''Special Forces'' is the sixth solo and overall thirteenth studio album by American

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

singer

Alice Cooper Vincent Damon Furnier (born February 4, 1948), known by his stage name Alice Cooper, is an American rock singer and songwriter whose career spans sixty years. With a raspy voice and a stage show that features numerous props and stage illusion ...

, released on September 1, 1981 by

Warner Bros. Records Warner Records Inc. (known as Warner Bros. Records Inc. until 2019) is an American record label. A subsidiary of Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division ...

. It was produced by Richard Podolor, best known for his work with

Three Dog Night Three Dog Night is an American rock band formed in 1967, founded by vocalists Chuck Negron, Cory Wells, and Danny Hutton. This lineup was soon augmented by Jimmy Greenspoon (keyboards), Joe Schermie (bass), Michael Allsup (guitar), and Floyd Sn ...

, at his American Recording Co. studio in the

Studio City Studio City is a neighborhood in Los Angeles, California, United States, in the southeast San Fernando Valley, just west of the Cahuenga Pass. It is named after the studio lot that was established in the area by film producer Mack Sennett in 19 ...

neighborhood of

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, California. ''Special Forces'' is the first of three studio albums which Cooper refers to as his " blackout" albums, followed by '' Zipper Catches Skin'' (1982), and ''

DaDa Dada () or Dadaism was an anti-establishment art movement that developed in 1915 in the context of the Great War and the earlier anti-art movement. Early centers for dadaism included Zürich and Berlin. Within a few years, the movement had s ...

'' (1983), as he has no recollection of recording them, due to

substance abuse Substance misuse, also known as drug misuse or, in older vernacular, substance abuse, is the use of a drug in amounts or by methods that are harmful to the individual or others. It is a form of substance-related disorder, differing definition ...

. Cooper stated "I wrote them, recorded them and toured them and I don't remember much of any of that", though in fact, he toured to promote only ''Special Forces''. The ''Special Forces'' tour started on June 20, 1981 in

Concord, California Concord ( ) is the most populous city in Contra Costa County, California, Contra Costa County, California, United States. According to an estimate completed by the United States Census Bureau, the city had a population of 124,016 in 2024, maki ...

, well before the album was eventually released. On October 9, Alice Cooper was interviewed on ''

The Tomorrow Show ''The Tomorrow Show'' (also known as ''Tomorrow with Tom Snyder'' or ''Tomorrow'' and, after 1980, ''Tomorrow Coast to Coast'') is an American late-night television talk show hosted by Tom Snyder that aired on NBC in first-run form from October ...

'' 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 NBC in the 1970s and 1980s, and '' The Late Late Show'' ...

, 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 is a feeling of strong attraction and emotional attachment (psychology), attachment to a person, animal, or thing. It is expressed in many forms, encompassing a range of strong and positive emotional and mental states, from the most su ...

'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.Gray, Iain; "Apollo, Glasgow: Alice Cooper"; in ''

The Glasgow Herald ''The Herald'' is a Scottish broadsheet newspaper founded in 1783. ''The Herald'' is the longest running national newspaper in the world and is the eighth oldest daily paper in the world. The title was simplified from ''The Glasgow Herald'' in ...

''; February 22, 1982; p. 4 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
alicecooperechive.com none of the songs from ''Special Forces'' has been performed live since 1982.Alice Cooper Tour Archive
alicecooperechive.com French television special '' Alice Cooper a Paris'' was recorded in December 1981 and aired on January 14, before the start of the ''Special Forces'' European tour – Cooper's first tour of Europe since 1975. The tour was a major success. 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 the continued drinking of alcohol despite it causing problems. Some definitions require evidence of dependence and withdrawal. Problematic use of alcohol has been mentioned in the earliest historical records. The World He ...

, until his return to the road in October 1986 with The Nightmare Returns tour.

Critical reception

In a review for

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

, critic Greg Prato wrote: "1981's 'Special Forces' was Cooper's most stripped-down and straightforward since his classic early-'70s work. But without the original Cooper band to back him up and help out with the songwriting, it's an intriguing yet sometimes uneven set." Cooper was heavily into the guns and ammo publication '' Soldier of Fortune'' at the time; hence the album title and lyrical subject matter. The opening track, 'Who Do You Think We Are,' is one of Cooper's punchiest rockers, and one of his most overlooked, while 'Seven & Seven Is,' 'You Look Good in Rags,' and 'Vicious Rumours' are also rocking highlights. A faithful rereading of the ''

Billion Dollar Babies ''Billion Dollar Babies'' is the sixth studio album by American rock band Alice Cooper, released on February 27, 1973 The album became the best selling Alice Cooper record at the time of its release, hitting number one on the album charts in the ...

'' nugget 'Generation Landslide' is included as well, titled 'Generation Landslide '81 (Live),' even though it was, in fact, entirely created in the studio (with added audience cheers). While Special Forces didn't return Cooper to his earlier status as a chart-topping superstar, it is certainly one of the strongest and most interesting releases of his post-1975 period."

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 form on the 4-CD box set ''

The Life and Crimes of Alice Cooper ''The Life and Crimes of Alice Cooper'' (1999) is a 4-CD box set by Alice Cooper. It includes select tracks from every studio album released until then, plus many B-sides, unreleased songs, and other rarities. It also includes Alice Cooper's auth ...

'' (1999). 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 art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...

* Duane Hitchings – keyboards * Danny Johnson –

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

* Craig Krampf –

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

* Mike Pinera – 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 (), also known as the electric bass guitar, electric bass, or simply the bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is similar in appearance and construction to an Electric guitar, electric but with a longer nec ...

Charts

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Special Forces (Alice Cooper Album Alice Cooper albums 1981 albums Albums produced by Richard Podolor Warner Records albums