Written by Lauren Rosier
Rock legend, Alice Cooper, announces today the release of his latest studio album, Detroit Stories, out February 26, 2021, via earMUSIC. The album is named after the city which launched the band’s success. This record follows 2019’s Breadcrumbs EP.
The album was produced by the band’s longtime collaborator, Bob Ezrin, and also features Detroit music legends MC5‘s Wayne Kramer, The Detroit Wheels Johnny “Bee” Badanjek, Paul Randolph, as well as the Motor City Horns, and more.
Alice Cooper fans will hear a song from the upcoming album this Friday, November 13 with the release of Cooper‘s cover of The Velvet Underground‘s “Rock ‘n Roll.”
In 1970, the band began collaborating with Ezrin. Ezrin would drill the band nearly 10 hours per day to help define their sound. What’s funny is whenever the band nailed a song, the inmates at the hospital for the criminally insane across the road cheered.
“Detroit was Heavy Rock central then,” explains Alice, “You’d play the Eastown and it would be Alice Cooper, Ted Nugent, the Stooges and the Who, for $4! The next weekend at the Grande it was MC5, Brownsville Station and Fleetwood Mac, or Savoy Brown or the Small Faces. You couldn’t be a soft-rock band or you’d get your ass kicked.”
“Los Angeles had its sound with The Doors, Love and Buffalo Springfield,” he says, “San Francisco had the Grateful Dead and Jefferson Airplane. New York had The Rascals and The Velvet Underground. But Detroit was the birthplace of angry hard rock. After not fitting in anywhere in the US (musically or image-wise), Detroit was the only place that recognized the Alice Cooper guitar-driven, hard rock sound, and our crazy stage show. Detroit was a haven for the outcasts. And when they found out I was born in East Detroit… we were home.”
“We recorded with Wayne Kramer (guitarist and writer from the MC5), Johnny “Bee” Badanjek (drums – from the legendary Detroit Wheels), Paul Randolph (legendary Detroit jazz and R&B bassist) as well as the Motor City Horns and other local musicians,” explains Ezrin. “We had musical ideas and encouragement from John Varvatos, the support of the folks at Shinola, and we recorded at Rustbelt Studios in Royal Oak. This was Made In Detroit for Detroit by Detroit denizens!”
Detroit Stories will be available on CD, CD+DVD Digipak, CD Box Set (including CD, Blu-ray, T-shirt, face mask, torchlight, and 3 stickers), and 2LP Gatefold on February 26th, 2021 via earMUSIC.
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