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 I am psychologically disturbed because my older brother used to terrify me by playing "The Ballad of Dwight Frye" and holding the record sleeve with Alice's mascara-streaked eyes in my face.
And write they did. There are three stone dead classics here...starting with the fierce roar of "Caught In A Dream." It served notice that these practical jokers had grown up fast, and by the time you hit the end of "I'm Eighteen" (one of the all-time prime coming of age songs ever) you couldn't help but acknowledge that the Alice Cooper Band had hit their stride. The other half of the growth spurt the "Love It To Death" album signified was in that the band's legendary stage show had melded into their music, and it was making for actual songs instead of the general chaos of the first two LP's. "Second Coming/The Ballad Of Dwight Frye" took the gothic weirdness of the stage show and captured it to vinyl for the first time. (You can also credit Bob Ezrin, who was skilled enough a producer to organize the anarchy.) What ever their detractors had been saying pre-"Love It To Death," there was no way to deny it. Alice Cooper had the power and "Love It To Death" was the album that opened the portals of genius that would be unleash the next three brilliant albums.
You may have heard the recent cover version of 18. I heard it on the radio. Sounded like Pearl Jam, but I can't say for sure. Any of you still have AC's first two albums "Easy Action" and "Pretties for You?"
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The first two Alice Cooper albums captured the sounds of goofy kids doing their [best] to annoy...anyone listening, but weren't much musically. By the time they were ready to record "Love It To Death," all that time on the road, the dingey clubs and the close chemistry finally had the desired effect. They'd learned how to write.
