For those of you who have read my previous installments of "My Musical Fixations" I apologize but for those who haven't a brief explanation is in order
I am writing a series of reviews, not on certain full albums but upon those songs within that I obsessed on for a period of time, songs that no matter how many times I played them I never got tired of them. Many times these songs also remind me of milestones in my life, when I hear them. I'm sure you've had similar circumstances where certain songs got under your skin. You know, those songs that really grabbed you for two weeks or two months or more. The songs that you just couldn't get enough of and you had to play over and over and over and over .......... and still you never got sick of them. The ones you had on vinyl but you went back and bought again on CD if it was available and probably never played much - it was dated - just to know you had the best copy of it that you could get. And the funny thing is most of the time the song wasn't even by one of your favorite artists. This is my seventh installment, the band is Alice Cooper and the song is........."HALO OF FLIES"!!!
In case you just returned from Mars and don't know who Alice Cooper is here's a little background. Alice Cooper was originally the name of the band from Phoenix, Arizona whose leader was Vincent Damon Furnier, who later became Alice Cooper.
Furnier/Cooper may be the most prolific artist, of modern times logging some 40 albums to date and still counting. Furnier formed his first group, Earwigs, in the earley 60s, then changed to the Spiders in 1965 and later to Nazz. In 1968, after finding out that another Nazz existed, Furnier once again changed the bands name, to Alice Cooper. Rumour has it, the name came to Furnier during a ouija board session, where he was told he was the reincarnation of a 17th-century witch of the same name. After Alice Cooper signed their first record contract, four releases were made before Killer was released in 1971. Killer was a moderate seller going gold but what really started to make the band popular today was the theatrics and wild stage shows. Under Furnier's direction, Alice Cooper initiated a impressively theatrical and forceful brand of heavy metal that was designed to shock, drawing equally from horror movies and vaudeville. This probably preceded Ozzie Osbourne by at least a few years so audiences became enthralled with Alice Cooper's antics.
Furniers on stage persona was Alice Cooper which became his alter ego. A few years later Furnier officially change his name to Alice Cooper. Furnier only made three more albums as a member of a band. In 1975 he went solo.
Here is an AMG review of this very good album. My FIXATION will be discussed thereafter.
"Alice Cooper wasted little time following up the breakthrough success of 1971's Love It to Death with another album released the same year, Killer. Again, producer Bob Ezrin was on board, and helps the group solidify their heavy rock (yet wide-ranging) style even further. The band's stage show dealt with the macabre, and such disturbing tracks as "Dead Babies" and the title track fit in perfectly. Other songs were even more exceptional, such as the perennial-barnstorming concert standard "Under My Wheels," the melodic yet gritty "Be My Lover," and the tribute to their fallen friend Jim Morrison, "Desperado." The long and winding "Halo of Flies" correctly hinted that the band would be tackling more complex song structures on future albums, while "You Drive Me Nervous" and "Yeah, Yeah, Yeah" showed that Alice Cooper hadn't completely abandoned their early garage-rock direction. With Killer, they became one of the world's top rock bands and concert attractions; it rewarded them as being among the most notorious and misunderstood entertainers, thoroughly despised by grown-ups." — Greg Prato
Halo of Flies
At eight minutes and twenty-two seconds "Halo of Flies" may be the longest piece Alice Cooper ever did. All my fixation songs tend to be long, the shortest being five + minutes. I guess it's because the longer songs have more variety and instrumentation, which is what I like. I tend to think of vocals as another instrument, augmenting the other instruments, rather than being the center of the music. There are exceptions to this thinking when the vocals are so astounding that they almost take over the music. The emotive ramblings of Tom Eklund on In search of Truth is such an effort.
"Halo of Flies" is both a complex but simple straight Rock and roll piece and actually manages to create the feeling of a bunch of flies buzzing around. Starting out with first one then two twanging guitars and cymbals for thirty seconds, when the music changes slightly with the addition of distorted guitar with a fluttery sound. This sound also backs and almost mimics Furnier when he sings, starting at the 1:50 mark. The underlying beat for the song is what I would call a giddyap beat. Furniers voice is sort of a raspy yell, not smooth but serving the music very well. There is a catchy, Near East type, guitar hook used effectively throughout the number and a nice drum solo at the six minute mark. Overall it's a fast 8:22. The musicianship, while primitive, is solid, the production is average and the song is captivating.
It should be mentioned that, unlike many of my other FIXATION picks, this is an outstanding, old rock and roll, album, with numerous great songs. My other favorites are: "Desparado", "Killer", "Dead Babies" and "Under my Wheels"
SONG?TRACK LIST
1. Under My Wheels (Bruce/Dunaway/Ezrin) - 2:50
2. Be My Lover (Bruce) - 3:15
3. Halo of Flies(Bruce/Buxton/Cooper/Dunaway/Smith) - 8:21
4. Desperado (Bruce/Cooper) - 3:25
5. You Drive Me Nervous (Bruce/Cooper/Ezrin) - 2:24
6. Yeah, Yeah, Yeah (Bruce/Cooper) - 3:33
7. Dead Babies (Bruce/Buxton/Cooper/Dunaway/Smith) - 5:40
8. Killer (Bruce/Dunaway) - 7:07
Halo of Flies
I've got the answers
To all of your questions
If you've got the money
To pay me in gold
I will be living
In old Monte Carlo
And you will be reading
The secrets I sold
Daggers and contacts
And bright shiny limos
I've got a watch
That turns into a lifeboat
Glimmering nightgowns
And poisonous cobras
Silencer under the heel of my shoe
The elegance of China
They sent her to lie here on her back
But as she deeply moves me
She'd rather shoot me in my tracks
And while a Middle Asian lady
She really came as no surprise
But I still did destroy her
And I will smash
Halo of flies
I crossed the ocean
Where no one could see
And I put a time-bomb
In your submarine
Goodbye to old friends
The secret's in hand
With phony papers
And counterfeit plans
You never will understand
If you're looking for meaningful lyrics, you may as well check out Manfred Mann's "Blinded by the light" which makes about as much sense.
If You've enjoyed this review here are the links to my other FIXATIONS:
Epinions.com periodically updates pricing and product information from third-party sources, so some information may be slightly out-of-date. You should confirm all information before relying on it.
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.