Best of the three albums Alice Cooper made during his alcoholic "blackout" years (POLL)

Apparently Mr. Cooper can't remember much (if anything at all) about writing or recording these three albums, which were written and recorded during what is undoubtedly the peak period of his alcoholism. Certainly, interviews from around this period show Mr. Cooper looking extremely unwell:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d72gbXr2ZV4

The music he was making around this time was quite New Wave-influenced in places, baring very little resemblance to the garage-rock albums he made his name with (with the original group), or the hair-metal that marked his clean and sober return with Constrictor, Raise Your Fist... and the huge-selling Trash and Hey Stoopid albums.

But which one is the best!?

He looks about as old then as he does now.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

I don't know these albums at all, but that 7 + 7 Is cover on that clip has me intrigued.

I love DaDa. One of his best, not to mention creepiest.

I completely agree, I went for DaDa in the end... the title track is especially quite creepy!

Waking from a blackout to realize you made three new wave records sounds good to me! Or at least better than the usual post-blackout realizations.

Based on his looks and behavior in that video, I do not believe that the "blackout" period can properly be called strictly an alcoholic thing. (sniff, sniff).

7 + 7 Is cover is from Special Forces

according to wiki

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xgow_GbXhk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hI_ZD-Hi7ds

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

Based on his looks and behavior in that video, I do not believe that the "blackout" period can properly be called strictly an alcoholic thing. (sniff, sniff).

― Three Word Username, Thursday, March 14, 2013 2:04 PM (1 year ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

...and as it turns out, you're absolutely and completely totally 100% on the money. It's come out that Bernie Taupin(!) got Alice onto cocaine during the making of From The Inside, so he was (allegedly) doing wads of the stuff from then until after the recording of DaDa when he totally cleaned up. I guess that, in a sense, makes this period Alice's Station To Station period.

I've been listening to DaDa a lot recently and can't help but still feel it's a very underappreciated record; the sound of a fucked up Alice, a fucked up Dick Wagner, and a fucked up Bob Ezrin taking advantage of the fact that Alice had one album in his contract with Warner Brothers to fulfil and crafting this really bizarre theatrical new wave opus.

The interview he did with Tom Snyder circa Special Forces shows him in just as bad a state as the 'Riverside' interview and (to my knowledge) he didn't do any publicity (he definitely didn't tour) for Zipper Catches Skin and DaDa after that, so goodness knows what kind of state he was in when he went on to make those records!