Under Influence of Alice Cooper, Ramones

A band’s influence on others is one way to measure its worth, and by that standard alone Alice Cooper and the Ramones score big.

Both groups captured the imagination of millions of teens in the ‘70s with their music and strong, calculated images--and scores of those fans went on to become rock stars themselves.

But the influence factor has its limits as a gauge of musical excellence--as we are reminded by boxed sets devoted to each of the bands.

** Alice Cooper’s “The Life and Crimes of Alice Cooper,” Warner Archives/Rhino. On the one hand, this ambitious four-disc package is an inspired salute to the shock-rocker who helped pave the way for such theatrical outrages as KISS and Marilyn Manson--inspired not because the music is all that captivating, but because the packaging made the band seem more substantial than it was. In that way, it duplicates Cooper’s own victory of presentation over substance.

Alice Cooper--the stage name Vincent Furnier adopted for himself and his band--gave us a few tunes that captured teen attitudes effectively enough to become Top 40 hits, notably “I’m Eighteen” and “School’s Out.”

But even the rowdy, guitar-driven tracks sound superficial next to the more urgent emotion of similar outcries of the era by the Who and other genuine rock creators.

Cooper’s influence sprang from the way the songs were woven into stage shows that excited young fans with all sort of thrill ‘n’ chill antics lifted from Saturday afternoon horror flicks. This approach--employing everything from live snakes to a guillotine-- was alarming to parents, adding to the group’s standing among teens.

The long list of Cooper fans cited in the boxed set’s booklet includes members of the Sex Pistols, Nine Inch Nails, the Ramones, the New York Dolls, Guns N’ Roses, Devo, Cheap Trick, Ozzy Osbourne and the Cramps.

What all these young fans fell in love with was the Cooper thrill show--of which the music was only part--and, one can safely say, not the strongest part.

Cooper’s best work was in a series of early ‘70s albums, including “Love It to Death” and “Killer”--all of which could have easily been contained in two discs. Unfortunately, this set follows Cooper through the unproductive ‘80s and ‘90s, giving “Life and Crimes” the look of a major document (complete with clever packaging showing Cooper behind prison--or is it asylum?--bars. Unfortunately, the music is mostly minor. The best of those future rock stars might have been excited by Cooper’s antics, but they surely turned to other more substantial influences for musical ideas.

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*** The Ramones’ “Ramones Anthology,” Warner Archives/Rhino. If Alice Cooper was about excess, the Ramones aimed for minimalism--in everything from their punk attitude to the short sonic bursts that were their musical trademark. So it’s fitting that the band’s music be presented in what appears to be a modest two-disc set.

In fact, the packaging here, too, is ambitious. The discs are accompanied by a handsome hardcover booklet about the Ramones’ history. Unlike “Life and Crimes,” the producers didn’t feel the need to pile on the testimonials. They simply told the Ramones’ story and let the music do the rest.

On one level, the Ramones were as much into theatrical concept as Cooper, but on a far less elaborate scale. Everything, including such early gems as “Blitzkrieg Bop” and “Beat on the Brat,” grew out of their street-punks-with-a-wink persona.

Most everything you need is on the set’s first disc (which, because the Ramones’ songs are so short, contains 33 tracks), but one consolation on the second disc is seeing how the group tried to keep its limited style alive into the ‘80s and ‘90s.

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* Albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor), two stars (fair), three stars (good) and four stars (excellent).