ALBUM REVIEW – ALICE COOPER

Alice Cooper – Trash

Reviewed by: Marsworth

Review Score: 9.5

Let’s take a trip down memory lane, shall we? Take a seat inside my time machine and I’ll take us back to the summer of 1989 where Alice Cooper releases his eighteenth studio album, Trash. Yeah, eighteenth. Crazy, right? The first 7 of which are under the band name Alice Cooper and the remaining 11 with his solo career. The first album of his under EPIC Records showed us listeners that this maniac is truly in love with us. Mind blowing producer, Desmond Child, played a key role in the record along with songs from the albums little brothers Hey Stoopid and Welcome 2 My Nightmare. We all should know Cooper for being known as the Godfather of Shock Rock or from his larger than life sets/ props and horrifying execution style stage performances that nod to fan favorite horror films.

Even with it being a well known album it only got to 20 on the U.S charts; however, it’ll go down as Cooper’s biggest of his hair metal albums. After looking through specs on how well it did in the charts, where it did well, and certified sales of the album, it’s quite silly to see that Trash was at number 1 in Finland; however, they have one of the lowest sold units. This album pushed Cooper back into the charts which is exactly what he needed at the time. Welcome to My Nightmare was his last album to break through the top 20 in the U.S charts which was 14 years prior. He finally got what he deserved after all that time. It’s insane to be reminded of how difficult it is to remain popular in the music industry, but people like Cooper do it and make it look easy. Trash was released 35 years ago and I still listen to it like it was hot off the press last week. Good music stays good music. 

Alice Cooper’s band is: 

Alice Cooper – Vocals
John McCurry – Guitars
Hugh McDonald – Bass
Bobby Chouinard – Drums
Alan St. John – Keyboards

This is such a hard hitting album from the single, “Poison” to “I’m Your Gun”. Nothing about the absolute angst and desire for love flowing through “House of Fire” and “Hell Is Living Without You” isn’t delectable. The only fault, and it’s not even a fault, is the track “Only My Heart Talkin’”, as that’s the slower one of the 10 we’re given. I’m not a lover of slow songs, so that’s definitely the one that’s going to get skipped. I want to turn on a song and feel like I have to kick down a door in the next 3 minutes or I listened to it wrong.

I know I always say that the band I’m reviewing shows no signs of slowing down, but I’m super serious this time. Cooper is 75 freakin’ years young and is still hitting that stage every night with his wife and band in tow like it’s nobody’s business. This man is the definition of determination and the phrase, “If you like your job, you’ll never work a day in your life.” Needless to say, if you haven’t taken some time to listen to this gem, what’re you doing with your life? Get a taste of every drop of Trash. This is a necessity. It’s basically oxygen. Be sure to catch songs from this here album live and better than ever on his Freaks on Parade tour with Rob Zombie + friends this summer!

‘Trash’ track list:

  1. Poison
  2. Spark in the Dark
  3. House of Fire
  4. Why Trust You
  5. Only My Heart Talkin’
  6. Bed of Nails
  7. This Maniac’s in Love with You
  8. Trash
  9. Hell Is Living Without You
  10. I’m Your Gun