''Special Forces'' is the sixth solo studio album by American rock singer

Alice Cooper Alice Cooper (born Vincent Damon Furnier, February 4, 1948) is an American rock singer whose career spans over five decades. With a raspy voice and a stage show that features numerous props and stage illusions, including pyrotechnics, guillot ...

, released in September 1981 by

Warner Bros. Records Warner Records Inc. (formerly Warner Bros. Records Inc.) is an American record label. A subsidiary of the Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division of the ...

. It was produced by

Richard Podolor Richard Allen Podolor (January 7, 1936 – March 9, 2022) was an American musician, record producer and songwriter. His career started as a session musician in the 1950s, and he was best known as the producer of Three Dog Night. Life and caree ...

, best known for his work with

Three Dog Night Three Dog Night is an American rock band formed in 1967, with founding members consisting of vocalists Danny Hutton, Cory Wells, and Chuck Negron. This lineup was soon augmented by Jimmy Greenspoon (keyboards), Joe Schermie (bass), Michael A ...

. Alice Cooper appeared on '' The Tomorrow Show'' with

Tom Snyder Thomas James Snyder (May 12, 1936 – July 29, 2007) was an American television personality, news anchor, and radio personality best known for his late night talk shows '' Tomorrow'', on the NBC television network in the 1970s and 1980s, and ' ...

to promote ''Special Forces'', being interviewed and looking very gaunt in full military- drag make-up, after which he gave live performances of "Who Do You Think We Are" and his

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

Love Love encompasses a range of strong and positive emotional and mental states, from the most sublime virtue or good habit, the deepest interpersonal affection, to the simplest pleasure. An example of this range of meanings is that the love o ...

's " Seven and Seven Is", both from the album. Cooper toured ''Special Forces'' through the United States, Canada, France, Spain and the United Kingdom, but other than the aforementioned songs he played no further ''Special Forces'' songs live, except for snippets of "Vicious Rumours" at a few shows in the U.S. and Scotland. With the exception of "Who Do You Think We Are", which was a regular part of setlists during the Eyes of Alice Cooper tour in 2004,Alice Cooper Tour Archive
/ref> none of the songs from ''Special Forces'' has been performed live since 1982.Alice Cooper Tour Archive
/ref> French television special ''

Alice Cooper a Paris ''Alice Cooper a Paris'' (more commonly known as ''Alice in Paris'') is a French television special starring shock-rocker Alice Cooper. A series of music videos of songs from his then-current album '' Special Forces'' with a few songs from '' Flu ...

'' was recorded in January 1982, before the start of the ''Special Forces'' European tour – Cooper's first tour of Europe since 1975. The tour was a major success. ''Special Forces'' is the first of three studio albums which Cooper refers to as his "blackout" albums, followed by ''

Zipper Catches Skin ''Zipper Catches Skin'' is the seventh solo studio album by American rock singer Alice Cooper, released on August 25, 1982 by Warner Bros. Records. Album background The album was co-produced by bassist Erik Scott alongside Cooper. Cooper blended ...

'' (1982), and ''

DaDa Dada () or Dadaism was an art movement of the European avant-garde in the early 20th century, with early centres in Zürich, Switzerland, at the Cabaret Voltaire (in 1916). New York Dada began c. 1915, and after 1920 Dada flourished in Pari ...

'' (1983), as he has no recollection of recording them, due to substance abuse. Cooper stated "I wrote them, recorded them and toured them and I don't remember much of any of that",Love And Poison, An Alice Cooper Interview
/ref> though in fact he toured only ''Special Forces''. The ''Special Forces'' tour, ending in February 1982, would be Cooper's last for over four years, as he succumbed to the abuse of freebase cocaine and a subsequent relapse of

alcoholism Alcoholism is, broadly, any drinking of alcohol that results in significant mental or physical health problems. Because there is disagreement on the definition of the word ''alcoholism'', it is not a recognized diagnostic entity. Predomi ...

, until his return to the road in October 1986 with

The Nightmare Returns ''The Nightmare Returns'' is a live concert video of Alice Cooper. The concert was filmed live in Detroit, Michigan, USA on Halloween 1986 at the start of his "The Nightmare Returns" World Tour, in support of his album '' Constrictor''. This vid ...

tour.

Critical reception

In a review for

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

, critic Greg Prato wrote:

Track listing

* "Look at You Over There, Ripping the Sawdust from My Teddybear", was listed on the album packaging, but was removed by Cooper from the album itself before the release, as he felt it didn't fit with the overall theme. It was later released in

demo Demo, usually short for demonstration, may refer to: Music and film *Demo (music), a song typically recorded for reference rather than release * ''Demo'' (Behind Crimson Eyes), a 2004 recording by the band Behind Crimson Eyes * ''Demo'' (Deafhea ...

form on the 1999 box set '' The Life and Crimes of Alice Cooper'', and again in demo form on the 2010 reissue of ''Special Forces''. There is a completed studio version of the song which remains unreleased. * " Seven and Seven Is" is a cover version of

's 1966 original, written by Arthur Lee.

Personnel

Credits are adapted from the ''Special Forces'' liner notes. Musicians *

–

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

* Duane Hitchings – keyboards * Danny Johnson –

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

Craig Krampf Craig Krampf (born October 22, 1954) is an American drummer, percussionist, arranger, record producer and songwriter. The majority of his notable credits are as a studio drummer. Since the 1970s, he has played on albums by other artists ranging f ...

– drums *

Mike Pinera Mike Pinera (born September 29, 1948) is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter and producer who started professionally in the late 1960s with the group Blues Image, which had a number 4 hit in 1970 with their song " Ride Captain Ride". After t ...

– guitar *

Erik Scott Erik Scott (January 17, 1948 – October 11, 2019) was an American bassist, record producer, and songwriter. Scott played bass for the band Flo & Eddie in the 1970s as well as Alice Cooper in the early 1980s, for whom he also produced. In the 199 ...

–

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

Charts

References

External links

* {{Authority control Alice Cooper albums 1981 albums Albums produced by Richard Podolor Warner Records albums