Album Notes - (Detailed release information)

Inside cover photograph from 'Dirty Diamonds' booklet.

Alice Cooper has often appeared to create albums in pairs. 'Welcome To My Nightmare' and 'Goes To Hell', Constrictor' and 'Raise Your Fist And Yell', 'Trash' and 'Hey Stoopid', and most recently 'Brutal Planet' and 'Dragontown'. In the same way 'Dirty Diamonds' can be seen as the twin to 'The Eyes Of Alice Cooper'. It again features he then current touring band, but this time there's also an endless list of extra musicians, presumably brought in by new producers Steve Lindsey and Rick Boston. As such it doesn't have the same 'live' feel as it's predecessor but is arguably the more diverse of the two albums.

Neither Steve Lindsey or Rick Boston seem to have much in the way of rock credentials, either before or after 'Dirty Diamonds', although they were seasoned pros on the LA scene. Why they where specifically chosen isn't known. Maybe, as with previous producer 'Mudrock', it was a chance meeting, or maybe a record company suggestion.

In 2004 various rumours circulated that Alice would be recording in late August or December (both dates were mentioned by Alice) but no recordings were completed for the new album at that time. However Ryan Roxie did confirm the band had been writing material for a new album. That all goes to illustrate that Alice's claim at the time that 'Eyes...' and '...Diamonds' were written, recorded and done in a day isn't really true. Statements from the people involve confirm material for both albums was prepared before they ever entered the studio, although once there it's quite possible the band laid down their basic tracks very quickly. In the case of 'Dirty Diamonds' however it's also clear, from the list of musicians, that after the band "moved on" the producers spent a great deal of time overdubbing more instrumentation!

Alice explains the title:

The unused cover of 'Dirty Diamonds' which appeared shortly before the album was released.

Although Eric Singer is pictured on the album sleeve he does NOT play on the album. When the band went into the studio Tommy Clufetos was still in the band. He left at the end of the sessions and Eric Singer rejoined. It was just easier to take the cover photos with Singer then to call Tommy back just for a photo.

The cover of 'Dirty Diamonds' is pretty terrible, and for an artist as visual as Alice it's inexcusable. A short time before the album was released a different cover surfaced which while, while still not being amazing, was much better then the final one (see right).

Alice suggested releasing 'The Saga Of Jesse Jane' to country & western radio, and not tell anybody who was.

At the time of release Alice also had a fondness for 'Perfect'.:

'Pretty Ballerina" is a cover of a song originally recorded by 'The Left Banke' in 1967 and stays very close to the original. Alice has said part of the reason he recorded it was his wife Sheryl, who's his own 'Pretty Ballerina'.

'Dirty Diamonds' Live - The 'Dirty Diamonds Tour'

Alice and Calico Cooper, Newcastle 2006
(Photo by Bill Crowe)

The 'Dirty Diamonds' tour began in June 2005 in Australia and ran through to October 2006. The show still featured relatively few big theatrical effect. This was partly to keep the costs down now that they weren't generally headlining big arenas, but also due to the increasing number of festivals they were doing, where they didn't have as much control over what they could mount on the stage. They also started accepting more tours with other major bands, 'package tours', which saw them with a slightly shorter stage time and normally going on first, which again limited the stage space. Financially these shows made sense in a market where record sales had plummeted and ticket sales were generally down, but a lot of fans weren't impressed to see Alice Cooper ostensibly opening for other bands, despite the constant assurances that they were always "joint headliners".
Of course Alice was happy to go on first. He had an amazing band who easily stole the show every night, and he got back to the hotel earlier to relax and watch some TV! However it was clear that, at least in America, Alice was no longer able to headline many of the usual arenas alone. On the up side the smaller shows suited Alice much better then the huge impersonal arenas. While bands like Kiss could fill those rooms with explosions and big screens, Alice's show has always been more subtle. In the big halls people at the back can't really see everything that is going on that clearly. The smaller theaters alleviated that problem a great deal and also have a much better atmosphere, something that is almost always lost in the arenas. Alice would continue to play bigger venues in Europe, but the days of headlining 10,0000+ seaters in the US were, at least for now, over.

The 'Dirty Diamonds' show did change over the two years but always followed a similar pattern. The show opened with a tape from 'Phantom Of The Opera' before the band launched into a truncated version of 'Department Of Youth' which led into 'No More Mr Nice Guy', Alice in now back in the most famous 'clown' make up. The stage set was relatively sparse, with risers left and right of Eric's drum riser, stairs leading up to the wall of amplifiers so the band could move up and down. There were a few trash cans around (one to hold Alice's hand props), and an open coffin right of the drums, but that was about it.

