Around the time this album came out, most people were probably thinking, "What has happened to Alice Cooper?" or "What is Alice Cooper thinking?" After he tried to reinvent himself for the 80s with Flush The Fashion, I think many people abandoned him for the cruddy new bands that started popping up. The punk sound that he hinted at with Flush The Fashion and carried on with on Special Forces is still in play here. This could actually be part 2 to Special Forces minus the ... attitude. Alice uses this album to totally let loose his humor side with mixed results. It's really not as funny as Alice thinks it is. That's not to say I don't enjoy it, I do. I actually like this album quite a bit. I think it's great that he tried something different regardless of what people think. The only flaw in my eyes is that it seems as though Alice Cooper-the man was taking a vacation from Alice Cooper-the character. All of us fans fell in love with the creepy character of Alice Cooper, and this album comes across as an album by the man and not the character. Look at his picture on the cover. Yes, it is funny, but "Alice Cooper" wouldn't do something like that, or make an album of songs like that either. Same can be said for Special Forces(though I can see the outfit working, but not the lyrics), or Flush The Fashion(where I can see the songs working but not the image). This may sound like I'm putting these three albums down, but I really like and listen to them quite a bit. This little known "weird" period of Alice's(Flush, Forces, Zipper, Dada) is very underrated if you ask me, and should be given alot more credit and attention than it does. It's sad that the "Trash" period is more well known and favored. I know this review won't be read by many because of that, and it's only hardcore Alice Cooper fans that will take any interest in this album at all. And since that's the case, you already own it or you're eventually gonna get it and were curious about it....It'll be one step closer to having the whole collection, and you just may be surprised that it's actually a good album. Different(it's no Love It To Death), but good nonetheless. ...

The early eighties was probably the strangest era for Alice, with albums like "Flush The Fashion", "Special Forces", "DaDa" and this album, but I kind of like what he was trying to do during this era. I have to admit, I didn't buy any of these albums when they first came out. I think I was too scared by the pictures of Alice on the front and back covers. If you think Alice looked frightening in the seventies with this monster make-up, you should see him on these records, with short hair and fake eyelashes and lipstick and women's makeup! YIKES!

If you can get past the photos, like I eventually did, you may be as surprised as I was at how good some of the music is, especially on "Flush The Fashion" and this one. The songs on "Zipper" are still very short and punk rock like, though the emphasis was more on hard rock this time. The guitars sound great, the drums still sounded like drums...there are even a few catchy guitar riffs from time to time. The emphasis this time, however, is more on singing and/or half singing, half talking than on the music itself. I like Alice's sense of humor on this album as well, especially on the opening track "Zorro's Ascent" and on "Adaptable" and "I Like Girls". Alice sings with a snarl and a sneer on his face...his smooth crooning voice only shows up on "I Am The Future" and just briefly, for a second or two, on "Zorro's Ascent". I like the music for "Zorro" and I love Alice's vocal on it...I wouldn't find him this funny again until "I Love America" from DADA. "Scrooge's Song" also has some terrific music on it. I particularly like the instrumental section at the end, which is the most exciting thing on the whole album.

"I Am The Future" sounds like something Alice might have written with Bob Ezrin. If Ezrin produced this song, he probably would have made the drums louder and added an orchestra during the refrain. Still, this is a great song. I was glad to see it included on the boxed set.

The second half of the album isn't quite as strong as the first half, though there are still some interesting songs. The first three tracks on the second half are so close together and go by so fast, it all sounds like one song. I like "Tag, You're It", on which Alice sounds like a director for a horror flick. This and the last song, whose title almost takes up an entire paragraph, showed that Alice hadn't completely abandoned his twisted monster movie dark side. The last song, while having the most interesting title, is unfortunately the weakest track on the album...at least in my opinion.

No, the whole album isn't great and he has certainly made better albums than this, but I like what he was trying to do during this era, even though I'm sure his record company was very confused by all of it! I do like this better than most, if not all, of the hair metal albums he did from the mid eighties to early nineties. This is an interesting album, to say the least and definitely worth buying!

"ZIPPER CATCHES SKIN"

REVIEW:

After the entertaining (though flawed) release of 1981's "Special Forces," Alice would return a year later with guitarist/co-songwriter Dick Wagner in tow for 1982's "Zipper Catches Skin". Wildily uneven, 'Zipper' does deliver ... sometimes. It certainly has more of a rock sound than a couple of his previous releases and the lyrics are at times extremely clever and/or witty. However, some songs do hamper this from being an improvement over "Special Forces". Standout tracks: "I Am The Future," "Adaptable (Anything For You)," "I Like Girls," "Remarkably Insincere" and the homage to 80's slasher films "Tag, You're It".

