Goes to Hell

Alice Cooper | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 25, 1990)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Warner Bros / Wea
• ASIN: B000002KG4
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (68 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #180,855 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Go To Hell

2. You Gotta Dance

3. I'm The Coolest

4. Didn't We Meet

5. I Never Cry

6. Give The Kid A Break

7. Guilty

8. Wake Me Gently

9. Wish You Were Here

10. I'm Always Chasing Rainbows

11. Going Home

Editorial Reviews

Alice Cooper, Alice Cooper Goes to Hell
--This text refers to an alternate Audio CD edition.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Have a Hell of a Time With This CD, March 11, 2002

By 

Psychedelic Cowboy "psychedelic_cowboy" (Burbank, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Goes to Hell (Audio CD)

This is my second favorite Alice Cooper CD. Second only to Welcome To My Nightmare. It was actually the first CD I bought when I finally got a CD player because it was the record I missed listening to the most. But all that aside-- if you are looking for a hard rocking classic rock album then let me direct you to Billion Dollar Babies or Killer because this is probably Alice's softest and most musically varied offering.

This record was unfortunately the beginning of Alice's decline as a rock star, but I think it has more to do with other factors than the quality of the music. Those factors being 1) KISS had hit the scene with 4 guys in makeup and Alice's producer, Bob Ezrin to boot! 2) Alice was unable to tour this record due to illness (likely alcohol related) and 3) there is a disco song on this album and in 1976 that was sinful verboten taboo for a hard rocker (which is probably why he did it-- the rascal). KISS would later put out a disco album that would hurt their career too.

All that aside, because frankly almost 30 years later, who cares? This album is nothing short of brilliant! It's Alice's tightest and most linear concept album. It is practically a soundtrack for a musical with Alice playing all the parts!

The tracks include the hard rocking Go To Hell (with some definite Latin-American inspired flavor) and the infamous disco tune, You Gotta Dance. Alice used this because he said, "Disco is Hell." He imagined Hell as doomed souls forced to dance in a disco for eternity-- which is pretty funny if you think about it. Next up is the jazzy I Am The Coolest, in which Alice uses a new voice to play the part of the Devil, whom Alice meets in the next song, Didn't We Meet, which is a very melodic tune, and one of my favorites. I Never Cry is the US #12 ballad that is one of his biggest hits ever, and is worth the price of the CD itself. Guilty is another hard rocking tune. Give the Kid a Break is a fifties style musical theatre number with Alice doing a duet with himself as the Devil-- who isn't about to give him a break! Wake Me Gently may be the best song on the album. Tender strings and gentle vocals evoke the misty images of someone lost in slumber. Wish You Were Here is hard rocking postcard from Hell. I'm Always Chasing Rainbows is a remake of a song from 1918. Going Home provides a happy ending to the journey through Hell with another soft ballad.

This album shows a soft side of Alice that may have turned some fans off. But I like both that and the variety of musical styles here. This is a fitting sequel to Welcome To My Nightmare. It is very funny. It has a few truly dark moments. And actually, it seems to me like a very close representation of an alcoholic nightmare/guilt trip-- which is probably pretty close to Hell. Taken that way some of the songs gather an extra layer of depth beneath the slick humor. There is a bit of a drunken quality to the whole thing, and taken together with Welcome To My Nightmare, Lace and Whiskey, and From The Inside (which is about Alice's experiences in rehab) it tells part of a story that Alice may have not originally intended.

All that musing aside-- it is a great listen! A solid concept, great rocking numbers, touching ballads and hilarious lyrics.

It's the greatest example of the unique entertainment that can only be found in Alice Cooper's music.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An atypical Alice Cooper album, December 22, 2006

By 

R. Gorham "RCG2" - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Goes to Hell (Audio CD)

THE BAND: Alice Cooper / Vincent Furnier (vocals), Dick Wagner (guitar), Steve Hunter (guitar), John Tropea (guitar), Tony Levin (bass), Bob Ezrin (keyboards), Al Macmillan (piano), Allan Schwartzberg (drums & percussion).

THE DISC: (1976) 11 tracks clocking in at just over 43 minutes. Included with the disc is a 10-page booklet containing song titles/credits/times, song lyrics, musicians, and thank you's. Recorded at Soundstage (Toronto) and the Record Plant East (NY). This is the band's 9th album. All songs written by Cooper, guitarist Wagner and Ezrin. Produced by the notable Bob Ezrin (who has also produced band's like Kiss, Pink Floyd, Rod Stewart, Peter Gabriel and Lou Reed). Label - Warner Bros.

COMMENTS: Alice Cooper's original 'classic' line up (Glen Buxton, Michael Bruce, Dennis Dunaway, Neal Smith) was gone, and the band's music was changing... fans certainly got a small taste of that with "Welcome To My Nightmare". Alice Cooper had a string of solid rock albums from 1971-74 with "Love It To Death", "Killer", "School's Out", "Billion Dollar Babies", and "Muscle Of Love". "Welcome To My Nigthmare" (1975) had some rock songs mixed with pop theatrics, where "Alice Cooper Goes To Hell" contained much more of the latter. A loose concept album fused with rock, pop, theater, and ballads. As much as I loved this album, I feel it was the start of their decline. During their peak years from 1971-75, many of Alice Cooper's albums reached Top 10 status on the charts. "Goes To Hell" peaked at 27, and every album afterward through "Trash" (1989) charted worse or not at all. The title track is still my favorite - a slow and creepy tune with a tribalistic drum beat. The lyrics are clever and witty - "You'd poison a blind man's dog and steal his cane / You'd gift wrap a leper and mail him to your Aunt Jane / You'd even force feed a diabetic a candy cane". Upbeat rockers include "You Gotta Dance", "Didn't We Meet", and "Guilty". Perhaps Cooper's best ballad, "I Never Cry", reached #12. The only thing I hate about this album is the ending. "I'm Always Chasing Rainbows" and "Going Home" are piano and orchestrated lullabies better suited for the Broadway stage. "Goes To Hell" is and up and down album. Better yet, fast and slow... and very diverse - more so than anything the band's done to this point. I admire the step to try something poles apart from his previous albums. Colorful, yet contrasting... and overall still a solid release (4 stars).

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Just like a strange Broadway musical, March 7, 2006

By 

Lisa Cooper "Alice Cooper fan" (Finland) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Goes to Hell (Audio CD)

If you are looking for somekind of a hard rocking halloween CD, don't buy this, because it is actually like soft and funny Broadway musical. This is his most diverse and music varied and has impressed me right after a first listening. Even thought it is very soft and ballad filled, it has some outstanding guitar work by Dick Wagner and Steve Hunter. Just listen to incredible guitar solo on Wish you were here and guitar riffs on Go to hell.

This album has some of the Alice's finest lyrics and humour. The ballads are some of the Cooper's best. I never cry is very touching and Wake me gently is even better. Alice Cooper's vocals are on the top notch and he offers us hard rock gems like Go to hell, Wish you were here, Didn't we meet and guilty. You gotta dance has a disco beat, Give the kid a break is 50's style musical number that would't be totally out of a place on Frank Zappa album and bluesy I'm the coolest is funny as hell.

This album is lyrically clever, very creative and listening this throught is like a good adventure. This is definately one of the best concept albums ever and very underrated. You can almost visualize the whole story from the beginning to the end. If you want tight atmosphere, good humour, excellent guitar work, touching ballads and a good musical in the same package, this album is for you.