Monday, March 4, 2013

Alice Cooper - Flush The Fashion

After reviewing the Welcome To Our Nightmare tribute I thought I should review a couple from the master himself. But, I figured I'm going to cover the dark years of Alice Cooper, 1980-1982. I already reviewed 1983's DaDa, which I think is one of the best, yet darkest albums Alice ever did. However, there were three really odd albums that came before that.

The thing to keep in mind is that New Wave came out with a vengeance. Especially in the early 80's, when it was pretty much dominating the air waves and destroying radio forever. Especially since no one had recovered from Disco yet. So, Rock bands had only a few choices. They could either go underground, conform to the new music scene, try getting in with the Punk crowd, or head to Europe. Alice ended up doing option one by accident, and option two on purpose. Option Four also sort of happened, because 1981's Special Forces was decently recieved in the U.K. and France. That was also the last tour in support of an album until Constrictor was released in 1986.

However, the album that lead the charge into the new Alice Cooper music style was 1980's Flush The Fashion. This is an interesting album on one hand, and horribly wrong on another. Of the ten songs that make up this album, three of them are not penned by Alice at all, which includes the album's only single, and probably the best track, which I'll get to.

The lyrical content for most of the songs is really heavy on the social commentary. Think of an entire album of Generation Landslide, but with varying themes. However, to this day I don't know if I'm supposed to take the lyrics seriously, or if they are just a really big joke, because that's how they come off most of the time. At least to me. I'm sure the music doesn't help either. As I said, this is more or less a New Wave album. Not cool New Wave like Devo or Blondie either. More like Thomas Dolby or Adam Ant, sorry to anyone that liked them.

The album starts with Talk Talk, I normally skip this song. I find it boring and a rather lame way to start the album. The only thing that I like about this song is the way it flows into the next track.

Clone (We're All) is next up, and is the best song on the album. I'll never forget the first time I heard this song live. I was around twelve and it came on WRIF during an Alice Cooper triple play, and it blew my mind. This is not a typical Alice rock song. I couldn't believe what I was hearing, and I instantly fell in love, even though the song is very New Wave, but there's something about the lyrics and the music that was intriguing. "I'm a clone / I know it and I'm fine / I'm one and more are on the way / I'm two, doctor / Three's on the line / He'll take incubation another day / I'm all alone, so are we all / We're all clones / All are one and one are all / All are one and one are all / We destroyed the government / We're destroying time / No more problems on the way / I'm through doctor / We don't need your kind / The other ones / Ugly ones / Stupid boys / Wrong ones / I'm all alone, so are we all / We're all clones / All are one and one are all / All are one and one are all / Six is having problems / Adjusting to his clone status / Have to put him on a shelf / "Please don't put me on a shelf" / All day long we hear him crying so loud / I just wanna be myself / I just wanna be myself / I just wanna be myself / Be myself / Be myself / I'm all alone, so are we all / e destroyed the government / We're destroying time / No more problems on the way / I'm through doctor / We don't need your kind / The other ones / Ugly ones / Stupid boys / Wrong ones / I'm all alone, so are we all / We're all clones / All are one and one are all / All are one and one are all / I'm all alone, so are we all / We're all clones / All are one and one are all / All are one and one are all".

After that comes Pain. I enjoy this song a lot more now than I did when I first heard it, which was when I bought this CD. Musically I think this song should have gone darker to match the lyrical content. "I'm hidden in the scream / When the virgin dies / I'm the ache in the belly / When your baby cries / And I'm the burnin' sensation / When the convict fries / I'm pain / I'm your pain / Unspeakable pain / I'm your private pain / And I'm the compound fracture / In the twisted car / And I'm the lines on the face / Of the tramp at the bar / And I'm the reds by the bed / Of the suicide star / You know me- I'm pain / I'm your pain / Your own private pain / Unfathomable pain / And it's a compliment to me / To hear you screamin' through the night / All night / Tonight / I'm the holes in your arm / When you're feeling the shakes / I'm the lump on your head / When you step on the rake / And I'm the loudest one laughing / At the saddest wake / Yes I'm pain / I'm just pain / Dear old pain / You need your pain / And I'm the loudest one laughing / At the saddest wake / I'm the salt in the sweat / On the cuts of the slaves / I was the wound in the side / While Jesus prayed / I was the filthiest word / At the vandalized grave / Yes, pain / Do you love me pain / I love my pain / I'm your pain / It's a compliment to me / To hear you screamin' through the night / All night / Tonight". Instead the music sounds a little too pretty and not as Goth as it should be. I almost wish this song had been on DaDa instead, so it would have sounded right.

The biggest problem with this album is the lack of Bob Ezrin at the production chair. Roy Thomas Baker did an okay job, but Bob would have given this album the darker edge it would have needed to be better.

I don't care for Leather Boots at all. This is total crappy New Wave to me, and once again the music doesn't match the lyrics. The music is too happy, and the lyrics are about ass kicking. But it's not fun, happy stab stab, like you'd expect from Alice. Instead it's more like "Hey, let's put these lyrics on this music and release it as a filler track."

