10 Greatest Shock Rock Acts

There had been many rumblings of shock rock in the 60's with bands pushing the limit of what was expected out of entertainers. With one fell swoop, Alice Cooper captivated audiences around the world and became the most loved and hated artist in pop culture.

From the band's inception, Cooper wanted to make the Alice character into the ideal rock and roll villain. This led to writing songs with a delightfully sinister mindset, with song lyrics touching on topics from teen angst to black magic.

The shocks started in Toronto, where Alice is still alleged to have murdered a chicken onstage. After that first foray into stage antics, Alice became more theatrical by the minute by dawning horrific makeup, disturbing stage attire, and even sporting a cobra around his neck as a part of the act. The climax of each performance would be a segment where Alice would be killed in a myriad of different ways, from hanging to beheading to being stabbed with a humongous syringe.

Many bands have come after Alice Cooper with similar theatrical tendencies, but Cooper was the one who opened the initial floodgates and proved that in the eyes of shock rockers, nothing would truly be sacred.