Customer Reviews

Good To See You Again, Alice Cooper - Live 1973 - Billion Dollar Babies Tour

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(22)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

If Charles Manson killed the hippie's "Summer Of Love", Alice Cooper mocked and humped the corpse. There could have been no better time for Alice Cooper to appear than in the early 70s. I was just a child at the time, standing around shadowy corners of the schoolyard where second hand stories of Alice's gory live act were whispered and traded like gruesome little folklore tales. Our parents tried to protect us, but we would spend amazing amounts of effort sneaking albums and 8-track tapes of Alice around, secretly listening to the forbidden musical gems. Anybody who saw the band live at this time must have sensed that they were witness to a historical moment in time... a moment that represented American pop-culture's bogus innocence being deflowered. These lovely blood spattered memories are now ours to cherish forever with the DVD release of "Good to See You Again Alice Cooper", available for the first time ever on home video.

Two nights of Alice Cooper's notorious 1973 Billion Dollar Babies tour (April 28th in Dallas and April 29th in Houston) were filmed to create this rare 1974 midnight matinee film, and it's a great testament to the riotous live act that made the Alice Cooper Group a threat to concerned parents everywhere. This DVD contains the original cut of the film which includes the band starring in charming little skits scattered amongst the astonishing live footage (The more common version of the film shown in theaters included old film and newsreel footage instead of the skits). A highly amusing moment among these skits features the band playing "The Lady Is a Tramp". Shout! Factory lovingly provides this release with a new high-definition film transfer along with a new Surround Sound mix created from the 16-track master tapes.

What uncomfortable items will Alice shove down his pants? What celebrity will be pummeled to a pulp by the band? Will the snake get out of control? Where will all the blood and spittle drip to? Will security be able to hold Alice back from attacking and brawling with audience members? Will Alice lose his head? The answers to these questions and more are available in "Good to See You Again Alice Cooper - The film that out-grosses them all".

Great to see some vintage early Alice on DVD!!! There are 4 Hidden Easter Eggs total. Here is how to open them Song Selections/"Animal Road"- Left Click 2. Song Selections/"Sick Things"- Right Click 3. Bonus Features/Deleted Scene- Left Click 4.Audio Setup/Alice Cooper Commentary- Right Click I Highly Recommend this DVD!!!

It has taken over 30 years for this movie, in its original version, to finally be officially released! and what a special gem this is, but...

WARNING - i must suggest that ANY new viewer of this movie should firstly watch this movie WITH Alice Cooper's commentary, otherwise you most likely will not fully enjoy it, may even hate it and may never give it another chance which would actually be a pity. why?...

firstly... hard-core Alice fans, who have endured many years of watching average quality versions of the 2nd version of this movie (which saw limited theatrical release in 1974 and had most of the 'comedy' story parts replaced by Alice press conference footage and clips from old Hollywood movies - overall, aside from the live footage, not a very enjoyable viewing experience) and dire quality versions of this original version, will certainly marvel at the quality of this release... and everyone else may complain about the at-times sketchy print, dull picture, or crackly sound. it's sharp and completely watchable, but be prepared for imperfections - this release is from movie prints that have sat unplayed and decaying in some vault for over 30 years! it may as well be antique...

secondly... the live footage, though too darkly filmed, is superb and effectively captures the meyhem of the Billion Dollar Babies show and Alice Cooper's character as a drunken socialist punk of the times. but the movie as a whole - with a 'comical' story line, weaved between the concert footage, of a mentally-deranged German film director (Herr Director) out to seek revenge on the 'Cooper gang' for trashing his film set and walking out on him leaving all hopes of him making a brilliant ground-breaking movie to trash - just doesn't work. it's not that funny, badly directed, badly edited (due to hardly any editing done so the story parts go for way too long), and for some can be rather painful viewing...

HOWEVER... what makes this movie an enjoyable watch is watching it with Alice Cooper commentating through it. he laughs at the absurdity of it (even the bad acting), points out the meanings of the scenes, the inside jokes, the cliches, the 'art' of his live act, is startled himself by the onstage grossness, and most interestingly, talks about the band members and characters including what 'Alice Cooper' meant in America at the time (completely different to Cooper's present onstage character). he managed to turn what seems like a tragic attempt of film-making (which it is) into a deep, dark, and crazy package capturing the essence of a truly decedant time for the band!...

