Customer Reviews

Essentials

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

With just over half the tracks of last year's five-star Rhino "Mascara & Monsters" CD at about the same price, this collection begs the question : in what way is this CD "essential"? Even the most rabid AC completists will probably find this one resistable.

It's really disappointing to see one of the oldest and best reissue labels like Rhino follow in the footsteps of MCA and start its own version of the abysmal 20th Century Masters series. Rhino's Essentials series offers nothing for the serious music fan. [It could be argued that the casual fan will not find anything to get excited about here either.]

Just last year Rhino released the excellent single-disc Mascara and Monsters. What Essentials does is pare down that album's 22 tracks to 12. And don't let the CD cover photo fool you. Only seven of these tracks are by Alice Cooper the band; the last five tracks are solo numbers. And what constitutes "essential"? Alice Cooper as a band and as a solo act had eleven Top 40 hits. Only eight of them are here. [Missing: "Hello Hurray," "Clones (We're All)" and "Poison."]

Sure, this is a few bucks cheaper than Mascara and Monsters. But if you are any kind of Alice Cooper fan, Essentials is little more than an appetizer.

I'm a huge Alice fan, and a huge AC/DC fan. One thing I respect so much about AC/DC is that they know a greatest hits compilation is a waste of time because you can never get it right, there will always be songs that don't get put on that the fans think should have been.

I have lost count of how many Alice Cooper compilation and greatest hits there are out there, and I pretty much don't recommend any of them at all except for maybe "Classics" because it features some great live songs on it.

Honestly, if you want the greatest hits of Alice Cooper, much like AC/DC, go buy all the albums because you simply are just missing out on the best music you can own. Check out Alice's website, write down all the official albums and go start collecting them, cause thats the only way you can truly own the greatest/essential/best of/ hits.

I don't want to see Alice release another damn greatest hits compilation ever again unless he calls a box set with every albums and everything he's recorded in it.

i know little about alice cooper, but this collection is stuffed full of cheesy ballads from the late 70s, not his "eseential" early glam rebel stuff. pass over.

find the song "caught in a dream" somewhere, great rock song.

It's really disappointing to see one of the oldest and best reissue labels like Rhino follow in the footsteps of MCA and start its own version of the abysmal 20th Century Masters series. Rhino's Essentials series offers nothing for the serious music fan. [It could be argued that the casual fan will not find anything to get excited about here either.]

Just last year Rhino released the excellent single-disc Mascara and Monsters. What Essentials does is pare down that album's 22 tracks to 12. And don't let the CD cover photo fool you. Only seven of these tracks are by Alice Cooper the band; the last five tracks are solo numbers. And what constitutes "essential"? Alice Cooper as a band and as a solo act had eleven Top 40 hits. Only eight of them are here. [Missing: "Hello Hurray," "Clones (We're All)" and "Poison."]

Sure, this is a few bucks cheaper than Mascara and Monsters. But if you are any kind of Alice Cooper fan, Essentials is little more than an appetizer.

This CD was obslolete on the day of its release. The far superior "The Best Of Alice Cooper: Mascara And Monsters" boasts 10 more songs and a better CD booklet, at a mere few extra bucks. Even the original "Alice Cooper's Greatest Hits" has a better track selection, if only because it's comprised of the original Cooper Band's material and leaves out the sappy solo ballads.

There are plenty of AC collections on the market. Start with either of the two mentioned above, or even B$B. I give it two stars becuase every song is incredible, but otherwise this is a very non-essential "Essentials."

Already having at least 3 copies of each of the songs that appear on this CD, I purchased it mostly for the 'album art'.The sound is great, but 'digitally remastered' is moot as a sales pitch. I was hoping the CD would concentrate more on the Alice Cooper group as a whole rather than Alice as solo artist. Where are the songs Hello-Hooray and Teenage Lament '74? To me, much more 'essential' than the ballads. Warner's/Rhino needs to release an Alice Cooper GROUP anthology. Give us the alternates, the demos and the live material. Its the least the boys deserve. Much better than having their photo pasted on a rehash. Finally, when is the film footage from the Billion Dollar Babies tour going to be released ? How about a poster of the CD photo ? Remember The Coop!