In a treat for longtime fans, original Alice Cooper group bassist Dennis Dunaway made a special guest appearance with Alice Cooper’s current band on Friday, May 23rd. The reunion took place at the Mohegan Sun Arena, where Dunaway joined the group for a performance of the iconic track “School’s Out.” You can see the footage down below.
This live collaboration comes amid major news from the Cooper camp: the surviving original members of the Alice Cooper band have reunited for a brand-new studio album. The record, titled The Revenge of Alice Cooper, is slated for a July 25th release via earMUSIC and features guitarist Michael Bruce, bassist Dennis Dunaway, and drummer Neal Smith alongside Cooper.
In a recent interview on Z93 radio with Matt Bingham, Alice Cooper himself discussed how the full-album reunion came to fruition. He explained that the original members have remained on good terms and have contributed to his recent solo albums.
“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,” Alice said (as transcribed by Blabbermouth). “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.”
Cooper praised the creative chemistry that remains between the bandmates, suggesting the new album feels like a natural successor to their classic 1970s work. “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.”
Legendary producer Bob Ezrin, who was instrumental in shaping the band’s sound on seminal albums like Killer, School’s Out, and Billion Dollar Babies, has returned to helm this new project.
Cooper noted that the recording sessions felt like no time had passed. “Oh, yeah, absolutely. Honestly, it didn’t feel like we missed a beat,” he shared. “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.”
With original lead guitarist Glen Buxton having passed away in 1997, the album features guest musicians, including Robby Krieger of The Doors. “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.”
The Revenge of Alice Cooper will pay tribute to Buxton by including his archival guitar work on the track “What Happened To You,” which originated from a demo he recorded with Dunaway.
Below is the full track listing for The Revenge of Alice Cooper:
- Black Mamba
- Wild Ones
- Up All Night
- Kill The Flies
- One Night Stand
- Blood On The Sun
- Crap That Gets In The Way Of Your Dreams
- Famous Face
- Money Screams
- What A Syd
- Inter Galactic Vagabond Blues
- What Happened To You
- I Ain’t Done Wrong
- See You On The Other Side
- Return of the Spiders 2025 (bonus track)
- Titanic Overunderture (bonus track)
