Alice Cooper Original Band Reunited For First Album In More Than 50 Years

Alice Cooper Original Band Reunites For First Album in 51 Years

Feature Photo: Alice Cooper Paul Mann-Shutterstock.com

More than half a century after their last studio album together, Alice Cooper reunited with the surviving members of his original band for The Revenge of Alice Cooper, released on July 25, 2025, through earMUSIC. The album brought Cooper back together in the studio with guitarist Michael Bruce, bassist Dennis Dunaway, and drummer Neal Smith for their first full-length album collaboration since 1973’s Muscle of Love.

Longtime producer Bob Ezrin also returned for the project. Cooper later described the sessions as feeling less like a revival than a continuation, as though the band had simply picked up where it had left off decades earlier. Ezrin similarly noted that the chemistry and personalities within the group quickly returned once the musicians were together again.

The standard edition of The Revenge of Alice Cooper contained 14 songs. The late original guitarist Glen Buxton, who died in 1997, was represented posthumously on “What Happened to You” through a previously unreleased guitar part. Limited editions also included two bonus tracks tied directly to the band’s earliest history.

One of those bonus tracks, “Return of the Spiders 2025,” came from a long-lost alternate 1970 recording connected to the song originally released on Easy Action. The second, “Titanic Overunderture,” revisited material associated with the band’s 1969 debut Pretties For You. The album also included a new version of the Yardbirds’ “I Ain’t Done Wrong,” a song connected to the band’s early days as the Spiders.

The first single, “Black Mamba,” was released in April 2025 and featured a guest appearance by Doors guitarist Robby Krieger. The song became the public introduction to the reunited band’s new material and helped establish the heavy, theatrical sound the group was pursuing on the album.

Work on the reunion had been developing for years. After the original group’s breakup in the 1970s, Cooper, Bruce, Dunaway, and Smith gradually reconnected through performances and recording projects rather than returning all at once.

The surviving original members performed together during their 2011 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction and later contributed to Cooper solo projects including Welcome 2 My Nightmare (2011), Paranormal (2017), and Detroit Stories (2021). In 2015, they also played a surprise performance at a Dallas record store for the release of Dunaway’s memoir, a reunion later documented in Live from the Astroturf.

In 2017, Bruce, Dunaway, and Smith joined Cooper for selected live appearances. Those reunions reinforced the musical relationship that eventually led Cooper and Ezrin to propose a complete studio album with the original group.

The songwriting for The Revenge of Alice Cooper was collaborative, with Bruce, Dunaway, and Smith all bringing material into the project. Cooper said the original band’s darker and rougher musical character also brought out a different side of his singing than his solo work.

The musicians deliberately allowed the songs to develop without polishing away every unusual turn. That approach helped the album retain some of the unpredictability that had characterized the band’s early recordings.

Because Glen Buxton could not be part of the new sessions, guitarist Gyasi Hues joined the project and contributed guitar while honoring rather than attempting to imitate Buxton’s role. Rick Tedesco also contributed guitar to the album, and Krieger’s appearance on “Black Mamba” added another connection to the classic rock era.

Recording for the album began in 2022 and continued over an extended period, with sessions taking place in several locations. Cooper recorded vocals in Toronto, while other work was completed in Nashville and in locations in Arizona and California.

When the album was first announced in April 2025, no full tour by the reunited original band had been confirmed. The reunion did, however, move beyond the studio after the album’s release. On July 25, 2025, Bruce, Dunaway, and Smith joined Cooper onstage at London’s sold-out O2 Arena for “School’s Out,” supported by Cooper’s touring band and guest Johnny Depp.

The night before that performance, the surviving original members and Ezrin had appeared together in London for a sold-out album event and discussion centered on the new record. The two appearances gave fans a rare opportunity to see the reunited group together during the album’s release week.

The Revenge of Alice Cooper also made a strong chart showing after its release. It reached No. 9 on the UK Official Albums Chart and went to No. 1 on the UK’s Official Rock & Metal Albums Chart.

The album ultimately became more than the reunion announcement first described in 2025. It documented a genuine return to the studio by Cooper, Bruce, Dunaway, and Smith, connected the surviving members with the legacy of Glen Buxton, and added a new chapter to a band whose original run had ended more than five decades earlier.

Here is the standard album track listing, followed by the two bonus tracks included with selected limited editions: