Fifty-one years ago, Alice Cooper, the band, called it a day, after achieving extraordinary success with their unique blend of shock rock and theatrics. Alice Cooper, the solo artist, carried on this tradition, producing over twenty more solo albums to date, but now he has put the band back together for a brand-new album, The Revenge Of Alice Cooper.
The Return Of Alice Cooper – Album Playback + Q&A
Union Chapel, Islington – 24 July 2025.
Words: Liz Medhurst
Photography: Robert Sutton
In an exclusive listening party event put on by Rough Trade, we decamped to the confines of the beautiful Union Chapel in Islington.
Concerts are often held here, although tonight the stage was set not with the usual amps and mics, but with comfy Chesterfield sofas, as following the playback, the whole band were in attendance for a wickedly entertaining Q&A session hosted by Sir Tim Rice.
The Revenge Of Alice Cooper turns the clock all the way back to the ’70s, with dramatic numbers and great storytelling seasoned with a massive dose of fun and good old rock’ n’ roll. There are some new wave elements here and there to add spice and impeccable production throughout.
First listen pulled out some standout tracks, such as Kill The Flies. As Alice vehemently proclaims, “I hate these flies,” towards the end, he obviously does not know the trick of putting a load of cloves in half a lemon, which will keep them away. Then again, maybe we would not have this song.
Money Screams references Billion Dollar Babies in the outro, and See You On The Other Side is a thoughtful closure to the album.
Following the playback, Tim Rice took to the stage and introductions to the band took place with Alice Cooper, Neal Smith, Michael Bruce, Dennis Dunaway and as an added bonus, producer Bob Ezrin.
One hour of captivating and highly entertaining discussion ensued, which had the audience in stitches of laughter in places and provided some genuinely interesting and unheard of stories.
Tim Rice was an excellent chairman, being a bona fide hard rock fan himself, telling us of his glee at finally being able to get his 1973 album signed, and relating how Alice was the best Herod (from Jesus Christ Superstar) he had ever had as he made the role “sinister as well as funny.”
The band all contributed to the conversation, the chemistry as friends and bandmates shining through. Subjects ranged from what it was like to get back together in the studio, honouring their roots, how the UK embraced the band, if we can expect more from this lineup, and how lyrics came together. Dennis Dunaway revealed that the words to Blood On The Sun are entirely made up of movie titles after a night of flipping through the TV guide.
Tribute was paid to Glen Buxton, who, although having died in 1997, is part of this album as some of his remaining guitar tracks have been incorporated. There was a lot of love from his bandmates, who praised how unique and different he was.
We were also treated to some stories of riotous goings on, with a hilarious story of when Harry Nilsson and Keith Moon would crash the London recording sessions of Billion Dollar Babies totally plastered and knocking things over, leaving everyone “in a cold sweat.”
On another occasion, after getting well-oiled in the BBC bar, Nilsson and Moon joined forces with Marc Bolan, Ric Gretsch and Donovan Leitch, decided to pile into a car and make their way to the studio to record a song, regarding it as “the session of the century.”
Ezrin and the band had just finished tracking and watched as this motley collection of massive rock stars, “so drunk they could hardly speak,” all went to instruments they could not play.
Nilsson appointed himself as leader for a quite different version of Put The Lime In The Coconuts. “It ended up being so vile,” said Alice. “It wasn’t lime he wanted to put in the coconut,” added Neal. 
Following the chaired discussion, there was time for a few audience questions. Asked for thoughts on Ozzy, Alice declared that he was “a lifer, like us. These guys are still going because we love doing it, it’s not financial. He would have gone on as long as he could go, and you’ve got to give him all the credit in the world. Ozzy finally came to the end of that, and when I was asked about it, I said a giant boulder has crashed, but rock will roll on.”
This was a very special evening, with a welcome reminder that guitar-based hard rock has prevailed and sustained through all the other trends and remains as popular today. Amen to that.
The entire event was livestreamed and can be watched below.
Alice Cooper – The Revenge Of Alice Cooper was released today and is available from alicecooper.lnk.to/RevengePR.
