Artist: Cooper, Alice
Label: Guardian Records
Released: 1997
Sunday, June 2, 1996, the day Alice recorded a show in San Lucas, Mexico. The gig went down at the famous Cabo Wabo Cantina, which is owned by Sammy Hagar. The original title was Viva Alice, but it got renamed A Fistful Of Alice. The album exists because Alice wanted to show how he sounds singing live now – 20 years after the release of his last and first live album (1977 – The Alice Cooper Show). It’s also the first album with lead guitarist Ryan Roxie. There’s a pretty interesting story behind the label it came out on, too, and the reasons it ended up on something called Guardian Records at all.
The recording is only part of the show (the full thing can be found on various promo and bootleg releases) and it covers 13 tracks, stretching from the early days all the way to the latest album. The cherry on top is a brand-new studio track, produced by Alice himself. The song, called Is Anyone Home?, is on the mellower side and never made it onto the charts, but it did later pop up on various compilations.
The show itself had the typical theatrics and props, but the much-loved guillotine was nowhere to be seen on this tour either. That doesn’t mean Alice isn’t Alice without it – the gig is still played brilliantly, and there were quite a few well-known guests on stage, including Rob Zombie, Slash and Sammy Hagar. You can also hear from the sound that the show has a more intimate, club vibe – you notice it even more in the talking than in the singing.
The album kicks off with the classic School’s Out, with Sammy Hagar taking over the guitar. After almost 30 years of loud singing, Cooper’s voice is still in good shape and rasped-up enough that nobody could mistake it for anyone else’s, which comes through nicely on classics like Under My Wheels, I’m Eighteen and Desperado. On the newer track Lost In America, Slash guests on guitar, though somehow the live version doesn’t match the studio one. Next come two rarities at gigs (especially these days), Teenage Lament ’74 and the ballad I Never Cry, where the vocals are lovely, clean and upfront. The calm gets broken by the mega hit Poison, followed by a bunch more excellent live classics like No More Mr. Nice Guy, Welcome To my Nightmare and Only Woman Bleed, with Slash back on guitar. Feed My Frankenstein takes the crowd into the nineties with Rob Zombie on guest vocals, which makes the song especially interesting, since it kind of conjures up the image of Frankenstein. The last live track is the usual closer, the excellent Elected, where Slash joins in on guitar alongside Rob as a guest.
All in all, it’s a good album for anyone who wants to hear Cooper live, but I’d rather suggest catching a show or buying the DVD Alice Cooper Trashes The World from 1989, instead of having just an hour of recording (and not even the whole show at that), where you can’t even come close to getting a feel for the dazzling theatrical performance.
Lineup
Alice Cooper – vocals
Reb Beach – guitar
Ryan Roxie – guitar
Dan Wexler – guitar *
Steve Farris – guitar *
Todd Jensen – bass
Merrit Morrison – bass *
Jimmy DeGrasso – drums
Matt Laug – drums *
Paul Taylor – keyboards
Guests:
Rob Zombie, Slash, Sammy Hagar
Production
Thom Panunzio & Alice Cooper *
Tracklist
1. School’s Out (live)
2. I’m Eighteen (live)
3. Desperado (live)
4. Lost In America (live)
5. Teenage Lament ’74 (live)
6. I Never Cry (live)
7. Poison (live)
8. Billion Dollar Babies (live)
9. Welcome To My Nightmare (live)
10. Only Women Bleed (live)
11. Feed My Frankenstein (live)
12. Elected (live)
13. Is Anyone Home *
Album length: 61:04
