Alice Cooper

Although the majority of artists to play the Montreux Jazz Festival since its 1967 inception have been either jazz or blues based, quite a few rock acts have appeared over the years, including Santana, the Pretenders, David Bowie, and in 2005, Alice Cooper. After spending most of the '80s and '90s trying to stay in step with the then-current/top-selling young pups, Cooper returned back to his early Detroit rock roots on such releases as 2003's The Eyes of Alice Cooper and 2005's Dirty Diamonds. And throughout the 2006 CD/DVD set, Live at Montreux, 2005, Cooper and his comrades stick to this new founded stripped down style, even when the odd track from the '80s or '90s pops up. The DVD expands the CD's tracklist by quite a bit (27 tracks compared to 19 tracks), as such oft-overlooked classics as "Go To Hell," "The Black Widow," and "Killer" get airings. The CD also does a fine job of showcasing Cooper's latter day band (which includes on again/off again Kiss drummer Eric Singer) -- as evidenced by fine readings of "No More Mr. Nice Guy," "Billion Dollar Babies," and "Is It My Body," which stand alongside such newer tracks as the title track from Dirty Diamonds. Nothing will ever top the full-on visual and musical assault of experiencing the original Alice Cooper band in the flesh. But Mr. Furnier (whose gravely vocals remain as strong as ever) can still convincingly rock and shock -- over 35 years since a guillotine first landed on his noggin. ~ Greg Prato, All Music Guide