Alice Cooper’s Greatest Hits

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If it weren’t for Alice Cooper’s onstage antics, Kiss, Marilyn Manson and Glen Danzig might have evolved into summery pop artists suitable for family picnics. Yet as Alice Cooper’s Greatest Hits record attests, the grandfather of shock rock brought much more to the rock arena than boa constrictors and simulated decapitations. In addition to classic hard rock anthems like “I’m Eighteen,” “No More Mr. Nice Guy,” and “School’s Out,” Cooper unleashed rollicking barroom rockers like “Under My Wheels” and tugged at the heartstrings with cuts like “Desperado” and “Hello Hooray.” In retrospect, his songs have more in common with the Who and the Faces than with Black Sabbath or Judas Priest. But his songs were filled with soaring choruses and grandiose horn embellishes that proved he could be larger than life both on and off the stage. –Jon Wiederhorn