Alice Cooper working with original band members on 'Killer 2'

Alice Cooper pictured in 1972 (Image credit: Getty)

Alice Cooper is working with members of his original band on what will be his next album.

The shock rocker says he’s looking to his 1971 album Killer for inspiration on the next release, on which he’s teamed up with former Alice Cooper Band men Neal Smith, Mike Bruce and Dennis Dunaway.

Drummer Smith, guitarist Bruce and bassist Dunaway have all been writing for what will be the follow-up to 2011’s Welcome 2 My Nightmare. The trio were all also involved in writing that album, said to be a sort of sequel to 1975’s Welcome To My Nightmare.

Cooper tells the Weekender: “I wrote three or four songs with Neal Smith and Mike Bruce. And so we worked together in Phoenix for about two weeks just writing songs and demoing songs. And you never know which ones are going to make the album, but I said let’s do that.

“Dennis Dunaway wrote two or three things. We haven’t seen those yet, but I know Dennis has always written great stuff.

“It’s fun to go back and work with guys you haven’t worked with in a while. It’s not trying to recapture your youth. It’s trying to recapture a sound. And it’s a very elusive sound.”

Meanwhile, Cooper says his supergroup Hollywood Vampires will include mostly original material on their second album. Cooper, Johnny Depp and Joe Perry released their debut album last year, featuring a string of cover versions.

Cooper says: “I think the Vampires next album will be almost 90% new stuff.”

He’s on the road as part of his Spend The Night With Alice Cooper tour.

Alice Cooper to headline Stone Free at The O2

Spend The Night With Alice Cooper Tour 2016

May 12: Port Chester Capitol Theatre, NY
May 13: Wilkes-Barre FM Kirby Center, PA
May 14: Lynn Lynn Memorial Auditorium, MA
May 15: Morristown Mayo Performing Arts Center, NJ
May 17: Warren Packard Music Hall, OH
May 20: Pittsburgh Stage AE, PA
May 21: Rama Entertainment Centre, ON
Jun 09: Pratteln Z7, Switzerland
Jun 11: Novarock Festival, Austria
Jun 12: Ljubljana Hala Tovilo, Slovenia
Jun 14: Milan Alcatraz, Italy
Jun 16: Tel Aviv Bloomfield Arena, Israel
Jun 18: Stone Free Festival, UK
Jun 20: Tilburg 103 Poppodium, Netherlands
Jun 23: Copenhagen Copenhell, Denmark
Jun 24: Halden Tons Of Rock, Norway
Aug 06: Kalamazoo Wings Event Center, MI
Aug 07: Louisville Palace, KY
Aug 09: Huntsville Von Braun Center, AL
Aug 10: Atlanta Atlanta Symphony Hall, GA
Aug 17: New Orleans Saenger Theater, LA
Aug 20: Abilene Taylor County Coliseum, TX
Oct 09: Bemidji Sanford Center, MN
Oct 11: Winnipeg Burton Cummings Theatre, MB
Oct 12: Regina Conexus Arts Centre, SK
Oct 13: Lethbridge ENMAX Centre, AB
Oct 15: Calgary Winsport Arena, AB
Oct 16: Penticton South Okanagan Event Center, BC
Oct 19: Vancouver Queen Elizabeth Theatre, BC
Oct 22: Portland Keller Auditorium, OR
Oct 25: Reno Grand Sierra Resort, NV

Stef wrote close to 5,000 stories during his time as assistant online news editor and later as online news editor between 2014-2016. An accomplished reporter and journalist, Stef has written extensively for a number of UK newspapers and also played bass with UK rock favourites Logan. His favourite bands are Pixies and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. Stef left the world of rock'n'roll news behind when he moved to his beloved Canada in 2016, but he started on his next 5000 stories in 2022.