Was Alice Cooper's 'Muscle of Love' Simply Doomed to Fail?

Alice Cooper's ill-fated 'Muscle of Love' had the unenviable task of following up two consecutive star-making albums, 'School's Out' and 'Billion Dollar Babies.' Instead, the LP hastened the demise of the original Alice Cooper band.
Watch the video to learn more about 'Muscle of Love,' and tune into our Doomed to Fail? video series as we dust off ill-fated classic rock albums and determine whether they're hidden gems or better left forgotten.
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[@garyl4827]

Doomed to fail ?.........hardly,i thought it was great........im 67 yrs old and still listen to it

[@pietkorf]

Damn right, same here ,67 and still love it❤

[@johnvrabec9747]

One of my fav AC discs!

[@busterstutts9849]

Almost 66 years Old yeh me to l loved it to death

[@nasticanasta]

65 still play songs off this album...I play MOL...great tune

[@ricklascola1594]

I thought this album was fantastic. Still listening to it.

[@IronmanKMSA]

Only Killer ranks higher for me among the original band albums. Whatever fatigue, drug use, any excuse, it's an album I can return to and still love. Especially Hard Hearted Alice. That song is probably my all time favorite of any Alice song.

[@SuperJetpac]

Hard Hearted Alice, I Never Cry are amongst the best in Rock.

[@soarornor]

I loved Hard Hearted Alice. I thought it was the standout track on the album by a large margin. It told the story of what was happening to the band. The organ intro was beautiful as well as the finger picking. It really nailed the angst the band was surely feeling at the time.

[@gregorylapointe4157]

I always thought it was a great song. The intro always had a Simon and Garfunkle feel to me. Another Michael Bruce classic.

[@soarornor]

@@gregorylapointe4157 Michael Bruce deserves a helluva lot more recognition for his contribution to that band and as a songwriter. The original band is the only Alice Cooper.

[@briankehew579]

Absolutely, maybe their best track ever

[@alphadogstudio]

It's a great album, musically it's one of their best. It was just missing an anthem like hit that had become the ACG trademark I'm Eighteen, Schools Out, No More Mr Nice Guy etc..

[@reubensane5539]

I think teenage lament 74 should of been bigger

[@nealruehlen5653]

This album is far better than it is credited. One caveat, must be listened to on vinyl as the cd sounds dull and lifeless.

[@kennymik1509]

I totally agree!!! Listening with headphones (good ones) makes the album even that much more enjoyable.

[@ianbromley-derry-pn9mc]

I bought this album when it first came out and l love it

[@BeeKay5150]

It's my second favorite ACG album. It just got lost in the shuffle.

[@HarryNilssonCatalogue]

I don't see how it possibly 'failed'. That seems like such a reach to me. If you wanna talk about failing, talk about Easy Action and Pretties for You! Muscle of Love is a really solid album altogether, and it's one that fans really seem to still enjoy. Yes, it's no Billion Dollar Babies, but I really don't see why it has to be. It's its own thing, and just because it didn't perform as well, does not mean it's a lesser album.

[@whodude68]

I think this album is great and do not see it as a failure at all. I've probably listened to it 20 times and I think its very underrated. One reason why it didn't achieve platinum sales is because record stores thought the packaging was a mistake or damaged because of a simulated grease stain on the album box. Stores returned their lots, only to be told that was intentional- the album wasn't on shelves for a period of time after it was released. Muscle of love is a classic Cooper Group track!

[@greggatewood5417]

Muscle of Love I’ve always thought was had great rock music. Big Apple Dreamin should get a lot of radio time on 9/11.

[@kengibbens5059]

Loved the album, it was documented in the Billion Dollar Babies by Bob Greene

[@reubensane5539]

I have that book,awesome! They dressed him up as Santa around that time on your and they band kicked his ass on stage. Hilarious!

[@magnusjarl9575]

Love that album 👍

[@tysonwilliams4467]

Who cares what people say? I love this record. It's got some filler, but for the most part it fucking rocks.

[@flyingburritobro68]

It’s a good album but not on par with their other works. Buxton not playing on it is one factor. The quality of the songwriting isn’t up to their previous standards. It has some great moments but…….My favorite is Love It To Death.

[@stevencrayn]

It’s a really good album, but would have been even better if Bob Ezrin had produced it and would have been a bigger hit as well.

[@IshadaKatzteilov]

I think Mike Bruce wanted to see if he could arrange a platinum on his own, without Ezrin's supervision. Had he just been patient, I bet the band would have done a couple more records together.

[@beatlehmann3424]

I love it ! It’s one of the Best !!! It’s a Classic of course !

[@cosmiccat6708]

All the original Alice Cooper group albums are fantastic and Muscle Of Love is no exception. I love every track on it and fail to see why people see it as a lesser album. Sure, there were changes afoot in the dynamics, but for a last hoorah, this album does this awesome original line-up proud!.

[@henryhoward8341]

Actually, they had two big albums prior to School's Out (1971's Love It To Death & Killer). So, after four strong ones, I was disappointed with Muscle Of Love. Beyond the very clever album packaging design/theme, it seemed they were starting to become a parody of themselves. They (and management) were taking on too much and were working too hard. Following the 1973 Billion Dollar Babies tour, they also filmed the (very mediocre and shelved) movie "Good To See You Again, Alice Cooper". Not to mention, the band chemistry was diminishing with Glen Buxton's increased drug use. They should have taken a couple of months off the road and out of the studio before recording Muscle Of Love. But I presume Warner Bros. was pushing for new product for a 1974 pre-Christmas release. Sholud have issued the Greatest Hits then instead.

[@56Century]

Minor classic for sure. Still enjoy it to this day. A slightly dull mix, a tasty remaster would be welcomed by me

[@notfortknox]

I agree with previous post. It’s one of my favorite Alice Cooper Band albums. It’s their most eclectic.

[@surveyordave]

Muscle of Love is a great record. It's not all that different from other stuff, but it does have a different style. I loved the record.

[@markt4815]

Jack Douglas mixed with soft ears.

[@Explorer766]

GREAT ALBUM. If you ranked it #1 you're not insane.

[@knowyourbassplayer]

My favorite AC album from the original band.... it came out too soon after BDB.

[@andrewmacdonald3667]

Shep Gordon is often credited as some kind of genius manager. But he should have made sure the band took a break. And Douglas was clueless to reign in Dunaway and Smith.

[@tomgallo1915]

I bought it in the cut out bin . Had the book cover on my math text book

[@billboyer8897]

I still have a wrapped copy of Muscle of Love -- but it's a cut-out, if you are old enough to know what that is.

[@alphadogstudio]

The album is great! Not a bad track on it. Two things hurt it. 01. It didn't have an Anthem type song like Schools Out or I'm 18 02. The cover, on initial release, because of the (on purpose) stained cover, retailers thought the albums had water damage and sent them back. With would explain its lower than expected initial sales. It's all about momentum in the record industry & when the record company started getting massive returns the first week, the pulled all the advertising on the album & promotion.

[@harryzimmerman7991]

If it came between School's Out and Billion Dollar Babies or even after Killer, would've fit right in perfectly because it still had that vibe, which was what they were going for in the first place, but as Dennis put it, there was so much turmoil going during recording and that Glen didn't play on it really put a damper on it, just listened to it the other day, has some kickass jams on it, like the title track and my favorite that really doesn't get mentioned, Never been sold before, that one has a great riff that rocks out and is a little different that anything they done before, and it fit the period of late 1973-74, would've loved it to death if i had been around at that time, It'sjust wasn't as inspired or bombastic and B$B was but.wouldn't call it a dissapointment, it just shows that even in less than ideal circumstances, the original Alice Cooper group could rock out some killer shit🤘

[@ili42u]

Absolutely underrated fantastic album!

[@petervanderende4067]

Great album.

[@theart8039]

It was my fave album and I was a massive fan when I was a kid

[@mostestgreatest]

Big Apple Dreamin' was a great opening track.

[@ElmanAuthement]

I saw ACB twice. Once for the Billion Dollar Babies tour and then for Welcome To My Nightmare tour. Both were awesome shows

[@Nigel-ry1po]

NIGEL in Canada🇨🇦 it like listening to a stranger describe my parents splitting up, and guessing why read the book by Bob Greene he was there playing Santa every night on stage Michael Bruce and Dunnaway, to me ? 'the heart and soul' of the band

[@simongaskill]

It’s one of my favorite albums by them

[@J-Colt]

I love the album! True rock sound.

