Old geezers over 70 shouldn’t be making records like Detroit Stories, but then Alice Cooper isn’t your typical old geezer. Aside from a few lines etched in his face, he looks pretty much the way he has for the last 50 years. Before the pandemic, he was a touring machine, living up to his ghoulish image and playing the hits with his own backing band, as well as rolling through covers and newer originals with the Hollywood Vampires, the super group he formed with Aerosmith’s Joe Perry and musically inclined actor Jonny Depp. Since the pandemic, he’s posted several entertaining videos featuring his family online and revisited his roots with the aforementioned Detroit Stories.
The album is a tribute to Alice Cooper’s hometown of Detroit and its fledging rock and roll scene with a couple fellow Michiganders on board for authenticity. MC5’s Wayne Kramer, Grand Funk Railroad’s Mark Farner, Steve Hunter (Lou Reed, Mitch Ryder), and Joe Bonamassa all lay down guitar on tracks throughout the album. It’s also a throwback to Cooper’s own history, reuniting the singer with the album’s producer Bob Ezrin, the man behind “I’m Eighteen,” along with 70s band mates Neal Smith, Michael Bruce, Dennis Dunaway, who appear on a couple songs. Players from Cooper’s current band and musicians who have appeared on other recent Alice Cooper albums like U2 drummer Larry Mullen, Jr. also contribute to Detroit Stories, making it truly collaborative effort.
The record doesn’t miss a step in establishing a firm foundation with a no nonsense rip through Velvet Underground’s “Rock n’ Roll” to start things off. It’s a number with just the right attitude to pull you in to what turns out to be a fun little rock and roll record. The rockabilly punker “Go Man Go” keeps the party going, whetting your appetite for more. Smith, Bruce, and Dunaway bring their best to “Social Debris,” which would have fit right in on one of the early Alice Cooper albums like Killer or Billion Dollar Babies. “I Hate You,” the other one featuring Cooper’s old comrades, is a spirited send-up that somehow gets better with each listen. That’s how much of the record is.
“Detroit City 2021,” “Hanging By A Thread (Don’t Give Up),” and “Shut Up And Rock” are zesty examples of where Cooper is in the modern age with a regular crop of writers and players he works with. Meanwhile, “$1,000 High Heel Shoes,” “Independence Dave,” and covers like the MC5 shaker “Sister Anne” and Bob Seger’s “East Side Story” find the “School’s Out” singer as vocally potent and in sync as any of the powerhouses who put Detroit on the map in the late 60s and early 70s.
Truth be told: there’s little to not like on Detroit Stories. Old-school Alice Cooper and Detroit rock fans will fall for its overall gritty feel and sound. Those who have floated through every era thereafter will likely think it’s one of his best albums in years. Most anyone with an ear for timeless licks and riffs without the frills is likely to agree with all of the above.
~ Shawn Perry
