10 essential Alice Cooper songs

Before there was a Marilyn Manson to freak out the squares, there was Alice Cooper. For the last 52 years, Cooper (aka Vincent Furnier) has been making music. By the late ’60s, Cooper made his way to Detroit Rock City to up the ante on the macabre, and has been a key figure in the heavy metal/shock rock scene since then. In anticipation of his upcoming show this Sunday at the Louisville Palace, we’re looking back at what makes Cooper such an indispensable figure in the history of rock.

“Halo of Flies” From the 1971 album, Killers, “Halo of Flies” is a long burn, but one that pays off. You can hear a lot of prog-rock leanings in the opening of the track, which takes its time building. There are world-music leanings here in the composition, almost like eastern scales that the guitars work, mixed with a healthy dose of Peter Gabriel-era Genesis, King Crimson and MC5.

“Clones” Part of Cooper’s ’80s solo work, “Clones” is a synth-heavy piece of new wave that blends the rock of his earlier work with a touch of glam. It’s got an easy hook and a great guitar line, both in the terms of the thick distorted bits and the noodly delay parts. The synthesizer lines have a vibe not unlike The Cars, to the extent that if you told me that Rick Ocasek produced this, I’d believe it. Cooper plays a lot with his voice here with vocoders and effects that render him as much machine as man all for great narrative effect.

“School’s Out” It would be criminal not to list “School’s Out” as an essential part of the Alice Cooper catalogue. Here Cooper offers up an undeniably anti-establishment anthem about non-conformity. Superficially, this may seem like an exercise in anti-intellectualism, but it really digs into the freedom that you think you have after the completion of high school.

“Welcome to My Nightmare” “Welcome to my Nightmare” is definitely one of those tracks that get deep into psychosis and the bizarre. Cooper may not have been a founder of modern metal, but this song proves that he was certainly an early influence on a lot of folks that skew to the heavier side of things. The shreds are insane and the keyboards are psychotic, all while Cooper, who has to be wearing a top hat, leads the show like an insane carnival barker.

“Long Way to Go” An early cut, “Long Way to Go” is a tight jam that channels all the good times of bands like The Stooges or the New York Dolls. This song moves along at an energetic clip, with Cooper lamenting, perhaps positively, that we’ve all got a long way to go.

“Caught in a Dream” There is a classic rock vibe to “Caught in a Dream,” another deep cut from Cooper and company that would fit in with Bob Seger or Joe Cocker. The central conceit here is that Cooper is along for the ride, devoid otherwise of the ability to process his situation.

“Billion Dollar Babies” Another early ’70s rocker, the groove on “Billion Dollar Babies” is undeniable. While not quite as long, or epic in nature, as is “Halo of Flies,” there is still a playful nature to the composition that suggests more than a little Frank Zappa in the DNA. It’s a quirky track that never loses sight of the rock in prog-rock, which is definitely on showcase.

“Yeah, Yeah, Yeah” The guitar and drum work at the beginning of “Yeah, Yeah, Yeah” has an almost proto-blues punk thing going on. And when the bass drops in after the intro, it opens up to a broader feel. Cooper is raspy and aggressive, but in a way that seems desperate for some satisfaction. The song closes with a harmonica that would make John Popper cry like a baby.

“Unfinished Sweet” What you don’t expect is a Gang of Four-style angular punk jam, but “Unfinished Sweet” has plenty of that going on. Is there any style of rock that Cooper won’t try? Going through his catalogue, it’s pretty unlikely, with the only unchanging quality being the timbre of Cooper’s voice, and a penchant for creative production and ideas. You can experience that with the disconcerting sound of what sounds like a tooth drill, which is an interesting, but effective way to unsettle a listener, which is what he does so well.

“Generation Landslide” A Led Zeppelin vibe opens this track. Maybe it’s the acoustic guitar or Cooper’s very Plant-esque voice, but this has a “Ramble On” feel that kicks things off. It’s a nice break from the otherwise proto-punk/glam rock vibe that Cooper is typically about. As such, this is a wonderful showcase of his flexibility as an artist to dive into other styles while keeping his own identity. There is a rustic sensibility here that is hard to define except by the song’s own context, which features a variety of instruments that come in and out, as if in a haze.