Interview by Kris Peters Alice Cooper was set loose on the world in the mid to late 1960s, and it is fair to say the music world has never been the same since.
Blending rock music with ghoulish tales of the macabre backed up by a live show that pushed every conceivable boundary of the time, Alice Cooper soon became the man (band) people hated to love. His elaborate set pieces, including the infamous guillotine beheading cornerstone of his live show, gave birth to legend, and it is a testament to the enduring legacy of the great man that he continues unabated to this day.
While Alice Cooper will always be the one in the public eye, much of his early success was largely due to the band he assembled around him - lead guitarist Glen Buxton, rhythm guitarist Michael Bruce, bassist Dennis Dunaway, and drummer Neal Smith - who recorded with Cooper for the first seven albums, including School's Out and Billion Dollar Babies. While their departure after Muscle Of Love in 1973 didn't affect Cooper's career trajectory, it still marked the end of an era, one which is still held fondly by earlier fans of the band.
After half a century without officially fully reuniting, the Alice Cooper Band returned earlier this year with the announcement of a new album, The Revenge Of Alice Cooper, and a return to the sound that paved the way for generations of budding rock stars the world over. In a truly special moment, the album features a posthumous appearance by Glen Buxton, the band's original guitarist who passed away in 1997, through an unreleased recording that seamlessly blends the past with the present on What Happened To You, featuring his original guitar part.
Alice, Neal, Michael, and Dennis reunited with their producer Bob Ezrin in an old-school recording studio in Connecticut, rekindling the magic from the 70s. This album is a celebration of friendship, nostalgia, and the timeless sound that solidified Alice Cooper as a rock icon. Fans can expect a powerful and nostalgic experience that bridges the gap between the band's storied past and their vibrant present.
HEAVY was fortunate enough to spend time chatting with all three returning members in a riotous and informative 20-odd-minute interview that felt like it was only five. We ask if this reunion was something that they always thought would happen one day, or if it came as a surprise.
"No, we didn't know it was gonna happen," Dunaway smiled. "We thought it was gonna happen a couple of times over the decades, and then it didn't. So this was kind of like another one of those. We weren't popping any champagne until we actually were in the studio recording."
"And even when we were in the studio recording, the mixes didn't happen until about a year later," Smith interjected. "So… We were more like, I wanna see the album cover in my hands before I believe it, which I have now (laughs)."
In the full interview the band talks more about The Revenge Of Alice Cooper and getting the original band back together, if they had all been in contact over the years, the musical side of the album and how it harks back to the early days of the band, how easy they slipped back into the groove and jamming out to the first song back. We also spoke of the loss of Glen Buxton and how they managed to include his work on this album, the glory days of the band, what they think the band's musical legacy will be, working with Alice and more.

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