'Dirty Diamonds' used a short taped introduction from the album before the band blasted in to the song, Alice stalking the stage with handfuls of fake pearl necklaces which he threw into the audience in huge numbers. If anyone ever tries to sell these to you, bare in mind Alice has now thrown out thousands of them over the years! 'Billion Dollar Babies' featured the money sword with Alice teasing the front rows before swinging the sword over them, the dollars falling into the crowd. 'Be My Lover' follows with the rather amusing line "play guitar in a long haired band" where Alice points to one of the guitarist, who at this point ALL had short hair! 'Lost In America' is dispatched with little fuss, Alice changing in to a leather waistcoat with an American flag on the back. A short version of 'I Never Cry' brings things down a bit, with Alice sitting on his trash can at the front of the stage, Ryan and Damon strumming acoustic guitars behind him, before 'Woman Of Mass Distraction' kicks things into high gear again.

'I'm Eighteen', 'Between High School and Old School', What Do You Want From Me?' and 'Is It My Body' all pass relatively uneventfully before the lights turn to dark reds and greens for 'Go To Hell'. Calico appears beside the drum riser in a scanty black outfit, moving down to the stage and twirling her whip. Alice catches the whip, and she turns to the crowd revealing vampire teeth. She stretches her arms out revealing a black cloak and moves backwards, hiding Alice view. When she turns back Alice is gone (escaping under the drum riser). 'The Black Widow' is used as a framework to allow the band to show off a bit (and give Alice a break) before the second half of the show begins.

Calico Cooper as 'Paris Hilton'.
(Photo by Bill Crowe)

Most of the band change costumes slightly before 'Gimme' sees Alice appear in a red shirt, top hat and whip. Then during 'Feed My Frankenstein' Alice picks up various body parts and inserts them into the coffin, which will be used later in the show. 'Welcome To My Nightmare' leads into a medley of songs commonly known as 'The Piece' (a title seen on the on stage set list sheets). 'The Awakening' starts with Calico appearing in a red dress performing ballet moves. The first part of 'Steven' begins and Alice grabs Calico, drawing a knife and pulling her to the steps before the drum riser where he sings the part of 'Only Women Bleed' to her, holding up her seemingly unconscious head. He moves to the front of the stage as Calico slowly rises. He goes to stab her but is stopped by hooded figures who pull him away, and while the band plays another chorus of 'Steven' he's strapped into the straitjacket for 'Ballad Of Dwight Fry', lit by the single white spotlight. Of course he escapes in time for a shortened 'Killer' during which the hooded figures reappear and hold him. The executioner (Pat Nowak) calls to the crowd "Citizens... what shall we do with him?... should we burn him?.. no? shall we hang him?.. Shall we introduce him to Madam Guillotine?". Calico, in white face mask, pulls away the covering hiding the device and Alice as usual loses his head. The executioner parades the severed head around the stage before Calico steals it and teases him with it. She then places the head onto the body in the coffin as the band play an instrumental 'I Love The Dead'. Smoke pours from the coffin and Alice appears in white top hat and tails for 'School's Out' to close the main set.

'Poison' is the first encore with Alice in his 'Trash' jacket, before 'Wish I Were Born In Beverly Hills'. Calico reappears as 'Paris Hilton', a then famous airheaded celebrity, in tint pink hot pants, blue top, purse and pet chihuahua. Photographers arrive snapping shots as the dog tries to bite her and she throws it to the ground screaming, the paparazzi capturing every detail. She attacks them before being carried away. Alice picks up her purse and swaggers around the stage. 'Under My Wheels' closes the show with the giant balloons thrown into the audience and band introductions with Calico returning on crutches.

For a few shows only 'Sunset Babies' was played in place of 'Wish I Were Born In Beverly Hills' during the encore, which made far more sense in context of the 'Paris Hilton' gag as the song was about people just like her. When they switched back to '...Beverly Hills' 'Sunset Babies' moved to earlier in the set replacing 'What Do You Want From Me'. The other 'Eyes...' track was also dropped later in the tour, replaced by 'You Drive Me Nervous'. In 2006 'Guilty' also appeared in the set list.
The set list was shortened during the Deep Purple tour in 2006 with 'Lost In America', 'Guilty', 'I Never Cry', 'Between High School and Old School', 'Sunset Babies', 'Is It My Body', 'Gimme' and 'Wish I Were Born In Beverly Hills' all cut from the set. A similar thing happened when they played with Heaven And Hell (Ronnie James Dio/Black Sabbath) in 2007.

An early show at the Montreux Jazz Festival on July 12th 2005 was filmed for Swiss TV and later released as 'Live At Montreux'.

