The original Alice Cooper group has been collaborating together in recent years, and more new music is on the way.
In a new interview, Cooper revealed that he’s once again recording with guitarist Michael Bruce, bassist Dennis Dunaway, and drummer Neal Smith (all from the band’s ’60s and early ’70s heyday), and they have about a dozen new songs in the works. Previously, the three appeared on two songs on 2021’s Detroit Stories — “Social Debris” and “I Hate You” — and also on select tracks on 2017’s Paranormal.
“We’re working pretty close right now,” Cooper told Ultimate Classic Rock during a Q&A session at the Motor City Comic Con this past weekend in Detroit. “We wrote, like, 12 songs together [for future projects].”
Cooper didn’t have an ETA for when the new material will drop, but he did offer details on who else is working on the self-described “real, total Alice Cooper project.” Producer Bob Ezrin — who produced Cooper’s last album, Detroit Stories — is back behind the board, and members of Cooper’s touring band are also involved.
“We never know when that stuff’s gonna come out if it’s going to make the next album or an album after that — it’s sort of like putting songs in a bank,” Cooper said. “If I have time off I’ll get a call from Bob [Ezrin]: ‘I’ve got an idea for something,’ and we just start writing. It’s a continuing process. They kind of take on their own life, these things do.
He added: “A lot of times a story happens; I start reading the lyrics and realize, ‘Oh, my God, this is a storyline!’ I just kind of surprise myself once in awhile, because I didn’t set out to make anything be a storyline. We just never stop writing, and we’re just trying to write great songs and then see what fits together.”
Cooper recently wrapped up a fall North American tour, but fans can still catch the shock-rock legend at a high profile Halloween gig alongside the Original Misfits on October 29th at the Dos Equis Pavilion in Dallas. Get tickets via Ticketmaster.