ALICE COOPER: METALLICA 'Spoke For A Generation That Before Was A Little Bit Afraid To Say They Were Metal'

Legendary rocker Alice Cooper was interviewed on AXS TV's newest web series, "At Home And Social Online". Asked for his comment on METALLICA's "Fade To Black", which was named one of the "Top 10 Epic Songs Of 1984" by AXS TV, Alice said (see video below): "Well, first of all, that was my first year of sobriety; I got sober in '83. So '84 came along, and a lot of things in rock had changed. All of a sudden, metal that was underground is now at the forefront — you know, your bands like IRON MAIDEN and all these bands, and then here's METALLICA who are getting played on the radio who would not have ever gotten played in the '70s. So it was a new era.

"I always looked at METALLICA as being sort of the metal band," he continued. "Because they were so good at what they did — they had the anger, they had the songs, they had the stage presence, and they never did a bad show. So that's a good combination, when you get that onstage. I looked at it as a stage thing, because that's how I look at things — almost Broadway-ish. Why is this so good? 'Cause they're relentless. They spoke for a generation that before was a little bit afraid to say they were metal. Now these kids are going, 'We want a little anger in our rock and roll. We don't want it to be nice.' That's why they liked me — 'cause I wasn't nice. Alice Cooper was a threat. And I think METALLICA was a threat, but they were also making hit records. That's the Willy Wonka gold key — is the hit record."

Earlier in the month, Alice released a new single, "Don't Give Up". Produced by Bob Ezrin using remote technology, the song is a spontaneous reaction to the challenges facing us all right now.

Cooper felt the need to talk directly to his fans from isolation in his home where he is working to finish his upcoming new album. It is Alice's shout-out to keep our heads high, stay strong and fight back together.

A strictly limited "Don't Give Up" seven-inch vinyl picture disc will be released on August 14 on earMUSIC.

This past March, Cooper told Rolling Stone that he would use the downtime from having his North American tour postponed to work on new music.

Cooper's latest release — the six-track "Breadcrumbs" EP, described as a tribute to the garage-rock heroes of his hometown of Detroit — was released in September via earMUSIC.