Performer: Cooper, Alice
Label: Epic Records
Released: 1989
Who in 1989 would have predicted that Cooper’s new studio album Trash would climb so high? Nobody. After switching to Epic, Cooper made his most commercially successful album to date, even though it’s actually the least typically Cooper of the bunch. Way too much else takes center stage, like producer Desmond Child’s heavy influence, which gave the album more of his style than Cooper’s, then there are the countless guest musicians, many of them on vocals, the overproduction, and the lyrics, which are about as un-Cooper as it gets. Die-hard fans of the old Cooper were loud with their criticism, but radio success and the cha-ching of dollar bills did their thing. The album topped the charts absolutely everywhere and the hits came one after another. Who doesn’t know Poison? Even today it’s the one song that says “Cooper” the loudest, well, real fans would say that’s School’s Out and I’d agree, but commercial success works wonders.
The record has ten tracks with none of that typical Cooper storytelling, just one thing tying them together: whatever ruled the charts in the eighties. Sex, big manes, skin-tight pants and lipstick. The opener and first single is Poison. No doubt about it, it’s a good song that goes down easy, super melodic with a whiff of rock, ironed-out guitar riffs with mellow bass and drums, just like every other track. It’s all cut from the same cloth, like Spark In The Dark, the single House Of fire, Why Trust You, the single Bed Of Nails, I’m Your Gun, This Maniac’s In Love With You and Hell Is Living Without You. Things get a bit different on the hit ballad Only My Heart Talkin’, where Steven Tyler adds his vocals. The title track Trash is also a little different, though I’d say it fits the album’s concept least of all. On the surface, the album doesn’t have a shred of Cooper’s brutality. Okay, if you go digging through the lyrics you might find something, but this just isn’t a real Cooper album.
The album puts Cooper at the very peak of success and he’ll surely never repeat it, but only in the global radio sense. Among fans, though, it’s the polar opposite, and it gets trampled by all his other albums. Even though the criticism from Cooper connoisseurs was loud, it went largely unheard precisely because of that success, which you can surely credit to producer Desmond, who also had a big hand in writing the songs. The album is perfect for anyone who loves eighties rock and doesn’t know Cooper’s other work. No doubt about it, the album is excellent, but it’s not a real Cooper album.
Lineup
Alice Cooper – vocals
John McCurry – guitar
Hugh McDonald – bass
Bobby Chouinard – drums
Alan St. John – keyboards
guests:
Steve Tyler, Joey Kramer, Tom Hamilton & Joe Perry, Kip Winger, Jon Bon Jovi & Richie Sambora
Production
Desmond Child
Track list
1. Poison
2. Spark In The Dark
3. House Of Fire
4. Why Trust You
5. Only My Heart Talkin’
6. Bed Of Nails
7. This Maniac’s In Love With You
8. Trash
9. Hell Is Living Without You
10. I’m Your Gun
Album length: 40:20
