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Per qualche strana ragione, quando si scrive o si parla dei numi tutelari dell'hard rock degli anni settanta, il nome di Alice Cooper viene talvolta omesso.
Dei Led Zeppelin, dei Black Sabbath, dei Deep Purple e dei Kiss non ci si dimentica mai, ma del buon vecchio Vincent Damon Furnier (nato il 4 Febbraio 1948, figlio di un pastore protestante) ogni tanto si perdono le tracce. Oppure se ne ricorda solo la "resurrezione" degli anni '80 con l'album 'Trash' ma soprattutto con il singolo 'Poison'. Eppure la sua importanza, sia dal punto di vista artistico che commerciale, è accostabile a quella degli intoccabili gruppi citati poco fa: basta pensare allo spettacolo indetto ogni volta da quest'uomo (o donna, a detta sua, che si profetizza reincarnazione di una strega del 1600 di nome per l'appunto Alice Cooper) nei grandissimi concerti svolti in ogni parte del globo, concerti che fanno ancora scalpore per l'atmosfera sanguinaria e grandguignolesca che li pervade (con buona pace di Marylin Manson).
La carriera artistica di Alice Cooper comincia nel 1970, e negli anni successivi porta alla formazione di capolavori del calibro di "Love It To Death" (1971, contenente l'inno immortale "I'm Eighteen"), "Killer" (1971) e "School's Out" (1972) un trittico che ha inaugurato il decisivo sodalizio con il produttore Bob Ezrin.
Nel 1973 lo stato di grazia del quintetto (del quale vanno citati i due bravissimi chitarristi Glen Buxton, scomparso nell'ottobre '97, e Michael Bruce) è tale che dieci brani di lunghezza medio-bassa sono sufficienti a lanciare subito 'Billion Dollar Babies' al primo posto della classifica di vendite USA.
L'album si apre con la mitica "Hello Hooray" con il cantato a squarciagola di mister/miss Alice a farla da padrone in una canzone elegante e solenne allo stesso tempo. La successiva "Raped And Freezin" è un po' più sguaiata e possiede un ritmo tale da entrare subito in testa e da rendere impossibile lo stare fermi, ma è con "Elected'' che il tasso di pesantezza aumenta a livello esponenziale, presentando un brano trascinante e ripetitivo che si piazza tra gli highlight dell'album, dimostrandosi ancora oggi protagonista della setlist degli shows di zio Alice. La traccia numero 4, titletrack del disco, è forse l’episodio più strano, in virtù di un riff spezzato e un giro di basso molto incisivi; il cantato è una sovrapposizione di varie voci, - alcune delle quali quasi sembrano fuoriuscite da un cartone animato - che contribuiscono a fornire un risultato tutto sommato piacevole, impreziosito da un grande assolo finale. Ancora splendida alchimia rock con "Unfinished Sweet" che precede il classicone "No More Mister Nice Guy" un altro dei tantissimi inni generazionali di Alice Cooper e indubbiamente la migliore song dell'album per immediatezza e qualità; il riff è stupendo e risulterà poi uno dei più copiati ed imitati da innumerevoli gruppi in tutto il mondo. Senza alcuna remora è possibile paragonare questa canzone ad altre song memorabili e leggendarie come "Paranoid", "Rock And Roll" e "Detroit Rock City". La seguente "Generation Landslide" non diverrà parimenti famosa, ma il suo potenziale si rivelerà appena inferiore mentre "Sick Things" si dimostra essere una sinistra e morbosa apologia della perversione, orchestrata in un crescendo di tensione veramente memorabile. La meravigliosa ballad pianistica "Mary Ann" è poi il preludio alla delirante e necrofila "I Love The Dead" degno epitaffio in nero di un disco epocale che risulta ancora oggi attuale.
Prima di rimanere vittima del suo stesso personaggio e di imboccare il tunnel dell'auto distruzione, lasciando comunque ancora un capolavoro assoluto con "Welcome To My Nightmare" (1975), Alice Cooper è stato uno dei più eccelsi e visionari menestrelli rock degli anni settanta, un maestro della provocazione esasperata e intelligente, con concerti shock che rimarranno una vetta irraggiungibile per chiunque.
