Flush the fashion - Your opinion

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The son of Don Quijote
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Flush the fashion - Your opinion

Post by The son of Don Quijote » Sat Apr 23, 2011 8:07 am

So I finally decided to start a discussion of Alice Cooper's 1980 album Flush the fashion because there seems to be very little and very rarely any discussion of it. I hope this discussion will remain peaceful and interesting and doesn't go off the tracks like that ACAS one. I am sure you will bring many interesting points about the album.

For me Flush the fashion is a decent Alice Cooper album nothing more nothing less. It's the beginning of a new era in Alice's music and the end of Alice's golden decade. It came after the absolutely brilliant From the inside. So it had a very hard task to match its predecessor and in that it didn't succeed. But the album definately has its merits especially when judged by its own and not in the light of past glories.

Flush the fashion is often a kind of fifty-fifty album for me. Half of it works half of it doesn't but when I'm in the right mood I like most of the album. I will now tell you about my favourite songs on it and later about the negative aspects of the album.

Pain is a great ballad with great lyrics. I often feel that Pain should have been as big hit as Poison. Its so Alice but at the same has its fair share of pop sensibility. Clones is another great song. Very different from what Alice had sunged previously but great nonetheless. Has anyone of you more information about the writer of this song?

Headlines is one of my personal favourites. I think this story about a man who does anything to get publicity is much more relevant in these days of reality TV and American Idol. I also love that heavy riff in the end of the song.

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Re: Flush the fashion - Your opinion

Post by The Spider » Sat Apr 23, 2011 8:52 am

Flush the Fashion (for me) is an album hard to sum up. It has, what I think are, really great songs and in some cases really catchy that stick in your mind, and other songs that just didn't do it for me. My personal favourites of FTF have to be Clones (We're all), Pain, Leather Boots and Headlines. Otherwise, the rest just didn't DO IT for me. With maybe the exception of Asprin Dance. :laugh:
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Re: Flush the fashion - Your opinion

Post by While Heaven Wept » Sat Apr 23, 2011 9:49 am

Decent album, Clones, Aspirin Damage, Dance Yourself To Death, Headlines, Vicious Rumours, Talk Talk.....all good tracks in my opinion.

It's just too damn short though.

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Re: Flush the fashion - Your opinion

Post by The Spider » Sat Apr 23, 2011 10:04 am

The Spider wrote:Flush the Fashion (for me) is an album hard to sum up. It has, what I think are, really great songs and in some cases really catchy that stick in your mind, and other songs that just didn't do it for me. My personal favourites of FTF have to be Clones (We're all), Pain, Leather Boots and Headlines. Otherwise, the rest just didn't DO IT for me. With maybe the exception of Asprin Dance. :laugh:
I mean Aspirin Damage not Dance LOL! It was too early.. :bam:
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Re: Flush the fashion - Your opinion

Post by Sarah » Sat Apr 23, 2011 10:21 am

While Heaven Wept wrote: It's just too damn short though.
I agree with that! It seems to go by too quickly.

I think it's a really good album with very catchy songs. For me it's much better than the next couple of albums released.

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Re: Flush the fashion - Your opinion

Post by scotty » Sat Apr 23, 2011 10:36 am

[quote="While Heaven Wept"] Vicious Rumours.[/quote]


special forces.

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Re: Flush the fashion - Your opinion

Post by RemarkablyInsincere » Sat Apr 23, 2011 1:57 pm

For the longest time it was my least favorite of the the three 80-82 albums. Over time, however, I've come to love this album.

It's got a sonic landscape unlike anything else in the catalog. I think Roy Thomas Baker's production is superb. The album is a lot stronger than people give it credit for, and I don't think there's really a clunker on here. It's certainly a different sound for Alice, but it's a fun uptempo album. It's really a cohesive album from start to finish, something the two follow ups fail to achieve.

It's odd how your opinions change over time because for the longest time I didn't pay much attention to this album.
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Re: Flush the fashion - Your opinion

Post by RemarkablyInsincere » Sat Apr 23, 2011 1:58 pm

While Heaven Wept wrote:Decent album, Clones, Aspirin Damage, Dance Yourself To Death, Headlines, Vicious Rumours, Talk Talk.....all good tracks in my opinion.

It's just too damn short though.
You forgot the great 'Grim Facts'.


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Re: Flush the fashion - Your opinion

Post by Shoesalesman » Sat Apr 23, 2011 2:13 pm

RemarkablyInsincere wrote:It's odd how your opinions change over time because for the longest time I didn't pay much attention to this album.
How very true.

FTF was the first album of the "underground four" I listened to and it's a cool package overall. The first half of the album is better than the second half IMO, but I've come to appreciate Grim Facts, Dance Yourself To Death and Headlines more as the years have progressed. Best part, there's no real 'turkey' on the album that dragged it down as a whole (ahem, like Deeper did to Dragontown).
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Re: Flush the fashion - Your opinion

Post by Shoesalesman » Sat Apr 23, 2011 2:25 pm

Old school Talk Talk by The Music Machine, era '66/'67...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJR_KGZO4U0
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Re: Flush the fashion - Your opinion

Post by shock rock » Sat Apr 23, 2011 2:40 pm

I concur,it is a decent album.I really liked Clones when it came out,got Alice back on the radio with a "rocker" as opposed to his succession of ballads.Pain ,another top notch song with sublime lyrics IMO,( would love to see him perform that number!)..Grim Facts,Aspirin Damage (very catchy)..overall very good,especially from a lyrical standpoint.
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Re: Flush the fashion - Your opinion

Post by The Spider » Sat Apr 23, 2011 2:53 pm

Sarah wrote:
While Heaven Wept wrote: It's just too damn short though.
I agree with that! It seems to go by too quickly.

