Alice Cooper has announced plans to release his first full album with the surviving members of his original band in more than 50 years.
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Billboard reports that the album, titled The Revenge of Alice Cooper, will be released on July 25. The 14-track collection sees the legendary shock rocker reuniting with his original Alice Cooper band mates Michael Bruce (guitar), Dennis Dunaway (bass), and Neil Smith (drums).
The album is dedicated to the group’s co-founding lead guitarist Glen Buxton, who died in 1997 at age 49. Buxton actually is featured on two songs on The Revenge of Alice Cooper. “What Happened to You” was built around a guitar riff taken from a demo tape Buxton recorded with Dunaway. The second tune featuring Buxton is a newly remixed version of “Return of the Spiders,” a song that originally appeared on the Alice Cooper band’s 1970 studio album Easy Action. The latter tune will be featured as a bonus track on a limited-edition The Revenge of Alice Cooper box set.
According to Billboard, Cooper will debut a lead single from the album called “Black Mamba” on Tuesday, April 22, on his syndicated radio show, Alice’s Attic. The track features a guest appearance by Doors guitarist Robby Krieger, who became friendly with the band in the late 1960s.
The Revenge of Alice Cooper was produced by Bob Ezrin, who produced most of the original band’s albums and many of Cooper’s solo efforts. Ezrin also co-wrote some songs on the new album, as well as contributing keyboards, backing vocals, and percussion.
More About The Revenge of Alice Cooper
The last full studio album recorded by the Alice Cooper group was Muscle of Love, which was released in 1973. That being said, Bruce, Dunaway, and Smith contributed to multiple tracks on three of Copper’s recent solo albums—Welcome 2 My Nightmare (2011), Paranormal (2017), and Detroit Stories (2021).
Cooper told Billboard that the experience recording The Revenge of Alice Cooper felt similar to working with the band back in the early 1970s.
“It was very much like this was our next album after Muscle of Love, just like, ‘OK, this is the next album,’” Alice maintained. “Isn’t that funny after 50 years? All of a sudden it just falls into place.”
Cooper also noted that he wanted the songs on the new album to sound like the original group.
“The original band has a darker sound, and a heavier sound,” he explained. “It’s a very different personality, and I even sing differently when I sing with those guys.”
The recording of the album began in 2022, although the project had been kept secret until now. Cooper pointed that, unlike with his solo albums, all of the band members had a say in the decision-making process for this record.
In addition to the new original tunes, The Revenge of Alice Cooper includes a cover the 1965 Yardbirds tune “I Ain’t Done Wrong,” a song Cooper and the band used to play during their early days in Phoenix, when they were called The Spiders. In addition, a bonus remix of the 1969 Alice Cooper song “Titanic Overunderture” will appear on the aforementioned box set.
Potential Plans for Shows by the Original Alice Cooper Band
Cooper currently has no plans to play shows with the members of his original group, although he’s not ruling that out.
Cooper and his solo band have a busy 2025 schedule that includes headlining dates, festival appearances, and a fall joint tour with Judas Priest.
Alice said he and his former bandmates haven’t gotten to the point of discussing any reunion shows.
“I don’t really see it being a full-out tour; it would be very, very hard, I think, if you haven’t done it for a long time,” Cooper told Billboard. “But I could see it being a feature, like going into certain cities—Detroit, New York, L.A., London maybe, and doing a half-hour or 40 minutes in a club or something. We always leave those things open, and if it looks feasible then we do it.”
Bruce and Dunaway, meanwhile, said they both would like to play shows with Cooper again.
“If [Cooper] asks, I’ll be there,” Bruce told Billboard. “I’m an Alice Cooper trouper.”
Dunaway added, “It has always depended on Alice. If Alice gives us a call, we’re there. We’re ready.”
The original band members have reunited to perform on a number of occasions over the last 15 years. They played together in 2011, when the group was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. They also reunited in 2015 to play an eight-song set at a record store in Dallas to celebrate the release of Dunaway’s memoir Snakes! Guillotines! Electric Chairs! The show was recorded and filmed, and was released as the Live from the Astoturf album and DVD.
In addition, Bruce, Dunaway and Smith were guest performers at Cooper’s 2017 U.K. tour dates.
Cooper Says He’d Record More with His Old Bandmates
Cooper told Billboard that he doesn’t consider the new album a one-off reunion project.
“I have no problem working with these guys all the time,” he declared. “I can be doing my [solo] albums, working with them. I’ve got the Hollywood Vampires [supergroup]. I’m in the Solid Rock band for all the kids at Solid Rock [his Phoenix-area youth centers]. I’ve got to keep [remembering] what band I’m in!”
Cooper added, “[Working with the original band] again is great. I’ll always be up for that.”
Meanwhile, Billboard reports that Alice also is recording a new solo album with Ezrin.
The Revenge of Alice Cooper Track List:
- “Black Mamba”
- “Wild Ones”
- “Up All Night”
- “Kill the Flies”
- “One Night Stand”
- “Blood on the Sun”
- “Crap That Gets In the Way of Your Dreams”
- “Famous Face”
- “Money Screams”
- “What a Syd”
- “Inter Galactic Vagabond Blues”
- “What Happened to You”
- “I Ain’t Done Wrong”
- “See You on the Other Side”
- “Return of the Spiders 2025” (Bonus Track)
- “Titanic Overunderture” (Bonus Track)
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