Elenco tracce testi samples e video
01 Hello Hooray (04:15)
Hello! Hooray! Let the show begin,
I've been ready.
Hello! Hooray! Let the lights grow dim,
I've been ready.
Ready as this audience that's coming here to dream.
Loving every second, ev'ry moment, ev'ry scream,
I've been waiting so long to sing my song
And I've been waiting so long for this thing to come.
Yeah - I've been thinking so long I was the only one.
Roll out! Roll out with your American dream and its recruits,
I've been ready.
Roll out! Roll out with your circus freaks and hula hoops,
I've been ready.
Ready as this audience that's coming here to dream.
Loving every second, ev'ry moment, ev'ry scream,
I've been waiting so long to sing my song
And I've been waiting so long for this thing to come.
Yeah - I've been thinking so long I was the only one.
I can stand here strong and thin.
I can laugh when this thing begins.
God, I feel so strong.
I feel so strong.
I'm so strong.
I feel so strong.
So strong.
God, I feel so strong,
I am so strong.
02 Raped and Freezin' (03:19)
Finally got a ride, some old broad down from Santa Fe.
She was a real go-getter.
She drawled so sweetly, "I think, child, that things'll get better."
We pulled off the highway, night black as a widow.
"Yes, I read the Bible," she said, "I wanna know of you."
Hey, I think I've got a live one,
Hey, I think I've got a live one, Yeah, Yeah,
I think I've got a live one.
Felt like I was hit by a diesel or a greyhound bus.
She was no baby-sitter.
"Get up, sugar, never thought you'd be a quitter."
I opened the back door, she was greedy.
I ran through the desert, she was chasin'.
No time to get dressed, so I was naked, stranded in Chihuahua.
Hey, I think I've got a live one,
Hey, I think I've got a live one,
Hey, hey, I think I've got a live one,
Alone, raped and freezin',
Alone cold and sneezin',
Alone down in Mexico,
Alone.
03 Elected (04:05)
I'm your top prime cut of meat, I'm your choice,
I wanna be elected,
I'm your yankee doodle dandy in a gold Rolls Royce,
I wanna be elected,
Kids want a savior, don't need a fake,
I wanna be elected,
We're all gonna rock to the rules that I make,
I wanna be elected, elected, elected.
Good evening Mr & Mrs America and all ships at sea,
The candidate is taking the country by storm.
I never lied to you, I've always been cool,
I wanna be elected,
I gotta get the vote, and I told you 'bout school,
I wanna be elected, elected, elected,
Hallelujah, I wanna be selected,
Everyone in the United States of America.
We're gonna win this one, take the country by storm,
We're gonna be elected,
You and me together, young and strong,
We're gonna be elected, elected, elected,
Respected, selected, call collected,
I wanna be elected, elected.
"And if I am elected
I promise the formation of a new party
A third party, the Wild Party!
I know we have problems,
We got problems right here in Central City,
We have problems on the North, South, East and West,
New York City, Saint Louis, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Detroit, Chicago,
Everybody has problems,
And personally, I don't care."
04 Billion Dollar Babies (03:43)
Billion dollar baby
Rubber little lady, slicker than a weasel,
Grimy as an alley
Loves me like no other lover
Billion dollar baby
Rubber little monster, baby, I adore you
Man or woman living couldn't love me like you, baby
We go dancing nightly in the attic
While the moon is rising in the sky
If I'm too rough tell me
I'm so scared your little head will come off in my hands
Billion dollar baby
I got you in the dimestore,
No other little girl could ever hold you
Any tighter, any tighter than me, baby
Billion dollar baby
Reckless like a gambler, million dollar maybe
Foaming like a dog that's been infected by the rabies
We go dancing nightly in the attic
While the moon is rising in the sky
If I'm too rough, tell me
I'm so scared your little head will come off in my hands
Million dollar baby
Billion dollar baby
Trillion dollar baby
Zillion dollar baby
05 Unfinished Sweet (06:18)
Candy everywhere, got chocolate in my hair,
Aching to get me.
