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flux
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Re: Along Came a Spider - The Master Alice Cooper returns to form!
That guys got to be about 70 years old.
He doesn't need the make-up anymore.
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7/6/2008, 8:34 pm
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Ricketay
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Re: Along Came a Spider - The Master Alice Cooper returns to form!
As I say on my pathetic excuse for a MySpace page:
After nearly 40 years of musical mayhem, the man continues to astound and confound. He's 60 years young, and continues to create music that is fun, energetic, provocative, and relevant. His stage shows are second to none. And it's amazing how many people (critics and fans alike) still don't seem to get it. They still have a hard time telling when he's being serious, and when he's just being mischievous or satirical. No wonder the idiots at the "Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame" still haven't voted him in.
As for not needing the make-up anymore: Alice is one of the few performers whose age doesn't work against him (in fact, it can actually work in his favor - even enhancing the Alice character). In an interview, Alice was asked if he'd ever had plastic surgery - to which he replied, "For what? To look uglier?"
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7/9/2008, 3:48 pm
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Ratmannnn
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Re: Along Came a Spider - The Master Alice Cooper returns to form!
Another person of whom age enhanced their character was Grandpa Jones!
Richard Hershner fer prez!
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7/9/2008, 7:36 pm
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flux
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Re: Along Came a Spider - The Master Alice Cooper returns to form!
Alice should have been 'Elected' a long time ago. Would it be him or the Alice Cooper Band ?
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7/9/2008, 10:20 pm
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drwaldo
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Re: Along Came a Spider - The Master Alice Cooper returns to form!
 Agreed. 
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7/10/2008, 12:34 am
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Ricketay
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Re: Along Came a Spider - The Master Alice Cooper returns to form!
quote:
flux wrote:
...Would it be him or the Alice Cooper Band ?
I've wondered the same thing. In fact, I've always had a sneaking suspicion that the Hall of Fame dimwits are punishing Alice for carrying on without the group (as well as for taking the theatrics as far as he did, and for making fun of so many of the silly myths they hold so sacred).
While there was undeniably something special about the Alice Cooper Group - only Alice Cooper the person (i.e., Vincent Furnier) has continued making listenable music since the group broke up. The problem is that he never seems to take it as seriously as a lot of other people (fans and critics) apparently want him to. There was always a sly wink behind the mischief, and I think that ticks some people off more than anything.
One of the most sacred myths about R&R is that it is "all about rebellion and breaking the rules". But Alice proved the ultimate rebel, because he dared to rebel against the rebellion - and he's committed the unpardonable sin of breaking the (oxymoronic) rules that supposedly define what is and isn't R&R. The powers-that-be loved it when he was exposing the absurdities and hypocrisies of middle-class America. But they weren't too thrilled when they realized he could also see through their absurdities and hypocrisies. And to top it all off, he then has the audacity not to take himself too seriously - because he knows, all too well, that he can be just as absurd and hypocritical as anyone else. (Heck, what other performer has ever subjected their self to the humiliations and executions that Alice has, onstage and off?)
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7/10/2008, 3:47 pm
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Ratmannnn
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Re: Along Came a Spider - The Master Alice Cooper returns to form!
Can I get an amen from the congregation!
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7/10/2008, 6:33 pm
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flux
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Re: Along Came a Spider - The Master Alice Cooper returns to form!
You have some good insight. I agree with point that he does not take himself or the Alice character too seriously and as a side note, I like that he didn't exploit it to the nth degree like Gene Simmons did with KISS. On the otherhand, Alice is a professed born-again Christian. His faith does not line-up with the act of Alice Cooper. I truely think he knows it's his meal ticket still. How he justifiys it is his own business. I don't buy the argument that it's like a Hollywood character. Robert Duvall plays characters with redeeming qualities now and won't accept any roles otherwise.
To think the imaginary persona doesn't have a long term effect is wrong. Ask Heath Ledger. Whoops. He died shortly after playing The Joker in the new Dark Knight movie. He was quoted as saying he felt a bad presence during the study and performance.
