Rating:
Genre:
Rock
Release Date: 09/14/2004
Alice Cooper is responsible for penning some of
rock's most enduring and instantly recognizable teen anthems, which have all appeared on countless compilations over the years. Several of these tracks are included on the budget-priced
School's Out and Other Hits, which focuses primarily on
Alice's '70s standouts (by far his best musical period), with one '80s nugget thrown in for good measure. Time has not dulled the roar of
"School's Out" (few
rock songs have ever bottled the ecstasy of the final school bell as well as this one), while
"Under My Wheels" shows that
the Stooges and
the MC5 were not the only great
garage rock bands of the late '60s/early '70s. Also included are such melodic rockers as
"Be My Lover" and
"No More Mr. Nice Guy," in addition to a sampling of
Alice's mid-'70s "
ballad period" (
"Only Women Bleed" and
"I Never Cry") and a stab at
new wave,
"Clones (We're All)" -- a track that would be covered by
the Smashing Pumpkins years later. If it's a budget-priced sampler of prime
Alice Cooper you're after (albeit extremely brief), then
School's Out and Other Hits is a worthy purchase.
~Greg Prato, All Music Guide