First of all, what's my uncle Bob doing on the album cover? haha, it looks JUST like him!

Anyway, 'Pretties for You' is an extremely underrated album because I went in expecting nothing but total noise, or hit and miss songwriting - instead it's completely wonderful from start to finish. Not only that, but it's melodic the entire way, and quite diverse. Sure, it's different from the rest of Cooper's future albums, but that's NOT a bad thing (as much as I love the rest of his 70's career).

"10 Minutes Before the Worm" sounds like psychedelic Pink Floyd (the early years) and that's a GREAT thing in my book, because that means a wonderful vocal melody. "Swing Low Sweet Cheerio" has really good guitar jamming and harmonica playing that reminds me of Country Joe and the Fish quite a bit. The other long song on the album, "Fields of Regret" has a similar vibe, but a bit heavier during the guitar jam.

"Today Mueller" reminds me of the progressive rock band Gong and the opening two tracks from the You album. Also sounds a bit like the indie rock band Of Montreal as far as whacky songwriting goes. I guess this is where the Zappa connection really reveals itself.

"Living" sounds just like the Beatles or the Byrds. It's AWESOME! Ok, "No Longer Umpire" sounds a little like filler, but it's so short and melodic enough that it really doesn't matter. The vocals on this one are a little rough to listen to.

"Levity Ball" is just very very odd. The songwriting is a tad weak here, thanks to a predictable vocal melody and bizarre instrumental jam in the middle of the tune, but I find myself loving it anyway. The vocal melody reminds me of early Who for some reason. "B.B. on Mars" has more psychedelic vocals that I instantly fall in love with. Psychedelic music is just a perfect way to write a good vocal melody. I guess I was born to like that kind of music.

"Reflected" doesn't sound like "Elected" a whole lot to me. This version is really dated sounding but in a GOOD way, because the late 60's had great vocal melodies, and this is no exception. "Apple Bush" is a really good power pop song, that reminds me of the mid 60's period of the Beatles. Actually it reminds me more of the Hollies thanks to Alice Cooper's vocals which resemble the Hollies a LOT.

"Earwigs to Eternity" has another great vocal melody. Man, this album is LOADED with those! Not particularly fond of the closing song, "Changing Arranging", but it's good enough I suppose.

Overall, people shouldn't be afriad to give this album a chance: It's just as good, or even better, than classic mid 70's Alice Cooper.

Review by B. E Jackson. 

TRACK LISTING:

A1  Titanic Overture  1:09  
A2  10 Minutes Before The Worm  1:27  
A3  Sing Low, Sweet Cheerio  5:33  
A4  Today Mueller  1:38  
A5  Living  3:02  
A6  Fields Of Regret  5:36
 
B1  No Longer Umpire  1:54  
B2  Levity Ball (Live At The Cheetah)  4:23  
B3  B.B. On Mars  1:09  
B4  Reflected  3:10  
B5  Apple Bush  2:57  
B6  Earwigs To Eternity  1:14  
B7  Changing Arranging  2:58