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7/10/2008, 8:00 pm
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Ricketay
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Re: Along Came a Spider - The Master Alice Cooper returns to form!
I, too, like the fact that he hasn't gone the Gene Simmons route. But, then, I don't think he's quite the whore Gene is either. Alice seems to have a lot more integrity than Gene does - both artistically and personally. Gene hasn't produced anything worth listening to in 15 years, or more - whereas, Alice has produced 5 excellent albums in that time perod (with, hopefully, a sixth coming out in a few weeks).
Alice certainly doesn't treat, or speak of, his act as a meal ticket (see KISS for that sort of thing). He obviously doesn't need the money, since he claims to still have money from the '70s (thanks to good management and wise financial decisions). It's obvious that he takes what he does very seriously (even if he doesn't take his self that way). He's apparently very intelligent, and seems to carefully think out everything he does. He claims that he still has as much (if not more) energy and enthusiasm for playing Alice as he ever did, because Alice is still his favorite rock star.
He took a year off from touring, while he considered whether or not he could be a good Christian and still be Alice onstage (most people think that the decision not to tour in support of The Last Temptation is what kept that album from being a huge success). And he must have been blessed with some mature (sane) Christian teachers, because he seems to have avoided the problems that so many celebrity converts encounter.
Whether one buys the argument or not, the onstage Alice is a character - Alice has stressed that since the '70s. The Alice haracter is a product of all the things in our society that nobody likes to admit are there; he's a cracked, warped mirror, that gives a disturbingly clear reflection of some things that most people would rather not admit exist; he's like some Flannery O'Connor story come to life (i.e., a large startling picture, drawn for a society that's nearly blind).
I love Robert Duvall, and admire his talent and intergrity (The Apostle is one of my all time favorite movies) - but to imply there are no redeeming qualities to Alice Cooper is, I think, a little unfair. Alice is like an evolving morality play: Alice always gets punished for the evil things he does; Alice never seems to be enjoying the bad things he does (so there's no glorification of his evil); but there are always moment's of genuine tenderness amidst the madness. If Alice didn't get held accountable for his deeds, he doesn't think people would enjoy the shows as much - he believes that's one of the biggest reasons people always leave his shows happy, like they just got off a wild amusement park ride. It's all a lot more sophisticated than it appears on the surface - which is one of the reasons it's so much fun.
I agree that playing an imaginary persona can have an effect on a person - but the effect is not always a negative one. And, how long-term the effects are depends on the person (Heath Ledger died shortly after finishing playing the Joker - so we don't know how long-term they may have been, though they certainly seemed to have been intense). Also, a person's world-view, mental state, and spiritual condition play a major role in how something will effect them. I don't know anything about Heath Ledger's state of mind or soul at the time, so it wouldn't be fair to speculate further. I will say, however, that if he felt a bad presence while preparing for and playing the part, then he (perhaps) should have looked for a way out.
Alice knows what it's like to blur the line between the character and the man. It almost killed him. He attributes his sobriety to divine intervention, saying it's the only way he can explain his total deliverance form the overwhelming need to drink. He knows he's blessed to have survived his self-destructive past. Also he seems to have had a close support system of family and friends that Ledger may not have had.
Alice isn't a preacher - he's an artist, an entertainer - but he doesn't hesitate to speak of his faith in interviews, and he apparently has had many opportunities to speak of it with people privately. He's said that being Alice Cooper makes him seem more approachable to people who might otherwise never darken a church doorstep or talk to your average Cleaver family church-goer.
He's pledged 2 or 3 million dollars to build a Christian-based community center in Phoenix, so kids will have a safe alternative to the growing gang problem. He hosts celebrity golf tournaments for charity. He's active in his local church (and even teaches Sunday school from time to time). He recently received a MusiCares award for all the times he has gone out of his way to help people with substance abuse problems over the years. He's been married 30 years, and swears he's never cheated on her - and, together, they have 3 seemingly well ajusted children. By all accounts he's a genuinely nice guy. So he kills people onstage for a living - is that really so bad?!?!
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7/11/2008, 4:29 pm
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