| DaDa | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | September 28, 1983 (US) [1] November 4, 1983 (UK) [2] | |||
| Studio | ESP Studios (Buttonville, Ontario, Canada) | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 42:15 | |||
| Label | Warner Bros. | |||
| Producer | Bob Ezrin | |||
| Alice Cooper chronology | ||||
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| Singles from DaDa | ||||
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DaDa is the eighth solo studio album by American rock singer Alice Cooper, released in September 1983, by Warner Bros. Records. DaDa would be Cooper's final studio album until his sober re-emergence in 1986 with the album Constrictor .
DaDa was produced by long-time collaborator Bob Ezrin, at the time his first production with Cooper in six years since his third solo studio album Lace and Whiskey (1977), during that interim Ezrin had produced Pink Floyd's studio album The Wall (1979), with people comparing certain track's sound on DaDa to Pink Floyd. [6] With the guitar solo on "Pass the Gun Around" being compared to David Gilmour's playing-style. [7]
It was recorded at ESP Studios in Buttonville, Ontario, Canada, and made use of local musicians with contributions from Juno Award-winning vocalist and keyboardist Graham Shaw, bassist Prakash John and vocalist Lisa Dal Bello, who would soon be known by her stage name Dalbello, and Karen Hendrix (Olejnizak). A mostly synthesizer-focused album, it made extensive use of the then-new digital sampling synthesizer, the Fairlight CMI.
Guitarist and co-songwriter Dick Wagner revealed in 2014 that Cooper had relapsed to drinking heavily during the recording of DaDa, [8] and had suggested that the album was a contract fulfillment requirement for which Warner Bros. was not pleased and consequently made no effort to promote, [9] though Warner Bros. has never confirmed or denied this. This and other details, like the real-life cocktail waitresses that inspired "Scarlet and Sheba" are in his autobiography Not Only Women Bleed (2011). [10]
DaDa is the final of three albums in which Cooper refers to as his "blackout" albums, the others being preceding studio albums Special Forces (1981) and Zipper Catches Skin (1982), due to substance abuse. Cooper stated "I wrote them, recorded them and toured them and I don't remember much of any of that", [11] though he toured only Special Forces, the tour for which ended in February 1982. [12]
In 1996, Cooper said that DaDa was the scariest album he ever made, [13] and that he never had any idea what it was about. There was no tour to promote DaDa, and none of its songs have ever been played live.
The front cover for DaDa was based on a painting by Spanish surrealist artist Salvador Dalí titled Slave Market with the Disappearing Bust of Voltaire (1940). The back cover features a photograph of a young Cooper holding a dog with a separate photograph of an old man next to it.
DaDa peaked at No. 93 in the U.K. but failed to dent the U.S. Billboard 200. "I Love America" was released as a single solely in the U.K. over a month after the album's release. DaDa was Cooper's final studio album for his long-time label Warner Bros., and after its release he took a three-year hiatus from the music industry.
DaDa is cited as [14] the main inspiration behind the birth of the Italian gothic and shock rock band the Mugshots, the first ever European band produced by Dick Wagner, who is also featured on Love, Lust and Revenge. That EP contains the first cover ever recorded of "Pass the Gun Around", a live favourite for the Mugshots. [15]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |    [16] |
In a retrospective review for AllMusic, critic Gary Hill wrote that "As Alice Cooper albums go, this one is really far above average." Adding that "This album is a rather varied release, showcasing several sides of Cooper's musical tastes, but it is all very entertaining. If you missed it when it first came around, do yourself a favor and give it a try now." [16]
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "DaDa" | Bob Ezrin | 4:45 |
| 2. | "Enough's Enough" | 4:19 | |
| 3. | "Former Lee Warmer" |
| 4:07 |
| 4. | "No Man's Land" |
| 3:51 |
| 5. | "Dyslexia" |
| 4:25 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6. | "Scarlet and Sheba" |
| 5:18 |
| 7. | "I Love America" |
| 3:50 |
| 8. | "Fresh Blood" |
| 5:54 |
| 9. | "Pass the Gun Around" |
| 5:46 |
| Total length: | 42:15 | ||
Credits are adapted from the DaDa liner notes. [17]
Musicians
Production
| Chart (1983) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| UK Albums (OCC) [18] | 93 |
Alice Cooper is an American rock singer and songwriter whose career spans sixty years. With a raspy voice and a stage show that features numerous props and stage illusions, including pyrotechnics, guillotines, electric chairs, fake blood, reptiles, baby dolls, and dueling swords, Cooper is considered by many music journalists and peers to be "The Godfather of Shock Rock". He has drawn equally from horror films, vaudeville, and garage rock to pioneer a macabre and theatrical brand of rock designed to shock audiences.
