SickthingsUK

I wanted to get a sense of what everyone thought were some of the Best Ballads throughout Alice’s Catalog?

Some shows from 77-82 featured “Only Women Bleed”, “I Never Cry”, & “You & Me”. Nice shot right in a row…

All the theatrics aside and hard rocking tunes, Alice is a flat out great singer, and is criminally underrated in that respect.

The turns of phase, and the vocal runs in all the songs I just mentioned above are just killer. Particularly “I Never Cry”, the way he switches it up from the “….Open me up, but don’t you leave me alone” line, straight into “That's all I got to give to you….” he turns on a dime, and changes the whole mood.

I would even consider “Shoe Salesman” a great little ballad.

So, who likes what, and from which records? (Especially from the later ones.)

I'm partial to Be With You Awhile and Every Woman Has a Name, relating to recent songs. Older ones would be I Never Cry and You And Me.

Would "Six Hours" be considered a ballad? If so, then: that's my first. How about "Might as well be on Mars"? If so, then that's my second. Be With You Awhile third, then You and Me from older..

I guess it all depends on the definition, because I would include "See Me In The Mirror" to be my first all time favorite in this category, though I'm not sure you'd call it 'a ballad'...

BD

If you can call it a ballad saga of jesse jane some of the funniest alice lyrics
and i would say the classic only women bleed, and might as well be on mars.

Favourite has to be Ballad Of Dwight Fry! Also like Only Women Bleed and Every Woman Has A Name. If I'm in the right mood sometimes I'll play all the ballads as a change from the heavier stuff.

Ballad Of Dwight Fry, Every Woman Has A Name. I used to love I Never Cry but I don't like it that much anymore (don't get me wrong, it's still great). I have never liked You & Me very much.

Sadogoat wrote:I have never liked You & Me very much.

I was pushing for this to be the song at my wedding, but my wife wanted George Strait instead. Hers was more important to her than mine was to me... so we went with GS.

Alice has a great "singing" voice. I'd love to hear an entire acoustic album from him - not neccessarily just ballads. Something like Guns and Roses acoustic on GNR "Lies." His voice would be perfect for something like that.

Great thread

'Killed By Love' off the forthcoming album is one of his best.

I also love Might As Well Be On Mars, Take It Like A Woman and Only Women Bleed.

A Ballad is a poem usually set to music so Ballad of Dwight Fry is most certainly that, but a ballad usually has a romantic or sentimental nature and Dwight Fry is no love long, but I love that song!

Only Women Bleed, How You Gonna See Me Now, I Never Cry, Salvation, Hell Is Living Without You, You And Me, I Never Wrote Those Songs and It's Me.

steven_crayn wrote:Great thread

'Killed By Love' off the forthcoming album is one of his best.

I also love Might As Well Be On Mars, Take It Like A Woman and Only Women Bleed.

A Ballad is a poem usually set to music so Ballad of Dwight Fry is most certainly that, but a ballad usually has a romantic or sentimental nature and Dwight Fry is no love long, but I love that song!

Actually, Dwight Fry could be a love song. It very well could be love that drove him mad. After all, hasn't it done the very same thing to many men?

It is also my number 1 favorite Cooper song.

Every Woman has a name takes the cake for me, but I love all the ballads. I think From the Inside is the closest we'll get to an all-ballad album from Alice. But who knows, maybe when he hits 70 he'll relax a little bit and record the soundtrack to senility.

TeresofBlood wrote: But who knows, maybe when he hits 70 he'll relax a little bit and record the soundtrack to senility.

That is such a great quote! ha ha ha made me laugh anyway!


Strange thing about the ballads is that up about 25 years ago, I never even noticed them! But when I saw the Special Forces Tour (at Hammersmith, London) and he sang "I Never Cry", it really hit me like a sledgehammer.

I suddenly realised that I 'knew' this song (duh!) and that there was a wealth of ballads by Alice, in my LP collection - that I had not really listened to.

It just took that live performance for me to 'get it'.

So, I Never Cry remains special for that reason, but I like them all, some like It's Me, Might as well be On Mars, and Six Hours and Be With You A While, I like considerably more than others.

Loomis wrote:

steven_crayn wrote:Great thread

'Killed By Love' off the forthcoming album is one of his best.

I also love Might As Well Be On Mars, Take It Like A Woman and Only Women Bleed.

A Ballad is a poem usually set to music so Ballad of Dwight Fry is most certainly that, but a ballad usually has a romantic or sentimental nature and Dwight Fry is no love long, but I love that song!

Actually, Dwight Fry could be a love song. It very well could be love that drove him mad. After all, hasn't it done the very same thing to many men?

It is also my number 1 favorite Cooper song.

Good point I meant love song in the traditional sense, but Alice has always done things different so yeah you are right.

It is one of my favourites too and in a 1974 interview Alice said it was his favourite song.

http://www.filefreak.com/pfiles/58505/P ... Cooper.mp3

I have a playlist of Alice's softer songs /ballads, which I often play when Im trying to drift off to sleep (and want to avoid the temptation to jump around the room like a freak. It contains

Dwight Fry
Only women bleed
Might as Well be on Mars
Every Woman Has a Name
Jacknife Johnny
Its Me
How you gonna see me know
Burning Our Bed
You and Me
I never cry
Innmates (Were all crazy)
I never wrote those songs
be with you tonight
Only My Heart Talking
Stolen Prayer

soon to be added to the play list
Killed by Love
Salvation

If that playlist doesn't get me relaxed, plan b is getting up , turning up HEY STOOPID CD on as loud as it goes and partying all night.

I Never Cry is hands down my favorite. It's possibly my favorite Alice song, period. It's also my favorite kareoke hit.

I am a well known sap so I could list a ton of Alice ballads but I do want to especially mention Wake Me Gently which hasn't been named before, and give another nod to Killed By Love from the new album which is an outstanding vocal performance. Just love it.

alienspice wrote:I Never Cry is hands down my favorite. It's possibly my favorite Alice song, period. It's also my favorite kareoke hit.

I am a well known sap so I could list a ton of Alice ballads but I do want to especially mention Wake Me Gently which hasn't been named before, and give another nod to Killed By Love from the new album which is an outstanding vocal performance. Just love it.

Wake Me Gently is a beautiful song.

I could see an album of Cooper ballads being released, I think that would surprise a lot of people and be a good angle to market, you know the man that gave us Dead Babies also gave us ...

What would be on it what would be the running order?

say about 45 mins around 10 tracks.

Only Women the first track?

Killed By Love the last?

What would we call it?

The Ballads of Alice Cooper?

alienspice wrote: I could list a ton of Alice ballads but I do want to especially mention Wake Me Gently which hasn't been named before.

Good call, I had 'forgotten' Wake Me Gently - that is one that I would have someone play at my funeral.

As regards playlists - I have used the same idea; a list of Alice ballads, and a list of Alice straight ahead rock etc.

I think my favourites would be I Never Wrote Those Songs, Pass The Gun Around (it's a ballad in my book!) and Wake Me Gently. Alice conveys sadness so effectively in those 3.

Wake Me Gently does it for me.