Alice Cooper - The Best Of Alice Cooper: Mascara & Monsters

An essential figure in any history of the American grotesque, son-of-a-preacher-man Vincent Furnier served as a missing link between Screamin' Jay Hawkins and Marilyn Manson. As Alice Cooper, he helped make the pop world safe for morbidity and makeup, scoring a bunch of hits and misses along the way. Mascara & Monsters serves up a fairly rote chronology of Cooper's '70s singles, with the occasional B-side and 1989's "Poison" (cowritten by mainstream hitmeister Desmond Child!) thrown in for good measure. As such, the album doesn't live up to its best-of billing. "Dead Babies," arguably the best track on Killer, loses out to "Under My Wheels," while the garage-rock glories of the band's first two albums are also conspicuously absent. On the plus side, "School's Out," "Elected," and "No More Mr. Nice Guy" still sound great. If you're looking for easy access to those and numerous lesser singles, this collection will do the trick. --Bill Forman Amazon.com

This sucks

It looked promising - a 22-track Alice Cooper compilation. Boy was I wrong. This has almost none of the killer early stuff, and EDITED versions of songs throughout. Also, where are "You're A Movie", "Skeletons in My Closet", "Raped N Freezin", "I Love the Dead", and "Feed My Frankenstein"??? Just another case of WEA/Rhino putting out "product" to placate the unaware. Do yourself a favor and buy ANYTHING other than this. November 16, 2008

Mascara and Monsters: The Best of Alice Cooper

I have this cd, bought it recently. Most of the main classics are on this cd. But my problem is, where are the 3 classics "Hey Stoopid", "Feed My Frankenstein", and "Lost in America"? If those 3 songs were on the cd, along with all songs already on there, then it would really be the best of Alice Cooper! September 21, 2008

Not a true representation

Where are classic tracks such as Raped & Freezin', Halo of Flies, Ballad of Dwight Fry? A greatest hits is just that, the hits. A best of should represent what the artist believes are his best tracks regardless of chart status. I look forward to the apocalypse when maybe, just maybe, a label will get this format right. August 5, 2008

A nightmarishly necessary collection

It has been suggested by some that this is a good place to start for those who are not completely familiar with Alice Cooper. I've always loved Alice Cooper, their/his music and stage originality, but am almost ashamed to say I've never owned an Alice Cooper album. The very beginning was slightly before my time, but that's no excuse. Alice set the stage for so many that came later, and is truly an original icon. This cd is exactly what my collection needed.

I realize there are some classics lacking in this collection and also that it's light on the early stuff, but all the major hits are here, plus some other lesser known tracks to complete the picture. I know there are those who thought Alice got a little wimpy later on as he tried to sound more "legit," but I don't care. I love the ballads, even though they are far from what the "founding fathers" had in mind, and listening to them is my guilty little pleasure.

I agree that this is a good place to start, or for those more seasoned fans wanting a neat summary of Alice's music. The liner notes are fantastic and contain short blurbs by Alice (and two other band members) detailing what the songs are about and where he was in his life when they were written. A very interesting read.

Summary: Essential for those not wanting to dip into the boxed set.
July 30, 2008

Come on guys, you can do better than this

Alice Cooper the band is 100% better in every respect than Alice Cooper the solo performer. So why so many solo tracks? And the boxset is even worse! Please Rhino/WEA: a two disc best of Alice Cooper the group. Or maybe a four disc box with live tracks and rarities? Is this too much to ask?? July 5, 2008

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