Photo of Alice Cooper on Oct. 5. The Xavierite
After a childhood of rocking to his discography, I finally got to attend an Alice Cooper concert on Sunday, Oct. 5, at the Credit Union 1 Amphitheatre in Tinley Park. It was an incredible experience which made me decide to put together a listing of his best songs.
If there’s a song that sets the stage for Cooper’s discography, it’s definitely “Welcome to My Nightmare.” It begins as a quiet, subtle tune, that over time becomes a theatrical experience.
It reminds me of “Riders on the Storm,” by the Doors. It brings about an atmosphere, but this one is somewhat creepy. Although it may be creepy, it is heavily descriptive of a dream world while keeping the fundamentals of rock.
As much as I love it, there’s some other songs that definitely are easier to rock to.
I feel like this song is underutilized in general. I never hear it anywhere, even though it’s on Cooper’s most famous album, “Billion Dollar Babies.”
Whenever it comes on, I close my eyes and think of an inspiring figure walking out in slow motion to do something awesome.
It came as a shock to me when I found out the song is actually a cover. I listened to the original recording by Judy Collins, and it was an atrocity to my ears. The fact that Cooper was able to make a miserable song into something memorable means the world to me.
Sometimes it feels good to be bad, and this song perfectly encompasses that feeling. Something I like is that I think to the past whenever I listen to it. I think of how I should have accepted less apologies from people who seriously hurt me.
Ironically, this is another song from the album “Billion Dollar Babies.” However, there’s one song that will always beat it as the best song on the album.
At just five years old, I was entering my grade school’s talent show to perform this song. Better yet, I had the outfit and fake snake ready for the performance that never happened. I didn’t make it in, but that’s okay.
Even if you aren’t familiar with Cooper’s discography, you most likely would know “School’s Out.” As every single school year came to a close, I’d hear the song play on the local rock radio station. It’s a classic, and it’s one that’s easy to sing along to.
It was a moment of revelation as I finally witnessed the song live. I wasn’t looking through my eyes, but rather the eyes of a simple child, seeing his idol. It was incredible.
Released in Cooper’s album titled “Trash,” my favorite song of his by far is “Poison.” What makes “Poison” so special? The fact that I pretend to play guitar, headbang, and sing my soul out to it.
Sure, I sing the rest of his songs whenever they’re on, but this one hits differently both in both recordings and live performances.
Interestingly, though, I did not really get into the song until a year ago. As I first heard the guitar solo, I immediately became obsessed. There’s something special about the tune and the buildup between each verse.
Post-Concert Reflection
Alice Cooper is by far the best concert I’ve ever been to. There’s something special about his performance: It’s like a Broadway show. There’s props, makeup, special effects, and a story with every song.
I sang my heart out, and couldn’t help but smile throughout the entire performance. Every single song on my top five, except “Welcome to My Nightmare” was performed, and I’m totally okay with it.
I truly think Alice Cooper is the king of shock rock. I mean, he did a fake guillotine execution of himself on stage. It was quite shocking.