WELL, I MUST HAVE COME TO
THAT CRAZY AGE
WE'RE EVERYTHING IS HOT
'CAUSE I DON'T KNOW
IF THE THINGS I'M THINKING
ARE NORMAL OR NOT
Muscle of Love
is the
seventh
studio album
by American
rock band
The album was released
in late 1973,
with the band
playing its
last concert
a few months later.
It was the
final studio album
released by
Alice Cooper
as a band
for 52 years,
until the
upcoming release
of their reunion album
The Revenge of Alice Cooper
(2025).
Background
Cooper stated in an interview
at the time of recording
that the album marked
a return to a
basic rock sound.
"It's not complicated in
any sense and there's
not a lot of
theatricality on it.
It's very basic
rock and roll throughout."
Cooper further explained,
"Billion Dollar Babies
was a studio effort
all the way.
So was
School's Out.
It was just so clean
that after a few times
of hearing it myself,
it had no mystery to it.
I really wanted this one
to have more guts to it.
More balls."
Muscle of Love
is the first
Alice Cooper album
without
Bob Ezrin
as producer
since the
pre-stardom
Easy Action.
The explanation given
at the time was
that Ezrin was
recovering from illness.
However,
bassist
Dennis Dunaway
revealed in a
2011 interview
that the band split
with the producer
during an
acrimonious rehearsal
in which guitarist
Michael Bruce
stood up to Ezrin
and refused to
change the
arrangement of
"Woman Machine".
Jack Richardson
and
Jack Douglas
stepped in to share
co-production duties.
Author
Bob Greene
described his participation
in the album's
recording sessions,
and his experiences
touring with the band,
in his 1974 book
Billion Dollar Baby.
Dunaway recalled the
album sessions
as being very difficult.
"The problems on that album
were that we could tell
that everything was being
pulled out from underneath us.
As hard as we tried
to get it back to where
it once was,
we had that
sinking feeling going on.
We wanted to
rekindle what the band
was about but there was
just too much exhaustion by then."
Lyrical Content
In a contemporary interview
with Circus magazine,
Cooper said that a
loose concept of
"urban sex habits"
developed during the
album's recording.
The title of
"Big Apple Dreamin' (Hippo)'
refers to the
Hippopotamus club
of New York City
which the band used
to frequent.
"Never Been Sold Before"
is the retort of a
prostitute to the man
she is supporting,
and the title track is,
according to Cooper,
about
"sexual awakenings".
"It's about the kid who just
learned how to masturbate,
and what all those
dirty books his father
used to hide are all about."
"Woman Machine"
is a
science fiction-themed song
dating back to the band's
early years and is,
as Cooper explained,
"basically a chauvinistic song.
It's about a female robot,
like Julie Newmar
was on that
TV program with
Bob Cummings.
If we had women robots,
they could do anything,
even sexual things,
just by changing their tubes."
Not all of the songs
have a sexual theme;
"Crazy Little Child"
tells the story of a
youth criminal,
and in
"Teenage Lament '74",
a teenager fails to
find happiness
even when doing
everything to try
to be "hip".
"Man With the Golden Gun"
was written with
the intention of having it
appear on the soundtrack
of the then-upcoming
James Bond film
of the same name.
Personnel Disputes
Though credited as
lead guitarist on
Muscle of Love,
Glen Buxton was
"not invited"
to play on the album
according to drummer
Neal Smith,
Cooper,
and others.
His inclusion in the
liner notes was
mainly due to
management's concerns
about the band's image
with fans.
Smith stated the absence
was due to
"problems that Glen
was having with the
demons of rock and roll
at that particular time ...
really,
Billion Dollar Babies
and
Muscle of Love,
Glen didn't really play
on the (latter) album.
By hook or by crook,
the albums had to be put out."
The band sought out
other guitar players
to fill in,
including
Dick Wagner,
Steve Hunter,
and fellow
Cortez High School
alum Mick Mashbir.
There is an
additional suggestion
that a
session drummer
was used on
part of the album.
Band member
Michael Bruce refers,
in his autobiography,
to producer
Jack Douglas bringing in
a drummer specifically
to play on
"Crazy Little Child".
This report is given
some added support
by the claims of
session drummer
Allan Schwartzberg,
who says he played
on several tracks.
Packaging
In place of the usual
record jacket,
the original LP was
packaged in a shallow
corrugated cardboard carton,
with a
"stain"
intentionally printed
along the bottom.
On the inner sleeve,
the band members
appear dressed as sailors.
In the
"before"
daytime shot,
they are about to
enter a nude
wrestling emporium;
in the
"after"
nighttime shot
on the other side
of the sleeve,
they appear
beaten and sprawled out
on the street,
having been
thrown out
of the club,
the joke being
that the live
nude female wrestler
was a gorilla with
a blonde wig.
The front of the
album cover design
agency
Pacific Eye & Ear
was
temporarily redecorated
to serve as the
setting for
the photo session.
The original release
also included a paper
"book cover"
sheet that could be
folded and used
as a book jacket.
A photo on the
sheet depicts
the band members
in their sailor uniforms
looking dejected
while peeling potatoes.
TRACKLIST
CD 1
Big Apple Dreamin' (Hippo)
Never Been Sold Before
Hard Hearted Alice
Working Up a Sweat
Muscle of Love
Man with the Golden Gun
Teenage Lament '74
Woman Machine
BONUS TRACKS [*]
Hey, Bulldog [*]
Eleanor Rigby [*]
Wish You Were Here [*]
CD 2
Never Been Sold Before
(Early Version)
Hard Hearted Alice
(Alternate Mix)
Crazy Little Child
(Early Version)
Working Up a Sweat
(Alternate Mix)
Muscle of Love
(Alternate Mix)
Man with the Golden Gun
(Early Version)
Teenage Lament '74
(Acoustic Diversion)
Woman Machine
(Alternate Mix)
Muscle of Love
(Single Version)
Babe Please Don't Stop
(Muscle of Love Outtake 1973)
Big Apple Dreamin' (Hippo)
(Early Version)
Never Been Sold Before
(Just Vocals) [*]
Hard Hearted Alice
(Just Vocals) [*]
Crazy Little Child
(Just Vocals) [*]
Working Up A Sweat
(Just Vocals) [*]
Teenage Lament 74
(Just Vocals) [*]
Yeah Yeah Yeah
(Just Vocals) [*]
You And Me
(Just Vocals) [*]
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