Before there was a Marilyn Manson or a Rob Zombie there was Alice Cooper. Cooper, a rock legend that has been in the business for over thirty years, continues to record and tour. His recent album, Brutal Planet, has drawn the strongest reviews since his 70's heyday.

Cooper is considered a pioneer for producing not only several rock anthems, but bringing theatrics into music. While much of Cooper's music is considered shock rock, there has always been more to Alice. Most of the albums are actually very diverse, and many of the songs have a commercial flavor to them.

Greatest Hits is an excellent look at the more commercial side of Alice. In actual fact, all of the songs on this album could be called the original Alice Cooper Group. What many people fail to realize is, the original concept of Alice Cooper was as a complete band and not a single entity. Singer Vincent Furnier (Alice Cooper), guitarists Glen Buxton and Michael Bruce, bassist Dennis Dunaway, and drummer Neal Smith were all involved in the creative process. All five wrote songs within the band, and Alice Cooper was not intended to be just one person. That was the name of the band.

However, with the theatrics that appeared in the live show, most of the scare tactic such as the guillotine, hangings, etc. happened to the laead singer. Since Furnier was the front man, fans naturally assumed he was Alice Cooper himself. Soon Furnier legally changed his name and became the leader of the band. However, it was not until 1975 that he actually became a bona fide solo artist, with the excellent Welcome To My Nightmare album.

Greatest Hits covers all the original group material.It was not until the third album, Love It To Death, that Cooper began to have hits, so the CD starts with Love It To Death's hits and goes through the final ACG album, Muscle of Love.

All of the songs are commercially viable, and even if you are not a fan of the scarier side of Cooper, there is no denying the greatness of these songs.

Classics such as Eighteen,School's Out, and No More Mister Nice Guy are still rock staples that get radio airplay on classic rock today.

However, what makes this CD special for me, is a reminder of soem fo the forgotten hits such as Desperado (not the Eagles song), Muscle of Love, and 74 Teenage Lament, which is actually more of a glam song.

The lyrics actually are surprising, though most are satrical, even with the commercial songs, each one seems to make a statement. Especially songs from the Billion Dollar Babies period.

The music is tight, and Cooper who is known for his over exaggerated raspy voice actually demonstrates that when he wants to, he is a fine singer.

Theonly problem some fans may have is that the more shocking songs scuh as my alltime favorite Ballad of Dwight Frye are not included. Cooper has many excellent albums, and his 80's and 90's work is highly underrated and worth having in most cases,but if you are new to Cooper or only like the anthems such as School's Out, this is an excellent place to start.

Recommended: Yes

Great Music to Play While: Hanging With Friends