Alice Cooper’s latest solo release, Welcome 2 My Nightmare, is getting a lot of attention currently, due in large part to the fact that original Alice Cooper Band members, Neal Smith, Dennis Dunaway and Michael Bruce collaborated with Alice on three of the album’s songs. Neal Smith’s writing contribution, “I’ll Bite Your Face Off” is the first single and here’s the video, embedded below for your enjoyment. While this video is a live shoot from Alice’s ongoing tour, the audio track is from the studio recording and features Neal on drums, Dennis on bass and Michael on guitar. In case you’re curious and do not yet own the album, the other two tracks on which original band members collaborated/play are “Runaway Train” (co-written by Dennis) and “When Hell Comes Home” (co-written by Michael Bruce).
Alice Cooper’s long-awaited sequel to his 1975 classic Welcome to My Nightmare comes out on September 13, 2011, but Alice will preview select tracks in their entirety and offer his personal commentary on his syndicated Nights with Alice Cooper radio show on Friday, August 19th. Coop kicks off the program with the world debut of W2MN’s first single, “I’ll Bite Your Face Off” (written by original Alice Cooper drummer Neal Smith) and he’ll pick other favorites from the 14-track album, including “Runaway Train” and “I Gotta Get Outta Here” to tease and talk about during the show. W2MN, recorded with longtime collaborator Bob Ezrin (who produced the original multi-platinum Welcome To My Nightmare album in 1975), picks up right where they left off.
I can’t believe I managed to miss this news. I was just on the phone with my friend Neal Smith (2011 R&R Hall of Fame Inductee with the band called Alice Cooper) and he sort of casually mentioned to me, “You know that Jack Richardson passed away a couple of weeks ago, right?” Seriously, I had no idea. Richardson was a studio legend best known for producing over fifteen albums for The Guess Who, but he’s also responsible for sending a young Bob Ezrin to New York to produce Alice Cooper (the band)‘s breakthrough album, Love it to Death (1971). He went on to produce John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s Double Fantasy and Alanis Morrisette’s phenomenally successful debut, Jagged Little Pill among many other best selling albums. Jack was considered to be a “Drummer’s Dream Producer” and during the time I wrote for Modern Drummer I interviewed many players who sang Jack’s praises. Jack Richardson is also the father of noted music producer Garth Richardson, who actually mixed the sound for the reunited Alice Cooper Band when they performed at Revolver Magazine’s Golden Gods Awards in Los Angeles last month. Richardson was 81 years old when he passed away on May 13, 2011 after years of declining health. You can read more about the life and career of Jack Richardson at This Link.
Congratulations go out to Michael Bruce, Neal Smith, Alice Cooper and Dennis Dunaway on their induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame last evening, March 14, 2011, which took place here in NYC at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel. Alice Cooper was a band, no matter what any historical revisionist wants to tell you these days. The ceremony and performances will air on the FUSE network this coming Sunday, March 20th at 9 PM Eastern /8 PM Central. Check your local listings for the correct channel to tune to in your area.
