The classic line-ups of two Rock and Roll Hall of Fame-inducted bands are set to return with new albums after over half a century.
Alice Cooper has reformed his original band for one last hurrah and has launched a venomously seductive new single, “Black Mamba”, while Kenney Jones says work on a new Faces LP is gaining traction.
The forthcoming album from the shock rock icons, entitled “The Revenge of Alice Cooper” (due July 25), is the first the line-up has produced since "Muscle of Love" in 1973. That means original guitarist Michael Bruce, bassist Dennis Dunaway, and drummer Neil Smith, are back in the fold, and this time augmented by Nashville guitarist Gyasi Hues, who is filling in for the late Glen Buxton.
But the guitarist’s spirit lives on in the record, with “What Happened to You” featuring a riff from an old Buxton/Dunaway demo, and a remix of the “Easy Action” track “Return Of The Spiders” will feature on the deluxe edition.
The Alice Cooper Band reunited for a one-off show in 2015, their first appearance together since the Hall of Fame induction at the hands of Rob Zombie four years earlier.
The icing on the cake comes from a surprise guest spot, with “Black Mamba” iced with some silky playing from the Doors’ Robby Krieger, who is the center of an uncanny solo-stealing triangle including Kiss and Pearl Jam.
Fans will have to wait a little longer for new Faces material. Speaking to The Telegraph, Kenney Jones reveals that he, Rod Stewart, and Ronnie Wood have penned “11 songs” together, but he doesn’t expect it to be released until 2026.
The LP will represent the trio’s first new music together since 1973’s “Ooh La La” – marking an intriguing parallel with Alice Cooper. It has been built from piecemeal recording sessions that started in 2021.
“I can’t see it coming out this year,” admits Jones, “but I can see it coming out next year. Everyone’s doing different things. We do little snippets [of recording] here and there. Then all of a sudden, The Stones are out [on tour] again, Rod’s out again.
“Not all of them [the 11 songs] are going to be right [for the album],” he adds. “But most of them are good.”
His comments corroborate what Ronnie Wood said about a new Faces album to The Times four years ago. He explained he’d recently relocated to Little Venice, west London, and that Stewart and Jones had paid a visit to his new home’s recording studio along with another rock icon.
“I saw Mick [Jagger] here last week and Rod [Stewart] and Kenney [Jones] were here yesterday,” he had revealed. “Me and Mick have done nine new tracks for the [40th anniversary] re-release of [the Rolling Stones’ 1981 album] ‘Tattoo You’. And me, Rod, and Kenney have been recording some new Faces music.”
The trio briefly reunited for a performance of 1971’s barnstorming single “Stay With Me” at the Brit Awards in 2020, which may have sewed the seeds for the band returning to the studio.
Meanwhile, Jones’ recent interview also discussed a new documentary on the band. He says 1972-shot footage that is set to be included has “never been seen,” and that “there’s some rude bits in there!”
Ronnie Wood has recently been receiving end of some scathing comments from Harvey Mandel, who said he would have joined the Stones at Mick Jagger’s request had Wood – who had Keith Richards’ all-important – not been in the frame.
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