Asprin Damage is interesting. I don't care for the music, but the lyrics are catchy. "I get these killer headaches / I get one everyday / I wake up with a migraine / Since you ran away / Got a load of tension / Burnin' up my neck / Something is wrong with my suspension / So pass those tablets to this wreck / Aspirin damage, Aspirin damage / Kills the pain, destroys the brain / No one told me 'bout Aspirin damage / Sometimes I find myself shakin' / From the medication taken / Oh yeah. / I balance my Excedrin / And Anacins in stacks / I'm a pain reliever junkie / I got a Bayer on my back. / I went to see the doctor / He walked me down the hall / Said "Strip down 'til you're naked / Your suit, your tie and all." / Aspirin damage, Aspirin damage / Kills the pain, destroys the brain / Aspirin damage, my disadvantage / Sometimes I find myself shakin' / From the medication taken / Oh yeah. / Aspirin damage, Aspirin damage / Kills the pain, destroys the brain / No one told me 'bout Aspirin damage / Sometimes I find myself shakin' / From the medication taken / Oh yeah ". I would love to hear a remake of this song with all the digital crap removed, and a real Rock band playing it hard. Instead of this light fluffy stuff coming out of my speakers.

Nuclear Infected is catchy and some what enjoyable, but everything I've complained about musically so far applies to this song as well.

One of the more interesting things about this album is, with the exception of Pain, most of the songs are around three minutes or less. Pain clocks in at 4:06 and the next track Grim Facts is the second longest at 3:25. As for Grim Facts this is one of the best Rock songs on this album, as it's one of the only ones. However, it still sounds too light compared to the lyrical content. " The boy's got problems / The boy's got stress / The boys' a .38 hidden in his desk / The boy's got a chickie / With four months to go / Grim facts / Every parent better know / The girl's a heavy teaser / Wants to do a private show / She's got a hundred thousand fantasies / She wants the band to know / She likes to brush across my Levis / She likes to watch him grow / Grim facts / Every parent better know / Grim facts / Every parent better know / Red lights, gang fights / Brewing in the heat / Cop cars, gay bars / On your precious street / That ain't so neat / Sister's on the street now / Looking for some Joe / Only got about an hour / To pay for her new nose / She gets a hundred for her body / A nickel for her soul / These are grim facts / Every parent must know / Grim facts / Every parent must know / Red lights, gang fights / Brewing in the heat / Cop cars, gay bars / On your precious street / That ain't so neat / And I'm feeling itchy / Got a fire down below / I'm a walkin' loaded time bomb / Just about to blow / Tries to slide inside my pockets / But it's strictly SRO / Grim facts / Every parent got to know / Grim facts / Every parent got to know / Red lights, gang fights / Brewing in the heat / Cop cars, gay bars / On your precious street / That ain't so neat / Mm grim facts / You know, growing all the time / Mm grim facts / Real grim, yeah / Grim facts".

Model Citizen is yet another song that could have been better than it was if it was produced by someone else. But for the most part this song is a bit cheesy to me.

Dance Yourself To Death is a little New Wave mixed with Country, and I think that it's supposed to be funny, but I'm not entirely sure. "They kinda compromise my social position / And my cool-ativity is suffering too! / I get a kiss good-bye / I get all numb and high / From all the smoke left on their breath / I smile and wish them well / Then I pray like hell / They go and dance themselves to death / Ahh dance, real hard / I get a kiss good-bye / I get all numb and high / From all the smoke left on their breath / I smile and wish them well / Then I pray like hell / They go and dance themselves to death / Come on momma / Come on daddy / Come on skinny / Come on fatty / Shake it Martha / Shake it Larry / Shake it Mr. Coronary / You gotta dance dance / Come on and dance dance / Dance til you're outta breath ". I will say that I do enjoy this song as a joke, but if it's supposed to be serious that a completely different story.

The album finsihes with Headlines. Lyrically this song applies to the American mentality of fame as much as it did in 1980. "I hope that they catch my best side / Popped out / From a cake / At the President's ball / What a big mistake / Fifty guns / Aimed at me / I was nearly killed / But what publicity / Nominated / Something big / Stole the hottest scene / Says the Globe And Trib / Porno movie / Comes to light / But I was starving then / So that's alright / I wanna be in the headlines / Anything to be in the headlines / As long as the spell my name right / Hope that they catch my best side / Keep my sidewalk status star bright / Feel free to walk on me tonight / Just don't spit on me. / Headlines, headlines, / Headlines, headlines, / Headlines, headlines, / Headlines. ". Musically I have the same complaints as I did on every other song.

As I've said before I think the biggest problem with this album is the production, it's not badly produced, it's just produced wrong. The music is way too Poppy, and nowhere near as dramatic as it should be. In fact this album comes off sounding kind of thrown together because of it. Lyrically I find this album very interesting, but then again that's why I've always loved Alice Cooper. But even better is how thirty-three years later so much of the content is still socially relevant.

5/10 - content

6/10 - production

6/10 - personal bias

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