Alice Cooper Trash Review
Artist: Alice Cooper
Album: Trash
Genre(s): Rock
Subgenres(s): Hard Rock
Released: 1989
Length: 40 minutes
Language(s): English
Label(s): Epic Records
Track List:
01. Poison
02. Spark in the Dark
03. House of Fire
04. Why Trust You
05. Only My Heart Talkin’
06. Bed of Nails
07. This Maniac’s in Love with You
08. Trash
09. Hell is Living Without You
10. I’m Your Gun
Alice Cooper returned to the throng of commercial success with Trash in 1989. This was his biggest selling album since the mid-1970s and it isn’t hard to see why. Alice Cooper cuts the fat to leave you with the best possible experience; 10 powerhouse rock anthems with a plethora of catchy guitar rhythms and infections sing-along hooks that are bound to snare your ears.
He tackles 3 topics that more often than not make a pop sensation (sex, love and heart break) with a sleazy, tongue-in-cheek grin that will make you laugh and cringe simultaneously with his blunt refrains. Memorable lines go from “no one else gets as deep inside you as I do” (Bed of Nails) and “pull my trigger, I get bigger, then I’m lots of fun” (I’m Your Gun) to him portraying an obsessed stalker on This Maniac’s In Love With You.
The 8 boisterous rock anthems are balanced out with Only My Heart Talkin’ and Hell is Living Without You, the 2 slightly more sincere power ballads in which his tone changes fittingly to deal with heart break. It’s worth mentioning that while sincere next to the rest of the album, Only My Heart Talkin’ descends into an incessant animal yelps as part of a long fade out that cues Alice Cooper to get back to what he excels at on Trash. Spark in the Dark takes a nod to Alice Cooper rejecting the use of hard drugs with the line “we don’t need cocaine” after overcoming his own addictions in the early 1980s.
As far as the recording of Trash goes, it has a distinct 1980s sound to it complete with the era’s cheesy keyboard effects. Thankfully they are used subtly and are relegated to the background so when they come into play, they don’t have enough emphasis in any song to diminish its quality.
Trash possesses all of the hallmarks of a great rock album. It will have you coming back for more time and time again with Alice Coopers sleazy lyrics delivered in a high energy performance across a small set of songs that never feel played out no matter how many times you listen to them.