Last month (May 14), following Alice Cooper‘s customary execution via guillotine on stage at a Nashville concert, fans were treated to something rarely seen since 1973. The stage went dark and original band members, bassist Dennis Dunaway, guitarist Michael Bruce and drummer Neal Smith reunited to perform a five-song mini-set that included such classic rock hits as “I’m Eighteen” and “Billion Dollar Babies.”
It was billed as a one-off event (even though the quartet reunited again the next night for a private business industry event).
Cooper’s forthcoming album – Paranormal, due July 28 on earMUSIC – will include two new songs written and recorded by the original line-up (“Genuine American Girl and “You And All Of Your Friends”).
They have enjoyed the reunion so much that they’ve decided to continue it.
Today (June 14), Cooper announced that the three members of the original Alice Cooper band will join him on tour in the U.K., returning there for the first time in 46 years.
At those two Nashville performances, they were joined by current band member Ryan Roxie filling in for the late Glen Buxton on guitar. That night, the band also played “No More Mr Nice Guy,” “Muscle of Love” and then closed with “School’s Out,” bringing back current band members – drummer Glen Sobel, bassist Chuck Garric, and guitarists Nita Strauss and Tommy Henriksen for a grand finale.
Watch them perform “I’m Eighteen” and “Billion Dollar Babies”
And here’s that concert’s great finale
Alice said, “When the original band broke up in 1975, there was no bad blood. There were no lawsuits — we had just burned out the creative process. We had gone to high school together and had recorded something like five Platinum albums in a row. We were never out of sight of each other for 10 years. Everybody just went their own way. Neal, Dennis and I always stayed in touch. Mike disappeared for a while and Glen Buxton passed away in 1997, which was a big blow.
“But last year Neal called me up and said, ‘I have a couple of songs.’ I said great, bring ‘em over. Then he said Mike was stopping by, so I had them come to my house and we just worked on a few things for a week. Then Dennis called up and said, I got a couple songs. So, I thought, hey let’s do this! When you listen to the record, it just fits right in.”
Paranormal also has guest appearances by ZZ Top guitarist Billy Gibbons, U2 drummer Larry Mullen and Roger Glover of Deep Purple. It was recorded in Nashville with longtime collaborator Bob Ezrin.
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Related: Our interview with Cooper
The album also includes a bonus of six live tracks recorded at one of Cooper’s 2016 shows in Columbus, OH.
Related: Full details on Paranormal and Cooper’s North American tour
Listen to “Paranoiac Personality,” the first release from the upcoming album
Alice Cooper 2017 U.K. Tour
Nov 11 – Leeds – First Direct Arena
Nov 12 – Glasgow – The SSE Hydro
Nov 14 – Birmingham – Barclaycard Arena
Nov 15 – Manchester – Manchester Arena
Nov 16 – London – The SSE Arena, Wembley