[@gtrhoppe]

Great album Teenage Lament is one of my favorites. I wish Never Been Sold Before had another verse but still cool. The album came with a stain at the bottom. Stores thought it was defective and shipped many albums back. LOL

[@kennymik1509]

What if the album was released prior to when it was? Say between Schools Out and Killer? On the bands popularity alone it, I believe, whould have charted higher. I find it to be an excellent album. Maybe carried mostly by the singer, just maybe. As someone stated, listen to the vinyl. I'll just add, listen with (good) headphones. Also, it "only" went gold. How many artists would do anything to go gold?!?! Great photos. Thanks for posting.

[@MegaJetJaguar]

I still think that the Muscle of Love album is a solid effort from the original Alice Cooper band. It features some of my favorite songs by them.

[@jimcarter1388]

Absolute classic!

[@steveambrose5580]

Brilliant album, the band were headed in the right direction.

[@siys]

Sad that Muscle Of Love is so underrated by some. Band-produced, I find it to be one of the finest of the classic Alice Cooper group albums. Hard Hearted Alice alone is more than worth the price of admission to the Institute of Nude Wrestling! Hard Hearted Alice rates as great as Halo Of Flies as a complexly composed piece, perfectly produced with incredible musicianship and soaring guitars. There's not a bad song on the album; and Man With A Golden Gun and Teenage Lament '74 are also timeless classics, to mention just two other.

[@rikriley5992]

Thats a shock, with Michael lol

[@gregorylapointe4157]

I bought the album when it came out and I think it's a good album, it's just not a great album. When the Greatest Hits album came out I knew that was it for the old band. We had no internet back then so fans had to rely on magazines like Creem and Hit Parader and Rolling Stone to get our gossip on our favorite Groups. In all of the mags were articles on how the band was falling apart. I really liked the old group.

[@ricdoliveira3075]

I thought it was a solid album.

[@guignolfest]

It's a great album.

[@2112earl]

It's a great album

[@themarkbishop]

Great Album Hard hearted Alice ….. classic Teenage Lament , muscle of love ….. classic and personally enjoy the other tracks

[@EddietheHead32]

I thought it was a great album too.

[@lindseyb0303]

i liked it.

[@johnthanogiannis4896]

Muscle of love is a great album but it is too difficult to follow after Billion Dollar Babies. My personal favourite is Love it to death.

[@dboulos7]

Not as good as School's Out, or Billion Dollar Babies, but still better than most other contemporary band's efforts

[@MarkBarna1]

It is a good album. Man with the Golden Gun and Big Apple Dreaming are also good songs, not failures as this video says.

[@jimbratsos7869]

Muscle 😅

[@rickvia8435]

I thought it was a pretty good album. Had some great tunes on it. It wasn't as good as School's Out or BDB, but good enough.

[@reubensane5539]

So many people put this album down or dismiss it, if the argument is that it’s the weakest of the band after the first 2 fine ,(btw ,I love the first 2) but this album still imo has bona fide great songs. Save woman machine maybe it’s the most straightforward rock album of theirs ?minus the theatrical theme songs like dead babies or I love the dead,but it’s a great no frills rock album! The title track,big apple dreaming,teenage lament 74,I love it . Some call never been sold or working up a sweat filler ?i call them awesome deep cuts. Hard hearted Alice is amazing too and a glimpse into a Alice Cooper solo career might sound like. All n all I obviously don’t agree w the sentiment that this is one of the weak albums . I love it to death and think it’s killer ,sorry schools out for now.

[@busterstutts9849]

In the kitchen making dinner My sister said my Mom heard the Commercial for the album on the the Radio and asked where'd your brother go.My sister replied he went to Gemco my Mom went Oh No he s gone to buy that disgusting Album 😊😊😊 she was Right

[@Nigel-ry1po]

Nigel in Canada🇨🇦 hmm ? ok !, 'Muscle of Love' is like when the BEATLES made 'Let it Be' without George Martin rebelling against the PRODUCER both groups made their point

[@60zeller]

Its was not a failure. Just not as popular as BDB. This person did not listen to the record. Just recycling old articles.

[@normanhurst8517]

I Thought it was a great album proper rock songs

[@radiomindchatter7994]

That's bullshit man...a lot of good melodies on Muscle of Love. If there is anything wrong with it it's the production....everything sounds mixed back.