from FROM THE INSIDE
Written by Alice Cooper, Bernie Taupin & Dick Wagner
In 1977, legendary rocker Alice Cooper (born Vincent Damon Furnier) was at the height of his career, yet really caught up in a self-destructive alcohol and drug addiction. His wife and manager forced him to go to rehab. The rockstar spent one month in a New York sanitarium.
During those difficult days, the Detroit-born superstar collected various stories from fellow inmates and witnessed several episodes inside the hospital. Those tales and experiences shaped one of Cooper’s most personal albums ever, From The Inside.
Released November 17, 1978, From The Inside presented a collection of new songs, most co-written by Cooper, with supreme lyricist and legendary Elton John collaborator, Bernie Taupin. Taupin shared several of Cooper’s problems with various addictions. Taupin’s and Cooper’s common background resulted in a semi-autobiographical work. On From The Inside, Cooper enlisted a new producer, David Foster, who was coming from soul and pop knowledge, but had never crafted a rock album before. With his superior talents as an arranger and musician, Foster immediately adjusted to Cooper’s musical world. The Hitman was a big plus on this record and brought a pop sensibility and fresh musicianship to the table that mixed well with Cooper’s theatrical and rocking attitude.
From The Inside offered different angles of the singer’s personality like the refined and rocking title-track or the power ballad, “How You Gonna See Me Now.” This was the first archetype of Foster’s subsequent hit songs of the next decade. Reviews of both songs can be found in the archives.
This week analyzation is the album’s closing track, “Inmates (We’re All Crazy).”
Co-written with Taupin and guitarist Dick Wagner, this song was a dark ballad with huge theatrical accents. As a power ballad, it had Foster’s piano and prominent orchestra sounds that are a training book of the work Foster will craft on future Chicago evergreens like “Hard To Say I’m Sorry” and “You’re The Inspiration.” Cooper gave an intense and strong vocal performance supported by a group of singers that included UK songbird Kiki Dee and Bill Champlin. “Inmates (We’re All Crazy)” develops through several rhythm changes until its brilliant and disturbing “We’re All Crazy” final chant. This little-known track shows Foster’s blooming genius at an early stage of his career.
From The Inside wasn’t a hit, yet it was a very interesting record. Cooper recently stated in an interview that “… David Foster produced it [From The Inside] so it was musically one of the best albums I ever did.”
We couldn’t end this review without adding a few words from the Hitman himself about his work on this album:
“My time with Alice was one of the best of my life. He was a hard working, dedicated, true artist who always wanted to do his best. He was very musical and he embraced the album we made even thought it really stretched his limits musically. He looked at it like a challenge. I always appreciated Alice for choosing me to produce ‘From The Inside’ even though it wasn’t a logical choice! About ‘Inmates (We’re All Crazy)’ you are right, it definitely sounds like a look into the future of my Chicago writing and arranging a few years later.”
- Lead Vocals: Alice Cooper
- Keyboards: David Foster
- Guitars: Dick Wagner & Steve Lukather
- Bass: Kenny Passarelli, David Hungate, John Pierce, Dee Murray & Leland “Lee” Sklar
- Drums : Rick Shlosser
- Background vocals : Kiki Dee, Bill Champlin, Flo & Eddie, Tom Kelly, Davey Johnstone, Bobby Kimball, Marcy Levy, Sheryl Cooper & The Totally Commited Choir
- Produced by David Foster
Lyrics
It’s not like we did something wrong
We just burned down the church
While the choir within sang religious songs
And it’s not like we thought we was right
We just played with the wheels
Of a passenger train
That cracked on the tracks one night
It’s not like we ain’t on the ball
We just talk to our shrinks
Huh they talk to their shrinks
No wonder we’re up the wall
We’re not stupid or dumb
We’re the lunatic fringe who rusted the hinge
On Uncle Sam’s daughters and sons
Good old boys and girls
Congregating waiting in another world
With roller coaster brains
Imagine playing with trains
Good old boys and girls
Congregating waiting in some other world
We’re all crazy we’re all
Crazy we’re all crazy
Lizzy Borden took an axe and
Gave her mother forty whacks
And don’t think we’re trying to be bad
All the innocent crime seemed
Alright at the time
Not necessarily mad not necessarily mad
We watch every day for the bus
And the driver would say
“That’s where lunatics stay”
I wonder if he’s talking about us
It’s not like we’re vicious or gone
We just dug up the graves
Where your relatives lay in old forest lawn
And it’s not like we don’t know the score
We’re the fragile elite they
Dragged off the street
I guess they just couldn’t take us no more
Good old boys and girls
Congregating waiting in another world
With roller coaster brains
Imagine digging up graves
Good old boys and girls
Congregating waiting in some other world
We’re all crazy we’re all crazy we’re
All crazy we’re all crazy
We’re all crazy we’re all crazy we’re
All crazy we’re all crazy we’re all crazy