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The Coop vs. The ‘80s

Posted Feb 12, 2010 by Clarisa Gerlach

Updated Feb 12, 2010 at 03:05 PM

After a series of increasingly dismal concept albums, Alice Cooper rebounded slightly with 1980’s “Flush the Fashion,” and its Gary Numan-inspired single, “Clones (We’re All).”

Cooper continued in this vein for three more albums, which were reissued in late January by Collector’s Choice. The results of Cooper’s new-wave experiments are decidedly mixed but there are enough memorable to please fans of Alice and ‘80s new wave oddness as well.

“Special Forces” (1981) is the weakest of the bunch, with a limp remake of “Generation Landslide,” re-titled “Generation Landslide ‘81” as the album’s nadir. Sequenced beats squelch a remake of Love’s “Seven and Seven Is,” a shame becuase Cooper’s vocal brims with vitriol.

There are high points, though, including “Prettiest Cop on the Block,” the funniest Cooper song in ages and the tongue-in-cheek self-aggrandizement of “You’re a Movie.” The reissue adds an excellent bonus track, “Look at You Over There, Ripping the Sawdust From My Teddy Bear.”

“Zipper Catches Skin” (1982) is the most solid of the three. It lacks the valleys of “Special Forces,” but also lacks the peaks. “Make That Money (Scrooge’s Song” and “Tag, You’re It” are winners, while “I’m Alive (That Was the Day My Dead Pet Returned to Save My Life)” works better as a title than a song.

“Dada” (1983) was Cooper’s last album for Warner Bros., his long-time label. Bob Ezrin, the producer of Cooper’s best works from 1971’s “Love It to Death” to 1973’s “Billion Dollar Babies,” returned, and if the results aren’t up to those standards, “Dada” is at least the most ambitions of Cooper’s ‘80s work.

The title track and “Former Lee Warmer” put Cooper in familiar, creepy territory. “I Love America” flirts with social commentary, and “Pass the Gun Around” is harrowing, considering Cooper’s battle with alcohol.

All three releases have new essays but otherwise the packaging is bare bones, and the sound is nothing to shout about.