Alice Cooper - Love It To Death
Straight Records - 1971
10/10
By the time 1971 rolled around, Alice Cooper had basically figured their sound out, stripping the loose ends from the prior records and tossing them into small pockets of the rest of the band’s run. Thus, Love It To Death reaches the perfect balance of darker metal-esque passages meant to invoke the spooky character they’re creating into sound, as well as rock ‘n roll that’s easy to relate to. This is far from your typical record of its time, though. To this day, I have yet to find something that sounds like this.
On the surface, Love It To Death works as all sorts of fun. The more traditional tunes vary within themselves from bluesy and steady to energetic and upbeat. “Long Way To Go” rakes in fast rhythms, piano and organ passages, and a solo with an incredible soundscape meshed with the drums. “Hallowed Be My Name” channels this energy as well, with less of a harder push and more focus on eerie under-tones. On the other hand, you get the hits “I’m Eighteen” and “Is It My Body” to ring in the bluesy flavors.
Below the surface, there’s a lot of what I would possibly call proto-doom metal. “Black Juju” is an epic centered on death, covered in bassy suspense and organ leads. To a more accessible note, there’s the chilling tale of “Second Coming” leading into “The Ballad Of Dwight Fry.” These tracks inject feelings of insanity and confinement better than any other, utilizing the piano and advanced riff patterns to convey everything wonderfully. You may think that closing with a cover, a light-hearted upper no less, would be a messy way of exiting. But, “Sun Arise” closes us out in a way that really couldn’t feel more natural.
The biggest takeaway is that Alice Cooper manages so many different angles of approach, every single one of them being executed crisply, yet there’s still a loose feeling from track to track. Not a moment of this is forced, not a moment of it sticks out poorly, and the overall tone transitions it together in a way that feels organic. Swapping between guitar and key leads gives Deep Purple a run for their money on this one. No instruments go unused, and nothing is overshadowed. Spooky yet calming fun perfected like no other.
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