and theatrics, I doubt if it'll ever be bettered. Sadly, the DVD is vanilla - they certainly missed a trick by omitting the 'Along Came A Spider' mini-movie, which would have fitted perfectly

Tracklisting: School's Out (Short version) / Department Of Youth / I'm Eighteen / Wicked Young Man / Ballad Of Dwight Fry / Go To Hell / Guilty / Welcome To My Nightmare / Cold Ethyl / Poison / The Awakening / From The Inside / Nurse Rozetta / Is It My Body / Be My Lover / Only Women Bleed / I Never Cry / Black Widow (instrumental) / Vengeance Is Mine / Devil's Food / Dirty Diamonds / Billion Dollar Babies / Killer / I Love The Dead / No More Mr Nice Guy / Under My Wheels / School's Out (Long Version)

Raise The Dead: Live At Wacken is a recording of Alice's headline slot in 2014. After the masterful previous release, I think this is a disappointment. It's light on the theatrics, and it features the covers section

Setlist: Hello Hooray / House Of Fire / No More Mr Nice Guy / Under My Wheels / I'll Bite Your Face Off / Billion Dollar Babies / Caffeine / Department Of Youth / Hey Stoopid / Dirty Diamonds / Welcome To My Nightmare / Go To Hell / He's Back (The Man Behind The Mask) / Feed My Frankenstein / Ballad Of Dwight Fry / Killer/I Love The Dead / Break On Through (The Doors Cover) / My Generation (The Who Cover) / Poison / School's Out (inc. Another Brick In The Wall)

The DVD also contains a 20 minute interview with Alice, and the accompanying CD contains two extra songs that were cut from the DVD - Foxy Lady (Jimi Hendrix cover) & Revolution (The Beatles cover)

Finally, 'Super Duper Alice Cooper' was released in 2014. It's entertaining, but annoyingly it only seems to feature the first part of the story! It ends in the early 80's, so there is no mention of songs like 'Poison' and the albums that came afterwards. DVD extra features are: Deleted Scenes, Rare Footage and Metal Evolution Interview

Interesting you say From the Inside is your favourite album, Susan. The title track is probably my fave Alice song.

The top 5 I agree with, but mine would be in a slightly different order. However I think it would be changing depending on my current mood but always be those 5. Love it to Death has always been a personal favourite of mine, not least for the epic Black Juju which is one of my favourite Alice songs!

Good job with the thread. :hail:

I found Susans post fascinating reading.

I don't have any Alice albums anymore from prior to Constrictor except Welcome to My Nightmare. Although i do have The Definitive album which is supposed to be 'special' because of the recordings but i don't know why.

I used to have Zipper, and the mob inspired Greatest Hits on vinyl but no longer do.

I do have every studio album from Constrictor onwards though except The Last Temptation which to me wasn't an Alice album, just jumping on the grunge bandwagon.

I'm surprised you think so little of Trash and Hey Stoopid. I suppose they were hard rock albums rather than Alice quirky affairs but without them and their huge success i doubt Alice would be around today.

I prefer Alice to have a more Gothic sound, rather than a heavy metal one

The heavy metal albums ('Constrictor', 'Raise Your Fist', 'Trash' and 'Hey Stoopid') were what I was listening to back in the day, but I think that they have dated more than most of the others

What was special or different with the recordings on the compilation The Definitive Alice Cooper?

I don't have that one. The only compilations I have got are the two box sets - 'The Life And Crimes' and 'Old School'

As far as I am aware, there is nothing out of the ordinary with the songs on 'The Definitive Alice Cooper'. It's possible that they have been remastered, but other than that, I think they are the same versions that appeared on the parent albums

Yes that's it. It's the only comp with remastered tracks.