Laughing at me (Alice Cooper) (LP 204 - 207)

Alice Cooper Pretties For You (CD - Warner Bros, 1970) ***
Alice Cooper Easy Action (CD - Warner Bros, 1970) ** 
Alice Cooper Love It To Death (CD - Warner Bros, 1971) ***
Alice Cooper Killer (CD - Warner Bros, 1971) ***

Genre: American pop/rock

Places I remember: A Taupo record shop. 

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: I'm Eighteen




Gear costume: Under My Wheels

Active compensatory factors: The first four Alice Cooper albums trace the arrival of the Coop (a.k.a. Vince Furnier) and his band from weirdo experimentalists beloved by Frank Zappa and signed to his label (Straight Records) to weirdo pop icons via I'm Eighteen (on Love It To Death). 

Debut album Pretties For You will appeal to Zappa/ Beefheart fans (like me). It's weird, eclectic, psychedelic music straight (ha ha) out of 1969.

Follow up, Easy Action, suffers a little from second album syndrome as the boys were a little short of material. David Briggs is well known for his association with Neil Young and no frills rock'n'roll so he's a bizarre (ha ha) choice!

Third and fourth albums are like Vol 1 and 2 of the new AC; they hit their mark with a harder rockier sound but still poppy in all the right places. I'm Eighteen is an obvious standout on Love It To Death and Under My Wheels is nicely macabre.

Still, they are all something of a preamble for School's Out - where I first started taking notice back in the day via the lead track as a single. 

That album is also collected in this five pack, original album series which I came across recently while cruising for burgers in Taupo [not sure what it is about Taupo and Alice - coincidentally, that's also where I first bought the School's Out album way back in time].

Where do they all belong? The classic School's Out (not included above because I've written about it already. You can check it out here). Next up is Billion Dollar Babies!