Muscle of Love is the seventh studio
album by
Alice Cooper, which was released in 1973. It is the final studio album recorded by the original Alice Cooper band. Cooper stated in an interview at the time of recording that the album
marked a return to a basic rock sound. "It's not complicated in any
sense and there’s not a lot of theatricality on it. It's very basic rock
& roll throughout."
Never Been Sold Before is the retort of a
prostitute to the man she is supporting,
and, according to Cooper, the title track is about "sexual awakenings. It's about the kid who just learned how to
masturbate, and what all those dirty books his father used to hide are all about."
Muscle of Love received an uneven reception from critics. Writing in
Rolling Stone,
Lenny Kaye
gave the album a mixed review, describing its content as "hit-or-miss"
and believing that the group had lost focus with regard to its musical
direction.
Phonographic Record published a negative review and suggested that the group had been unable to overcome the loss of Ezrin.
Creem, however, gave the album a positive review, calling it "a magnificent effort".
Although
Muscle of Love went to #10 on the
Billboard 200
and earned a respectable gold certification, it was considered
something of a commercial disappointment in light of its predecessor
Billion Dollar Babies having reached #1 and attaining platinum.
Track listing:
Side one:
1 - Big Apple Dreamin' (Hippo) (Alice Cooper, Glen Buxton, Michael Bruce, Dennis Dunaway, Neal Smith) - 5:10
2 - Never Been Sold Before (Cooper, Buxton, Bruce, Dunaway, Smith) - 4:28
3 - Hard Hearted Alice (Cooper, Bruce) - 4:53
4 - Crazy Little Child (Cooper, Bruce) - 5:03
Side two:
1 - Working Up a Sweat (Cooper, Bruce) - 3:32
2 - Muscle of Love (Cooper, Bruce) - 3:45
3 - Man with the Golden Gun (Cooper, Buxton, Bruce, Dunaway, Smith) - 4:12
4 - Teenage Lament '74 (Cooper, Smith) - 3:53
5 - Woman Machine (Cooper, Buxton, Bruce, Dunaway, Smith) - 4:31
Personnel: