Alice Cooper Music:

Muscle of Love Track Listing:
1. Muscle of Love
2. Woman Machine
3. Hard Hearted Alice
4. Man with the Golden Gun
5. Big Apple Dreamin' (Hippo)
6. Never Been Sold Before
7. Working Up a Sweat
8. Crazy Little Child
9. Teenage Lament

Editorial Review:
Top 10 1973 album for Warner Brothers, featuring the titlecut and 'Teenage Lament '74'.

Muscle of Love Reviews:
Some fine moments, but the end was nigh.
2009-12-14 - Out of the original group's LPs, this was probably the last one I bought (I wasn't a fan until after the breakup); and that was for the sake of completing the collection. It wasn't marketed quite as heavily as the previous classics, and there were no awesomely great songs to compel buyers to rush out and get it. Bob Ezrin was unavailable to produce, so The Coopers had to bring in someone else not quite as familiar with them. This has mixed results, with the instruments finally not so buried in the mix, but really long fade-outs for most songs. Plus, horn sections are brought out of the producer's bag o' tricks to "sweeten" the songs up, but that kind of makes them cheesy. High points include "Big Apple Dreamin'", "Never Been Sold Before", "Hard Hearted Alice", "Workin' Up a Sweat", "Woman Machine" (which has one of the more interesting guitar riffs I've heard from ACG), and the title track. "Crazy Little Child" is a Dixieland exercise which channels a "Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour" sketch, "Man with the Golden Gun" is Alice trying to flex his showbiz chops, and I hate to say it, but "Teenage Lament '74" is only a blatant attempt at recapturing the "I'm Eighteen" Top 40 teen-anthem market.

The band as a whole had exhausted their Esprit De Corps by this point. Glen Buxton, the lead guitar player, was a member in name only (he does not play a note on this album). Michael Bruce wrote nearly every song and his ego was growing to new heights. The rhythm section of Dunaway and Smith remain solid and dependable. However, Dennis Dunaway's usually distinctive and melodic bass playing is toned down, maybe at the behest of the producer.

Alice is very much the star of the show here, with the band's role greatly diminished. And his attitude about his celebrity was very apparent, particularly in the lyrics to "Hard Hearted Alice". Here he lists the hassles of his rock stardom, and states he has to be the maniac because it's what his audience wants. After the "Billion Dollar Babies" tour, he became frightened of the effect his stage persona had on the audience. This album was his first step away from Dwight Fry and his first towards Andy Hardy. Hence the cast of thousands doing guest shots on background vocals like a Scooby-Doo mystery. The "puttin' on the Ritz" vibe throughout. You can almost picture Alice aping Al Jolson at the end of "Big Apple", down on one knee with arms extended: "Ahhh New Yawk we comin, we comin ta see whut yer made of". Each song seems to be a new face Alice is trying on. His next stop after this was a turn on "The Muppet's Show".

Is it a bad album? Not at all. It just isn't a great one. It lacks all the menace Alice built his reputation on (and what he is trying to currently regain), and without the bad attitude, the songs don't have much urgency or bite to them. The rockers are good, but harmless. If you played this for someone who had no idea what it was, I wonder what band they would think it came from.

A lot of "what if's" are wrapped in this album: What if Ezrin had produced it? What if the band had taken more time off instead of being pressured into following up B$B so quickly? In the end, it is what it is. I recommend the album, but only to Cooper fans. It has a special place in my heart because of where it came from, but if this had been done by another band I doubt if I would have bothered.


muscle of love
2009-08-11 - even after 35 years die-hard alice fans still argue over which alice cooper album is the best - proving that alice's music touches people on a very personal level. about the only thing they probably do agree on is that the alice cooper group belong in the rock and roll hall of fame (true) and alice the solo artist hasn't made a decent album since "welcome to my nightmare" (not true). while we all hold our breath for a long overdue reunion, we can take comfort in the fact that @61, alice still performs most of his classics on tour and with each new studio release proves that he at least still has a sense of humor.

the last album released by the alice cooper group (other than greatest hits) was the very underrated, and often overlooked, "muscle of love". centered on a loose sexual theme, including the clever cover, the band got back to basics. although a departure from the darker theatrics of previous albums, this is still classic alice. "muscle of love" is worthy of "killer", "working up a sweat" would easily fit on "billion dollar babies" and "crazy little child" is perfect for "school's out". (with slightly adjusted lyrics to fit each album theme)

although "teenage lament" reflected the classic "i'm eighteen" theme and was a minor hit, d.j.'s should have flipped the disc over and played "workin' up a sweat" instead. it's a great little rocker filled with alice's trademark humor. the best rocker on the album is "muscle of love" and although released as a single, the subject matter of masturbation kept this gem from getting the airplay it deserved. other standout tracks include "man with a golden gun", written for the new james bond movie, "hard hearted alice" about life on the road, and big apple dreamin' (hippo) paying tribute to new york. "never been sold before" deserves mention as well.

unfortunately the success of "billion dollar babies" left the band with nowhere to go but down and although the album "muscle of love" was supported by a short holiday tour, the band was physically exhausted. what most people don't realize is that the alice cooper group recorded five albums with tours after each, in 2 ½ years! how many bands today could pull that off?

