Alice Cooper – DaDa (1983)

This was actually the first album I ever bought by Alice Cooper, and it cannot have been particularly old at the time either. I remember that I did not really have much idea of how Alice Cooper was “supposed” to sound, but I was somewhat surprised by the rather “soft” sound of it.

Since then, however, the record has grown on me considerably, and I genuinely like it now. I still do not fully understand the opening track, though I no longer feel that it merely consists of random sounds and an interrogating voice, as if someone were sitting in a psychologist’s office. Well… the voice is still there, of course, but I believe I understand it better now, as an adult. It is this introduction that sets the tone for the rest of the album, which in my view deals with various forms of mental disturbance — schizophrenia, madness, or related states of mind.

Bob Ezrin returns as producer after being absent for a few albums, and one must say that he does a better job than Alice himself did together with Steve Tyrell on the previous record, Zipper Catches Skin. Ezrin is also involved in several of the compositions, and the intro — which also happens to be the title track, DaDa — is entirely his creation.

Musically, I do not feel that this album quite fits between Zipper Catches Skin and the later Constrictor, but they are nevertheless strong songs — in many respects among the better ones — even if there are no obvious hit singles here either (I feel like a broken record repeating that by now).

Enough’s Enough is an infectious pop-rock track that suits me perfectly, while Former Lee Warmer is one of my absolute favorite Alice Cooper ballads, alongside Millie and Billie from From the Inside.

After that, the album ventures into somewhat stranger territory, and everything is of course very theatrical — exactly as it should be. None of these songs have ever been performed live, however, which I find a little unfortunate. Granted, they may not fit easily into any other concept than the one present on this particular album, but I could very well imagine I Love America working excellently in a live setting. It is probably the most theatrical track of them all, and it is amusing to hear how Alice gently pokes fun at American ideals.

Yet, as much as I enjoy this album, it still does not quite sound like “Alice” to my ears. It is somewhat ironic that the most stereotypically Alice-sounding track, Fresh Blood, is actually the weakest one on the album — at least for me.

In any case, this remains one of my favorite little curiosities from Alice’s career (there I go repeating myself again), and it certainly deserves a relatively high rating.