Sticky sweet suckers in the Halloween air,
Aching to get me.
Saint Vitus dance on my molars tonight,
Aching to get me.
Aching to get me, get me oh ...
Take it to the doc, I guess he ought to know,
La, da, da, da, da.
Which ones can stay, which ones gotta go.
La, da, da, da, da.
He looks in my mouth and then he starts to gloat.
He says my teeth are O.K.,
But my gums got to go. Oh oh ...
I come off the gas but I'm still seeing spies,
Aching to get me.
I can see them all through a glassy pair of eyes,
Aching to get me.
De Sade's gonna live in my mouth tonight,
La, da, da, da, da,
And the rotten tooth fairy is satisfied,
La, da, da, da, da,
Aching to get me, get me oh ...
06 No More Mr. Nice Guy (03:06)
I used to be such a sweet, sweet thing
'Til they got a hold of me.
I'd open doors for little old ladies,
I helped the blind to see.
I got no friends 'cause they read the papers.
They can't be seen
With me and I'm gettin' real shot down
And I'm feeling mean.
No more Mister Nice Guy,
No more Mister Clean,
No more Mister Nice Guy,
They say he's sick, he's obscene.
I got no friends 'cause they read the papers.
They can't be seen
With me and I'm gettin' real shot down
And I'm getting mean.
No more Mister Nice Guy,
No more Mister Clean,
No more Mister Nice Guy,
They say he's sick, he's obscene.
My dog bit me on the leg today.
My cat clawed my eyes.
Nice Guy ooh
Ma's been thrown out of the social circle,
And dad has to hide.
I went to church incognito.
When everybody rose
The Reverend Smedley,
He recognized me,
And punched me in the nose.
He said:
No more Mister Nice Guy,
No more Mister Clean,
No more Mister Nice Guy,
he said you're sick, you're obscene.
No more Mister Nice Guy,
No more Mister Clean,
No more Mister Nice Guy,
They say he's sick, he's obscene.
07 Generation Landslide (04:31)
Please clean your plate dear, the Lord above can see you
Don't you know people are starving in Korea?
Alcohol and razor blades and poisons and needles
Kindergarten people, they used 'em they need 'em
The over indulgent machines were their children
And there wasn't a way down on earth here to cool 'em
Cos they look just like a human at Kresge's and Woolworths
But decadent brains were at work to destroy
Brats in batallions were ruling the streets scene and
Generation landslide, close the gap between them
And I laughed to myself at the men and the ladies
Who never conceived those billion dollar babies
La la da da daa
Militant mothers hiding in the basement
Using pots and pans as their shields and their helmets
Molotov milk bottles heaved from pink high chairs
While mothers' lib burned birth certificate papers
And dad gets his allowance from his sonny the dealer
Who's pubic to the world but involved in high finance
Sister's out till 5, doing banker son's hours
But she owns a Maseratti that's a gift from his father
Stop at full speed, at 100 miles per hour
The Colgate invisible shield finally got 'em
And I laughed to myself at the men and the ladies
Who never conceived those billion dollar babies
La la da da daa
No one gives an oink about prom night or football
Cos just getting at home from school safe is a gamble and a blessing
Girlsies play with girlsies and boysies with boysies
Bored with one another, like old broken Christmas toysies
Kids are all hot and their parents so annoisy
And I laughed to myself at the men and the ladies
Who never conceived those billion dollar babies
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Altre recensioni
Di Valeriorivoli
"Alice Cooper esordiò col suo gruppo ispirandosi a Frank Zappa, portando un'energia negativa che sconvolgeva il pubblico."
"Il rock ha bisogno di robaccia... quando si fa troppo raffinato allora c'è bisogno di gente come me che faccia della musica di merda e degli spettacoli di pessimo gusto."
