Hear No Evil [Release date 23.09.13 and 27.01.14]

Alice Cooper is not an artist whose back catalogue has seen much by way of remastering and re-issues and I’ve longed for Bob Ezrin to dig out the original recordings of Love It To Death and Killer and give them a tickle.  But no, very strangely, all we’ve had to date are Billion Dollar Babies and Welcome To My Nightmare, with the rest of Alice’s extensive output remaining largely untouched.

So quite why Trash and Hey Stoopid have been singled out for special treatment, it’s unclear.  But the pair crown Alice’s mid-career success that came after more than a decade of booze addled ‘wilderness’ years.  Nobody loved Alice in 1988.

But the recruitment of Desmond Child and a host of guest musicians including Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora, Steven Tyler, Joe Perry, and Steve Lukather was a masterstroke and Trash (1989), with its classic singles ‘Poison’, ‘Bed of Nails’, ‘House of Fire’, and’ Only My Heart Talkin”, took Alice back to the upper reaches of the album and singles charts on both side of the Atlantic. *****

It was a winning formula that Hey Stoopid repeated two years later with an even more impressive supporting cast including Satriani and Vai, Slash, Nikki Sixx and Mick Mars, and Ozzy Osbourne.  And the hits kept coming – ‘Hey Stoopid’, ‘Love’s A Loaded Gun’ and ‘Feed My Frankenstein’ (which got Alice even wider exposure in Wayne’s World).

The albums rescued Alice’s career and provided a platform that underpins his continued success and re-emergence in recent years.  So, if you already have the original releases, are the remasters worth getting?

There is some bonus material, but not a great deal – Trash gets a rare radio edit of ‘Only My Heart Talkin”, and a cover of Spirit’s ‘I Got A Line On You’, while Hey Stoopid weighs in with a title track edit and the B-sides ‘Fire’ (Hendrix) and ‘It Rained All Night’.

It’s hardly a clincher, especially when there’s known unreleased outtake material from the Trash sessions.  As for the re-mastering, the sound’s a little brighter, but perhaps a little thinner and truth be told, there’s not a great deal in it.  On that basis alone, I wouldn’t recommend re-investment.  But if you have neither of these ‘classic’ albums, they’re an essential purchase.

Review by Pete Whalley

---

Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

Since early 2020 Josh has been entertaining us with exclusive monthly live sessions, streamed via Facebook.

In 2023 he signed a recording deal with Sony in Canada and released a new single on 15 September.

Next session: Sunday 1 December

Check out videos here: https://www.facebook.com/getreadytorockradio

---

David Randall presents a weekly show on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio, Sundays at 22:00 GMT, repeated on Mondays and Fridays), when he invites listeners to ‘Assume The Position’. The show signposts forthcoming gigs and tours and latest additions at getreadytorock.com. First broadcast on 20 October 2024.

UK Blues Broadcaster of the Year (2020 and 2021 Finalist) Pete Feenstra presents his weekly Rock & Blues Show on Tuesday at 19:00 GMT as part of a five hour blues rock marathon “Tuesday is Bluesday at GRTR!”. The show is repeated on Wednesdays at 22:00, Fridays at 20:00). This show was first broadcast 22 October 2024.

How to Listen Live?

Click the programming image at the top of the page (top right of page if using desktop)

Listen via Windows Media Player. Click or tap here and “open file”
Listen via other media player (eg. VLC) Click or tap here and “open file”

Get Ready to ROCK! Radio is also in iTunes under Internet Radio/Classic Rock
Listen in via the Tunein app and search for “Get Ready to ROCK!” and save as favourite.

More information and links at our radio website where you can listen again to shows via the presenter pages: getreadytorockradio.com

---

Power Plays w/c 28 October 2024

THE RASMUS Rest In Pieces (Better Noise Music)
THE PLAGUE What Else Can I Do (FiXT)
STAR CIRCUS Turn The Tide (indie)
DEFENCES Breathe It In (Long Branch Records)

Featured Albums w/c 28 October 2024

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2003-2023 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003-2023 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2003-2023 (Singer Songwriter)

---

---

Popular (last 10 days)

---