'The Eyes of Alice Cooper' (2003): 20 Years of an Underrated Gem
Considered a return to form after the two industrial metal albums that came before it, to call this album a "modern classic" would be putting it lightly, even 20 years later
The 2000s was one of the most musically eclectic decades of Alice Cooper's legendary career — from the back-to-back barrage of industrial and heavy metal with Brutal Planet (2000) and Dragontown (2001) to the slasher concept album Along Came a Spider (2008), there truly was something for everyone during this stretch. Out of the five albums that were released from 2000 to 2008, there’s none that captured the sonic and aesthetic essence of the original Alice Cooper band than The Eyes of Alice Cooper, released in the US on September 30, 2003 – while the songs are more modern than the classic Cooper sound, there are several musical and lyrical attributes that showcase what Alice Cooper’s all about, making this one of the quintessential album for past and present fans.
Much like Alice Cooper’s most recently released album, Road (released August 25), Eyes was made to sound as live as possible as a way to showcase the talents of his backing band – Ryan Roxie and Eric Dover on guitars, Chuck Garric on bass, and Eric Singer on drums. Recording only took about two weeks and was completed between tours, and was produced by Andrew ‘Mudrock’ Murdock, known for working with bands like Godsmack and Powerman 5000. Inspired by bands such as The Strokes and The White Stripes, Cooper decided to go back to his garage rock roots with this album instead of continuing the industrial metal formula of the prior works Brutal Planet and Dragontown, making for a high-energy release applauded by fans as a welcome return to form.
The album art itself is a nod to the classic Alice Cooper days, with Cooper’s eye makeup on the front cover resembling the style he wore on the 1971 Love it to Death album, and the back cover featuring the entire band for the first time since 1974’s Muscle of Love. For hardcore fans and collectors, there were also several different variants of the cover, with Cooper’s eyes and the arc around the “A” having different colors depending on the variant – red was the most popular color and was the default after the initial release, but there are also purple, blue, and green versions.
Sonically, Eyes has a more multifaceted sound than the dark and harsh cover may suggest – that being said, there’s no shortage of hard rock songs on this record. What’s most present from the jump is the sense of humor that fans have come to know and love over the years, with the opening track “What Do You Want From Me” playfully telling the story of how a man just can’t seem to find out how to make the woman he’s with happy. Next, “Between High School & Old School” talks about not feeling as old as you are, and was even seen as a spiritual sequel to “School’s Out” simply due to the title. The third track, “Man of the Year,” jovially tells the story of the egocentric perfect man with the perfect life, with a twist at the end explaining that he’s still a miserable person. Inspired by modern bands, it’s a fitting example of how bands at the time like Alkaline Trio and Green Day specialized in making upbeat songs with downer lyrics. Later in the album, “The Song That Didn’t Rhyme” is an insanely fun and clever cut about a song that was a massive musical and commercial failure. While not as heavy as the two albums that came before it, there are a fair number of contenders, such as “I’m So Angry,” “Backyard Brawl,” and “Spirits Rebellious,” with the latter actually being a working title for the Dragontown album.
Alice Cooper has become a spooky spokesman of sorts, always embracing the macabre and celebrating the horror genre, and the eerie “This House is Haunted” is a fantastic exhibition of that side of Cooper’s character. It’s also no secret that Cooper holds a lot of pride in being from Detroit – aside from his 2021 album Detroit Stories, there’s probably no greater showcasing of his hometown pride than the song “Detroit City,” featuring fellow Detroit musician Wayne Kramer of the MC5. Scott Gilman also contributed classical instrument performances (clarinet, saxophones, trumpet, etc.), which are also on full display, and it serves as both a fitting anthem to Cooper’s hometown and a fantastic predecessor to the Detroit Stories album (it was even re-recorded and reworked for the album, under the title “Detroit City 2021”). While the entire Eyes album is an energetic one, “Detroit City” is one that really steals the show and stands well on its own, almost upstaging what comes before and after it during a full listen through the record.
Apart from Alice Cooper’s dark and sinister aesthetic and songwriting, he’s also one of the best at writing love songs – whether it’s somber, melancholic, or downright frustrated, nobody does it better than Cooper, and all aspects of the romantic spectrum are covered on Eyes. “Novocaine” is an absolutely phenomenal song that compares not feeling anything in a relationship anymore to being numbed with the anesthetic, and “Bye Bye, Baby” shows a humorously annoyed Cooper trying to get in touch with his figurative ex that won’t return his calls. “Be With You Awhile” is one of the best ballads of Cooper’s career, earnestly expressing the desire to be the right person for someone that they weren’t expecting, and “Love Should Never Feel Like This” is a super catchy track that flawlessly conveys how it feels to fall for someone and being apprehensive to act on those feelings. Much like Cooper’s Hey Stoopid (1991) album, there are plenty of love songs to choose from on Eyes, and it’s a very well-rounded collection of songs that showcase his often overlooked romantic side.
In its entirety, The Eyes of Alice Cooper is a diverse release that harkens back to the early days of Cooper’s career while simultaneously forging a fresh sound that’s unique to itself. While Cooper isn’t the type to fall into the cliche of releasing a self-titled album, Eyes is about as close as it gets, both in name and sound – everything that Alice Cooper is known for musically, lyrically, and thematically is showcased on this album, and done so remarkably that it’s still a one-of-a-kind album to this day. Mudrock’s production and mixing give the album a very well-balanced sound with every instrument at the most optimal volumes in comparison to Cooper’s vocals at the forefront – the drum cymbals aren’t washed out, the bass isn’t indistinct from the guitars, and the horns from Gilman are incorporated very well without coming at the expense of setting itself apart from the rest of the backing band.
On a personal note, it’s no secret that Eyes is also my favorite Alice Cooper album – I discovered his music at a very impressionable time in my life, and hearing this album was like the best of both worlds to me, combining the classic rock I grew up on to the modern rock of my generation that I also had an affinity for. The energy behind songs like “I’m So Angry” and “Spirits Rebellious” was something that instantly grabbed me, and “Novocaine” had me in a chokehold from the first time I listened to it. When listening through albums, it’s easy to zone out and focus on nothing but the music, and it was very easy for me to do just that with Eyes – apart from Alice’s lyrics and his patented gritty vocal performances, I loved the work from his backing band on this album, from the fiery solos of Roxie and Dover to the tight rhythm section of Garric and Singer, along with the guest contributions from Kramer on guitar, Gilman on saxophone, clarinet, and horns, Calico Cooper on theremin and backing vocals, and Teddy Zig Zag on accordion and keyboards. As a former classically-trained trumpet player, the horn sections in “Bye Bye, Baby” and “Detroit City” were some of my favorite aspects of the songs, along with the clarinet in “This House is Haunted” and even the accordions in “The Song That Didn’t Rhyme.” While most of these songs haven’t been performed since the album’s release and likely never will be played live again, it can never be understated how much this album means to me, and all I can do is hope it’ll get the credit that it rightfully deserves as more time goes by.
Alice Cooper will be on the road continuing his “Too Close for Comfort” Tour from October 4-28. For dates and tickets, click here. The Eyes of Alice Cooper is out of print, but CD and vinyl copies can be found on secondhand sites such as eBay and Discogs, as well as streamed digitally on Amazon and Apple Music. For more information, click here.
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