Alice Cooper himself gives you the sense that this movie was made for the band's own pleasure - the band and friends making it 'got it', but no one else did - but now we get to be on the inside and can finally have the chance to understand it and laugh with it, and better understand Alice Cooper too...
2 stars for the story parts...
4 stars for the concert footage...
5 stars for Alice Cooper's commentary...
and 4 stars for the many extras which includes a 'Play Concert Only' option, outtakes and deleted scenes, excerpts of Alice Cooper's charming press conference interview, and the uncensored live version of Unfinished Sweet featuring the omitted footage of the frisky onstage shenanigans!
4 STARS ALL-UP! Good To See You Again, Alice Cooper (get it?)

To quote the wife after I dragged her into the den to watch this delight...During No More Mister Nice Guy she uttered
"I used to like this song..." I was already laughing just watching this dvd treasure...that sealed it. Gold standard.
Amazing...This band would get more criticism in Bush's America than it did back then....WAIT A MINUTE! ANOTHER PLUS!! Groundbreaking then, groundbreaking today. Buy it.

I understand this is an Alice Cooper concert. This Dvd is really a Vincent Furnier show. With Alice Cooper (the band) as his backup. Alice Cooper was originally the collective name of 5 guys in a band. Vince happened to be the lead vocalist.
Let me get to my point. There is practically no close-up footage of Glen Buxton or Michael Bruce(except for when Michael "attacks" Vince during a song). There is a little bit of Neil Smith on drums, very little. You get a little footage of Dennis Dunaway on bass because he is running around a bit and happens to get in frame with Vince. No I'm not a complaining little punk kid. I truly love the Alice Cooper albums with the original 5 guys! I own them all and have played them many, many times over the years. They rank in my top ten bands in my 650 plus cd collection. I really wished the director and camera people would have gotten close footage of the entire "band" here. Also, it is known that a very talented guitarist named Mick Mashbir did ALOT of guitar work on Billion Dollar Babies and Muscle of Love. He is also on this dvd and doing a fantastic job. Again, no close-ups of him. A keyboardist rounds out the ensemble.
As a guitar player I was hoping to see the fingerwork too.
But, having said all this, the audio quality is pretty good here. The separation of the guitarists is nice, and the old classics really do sound good! Get this dvd, lay back and close your eyes and enjoy a truly great BAND playing really good music!

So happy to see this film has FINALLY been put out as a legit release.I remember umteen years ago,I think I paid big buck$ for a so-so quality VHS video tape copy of 'Good To See...'.I was one of those true Cooper fans that simply couldn't wait ANY longer to land down a copy of this movie.Saw it in a theater when it first came out in summer,1974.Highly appreciate this DVD's 'Watch Concert Only' option,although those old B&W snippets of vintage movies are fun to check out WHEN you have time.Tracks that this fan will have edged in the back of his mind for a long time to come are "Hello Hooray","Billion Dollar Babies","Elected",the exclusive(hadn't been played out on tour since)"My Stars","Dead Babies","I Love The Dead" and "School's Out".Also sort of dug the DVD's opening scene where Alice and band mock the torch song "Lady Is A Tramp".Thirty-three years ago,when this tour took place,the entertainment world was in fact shocked by the show's antics of a scroungy-looking rock star sticking a baby doll at the tip of a sword,humping a store mannequin,necrophila and a beheading.This WAS excitement(and still is)for those who seek it.The extras are nice to have as well.It's amazing to think JUST how much the world has changed since the notorious 'Billion Dollar Babies' trek had infested the American youth.Prime Shock Rock here JUST waiting to be fully experienced.An absolute MUST-HAVE.

First, unless you were hoping that Alice Cooper would make a movie that would complete some sort of strange trilogy with "Help!" by the Beatles and "Head" by the Monkees, my best advice with this DVD is to go directly to the Special Features and find where it says just to play the concert. That is because except for the opening where Alice and the band dress up in white and do "The Lady is a Tramp" on a soundstage, the comedic interludes are simply wretched. The best that can be said for them is that they would suffice as bathroom breaks or opportunities to raid the refrigeration and switch the laundry from the washer to the dryer. But provide entertainment value they do not (there is some lame excuse about the director being upset when the band destroys his set after performing the aforementioned music number, but it hardly justifies the pitiful scenes that follow).

