Alice Cooper – Love It To Death (Warner Bros.)
Thanks to his recent induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, I pulled out my old vinyl copy of Alice Cooper’s Love It To Death and confirmed: It’s about fucking time.
I’m one of those “Alice Cooper is a band” supporters, the kind of fan who understands that theatrics are only half of the equation. The other half is a raw outfit of musicians who made those theatrics frightening.
Continue reading Lost Classic: Alice Cooper – Love It To Death
Kiss – The Elder (Casablanca)
When it comes to great bands, most acknowledged music experts don’t consider the merits of Kiss. When they do, it’s usually in tandem with the band’s marketing ability and the influence their music had on young kids. It’s true, ask a large sample of rock bands that achieved success during the past twenty years and a large percentage of the responses would probably name a few Kiss albums as the first rock album they ever purchased.
From that list, a few Kiss albums stand out: Destroyer and Rock And Roll Over. If Kiss does get any kudos, it usually involves one of those two albums. Maybe Alive. Sometimes Love Gun.
There’s one album that is regularly overlooked in Kisstory and it is ridiculed in certain rock circles as their major misstep. But the reality of this album’s greatness is very apparent the moment you listen to it with a fresh set of open ears. When you do, you’ll see that Kiss’ The Elder is not only one of the best albums in the band’s catalog, it’s one of the greatest albums in rock history.
