The original Alice Cooper group has reunited for the first time in over 50 years for the release of their forthcoming studio album, The Revenge of Alice Cooper, out July 25 via earMUSIC.
Featuring Alice Cooper, Michael Bruce on guitar, Dennis Dunaway on bass, and Neal Smith on drums, the new album – their first since 1973's Muscle of Love – sees the shock rock legends reunite with longtime collaborator and producer Bob Ezrin, whom Alice Cooper previously described as “our George Martin.”
It promises to be “a high-voltage journey into vintage horror and classic ’70s shock rock,” recapturing the sound and energy that propelled the original Alice Cooper lineup to stardom.
It also includes a posthumous appearance by Glen Buxton, the band's original lead guitarist who passed away in 1997, on What Happened to You – a previously unreleased recording that features his original guitar part.
“Glen Buxton was so unique. He wasn’t the kind of player that could play a traditional 12-bar blues, but he could jam with someone like Pink Floyd’s original guitarist, Syd Barrett,” Cooper told Guitar World in a 2018 interview.
“Glen was very futuristic, and when he was on, he was as good as anybody. Michael Bruce, on the other hand, was a great rhythm and riff player. He laid the foundation, while Glen went into outer space.”
Additionally, one of the bonus tracks is a raw, alternate take of Return of the Spiders – another version of which appears on 1970's Easy Action – which was missing for 50 years. It was recently unearthed from the original multi-tracks and mixed by Ezrin in preparation for the album.
As for the recently released first single, Black Mamba, featuring Robby Krieger of the Doors, it was, as Cooper describes it to Billboard, “definitely an Alice Cooper, from-the-ground-up song.”
“When we started to play that it’s when I knew the spirit of the Alice Cooper group was back and that what we were making was very much an album that could’ve been in the ’70s when we were last together,” adds Ezrin, who, aside from being the producer, also co-wrote songs, played keyboards and percussion, and sang backing vocals.
“It had the psychedelia, it had the artful drumming and bass playing, the great atmospheric guitars. It has Alice telling a really fabulous story, in character.”
“We didn’t know where it was gonna go,” Cooper adds. “At the end, we looked at each other and went, ‘Oh, that’s pretty good!’”
In other Alice Cooper news, Nita Strauss recently rejoined the Godfather of Shock Rock on his latest run – after former Guns N' Roses guitarist Gilby Clarke replaced Orianthi due to injury.