I think it's a really good album with very catchy songs. For me it's much better than the next couple of albums released.
Yeah, Zipper Catches Skin also seems to fly by for me.
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Re: Flush the fashion - Your opinion

Post by ThePainAddict » Sat Apr 23, 2011 4:07 pm

LP was way too short (running time around 32 minutes I think). Seemed to be following the trends at the time (a la Cars). Also didn't like the change in the Alice personna (lack of traditional make-up and hair pulled back). The tour was such a let down from the Mad House tour. Limited production and playing slightly smaller venues (at least in my area). Still some good tunes, would love to see Clones brought back in concert. Pain definitely a classic.

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Re: Flush the fashion - Your opinion

Post by The son of Don Quijote » Sat Apr 23, 2011 4:16 pm

You have brought many great points. Roy Thomas Baker really did a great job producing this album. While I don't like all of the songs there really isn't anything horrible on Flush the fashion. Nothing I could put in the 18 worst Alice Cooper songs list. I really think this album is much better than quite weak Special Forces.

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Re: Flush the fashion - Your opinion

Post by Gunner » Sat Apr 23, 2011 4:40 pm

It's a great album for me. Firstly, I love Roy Thomas Baker's production work (I'm thinking early Queen), it's very slick and clinical. I really love the first side, it flows wonderfully. Pain is for me, one of the greatest songs ever, with a fantastic vocal and lyric. I like the new look, the new sound, the artwork, the lot! I played this lp until there were no grooves left - honestly! I enjoy it more than ANYTHING he did after, apart from Dada really.

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Re: Flush the fashion - Your opinion

Post by alan1958 » Sun Apr 24, 2011 1:13 am

Hi, my first real post ...so go easy folks .
I bought FTF the day it was released and was really looking forward to From The Inside Part2 , which was probably still sitting on my turntable worn out/played to death .....
I still remember sitting in a Chinese Restaurant scouring the sleeve ...couldn't wait to get home ...amazing new image...really punk/new-wave DEVO looking .......Queen's producer would surely have given Alice a massive OTT production ???
Put it on ....what the hell is this ???? Where are the epic melodies , the strings , the brilliant middle eights .......and what's with the cover versions ....and why is he singing in that odd voice ?????....I remember thinking that "Clones" was a bit too similar to Gary Numan ...........
"Pain " was probably the only song that could have been on the previous album so I played it to death...and then over the next few weeks I started to "get it ".... The funny lyrics , the great minimalist production .....Dance Yourself was great ....Grim Facts ...Talk Talk .....Saw him doing some of these songs live in Glasgow '82 and they were perfect songs for that kind of gig ....
There aren't any bad songs on FTF , and when i'm in the mood it's a real blast and has aged very well , though I rarely play it all the way through ........I've loaded EVERY Alice song onto my IPOD and play them on shuffle at work, and whenever any track from FTF comes on it really sounds great ...more than can be said for many later albums !( Thank goodness for the "skip" button )
He was clearly trying to shed the "old" image ,and this was a real departure , and as much as I wanted my hero to stay the same , I 'm glad i've got Flush The Fashion in my collection .....

P.S I was in a neighbours house recently , looking through his music , and somehow Alice's name came up ...... he said he really rated Alice because of this one album that he picked up when visiting New York in the early '80's....it was Flush The Fashion .......This guy has never heard Nightmare, From The Inside , Killer ..but still thinks Alice is great on the strength of Flush The Fashion .....
Maybe Alice knew what he was doing after all and i've always admired him for doing something that few of his contemporaries would try. We will never know what might have happened if this album was a huge seller !!

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Re: Flush the fashion - Your opinion

Post by Robert Gerard Hunt » Sun Apr 24, 2011 2:14 am

I've always loved FTF. It's a great mix of good tunes, a sense of humor, and biting social commentary, something he really didn't nail again until BP twenty years later. It reflected the paranoia of the times (Nuclear Infected, Aspirin Damage) while proving to be somewhat prophetic as well. I remember thinking that the lyrics of Grim Facts were pretty outrageous in 1980, but now any part of the song could be a headline on CNN. And let us not forget the brilliant Model Citizen - a wonderful take on the Alice/Vince dichotomy - who else but Alice would release a New Wave rocker that wittily quotes "Deep in the Heart of Texas"?
FTF is pure tongue-in-cheek punk attitude (in other words - pure Alice).

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Re: Flush the fashion - Your opinion

Post by Shoesalesman » Sun Apr 24, 2011 2:39 am

alan1958 wrote:...really punk/new-wave DEVO looking .......
That's funny because I was way into Devo at the time I picked up Flush The Fashion, recall thinking the same thing.
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Re: Flush the fashion - Your opinion

Post by mestreech » Sun Apr 24, 2011 3:06 am

Great album, strong songs and great lyrics.
I still like to hear it at any time. :clap: :rock:

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Re: Flush the fashion - Your opinion

Post by Billie1966 » Sun Apr 24, 2011 6:21 am

I really enjoy this album. My favorite song is "Model Citizen".. But not my favorite image for Alice. But that's what I like about him. He's gonna do something that makes you go huh?

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