The "Billion Dollar Babies" Tour of 1973 was when Alice Cooper was at the top of the mountain, and the chief value of "Good to See You Again, Alice Cooper" is that it documents the stage show with the big snake, the guillotine, and the rest of the props that threatened to make the music incidental to the experience. Filmed deep in the heart of Texas at Dallas and Houston, on April 28 and 29 respectively, this concert film reminds us that there was more to Alice Cooper that the shock theater aspects. Before Jim Steinman started writing operatic rock songs for Meatloaf and providing the paradigmatic examples of these particular art form, it was Alice Cooper on "Billion Dollar Babies" that were claiming that particular patch of musical territory, as amply demonstrated by "Elected," "Billion Dollar Babies," and "Hello, Hooray." Those actually end up being the first three songs in the concert, and then the band goes back to their first hit, "I'm Eighteen," which proves they had been working towards their goal for some time (to wit, ever since Bob Ezrin became their producer). In terms of other quantifiable hits, "No More Mr. Nice Guy" pop up in the middle, and then "School's Out" and "Under My Wheels" are saved for the big finish. To make sure parents are suitably offended, "Raped and Freezin'," "Sick Things," "Dead Babies" and "I Love the Dead" are thrown into the mix.

What I remember about Alice Cooper is that I liked the music, especially when turned up loud, and that I did not really care about the lyrics. After all, you can make an argument that "Dead Babies" is a sort of public service announcement, but when you watch "Good to See You Again" there should be moments when you think Cooper is at least trying to go too far, even if you think he never gets there (be fair when you do this, and think in terms of what things were like in the 1970s and not judge Alice Cooper by their progeny, from Kiss to Marilyn Manson and beyond). At this point in the history of the known universe watching them chop off the head of Alice Cooper and displaying it to the crowd was as the pinnacle of rock `n' roll stagecraft. Ultimately, the tacky comedy segments of the movie are counter-balanced by the DVD extras, which include a commentary track by Alice himself, a deleted scene, some original graphics, and a radio spot for the film to go along with the trailer.

If you are a true fan of Alice Cooper, you will really enjoy this video. I watched the video with the commentary done by Alice Cooper. I thought that this was not only great footage of the live concert but the movie intwined in it was very funny.
I would definitely suggest watching the video with the commentary.

The very first record album I bought was "Welcome To My Nightmare" by the solo artist Alice Cooper. I was familiar with the radio hits and a friend had the "Greatest Hits" album but I really knew nothing of the Alice Cooper Group other than stories revealed years later. I heard about this dvd and asked for it as a Christmas present and finally got around to watching it last night. This concert or movie is over 30 years old. Please keep that in mind. If you are looking for something that has been recorded in the last decade, you will not find it here. This is just a piece of history of a band that was firing on all cylinders, definitely in their prime. I needed to see the guillotine scene to fully understand what made this band such a monster live act. The movie is hurt by the comedy attempts of a mad director but the bright side is you can choose to watch only the concert and that is why this is here. The sound may not be state of the art but how could one expect that from something so old and a different technology back then. Open up your minds and eyes and see what Alice Cooper the band was really about. I wasn't familiar with all the songs but "Elected", "Under My Wheels". "18", and "Billion Dollar Babies " are here and that is enough for me. I hate "Easter Eggs" on dvds. Why should I have to search for the secret to access a bonus feature. I have never understood that. Anyway, well worth the money. See where Kiss, Marilyn Manson, & Twisted Sister got inspired.

Alice Cooper was OFFICIALLY the number 1 band voted by three huge rock magazines ahead of The Beatles and Rolling Stones around this time. This was one of the biggest and groundbreaking rock tours of 1973 OFFICIALLY. With songs like No More Mr. Nice Guy, I'm Eighteen, and School's Out, the original Alice Cooper Group were already engraved into american pop culture, this DVD will let you see why. A must have for any Rock/Heavy Metal/Music fan in general.