In a recent interview with Matt Bingham of Z93 radio, rock legend Alice Cooper discussed reuniting with the surviving original members of the Alice Cooper band — guitarist Michael Bruce, bassist Dennis Dunaway, and drummer Neal Smith — for a new studio album titled The Revenge of Alice Cooper.
Set for release on July 25 via earMUSIC, the highly anticipated album is being hailed as a spiritual successor to the band’s classic records School’s Out, Billion Dollar Babies, Love It to Death, and Killer.
When asked how the reunion with the original Alice Cooper band members came together, Alice told (as transcribed by Blabbermouth): “Well, the funny thing was when we disbanded in ’74, that was not like a divorce; that was a separation. And we all stayed in touch with each other. Everybody did their own music. Dennis worked a lot with Blue Öyster Cult and things like that. And so on the last four Alice Cooper albums, they played on two or three of the songs. And finally I just said, ‘Why don’t we just do an album?’ And [longtime Alice Cooper producer] Bob Ezrin said, ‘I’ll do it.’ He did all the original ones with us. And the great thing was it felt like no time had gone past us. This album sounds like the album that should have come out right after Billion Dollar Babies. We didn’t try to make it sound like the ’70s, we didn’t try to make it sound like anything — it was just exactly what would’ve happened in 1975. So I’m really proud of the album. It’s just really a clever album.”
When asked asked if there was a sense of “déjà vu” during the recording sessions — given that all the musicians and the producer had collaborated over 50 years ago — Alice responded: “Oh, yeah, absolutely. Honestly, it didn’t feel like we missed a beat. And I forgot how funny the band was. I forgot how funny Dennis and Neal and Mike were. And every song we just got along on everything. There was no argument about any song. Everybody [was] just, ‘Let’s try this.’ ‘Oh, let’s try that.’ ‘Let’s try this.’ In the end, we agreed to everything, and it sounded great. Now, we did have the luxury of going to different lead guitar players because Glen Buxton, our original lead guitar player, passed away. So, Robby Krieger played on ‘Black Mamba’ and a couple other songs. And so we had a bunch of different lead players on it.”
The Revenge of Alice Cooper includes a special tribute to late guitarist Glen Buxton, who passed away in 1997 at age 49. His guitar work can be heard on the track “What Happened To You,” which stems from a vintage demo he recorded with Dunaway. Fans picking up the limited-edition box set will also receive Return Of The Spiders 2025, a freshly remixed version of the classic track from the band’s 1970 album Easy Action.
Legendary producer Bob Ezrin, who helped define the band’s sound on landmark records like Killers (1971), School’s Out (1972), and Billion Dollar Babies (1973), returns once again to produce The Revenge of Alice Cooper. Ezrin has also been a frequent collaborator on Alice Cooper’s solo ventures over the years.
Formed in 1968, the original Alice Cooper band forged a theatrical brand of hard rock that was destined to shock and had never been seen before. Within five years, they would release no fewer than seven studio albums, amongst them their international breakthrough “School’s Out” (including the Top 10 hit of the same name) and the U.S. No. 1 “Billion Dollar Babies” (1973). By 1974, the band had risen to the upper echelon of rock stardom… and then it dissolved.
