The main contents of the book,please

Maybe Michael Bruce should have hired a ghost writer. But don't hold it against him. Until a better writer happens along, this will probably have to be the definitive account of Alice Cooper's early life - as in, when the name indicated a band first and foremost, even if the lead singer decided to adopt the name as his own stage name, too - if only because it comes from the man who was probably the real most valuable player in the band. Though they began as a gang of rabble-and-rollers who also had a sense of the absurd which veered between the surreal and the downright insane (you have to hear their very first album, the Frank Zappa-produced "Pretties For You," to understand), it didn't take long before Alice Cooper began shaping into a slashing band with hooks to burn - the maturity which began on their second album ("Easy Action") and all but exploded on their third ("Love It To Death") may have been a rather watered-down and cartooned-up version of the Stooges' genuine teenage-wasteland angst, but there was no escaping the quick grip of songs like "Eighteen," "Under My Wheels," "Be My Lover," "Caught In A Dream," "School's Out," "You Drive Me Nervous," "Dead Babies," "Gutter Cat Vs. The Jets," "No More Mr. Nice Guy," and "Billion Dollar Baby." And it was predominantly Michael Bruce - who was actually the better of the band's two guitarists, though fellow guitarist Glen Buxton usually earned the raves for the spiky lead guitar work even when he didn't play it (which, beginning with the impossibly best-selling "Billion Dollar Babies," was damn near all the time; the stories abounded about the band using unseen guitarists to cover for Buxton while Bruce actually switched between lead and rhythm guitar onstage) - who provided the hooks and the overall balanced structure that made the songs workable even without the stage act whose shock value, in hindsight, wore off into self-parody rather quickly.

It probably should have surprised no one that the overworked Alice Cooper fivesome delivered something less than their front line with 1974's "Muscle of Love," but what happened next proves somewhat tawdry - announcing a temporary hiatus for the band, on the pretext of regrouping and refreshing, Cooper the singer cut a well-received solo album ("Welcome To My Nightmare") with most of the band he swiped from Lou Reed (the famed "Rock and Roll Animal" group, spearhead by twin guitar slingers Steve Hunter and Dick Wagner)...and then some solo concerts with a few new variations on his old stage tricks...then another solo album...a few hit singles (especially 1977's surprisingly masterful and haunting ballad, "You And Me")...another couple of solo albums, including a live album at least a third of which was stuff from the old band. Meanwhile, the old band twisted in the wind and figured out the hard way that Alice Cooper the singer had no intention of ever reuniting Alice Cooper the band. (Almost a year and a half later, while Cooper was riding his slowly swelling solo success, the band gave interviews in which they assured one and all that yes, they were only on temporary vacation and they were just waiting for Alice to pass the word it was time to rock again.)

The band was fool enough to try it on their own for awhile (minus Buxton, apparently), changing the name to Billion Dollar Babies, and cutting an album which had plenty missing beginning with the foolishness of their new name. From there, they drifted apart to various ventures none of which came even close to their old glory, and practically the whole world forgot Alice Cooper began as a band name.

As all but the musical director of that band, Bruce has all the reason in the world to be bitter over their shabby treatment. He may not be David Niven as a show business memoirist, but given his limitations as a prose writer he's telling a story fans of the 1970s (remember: Alice Cooper the band was the hottest act in American show business from 1971-73) and of Alice Cooper will want to know, and if you get past his stylistic flaws as a writer you'll be surprised at how well he keeps the bitterness down to a dull roar and still has a stubborn pride in what he did accomplish.

This is an excellent book by Michael Bruce (Alice Cooper Band Original Guitarists) and Billy James (Ant Bee) which follows the Bands History from Arizona to Los Angeles To Michigan to Superstardom. It is well written and tells the story in an engaging way with much humor and candor. This is a MUST HAVE for any Alice Cooper fan and really any Rock Fan.

A great book that goes right to the heart of The Alice cooper band. I only wish that it was longer. Good content indeed!
Lovely photos and info throughout! If you are a fan of the early AC, READ THIS BOOK! It is essential!