ALICE COOPER Says There Is 'An Excellence' About His Current Band That He 'Can't Explain'

Alice Cooper says that his current solo band "deserved" to have a live album released.

Last August, the legendary rocker issued "A Paranormal Evening At The Olympia Paris", a recording of his December 7, 2017 concert at the world-renowned Olympia venue in France. The effort captured Cooper and his bandmates — guitarists Nita Strauss, Tommy Henriksen and Ryan Roxie, bassist Chuck Garric, and drummer Glen Sobel — in front of an excited audience. It contains a choice selection of classic Cooper hits, in addition to some highlights from Cooper's acclaimed 2017 album, "Paranormal".

During a recent appearance on "Rock Talk With Mitch Lafon", Alice said that he wanted to release a document of his band's onstage prowess at the final show of Cooper's 2017 "Paranormal" tour.

"Rarely do I ever think about doing a live album — unless the band deserves it," he said (hear audio below). "And this is one of the bands that deserved a live album. I mean, I've got Glen Sobel, who's one of the best drummers in rock and roll. I've got Nita, who's one of the best female guitar players. All those other guys are just on the money every night. So when every single show could be a live album, in my opinion, that was the one… I thought, 'Well, Paris, this will be a great…' 'Cause it's more like a club. We're used to playing arenas, and we're used to playing the big outdoor shows, and we're used to playing those kinds of places. And then you play a place in Paris that's like a club, and the audience is crazy. And that's gonna make a great live album."

He continued: "First of all, there's no such thing as a purely live album. People go in after they hear the tracks and they fix note on the bass and they fix that drum part, and then, 'That vocal was a little off, so let's go in and fix that.' We didn't go in to fix anything on this album. Everything was exactly the way we played it that night. And it absolutely shocked me when I heard it. When I heard it back, I went, 'There's not one mistake on this album.' And I shouldn't be shocked, because the band is like that every night. And, to me, that deserves a live album. Two years from now, five years from now, it might be a different band — I hope it isn't; I'd love to keep this band — but then I'll listen to them, and they'll be good — because I would never put an average band together — but there's an excellence about this band that I can't explain. And so I was sure that a live album was gonna do very well."

"Paranormal" marked Alice's first studio album in six years. Produced by Bob Ezrin, it was immediately saluted as a classic Cooper album, featuring collaborations with iconic guests such as ZZ TOP's Billy Gibbons, U2's Larry Mullen, Jr. and DEEP PURPLE's Roger Glover, as well Neal Smith, Dennis Dunaway and Michael Bruce — the three original Alice Cooper band members.

The album charted at No. 4 in the German and Australian official album charts, No. 6 in the U.K. and in Sweden and overall, it reached the highest chart positions for Alice in several decades.