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Special Forces is the sixth solo studio album by American rock singer Alice Cooper, released on 30 June 1981 by Warner Bros. Records. It was produced by Richard Podolor, best known as the producer for Three Dog Night.

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Special Forces
Studio album by Alice Cooper
Released	June 30, 1981 (1981-06-30)
Studio	American Recording Co., Studio City, Los Angeles, U.S.
Genre	Hard rock pop rock new wave
Length	34:51
Label	Warner Bros.
Producer	Richard Podolor
Alice Cooper chronology
Flush the Fashion (1980) Special Forces (1981) Zipper Catches Skin (1982)
Singles from Special Forces
"You Want It, You Got It" Released: 1981 "Seven and Seven Is" Released: 1982

Alice Cooper appeared on The Tomorrow Show with Tom Snyder to promote the album, being interviewed and looking very gaunt in full military-drag make-up, after which he played live versions of “Who Do You Think We Are” and “Seven and Seven Is”. 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 US and Scotland.[1] 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,[2] none of the songs from Special Forces has been performed live since 1982.[3]

French television special Alice Cooper a Paris 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 albums which Cooper refers to as his "blackout" albums, followed by Zipper Catches Skin, and DaDa, 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”,[4] though in fact he toured only Special Forces.[3]

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

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[5]

In a review for AllMusic, critic Greg Prato wrote that "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. An electrified rereading of the Billion Dollar Babies nugget "Generation Landslide" is included. Titled "Generation Landslide '81 (Live)," it was 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 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” was a cover of Love's 1966 original, written by Arthur Lee.

Personnel

Credits are adapted from the Special Forces liner notes.[6]

Musicians

• Alice Cooper – vocals
• Duane Hitchings – keyboards
• Danny Johnson – guitar
• Craig Krampf – drums
• Mike Pinera – guitar
• Erik Scott – bass

Charts

Chart (1981)	Peak position
Australian (Kent Music Report)[7]	76
UK Album Charts	96
US Billboard 200	125

References

External links

• Special Forces at Discogs (list of releases)

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