After a couple tours with questionable openers, Iron Maiden finally gives us a reason to show up early for their latest North American trek–with support from shock-rocker extraordinaire Alice Cooper. In some regards, it’s a little odd having Alice open the show as his commercial peak came a decade before the headliner’s, but, much like Judas Priest bringing a reconstituted Thin Lizzy on tour last winter, I suppose this is a case of honouring your elders, or something like that. After all, I’m not sure that Alice Cooper sells out stadiums on his lonesome anymore…
Alice topped both the British and American charts with his 1973 release, while Maiden broke through into the U.S. Top 20. But if we’re looking at hit singles along, then it’s 4-2 Cooper…
Billion Dollar Babies vs. Piece of Mind
Billion Dollar Babies
Propelled by the success of “School’s Out” from their previous record, Billion Dollar Babies sent the Alice Cooper Band into the stratosphere, topping the charts in both the US and the UK. A return to rock after its campy concept-album predecessor, Babies did not yield a Top-10 hit in America (“Elected” made it as high as Number 3 in some European countries), though four singles were released off this record, with “No More Mr. Nice Guy” achieving the highest chart position (#25) and having the most staying power. But don’t discount some of the other songs on this one…
The album opens in grandiose fashion, “Hello Hooray” a perfect “Welcome to the Show” intro with the just the right amount of cheese, Meat Loaf meets Journey—albeit with a much darker message. Speaking of which, I doubt you’d find another artist writing songs like “Raped and Freezin’” back in ’73—that title sounds like it coulda been a Cannibal Corpse tune some 20 years later. But this is not a pre-proto death metal platter, rather tis more like a Satanic Steve Miller Band—which, let’s face it, is bound to be pretty bitchin’.
“Elected,” the international hit single, is perhaps the most political piece penned by Cooper & Co. But there isn’t a real strong lyrical message here—this one’s about on par with “School’s Out.” The title track, meanwhile, is more sexual than economic, featuring a far-out duet with none other than British teen idol Donovan. Groovy—this tune’s got plenty of groove underpinning those creepy lyrics as well. And speaking of creepiness, let’s just say that “Unfinished Sweet” might make you a bit nervous about your next visit to the dentist.
“No More Mr. Nice Guy” kicks off Side B with its semi-autobiographical story reportedly based on reactions from Alice’s mother’s church group. It would also be a harbinger of things to come—his music would definitely take a turn for the “sick ‘n obscene” after his original band broke up. “Generation Landslide” shows the band channelling The Who on an anti-war protest song, though this one is less explosive than Townsend’s best work—despite Neal Smith providing a solid Moonlike effort on the drums.
The album takes a turn for the twisted down the homestretch. “Sick Things” is a bass-heavy number with whispered backing vocals that’s as slow as Saint Vitus in their prime and has a tuba (of all instruments) adding depth to the chorus. “Mary Ann,” meanwhile, is a two-minute piano ballad that seems a little outta place. Leave it to Bob Ezrin to place a piano tune on a hard rock record… The piano also features prominently in “I Love the Dead,” a song that should’ve been used in a thousand horror-movie soundtracks—but hasn’t been, to my knowledge. The B Side definitely gets a little weird at times, but somehow, in spite of its quirks, it still works.
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Piece of Mind
There are some Maiden fans who swear by this album—but I’m not one of them. Based on the strength of “The Trooper” and “Flight of Icarus,” it went to Number 3 in the UK and a much-improved Number 14 in the States, but I never felt it was as good the albums that came both before and after it. Which isn’t to say that it doesn’t have its moments, mind you…
“Where Eagles Dare” is a pretty epic opener, this tune soaring with Bruce Dickinson’s vocals chords and some blazing fretwork. Also of note is that this is the debut of drummer Nicko McBrain, who bashes the skins stealthily throughout. “Revelations” slows things down with some classically-tinged guitar passages, the Dickinson-penned number delivers on the chorus—this tune is sorta like “Children of the Damned” lite, albeit with a few more time changes… “Flight of Icarus” has a chugging, galloping backbeat and an epic group chorus, showing why this one was a single, which gallops on into “Die With Your Boots On,” a pretty decent, radio-friendly, one-two punch.
But the real knockout blow here is “The Trooper,” those badass winding riffs alternating with that bellowed verse, call-and-response action going into a chugging rifforama and that chorus that ordinary humans should not even attempt to sing—but still do, anyways. This song even succeeds in making the Crimean War sound badass. C’mon, would you have bothered to read up on the Crimean War were it not for Maiden? Didn’t think so.
Elsewhere, “Still Life” is a bit more of a power-ballad, stock 80’s rocker, a pretty predictable verse structure and phrasing that leave me less than impressed. “Quest For Fire” is inspired by the movie of the same name, while “To Tame A Land” is about the book/movie Dune. The former contains a chorus that’s a little over the top (though not nearly as bad as the Manowaresque “Sun and Steel”), but a pretty awesome guitar solo, while the latter is a lengthy seven-minute epic that kinda loses me, having never read the book. Again, this record has its moments, but it’s no Number of the Beast or Powerslave in my books.
THE VERDICT: “The Trooper” is a great song, and if Piece of Mind had a couple more like that, it would be a pretty good record. But again, I gotta give this one to Alice Cooper for providing a more interesting listen from start to finish with Billion Dollar Babies. That’s 2-1 Cooper so far if you’re keeping track at home…
