rtbuck
Senior Member
Alice Cooper ‘No More Mr. Nice Guy: Live’
Format: Compact Disc
Label: Concert Live
Year: 2012
Track Listing:
1) Intro(Vincent Price)/ The Black Widow
2) Brutal Planet
3) I’m 18
4) Under My Wheels
5) Billion Dollar Babies
6) No More Mr. Nice Guy
7) Hey Stoopid
8) Is it My Body
9) Halo of Flies
10) I’ll Bite Your Face Off
11) Muscle of Love
12) Only Women Bleed
13) Cold Ethyl
14) Feed My Frankenstein
15) Clones
16) Poison
17) Wicked Young Man
18) I Love the Dead
19) School’s Out
20) Elected
21) Fire (Featuring Arthur Brown)
It seems like yesterday that I was at my first visit to Record Theater shortly after the new year of 1978. I was looking at the new releases & noticed ‘The Alice Cooper Show’ on display. I only had heard of the name Alice Cooper as I had only been a music fan for less than a year. I took immediate notice to the cover so I picked up the vinyl & the back cover intrigued me just as much. I glanced at the song titles: “Devil’s Food/ The Black Widow”, “Go to Hell”, “I Love the Dead”, & “School’s Out” & knew right then I was going to buy it. I loved that record (especially the Guitar solo exchange between Dick Wagner & Steve Hunter on “I’m 18”) & I’d just lie back in my room staring at the album cover trying to piece together the stage show while I cranked up the vinyl record.
It is now 2012 & many live albums later for Alice (the last 3 DVD’s he released also contained live CD’s) & he has released another Live album (a double CD). This one is titled ‘No More Mr. Nice Guy: Live’ & was recorded live on October 29th 2011 in London, England & yes we have heard live versions of most of these songs before but this band featuring the amazing guitar work of the great Orianthi & the return of Steve Hunter is a must hear for Alice Cooper fans. I seen this tour last summer just before Orianthi joined the touring band & I would say it was the best show I have seen Cooper put on (I’ve seen him 5 times since ’81), probably due to his band which featured Chuck Garric(whose been with Alice since 2003 & really stands out onstage) & the return of Steve Hunter on guitar.
Besides the great band, the setlist was brilliantly put together with the surprise opener “The Black Widow” followed by “Brutal Planet” & then a string of classic Cooper hits one right after another (“I’m 18”, “Under My Wheels”, “Billion Dollar Babies”, “No More Mr. Nice Guy”, & “Is it My Body”). The band really turns the heat up on “Under my Wheels” which is played with a vengeance reminding me a bit of the version they played with the original band on the Live ‘Good to See You Again Alice Cooper’ DVD. Just as you’re coming up for air after “Is it My Body” the band rips into “Halo of Flies” from the Killer album featuring a drum solo by Glen Sobel along with some great bass work & “Hey Hey!” chants by Chuck Garric. Alice’s last single “I’ll Bite Your Face Off” is up next but what follows is the highlight of the album for me… “Muscle of Love”. The song rocks out as usual but after the song ends Orianthi gets her spotlight with an amazing earsplitting solo which may be short but is a must hear (worth checking out is her own instrumental track “Highly Strung” which she performs with Steve Vai on her ‘Believe’ album ). The show lets you catch your breath as Alice performs his hit “Only Women Bleed” but then bounces right back with “Cold Ethyl” & “Feed my Frankenstein”. A recording of synthesized drums ring through the crowd & Alice revisits his ‘Flush the Fashion’ album with “Clones”. Alice keeps the crowd going by performing his late 80’***** “Poison” before execution time where he performs “Wicked Young Man” & is taken to the guillotine as the band launches into the instrumental section of “Killer”. A snap of the blade & “I Love the Dead” is up. Alice returns to the stage & rocks out his 1972 hit “School’s Out” where he mixes in Pink Floyd’s “Another Brick in the Wall Part 2”. Alice returns again & rocks out “Elected” & briefly introduces the band. The CD closes with a surprise guest appearance by Arthur Brown (of the Crazy World of Arthur Brown) as he sings his horror theatrical classic “Fire” (with the classic opening line “I am the God of Hellfire & I Bring you…Fire!”).
Overall as I said this is a must have for Alice Cooper fans mainly to hear the band’s performance. Alice’s vocals are fine especially for singing in that growling voice for over 40 years now. I was a bit disappointed in the packaging which had no mention of the musicians & no photos (very plain). The cover looks great but that’s the highlight of the packaging.
Bucky
