I remember when this album first came out, I wasn’t really very impressed by it. The Desmond Child production seemed to forego the classic Alice Cooper sound almost completely in favor of things closer to glam metal. For me that wasn’t a good thing. Well, now that I’ve got this reissue, I have to say that in comparison to the rest of the Cooper catalog it’s pretty weak. That said, it’s still a strong album with some great music. There are some big name guests, too. Steven Tyler lends some vocals to “Only My Heart Talkin’.” Jon Bon Jovi does the same on the title track. Kip Winger (there’s that glam metal link in spades) delivers some vocal on “I’m Your Gun.” Joe Perry, Steve Lukather, Richie Sambora and Kane Roberts all add some guitar to this. So does Guy Mann-Dude. Aerosmith’s rhythm section (Tom Hamilton and Joey Kramer) are featured on the title track. All in all, this set is worth having. That’s made even more apparent thanks to the addition of Cooper’s take on the Spirit song “I’ve Got a Line on You.”

This review is available in book format (hardcover and paperback) in Music Street Journal: 2014  Volume 2 at lulu.com/strangesound.

Alice Cooper goes hair metal on this cut. It’s got some of the classic Cooper menace, but it’s a little too polished. It was a huge hit for Cooper, though.

Based on a pretty straightforward song structure, Cooper’s vocals are what really sell this number. It is a killer tune, really.

The title track is a fierce, aggressive number that works pretty well. It’s got some great guitar work and the vocal arrangement is pretty cool. It’s not trademark Cooper by any means, but it rocks.

Here we get a shortened version of the track from the album proper. This is the first of two bonus tracks.

I remember buying the Iron Eagle II soundtrack just to have this song. I love Cooper’s rendition of this Spirit classic. This hard rocker is worth the price of admission all by itself.