Destroyer is the fourth studio album by American hard rock band Kiss, released on March 15, 1976, by Casablanca Records in the US. It was the third successive Kiss album to reach the top 40 in the US, as well as the first to chart in Germany and New Zealand. The album was certified gold by the RIAA on April 22, 1976, and platinum on November 11 of the same year, the first Kiss album to achieve platinum. The album marked a departure from the raw sound of the band's first three albums.
Welcome to My Nightmare is the debut solo studio album by American rock musician Alice Cooper, released on February 28, 1975. It is his only album for the Atlantic Records label in North America; in the rest of the world, it was released on the ABC subsidiary Anchor Records. Welcome to My Nightmare is a concept album. Played in sequence, the songs form a journey through the nightmares of a child named Steven. The album inspired the Alice Cooper: The Nightmare TV special, a worldwide concert tour in 1975, and his Welcome to My Nightmare concert film in 1976. The ensuing tour was one of the most over-the-top excursions of that era. Most of Lou Reed's band joined Cooper for this record.
Zipper Catches Skin is the seventh solo studio album by American rock singer Alice Cooper, released in August 1982, by Warner Bros. Records.
Alice Cooper Goes to Hell is the second solo studio album by American rock musician Alice Cooper, released in 1976. A continuation of Welcome to My Nightmare as it continues the story of Steven, the concept album was written by Cooper with guitar player Dick Wagner and producer Bob Ezrin.
Muscle of Love is the seventh and final studio album by American rock band Alice Cooper. It was released in late 1973, the band played its last concert a few months later.
Lace and Whiskey is the third solo and tenth overall studio album by American rock singer Alice Cooper, released on April 29, 1977, by Warner Bros. Records.
The Alice Cooper Show is a live album by Alice Cooper, released by Warner Bros. in December 1977.
From the Inside is the fourth solo studio album by American rock singer Alice Cooper, released in December 1978 by Warner Bros. Records. It is a concept album about Cooper's stay in a New York asylum due to his alcoholism. Each of the characters in the songs were based on actual people Cooper met in the asylum. Among other collaborators, the album features three longtime Elton John associates: lyricist Bernie Taupin, guitarist Davey Johnstone and bassist Dee Murray.
Love It to Death is the third studio album by American rock band Alice Cooper, released on March 9, 1971. It was the band's first commercially successful album and the first album that consolidated the band's aggressive hard-rocking sound, instead of the psychedelic and experimental rock style of their first two albums. The album's best-known track, "I'm Eighteen", was released as a single to test the band's commercial viability before the album was recorded.
School's Out is the fifth studio album by American rock band Alice Cooper, released in June 1972. Following on from the success of Killer, School's Out reached No. 2 on the US Billboard 200 chart and No. 1 on the Canadian RPM 100 Top Albums chart, holding the top position for four weeks. The single "School's Out" reached No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100, No. 3 on the Canadian RPM Top Singles Chart and went to No. 1 in the UK Singles Chart.
Easy Action is the second studio album by the American rock band Alice Cooper, released by Straight Records in March 1970. The title comes from a line from one of the band's favorite films, the musical West Side Story. As with Pretties for You, the band's debut from the previous year, Easy Action was neither a commercial nor critical success. Singles include "Shoe Salesman" and "Return of the Spiders".
Killer is the fourth studio album by American rock band Alice Cooper, released in November 1971 by Warner Bros. Records. The album peaked at No. 21 on the Billboard 200 album chart, and the two singles "Under My Wheels" and "Be My Lover" made the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
Richard Allen Wagner was an American rock guitarist, songwriter and author best known for his work with Alice Cooper, Lou Reed, and Kiss. He also fronted his own Michigan-based bands, the Frost and the Bossmen.
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Brutally Live is a DVD of American rock singer Alice Cooper's concert on 19 July 2000 at the Labatt's Hammersmith Apollo in London, England, released later in the same year. It was re-released in 2003 on DVD accompanied with an audio CD of an edited version of the DVD's soundtrack.
Nils is the fourth solo studio album by Nils Lofgren, released in June 1979.
The Strange Case of Alice Cooper is a live concert video released in September 1979, of Alice Cooper performing with his backing band The Ultra Latex Band. The concert was filmed on April 9, 1979 during Cooper's 'Madhouse Rock' Tour in San Diego, California, at the San Diego Sports Arena, in support of the album From the Inside.
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