Larry Mullen features on Alice Cooper Single and Album

Original Story by Aaron J. Sams (2017-06-11)

Larry Mullen isn’t just a guest star on one one the tracks on Alice Cooper’s new album, he’s actually playing drums on 10 tracks on the album titled Paranormal.


IMAGE: Cover of “Paranormal” Album featuring Larry Mullen

Guitarist, co-writer and co-producer, Tommy Denander revealed that Larry plays drums on 10 tracks, and adds a unique touch to the album.

Alice Cooper, speaking with radio host, Eddie Trunk talked about the collaboration. Cooper revealed it was his producer Bob Ezrin Jr. that had the initial idea to bring in Larry to play drums, “I said, ‘that’s a great idea, it’ll change things up so much, just on the basic tracks.‘” Cooper also told a story about recording with Mullen. “He said, ‘I play to the lyrics, I don’t play to the bass,’ And I said that is so cool, just the idea that you’re interpreting the lyrics on the drums. It totally makes the album another album.”

Denander reveals “For Bob to pick Larry was a stroke of genius,” he says. “The programmed drums on my demos were much more traditional hard rock, and I was a bit worried how Larry was gonna be able to play like that, since it’s not his normal style. but Bob hired him to play like him – and damn, he gave the songs a new life and a much more authentic old-school vibe, in the very best sense.”


IMAGE: Guitarist Denander with Larry Mullen during the recording sessions

The album is Alice Cooper’s 27th studio album. The album is scheduled for release on earMusic, on July 28, 2017 in a variety of formats.

On January 26, 2017, it was reported that Larry Mullen had appeared at a concert by Beasto Blanco at a club in Nashville. During the concert Alice Cooper, father of Calico Cooper, one of the members of Beasto Blanco, performed four of his songs with the band. Mullen was in attendance at the club with Cooper. Mullen was in town to record with Alice Cooper and that material is being released on Paranormal. The album was recorded at Ocean Way Studios in Nashville. The album is produced by Bob Ezrin, Larry Mullen is on drums, Jimmy Lee Sloas is on bass for part of the album, and original Alice Cooper bassist Dennis Dunaway for part of the album. Guitars are performed by Tommy Denander and Tommy Henriksen Jeff Balding is the engineer for the album, and Matt Coles is assisting. ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons and Deep Purple’s Roger Glover are also guests on this upcoming album.

The full 12-tracks available on the core album is as follows, Larry will perform on all ten of these tracks according to the guitarist, Tommy Denander.

Main Track Listing:

  • Paranormal
  • Dead Flies
  • Fireball
  • Paranoic Personality
  • Fallen in Love
  • Dynamite Road
  • Private Public Breakdown
  • Holy Water
  • Rats
  • The Sound of A

Bonus Tracks (Studio Recordings with the original Alice Cooper Band, do not feature Larry Mullen):

  • Genuine American Girl
  • You and All Your Friends

The bonus content in deluxe sets includes the following tracks, none of which have any participation by Larry Mullen:

  • No More Mister Nice Guy (Live from Columbus)
  • Under My Wheels (Live from Columbus)
  • Billion Dollar Babies (Live from Columbus)
  • Feed my Frankenstein (Live from Columbus)
  • Only Women Bleed (Live from Columbus)
  • School’s Out (Live from Columbus)


IMAGE: Cover of “Paranoiac Personality” Single featuring Larry Mullen

A single, “Paranoiac Personality“ was released on June 9th through various digital storefronts, including iTunes. Our discography entry for this single is available here. A limited 7-Inch single is expected in July. Below is the audio for the song, which may not be available in all regions:

The single can be found at Spotify at this link.

Photographs for the album cover and other related press are by Rob Fenn.

Larry Mullen has appeared on a number of tracks on an album by another artist before. In 1994 he appeared extensively on Nanci Griffith’s album Flyer. In 1995 he appeared extensively on Emmylou Harris’ Wrecking Ball. A full list of Larry Mullen’s solo work can be found in our U2 discography.

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