The Performers

• Alice Cooper - Vocals
• Ryan Roxie - Guitar, Backing Vocals
• Damon Johnson - Guitar, Backing Vocals
• Chuck Garric - Bass, Backing Vocals
• Eric Singer - Drums
• Tommy Clufetos - Drums (Briefly stands in for Singer during 2005)
• Brett Fitz - Drums (Briefly stands in for Singer in 2006)
• Calico Cooper - The Nurse, Backing Vocals.
• Pat Nowak - The Executioner

The Guillotine, Newcastle 2006
(Photo by Bill Crowe)

'Dirty Diamonds' Live - The 'Psychodrama' Tour

At the end of the 'Dirty Diamonds' tour in 2006 Alice wasn't quite ready to return to the studio, so in the new year he instead headed out under a new banner, 'The Psychodrama' Tour. The show had many similarities with it's predecessor but the set list was substantially changed, as where some of the theatrics.

The show opened with the beginning of 'Steven' on tape before the band began 'It's Hot Tonight'. The stage is completely hidden by a tan coloured curtain onto which a spotlight shines from behind making a silhouette of Alice in top hat and cane. After a few seconds Calico appears, mimicking the top hat and cane... Alice turns and stabs her and the curtain drops to reveal the band, with Alice standing over the dying body of his doppelganger. 'It's Hot Tonight' is cut short for 'No More Mr Nice Guy', the body still lying beside the drum riser where it remains for some time!. The stage has a little more dressing them the previous tour with sacking material around the platforms, drum riser and hanging from the lighting rig. 'Under My Wheels' leads into 'I'm Eighteen' with the crutch. For 'Is It My Body' Alice sings the song to the dead body still lying on stage. Finally he pushes it off the riser and two masked henchmen appear with a stretcher to take it away (poor Calico having been stuck there for nearly 15 minutes by now!).

Sirens signal 'Woman Of Mass Distraction' as searchlights spin around the stage. 'Lost In America' has Alice in his army cap with a flag stuck in it and 'Feed My Frankenstein' starts with the "...and here comes dinner" tape but no theatrics this time, or for 'Be My Lover' and 'Raped And Freezin''. 'Dirty Diamonds' of course has the peal necklaces thrown everywhere and is followed by 'Muscle Of Love'. or 'Desperado' Keri Kelli gets to perform a short classical solo before Jason begins the song, allowing Alice to change into a long coat, stetson and gun holster. At then end he draws the pistol on Chuck who takes the hit, falling to the floor. 'Halo of Flies' allows the band to shine (and gives Alice his mid show break). Calico arrives in her Asian dress and fan and pulls a gun on Alice, marching off stage at gunpoint. During the drum solo Keri and Jason join in on snare drums mounted either side of Eric's main kit.

Thunder and rain effects start 'Welcome To My Nightmare' as Alice appears beside the drums in another change of costume. This time a red shirt and shoes combo. He moves down to the front of the stage as ghosts and ghouls stumble around the stage (including some specially invited friends and VIPS) eventually surrounding Alice until he frightens them away. 'Cold Ethyl' has the normal doll for Alice to throw around, and moves into 'Only Women Bleed' in the normal way, Calico replacing the doll when the lights go out between songs. He awakes and dances around the stage until Alice catches her and start's hitting her around the head. On the last strike she catches his hand and the band switch into 'Steven'. As Chuck begins 'Dead Babies' Calico reappears, pushing a baby's pram which Alice proceeds to push around the stage, singing to a mic attached to the pram's handle. He leans in and pulls out a two headed baby doll, which attacks him. He throws it back into the pram and reaches for a stake and mallet, staking the doll. He pulls out the blood covered toy and is grabbed by two hooded henchmen who strap him into the straitjacket for 'Ballad Of Dwight Fry'.

Escaping the straitjacket he runs off stage for another quick change while the band finish up the song. The henchmen drag Alice back on stage, again in the straitjacket as the band begin 'Devil's Food' and a large prop is wheeled on hidden by a sheet... The sheet is pulled away to reveal the GALLOWS! They march Alice up the stairs and strap him in.. the drum roll starts.. Calico pulls the lever, and down he goes.. flies buzzing as the band go into 'I Love The Dead'

Of course, he returns in the white top hat and tails for 'School's Out' to close the main set with balloons bouncing around the crowd. 'Billion Dollar Babies' (with money sword), 'Poison' and 'Elected' form the encore with 'Bill and Hilary Clinton' fighting it out on stage and various supporters bringing out amusing signs, Alice with the flag held high.

During the Heaven And Hell (Ronnie James Dio/Black Sabbath) tour in September 2007 the following songs had to be dropped due to the shorter set time: 'Woman Of Mass Distraction', 'Lost In America', 'Feed My Frankenstein', 'Be My Lover', 'Raped And Freezin'', 'Muscle Of Love', 'Desperado' and 'Cold Ethyl'.

The Performers

• Alice Cooper - Vocals
• Keri Kelli - Guitar, Backing Vocals
• Jason Hook - Guitar, Backing Vocals
• Chuck Garric - Bass, Backing Vocals
• Eric Singer - Drums
• Calico Cooper - The Nurse, Backing Vocals.
• Pat Nowak - The Executioner