Muscle Of Love

Highly underrated album from the original Alice Cooper Band. It's only crime was having to follow the group's masterpiece - Billion Dollar Babies - from which it suffered critical comparison. On it's own, Muscle of Love is another exciting and creative output that fits in well with the band's amazing string of releases stretching from Love It To Death thru Killer, School's Out and BDB's. The mastering on this new Audio Fidelity disc is really wonderful. Yep.. Bob Ezrin did some amazing mixing and production on the previous four albums, but Richardson and Douglas did a fantastic job on MOL too. Really fun and effective production and mixing which Steve Hoffman of AF brings back very nicely. Definitely the definitive CD release of this album and I'm only referring to the 2.0 stereo mix. I don't have a SACD enabled player so I can't imagine how cool the 4.0 might sound if the 2.0 is this good. As they had done on past albums, the band really stretches out with unique material and music styles. Sure, there are classic hard rockers here, but check out Crazy Little Child or Hard Hearted Alice to see how different this band was from the average rock act and hear the varied stylistic influences they incorporated. Even when they brought in some jazz or acoustic moods or brass, this band simply rocked and seemed to enjoy challenging and confronting their audience. Woman Machine seems to be a throw away track but I truly enjoy all the others including what could have been one of the absolute greatest James Bond themes ever, Man With The Golden Gun (if the movie producers had been able to get this bit of brilliance in time). Don't be swayed by the stories of the band falling apart and "ruining" this album. Yes, Glen was almost completely absent and there were growing internal tensions, but the rest of the band crafted a great album with the addition of some top notch sidemen. I'd highly recommend this Audio Fidelity release, right down to it's great packaging and inclusion of album style extras like the original vinyl release. Bonus..... this makes for one amazing headphone experience.

Came in great packaging. Works perfect no scratches.

I came to be an Alice Cooper fan quite late in the game. I accidently came across "Welcome To My Nightmare" '75 and "Goes To Hell" '76 while visiting a cousin. On the first play, I was hooked...maybe that's why momma forbid me to have any Alice Cooper or Kiss music. Once in college and away from home I purchased "Killer" '72 in late 1980, I realized at this tyme that I had been missing out on a really Xciting artist and would have to collect all the releases as funds permitted. Now that you know a little of my history concerning the Coop, let me get on with "Muscle Of Love" '73. The Alice Cooper Group had released "Billion Dollar Babies" earlier that year and it was a smashing success with several hits and some very interesting, odd subject matter. If you are Xpecting to hear more of the Alice that did "Killer" & "Billion Dollar Babies", you may be disappointed. "Muscle Of Love" is more of a musical Xperiment, incorporating various musical stylings in with their rock n roll. There is no "I Love The Dead" or "Sick Things" types of songs and there's really no heavier handed rockers like "Billion Dollar Babies" or "No More Mr. Nice Guy". Even so, this album rocks, just rocks a little differntly. Some may think this is just an album of filler material due to the lack of any stand out singles. I agree, for the Alice Cooper Group this could be filler material, but it's pretty darn good. "Big Apple Dreamin' (Hippo)" and "Hard Hearted Alice" always seem very visual...just seems he's taking me on a journey with his story telling, stimulates my imagination. "Man With The Golden Gun" should have been a FM radio hit, but I've still never heard it on the airwaves...another reason to get XM. "Teenage Lament '74) is the closest thing to a real hit, but it's a cool song and it rocks. "Never Been Sold Before" has some interesting horns going on. "Crazy Little Child" has that New Orleans sound with piano and horns, some may question it, but I think it works well. "Working Up A Sweat" just an upbeat rocker. "Muscle Of Love" fast paced rocker. "Women Machine" is the weakest number to me, but it's still alright and fits in well with the rest of the material. If you're wanting the Shock Rocker with ghoulish, dark subject matter...this might not be the one for you.

I don't understand why this disc is not more popular--it has the original Alice Cooper lineup---the lyrics and music are just as strong as the bands previous efforts and although Bob Ezrin did not produce this, his influence is clearly felt. This displays a level of professionalism and musicality that most bands can only hope to achieve. Teen Age Lament was clearly a hit and several of the songs had strong FM radio potential, perhaps it was not promoted properly by the record company so they could whittle away at the band ---rumored to be the outs with the frontman.

Alice had a very sweet backing group of musicisions Glen Buxton,Michael Bruce,Dennis Dunnaway & Neal Smith. Much like the Who they wrote songs about Teenage angst. And this is what made them GREAT.No drugs Just growing up and exploring the females. They mixed in some political stuff but it was light hearted. Any teenager growing up in the 70's just knew what they were singing about. Let the testosterone flow.Just really listen to Blue Turk off of School's out and it says it all.

This is a good CD. The original Alice Cooper group sound great. The material is as good as any Alice Cooper album from that era.

I have tried to purchase this C.D in the past but was told that it was discontinued. Much to my suprise I found it here on amazon. The c.d arrived on time and in perfect condition. I was in my teens when I first listened to this on vinyl, and was suprised to hear how much better it sounded on c.d. If you are a Alice Cooper fan, you will love it...

Prob my fav Alice Cooper album since Love It To Death. Another Toronto Bob Ezrin production, quality remastered. The artwork is sort of cool considering it has to replicate what was originally a pizza box that housed the inner sleeve and record.

I have waited a long time for a remastered version of this Alice Cooper album. This was the last studio recording to feature the Alice Cooper Band before they split and Alice went off to pursue his solo ventures taking the name with him. This Japanese remastered Version is worthy of more than 5 stars, the sound quality and packaging are superb. Tracks such as Big Apple Dreamin (Hippo), Hard Hearted Alice and Crazy Little Child really come alive. I know when this album was being made that Glen Buxton lead guitarist for the band was having health issues and it may be fair to say that the majority (if not all) of the lead guitar contributions are either Dick Wagner or Mick Mishbar but that does not detract from what a great solid rock album this is. In particular its good to be able to hear Neil Smiths drumming brought more to the fore. Alice does a sterling job on vocals and his lyrics have a great humour to them. Not a cheap purchase but well worth the cost. If you missed this album first time around then buy it and you will not be disappointed.

perfect

Alice Cooper es uno de los grandes, y uno de los que mejor definen lo que fueron los 70. Este álbum es uno de los más interesantes.

Una producción no muy esmerada en su concepción, sin complicarse demasiado, tan solo explotando el estilo característico que lo distinguió durante los 70's Rock duro y extravagante