the "muscle of love" tour was actually billed as the "billion dollar babies holiday tour" and was an exact duplicate of the previous with the exception of alice and the boys beating the crap out of santa clause at the end of the show. zz top was the opening act. --set list: hello hooray/billion dollar babies/elected/i'm eighteen/big apple dreamin'/muscle of love/hard hearted alice/my stars/ unfinished sweet/sick things/dead babies/i love the dead/school's out/working up a sweat

released november 1973 it reached #10 usa and #34 uk-- singles: teenage lament b/w working up a sweat (#48) - muscle of love b/w crazy little child (#0)

every alice cooper album has great songs that never made radio. it's not the hits, but the deeper cuts that are the real black beauties... blinddog pick: hard hearted alice / big apple dreamin' (hippo)





Middle Of The Road Alice.
2009-04-27 - Not nearly good as the album would release right after this, "Muscle Of Love" is in my opinion a mish-mash of awesome songs, as well as some more mundane material.

Extremely Underrated Cooper Album
2009-02-23 - Everybody seems to forget this album. The last by the original Alice Cooper group. While Killer probably tops my list as the consumate Cooper album for dividing some fast driving rock and roll songs with some demented weirdness, Muscle of Love is a riff-fest for guitar lovers. Only low point is "Crazy Little Child"...just kind of dumb and a preview as to where Alice, himself, would head on future albums after skipping town on his band ("Some Folks" from Welcome to my Nightmare and "I'm the Coolest" from Goes to Hell...Alice camps it up a bit too much). The Cooper group turns movie soundtrack for "Man with the Golden Gun". It was overlooked by the James Bond people as a theme in lieu of Lulu's gay approach. (I'm still laughing about that). It's a shame that the record company chose "Teenage Lament '74" as the first single. It didn't give any insight to the radio slurping public as to what kind of music was contained in that cardboard box dripping with a love stain. Perhaps the title track would've reeled in more ears to this very cool album. "Big Apple Dreamin" could've been a mid 70's Zep tune. "Never Been Sold Before" sounds like something that could've been off the Killer album. Alice Cooper didn't delve into the creepiness on this record but supplied the sex. "Working Up A Sweat" and "Woman MAchine" just make you want to grab your axe (whether it's your Gibson SG or the one in your pants). The album is always good. Check it out.

Shows how badly they needed Bob Ezrin....
2008-04-05 - Some greats bands go out with a bang and others go out with a thud. The original Alice Cooper group falls into the latter category. To me, it was their weakest album since their debut record Pretties For You. The band admits that they were very tired from the whole record an album, then tour cycle and were in much need of a break. They didn't get one and instead recorded this rather uninspired, but not-without-it's-great-moments album.

Missing here was producer Bob Ezrin, the man largely responsible for turning them into the great band that they had become and who was probably responsible for the Alice persona. Without Ezrin, the Coop went back to their 50's rock-n-roll roots on a few numbers, like 'Teenage Lament '74', experimented with rag-time jazz on one song ('Crazy Little Child'), brought in a horn section for a few tunes ('Never Been Sold Before' and 'The Man With The Golden Gun'), got progressive on one piece ('Hard Hearted Alice') and continued with the hard rock of their previous albums on the other tunes and on a few that I already mentioned. There are no scary Alice songs or theatrical tunes here, just plain rock-n-roll ones. It is not the best batch of songs that the group ever recorded, but a few songs stand out. They are...

'Big Apple Dreamin' (Hippo)' is one of my favorite A.C. songs to have never made one of their (or his) greatest hits albums. It has a heavy and catchy riff, some terrific singing from Alice, a good guitar solo and a violin solo at the end.

'Hard Hearted Alice' is an acoustic ballad that rocks out and gets a bit progressive during the instrumental section and has a Deep Purple-like organ solo in it. One the more enjoyable and tuneful songs here.

'Muscle Of Love' has a wonderful, and complicated hard rock guitar riff and rocks out more than almost any other song on the album. Some interesting lyrics from Alice, too, that deal with a young kid's discovery of his Dad's porno magazines!

Back on the negative side, some songs, like 'Never Been Sold Before' and 'The Man With The Golden Gun', start off promising enough, but are ruined by the horn section. The latter, in particular, is very disappointing. Nice heavy riff, but the instrumental section, which is intentionally very James Bond-like, ruins the song, with it's Star Trek-like female backing vocals and the horn section. Pretty dang depressing! Elsewhere, 'Teenage Lament '74' (which somehow made the greatest hits album) is my least favorite song by the original Alice Cooper group. Too fifties rock-n-roll for me. And 'Working Up A Sweat', while it's a rather upbeat and uptempo bluesy hard rock song, has never done anything good for me. As for 'Crazy Little Child'...it's not bad, but The Kinks did the old ragtime jazz thing much better! The album ends with a strange tune called 'Woman Machine', which the band supposedly had kicking around for a while.

The CD version comes with a lyric sheet (not found on the original album), along with the band pictures that appeared on the original LP, showing the guys outside of a club that has nude wrestling, the twist being that it's with a nude gorilla, who kicks their butts! Very amusing...a shame that the amusement doesn't carry over to the music. For all of it's flaws, Muscle Of Love is still worth having. Just don't expect much!