What does it sound like?:
Vanity project, supergroup or homage to fallen hell-raising friends? Maybe all of them. A drinking “club” that became a band in sobriety, founded by Alice Cooper in his drinking days in “the 1970s” (obviously no one can remember exact dates), meeting mostly at the Rainbow Bar and Grill in LA, where regulars included Keith Moon, John Belushi and Harry Nilsson.
The Vampires re-emerged in 2012 as a musical entity. By then Cooper had been sober for 29 years, playing off a golf handicap of 5 and appearing as himself in a film called “Dark Shadows” (35% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes). Here Cooper met Johnny Depp, whose early musical ambitions had long since taken second place to global movie stardom. Conversations about music lead, three years later, to gigs at the Roxy in LA with the current line-up of Cooper, Depp, and Aerosmith’s Joe Perry. Tommy Henriksen from Cooper’s band is the guy that whips it all into shape. Curiously, getting promoters to book them wasn’t a problem – their 3rd gig was the Rock in Rio festival. Instead, scheduling was the biggest challenge. To date there have been two studio albums, plus this set, recorded 8 years ago, as the second live release.
Death has been a cornerstone of Cooper’s “shock rock” since he started recording at the end of the 60’s, and he makes an early reference here to paying “homage to our dead drunk friends”. The Vamps output has always leaned towards cover versions and across 19 songs on this release, 6 are band originals, the balance linked to former or honorary club members or their own bands lifted from Cooper or Perry’s back catalogue.
The Vampires make a glorious racket. “I Want My Now” is a punchy opener with squalls of feedback, and is instantly recognizable as Alice. It’s one of the best originals presented, although the galloping “Raise The Dead” is almost as good, if a little heavy on the anthemic chorus. “My Dead Drunk Friends” namechecks the Rainbow Bar & Grill and attempts a bluesy swagger, but for me it was heavy on huff but short of puff.
As to the cover versions, it’s always going to be the case that they will be derided by lovers of the originals and dismissed by those that don’t. They start with a ripping “I Got a Line on You” – not quite as good as Jeff Healey’s cover in my opinion, before a suitably deranged version of Love’s “Seven and Seven Is”. According to Cooper both Arthur Lee and Jim Morrison are “bloodsuckers” and The Doors “Five to One” is up next which segues neatly into “Break On Through”. How to follow that? Well, a gloriously sleazy “The Jack” that almost outdoes the AC/DC original, showcasing Perry’s lead guitar. Covering “Ace of Spades” is a fairly ballsy move and stays close to the original, with bass player Chris Wyse nailing the vocals, although the guitar solo wanders a little.
“Baba O’Riley” breaks some new ground with a brief acoustic intro before returning to more familiar ground, picking the song up around halfway through. Cooper doesn’t have Rog’s range or power but it’s still a pretty good reading given how much easier it would have been to go with “My Generation”. One star deducted for the drum solo though.
From the back catalogue there’s a robust “Eighteen” although personally I’d have preferred anything from “Billion Dollar Babies”. The talk box is present and correct on “Sweet Emotion” although Cooper’s vocal illustrates how powerful Steven Tyler actually is. He fares better on “The Train Kept A-Rollin” but just ahead of that there’s a standout version of the Dame’s “Heroes” with a very creditable vocal from Depp.
Vamps originals “Bad As I Am” and “Boogieman Surprise” could have been lifted from any Cooper album but don’t stand up as well to the cover material surrounding them. The band wrap with a neat mash-up of “School’s Out” and “Another Brick In The Wall” which unfortunately fizzles out a bit when Cooper namechecks the band.
Is this an essential addition to anyone’s collection? Unlikely unless you’re a Cooper or Aerosmith completist. Would it have been a blast of a gig to have be at? On the evidence of this, absolutely.
What does it all *mean*?
Just say no
Goes well with…
A Guinness Zero
Release Date:
14 August 2026
Might suit people who like…
A Touch Too Much
They’re playing the park at the end of our road in a week or two. We’ll be able to hear them without leaving the house.
Prefer their own original material, the covers are a bit of a mixed bag for me with a few odd choices….in case anyone thought they were in a time warp, recorded in 2018 not 2088 🙃
The Jesus And Mary Chain are the support band for these Hollywood Vampires on some UK dates.
Seems an odd pairing. The JAMC of old likely wouldn’t have countenanced such a thing.
But, to be fair, the Reid brothers are great imo. Even more so after reading their recent(ish) Never Understood book.
https://www.scotsman.com/arts-and-culture/books/never-understood-the-jesus-and-mary-chain-by-william-and-jim-reid-review-funny-and-fraught-4733529