Search - Billion Dollar Babie :: Complete Battle Axe

An "A" For Effort

Mike Reed | 10/05/2002

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Michael Bruce - Guitar and lead vocals, Dennis Dunaway - Bass guitar and Neal Smith on drums: these three formed the nucleus of the original Alice Cooper BAND from the early 70's. They, along with later dysfunctional and absent from this album, Glen Buxton on guitar, producer Bob Ezrin and Shep Gordon - manager, created the Alice Cooper sound. Much like Aerosmith, another young band, they were prone to gossip behind each other's backs like the adolescents they were. We've all been there. But unlike Aerosmith who got over their hurt feelings and moodiness towards one another reunited when they realized apart, they were less than they were together. They, like the Alice Cooper band split in the 70's but unlike AC, reunited to become even bigger than they were in the 70's. They got over their hurt feelings. They realized the conflicts and differences of opinion is what created the dynamics. Aerosmith admits they still bicker even now but realize that's part of the creative process.Alice and Shep split in "75" to do Welcome To My Nightmare and said, "Hey I can do this all my way. I'm the boss now. The band won't stand in my way, forget them, I've got the name".

I can't help the way I feel, I'm sorry. I know some may disagree but I loved these guys. They, all of them, were my heroes from age 12 to 13. I'd clip all their pictures from every magazine. Alice was weird but the cool band behind him legitimized his theatrics, after all it was still rock n' roll, and Alice made the band more than just another band. I see a lot of reunions, Ozzy with Black Sabbath, KISS, The Eagles, Aerosmith, Fleetwood Mac and bands that have always stayed together like The Stones. Yea, The Beatles, one of the biggest, never did get back together. With John's death they couldn't but could you imagine if they did!!! What a world event that would have been!This album was put out in 1977 when the remaining members realized Alice was not going to reform the band. Bob Dolin is on keyboards from the Billion Dollar Babies and Muscle Of Love tours and Muscle of Love album. Mick Mashbir (Glen Buxton replacement on albums and tours)was asked to play lead guitar. He declined if he couldn't be more than a hired musician. So Mike Marconi was hired for lead guitar. The group decided to let Mike Bruce sing lead since they had bad experiences with lead singers before... Mike can hold a tune but is no great vocalist. The boys put a lot of work into this album and concept show but without the focus of the Alice Cooper concept, Bob Ezrin's guidance and Shep Gordon's management it is like a good garage band. It's not bad but not necessarily great either. It's competent. But I can say the same of Alice's solo career. He's had some moments but overall he's seems like Cher or Tony Bennet up there by himself with changing backup musicians. It's just not real rock n' roll to me. I've seen his latest Brutal Planet DVD, there's some great moments and I'm glad Alice is healthy and strong it's just not something I want to see live, it's not the same to me. Alice likes the Andy Griffith show. Well it's like that show when Barney Fife, (Don Knotts) left. You can colorize it and bring in a whole cast of new characters but it just doesn't rock the same without Barney.Alice says a reunion is retro and uncreative. It's not if you make a new album with new material and a new tour.It's all for the good. Alice had to change his image and the band had to realize how good they had it. But enough of that. Get rid of the ego's.The ball is in Alice's court. He has the name. He and Shep should be big. Alice also likes the animated Simpsons TV show. In one episode of the Simpsons called "Pin Pals" Mr. Burns joins Homer's bowling team. The team wins the bowling trophy after much hard work only to have Mr. Burns snatch it away from the team and take the trophy for himself just because he can. It reminded me of Alice and Shep taking the Alice name for themselves and leaving the band behind. It's sad."

Bittersweet Finale

Graboidz | Westminster, Maryland | 07/20/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I am a huge fan of the original Alice Cooper Band recordings, "Love It To Death", "Killers", "School's Out" etc. And I knew about this record, but knew it was almost impossible to find, so when I found this Triple CD I picked it up right away. The first disk is the "Battle Axe" album. There are some really great songs on here "I Miss You" should have been a radio staple, and "Too Young" is really catchy as well. The "Battle Axe Suite" is alright too. The best part being the final song "Winner" which is catchy. But there are too many songs that just sound like filler. "Love is Rather Blind" and "Rock me Slowly" seem like half-hearted attempts to get radio airplay with generic ballads.

The second disk is a collection of Demo's and unreleased songs. And that is pretty cool to. But, basically the Demo's are just rawer versions of what appears on "Battle Axe" and there is good reason the unreleased songs were unreleased.

The final disk is a live album. The mix is awful with instruments fading in and out. Sometimes the drums overwhelm, while at other times they are hardly noticeable. Dennis Dunaway's bass lines are non-existant for most of the disk. Overall you are basically paying around $30 for the "Battle Axe" LP. The extras are nice, but not something you will listen to often. So you have to decide if you want to fork over that kind of dough for one album. Me, I had to have it. Sure it sounds dated, the remaster sounds like a recorded vinyl record, the extras aren't that great....but as a die hard Alice Cooper fan I had to own this piece of Cooper history. I would love to see Alice record some new music with the surviving members of his old band, and who knows....if the Eagles and Fleetwood Mac can do it why not?"

Billion Dollar Babies-'Complete Battle Axe'(Burning Airlines

Mike Reed | USA | 04/03/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Yes!I've always wondered what had happened to this band of three out of four original members of the Alice Cooper group.The lp originally came out in the summer of 1977.A time when disco practically ruled the charts.Acts like Donna Summer,the Village Pimples and Wild Cherry were packing the concert venues during this period,puke!!So,what chance did THIS record ever have?I remember buying it on cassette as I never did hear ANY more about the BDB.Turns out they played only four gigs touring Michigan before running out of money.A real shame 'cause with proper exposure,the 'Battle Axe' could've been somewhat a decent sell.Only downside of this 3-CD box set is that it appears that disc one of the original lp was mastered off a vinyl record;still sounds good though.With tunes like "To Young",the well written ballad "Love Is Rather Blind" and "Winner" brings back some nice memories.Disc two features twelve semi-rough demos and some unreleased tracks that didn't make it on to the lp.Remember,back then artists could only squeeze up to forty-five minutes onto a record.Disc three is half the reason I even decided to get a copy of this release.It's a fifty-minute live performance of the band's first show that took place in Flint,MI.Guitarist Michael Bruce,bassist Dennis Dunaway and drummer Neil Smith plus two extras deliver a decent sounding set as they rip through tunes like "Miss You","Rock 'N Roll Radio",their Alice Cooper medley,"Sudden Death" and "Billion Dollar Babies".Some real old school down to earth melodic rock,with a bite to it.Comes with an informative 16-page booklet.A real keeper."