MUSICIANS:

John Nitzinger, Dick Wagner, Mike Pinera and Billy Steele ... Guitar

Duane Hitchings and Alice Cooper ... Synthesizer

Craig Kampf ... Percussion

Frannie Golde, Joanne Harris, and Flo and Eddie ... Backing Vocals

Patty Donahue (of 'The Waitresses') ... Vocals on "I Like Girls"

Produced & Arranged By Alice Cooper and Erik Scott

INTERESTING FACTS:

1. Released in August of 1982, "Zipper Catches Skin" failed to chart on the Billboard Top 200. Thus there was no tour in support of this album.

2. A remixed version of "I Am The Future"was featured in the film "Class of '84".

3. The song "Make That Money" was taken from a planned concept album that Alice was preparing in the late 1970s, which was based on the famous Charles Dickens' character 'Scrooge'.

PACKAGING:

Interesting album cover with an Alice photo on the back cover. CD booklet does contain the album's lyrics.

APPROX. RUNNING TIME:

30 min. and 24 sec.

FINAL ANALYSIS:

Not to be confused with "Billion Dollar Babies," 'Zipper' is still an entertaining - though completely inconsistent - listening experience. *** out of 5.

I own nearly all of Alice Cooper's 30 or so albums, and I don't regret a single purchase. That said, I don't see where this album is more inconsistent than "Goes To Hell", "Lace and Whiskey", "Dada", "Raise Your Fist and Yell" or the variety-show type albums that "Eyes" and "Dirty Diamonds" are. Furthermore, I don't see where consistency is necessary in an album. We're talking about art, which in its truest form is something that comes from inside the artist - not the excrement of "J. Evans Pritchard PhD." teachings talked about in "Dead Poet's Society", a movie I highly recommend. It should be understood that this album is not only a rock and roll album, which makes it part of a realm that innately ignores rules and convention anyway, but it is also definitely NOT a mainstream album even in the rock realm - especially considering how unconventional the artist is and always has been to begin with. Therefore, freaks of following the mainstream need not buy. However, those of you that are more adventurous, value artistic unconventionality (in other words - true creativity), enjoy humorous story-telling music, and/or appreciate Alice Cooper's unique singing style or lyrics regardless of whether they're about horror or not, should give this a listen.

Musically, "Zipper Catches Skin" is all rock, not that hard and not that soft, and most of the songs generally carry a fast-paced, high-energy rhythm. Then add to that what I think should be considered to be the most expressive, mischievous voice ever heard in rock and great lyrics that are some of Alice's most novel. (You can, of course, check them out by googling and going to lyrics sites.)

"Zipper Catches Skin" is one of my top favorites of all of Alice's albums, and I've heard them all. This one stands out to me because it not only projects a witty, teasing playfulness in about all of its songs, but some of it gets daringly personal with Alice just good-humoredly recreating the humiliation that we all inevitably face at times when we do things that we know or believe aren't accepted by others. With this album, Alice has brought a bumbling sort of Casanova character to my mind, which I've found very sexy as well as humorous. The one serious song on this early 80's album employs a "power ballad" music format that seemed to be a forerunner of many of its kind. It's the introspective "I Am the Future". Though this song is sobering compared to the rest of the album, I find it very admirable as well. Like he personified pain in a song on his "Flush the Fashion" album, Alice embodies the future in this song. In both cases, he attempts to help us consider and deal with those things that we often fear but must invariably confront. However, with "I Am the Future", as with a number of his other songs on various albums including this album's "Tag, You're It", Alice uses his wonderful talent of creating a dual impression (like the faces or vase image) and gives even this scary song an amusing side. This can be seen when reversing his embodiment of the future with regards to Alice's often impishly arrogant, endearing character, who would sing such things about himself - "I am the future. How do you like what you see? Take a look at my face. . . The world belongs to me. It's all mine!" But what a truthful statement of how we have all at least partly felt, deep inside, at one time or another.

This is one heck of a cd! It's Funny and excellent at the same time.

Here is a review for each track.

1. Zorro's Acsent - Great Music & Lyrics 5/5

2. Make That Money - Great Song 5/5

3. I am the future - One of the more synesizer tracks but still great. 5/5

4. NO BALONEY HOMOSAPIENS - Easily the best track on this cd! I don't know why everone sais it's bad. But it's got the best lyrics and music on the whole album!!! 7/5

5. Adaptable - Another great song 5/5

6. I Like Girls - A funny song 4/5

7. Remarkably insincere - Good Lyrics 4/5

8. Tag Your It - Another Brilliant Song. 5/5

9. I Better Be Good - Good Alice Lyris. But I'm not really a fan of the 80s back ground vocals. 3/5

10. I'm Alive - Another very funny song 4/5

Overall Highly Recomended!