What would Bob Ezrin say about ACAS?

steven_crayn · Post by **steven_crayn** » Fri Jul 25, 2008 9:40 am

A_MichaelUK wrote:>Bob said to Alice before the Dirty Diamonds album make sure there are no fillers which implies he thought there had been since his last album with Alice.

Not necessarily. It might have been meant as a general reminder.

Good point, And If what WYM said is true then maybe Dirty Diamonds wouldn't have sounded much different if Bob had produced it, then again I think if Bob was involved he would have co written some songs which straight away makes the album better when you think of the songs he has co written

Under My Wheels
My Stars
Grande Finale
Sick Things
I Love The Dead
Devil's Food
The Black Widow
Some Folks
Department Of Youth
Cold Ethyl
The Awakening
Go To Hell
You Gotta Dance
I'm The Coolest
Didn't We Meet
Give The Kid A Break
Guilty
Wake Me Gently
Wish You Were Here
Going Home
It's Hot Tonight
Lace & Whiskey
Road Rats
Damned If You Do
King of the Silver Screen
(No More) Love At Your Convenience
I Never Wrote Those Songs
My God
Da Da
Enough's Enough
Former Lee Warmer
No Man's Land
Dyslexia
Scarlet and Sheba
Fresh Blood
Blow Me A Kiss

I love everyone of those songs and some would be in my all time Top 10

People talk about George Martin being the 5th Beatle, surley Bob Ezrin is the 6th Cooper!

scotty · Post by **scotty** » Fri Jul 25, 2008 11:56 am

love the line "no one knows what alice cooper is-we're going to create him in this barn like frankenstein"

A_MichaelUK · Post by **A_MichaelUK** » Sat Jul 26, 2008 12:57 pm

>surley Bob Ezrin is the 6th Cooper!

I agree.

Darren · Post by **Darren** » Sat Jul 26, 2008 3:11 pm

I absolutely agree as well, he had a lot to do with the Alice character we know and love. I thought I remember reading a quote from Alice from somewhere that went along the lines of: "Bob was crazier then any of us"

Bob was also very insightful in "Metal: A Head Bangers Journey" as well.

I think that a good example of what Bob does is the new "Welcome/Nightmare" edition with the bonus tracks. I think if you listen to the bonus tracks and then the finished product you would have a good example of what a producer does. From changes in the lyrics, the timing in vocal delivery and the subtle musical changes you hear all examples of what a Producers Job entails. In my opinion. Not that Alice would not have ideas and changes of his own as well that would have effected the final product. Bob was very good at what he had done. I think he learned a lot about the possibilities of the recording process from Alice. They did some pretty creative things and I think the experience with Alice benifited Bob down the road with other projects. (I think anyways..IMO)

I hope they do work together again someday.

Shoesalesman · Post by **Shoesalesman** » Sat Jul 26, 2008 3:43 pm

I liked Bob's comments in Prime Cuts, especially when he was describing Ballad Of Dwight Fry and how they came about getting Alice prepared for it.

Theatrics in the studio.

Darren · Post by **Darren** » Sat Jul 26, 2008 9:07 pm

Yeah Shoesalsesman, that was one of the things I was thinking about when I made that post...thanks for mentioning it, cuz if I did my post would be as long as the bible. he he.

flashfearless · Post by **flashfearless** » Sat Jul 26, 2008 10:12 pm

Its funny, because I thought the same thing about ACAS. I was listening thinking, "Man, this disk misses Bob's touch."

vince_raven · Post by **vince_raven** » Sat Jul 26, 2008 11:46 pm

Here's the ariticle with Alice talking about Ezrin's advice for DD.

http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/kis ... gets_dirty

"One of the things Bob said was, 'If you're just gonna do twelve songs, how about twelve great songs -- no filler? If I hear filler on your album, I'll personally come beat you to death with a hammer,'" explains a chuckling Cooper, who says he's bounced ideas off Ezrin throughout his career.

"He expects the best out of me," Cooper adds. "So I refused to write a song that you can't sit down at a piano and play -- the verse, the chorus and the B-section."

Since there were no reports of Alice being bludgeoned to death with a ballpin, I guess it's safe to assume that Bob was okay with DD.

Darren · Post by **Darren** » Sat Jul 26, 2008 11:49 pm

I'm not dissing Greg however, I love the ACAS the whole disc and I think it sounds pretty good in the car.

glamprincess · Post by **glamprincess** » Sun Jul 27, 2008 12:27 am

Shoesalesman wrote:I liked Bob's comments in Prime Cuts, especially when he was describing Ballad Of Dwight Fry and how they came about getting Alice prepared for it.

Theatrics in the studio.

I don't know if most people are aware or not, but the fantastic description made in Prime Cuts about Alice being "the villain, the victim, etc." was said by Bob Ezrin. One of the best descriptions of Alice Cooper ever, in my opinion.

Shoesalesman · Post by **Shoesalesman** » Sun Jul 27, 2008 3:53 am

I'll second that.

Si · Post by Si » Sun Jul 27, 2008 7:22 am

I think Alice working again with Ezrin as full producer is a slam dunk. It's so obvious that it's amazing it hasn't been done in recent years....
Ezrin is
a) a close friend (discount anyone?)
b) Quite simply the best in the business
c) Understands Alice in a way no other producer probably does
d) is an incredible writer in his own right.

Of course, that's possibly EXACTLY why Alice hasn't done it. It's tooooo obvious, and like taking a step back to the past.

Maybe if there comes a time that he decides before hand that "this is the last album", maybe then he'll give us what we so want, to complete the circle.

There is also the risk that after so many classics, a new Ezrin produced album may not (could it possibly?) live up to expectations, thus he avoids it.

Darren · Post by **Darren** » Sun Jul 27, 2008 4:26 pm

Thanks for sharing your knowledge Si .

I would agree with you on all your points. And you are probably very correct with the statement of Alice not wanting to take a step back.

However, Eyes and Diamonds were a deliberate nod to his past as he was going back to "garage" rock roots so to speak, and ACAS was a return to Steven's demented mind which ALMOST (bot not quite) is a Nightmare 2 as all the events in ACAS were in Steven's head. (not sure if I interpereted that correctly though)

And you are probably right again with the expectations that Alice and Bob may feel they HAVE to live up to. That might be a lot of pressue though.

But, the general public dosen't really know or seem to care....execpt us of course. So in the end, they would only have to please themselves.

Ps. I thank you and your staff for all the time and effort into Sickthings.uk. I appreciate it.

Darren