Alice Cooper. What a legend. With his trademark theatrical make-up and a gallows or guillotine always on hand to dispatch his fiendish stage persona straight to hell, Alice has left an indelible impression on the history of rock.

To celebrate the release of Alice’s 25th studio album, we thought it was a good time to look back over some of the best songs of his career. This is our Top Ten – feel free to add your own favourite Alice Cooper songs in the comments section.

10) I’m Eighteen

I’m Eighteen is the coming of age song that launched the Alice Cooper band into the limelight. Featured on their major label debut, “Love It To Death”, it’s become a heavy metal classic through the years – and the teenage angst theme would feature in future Cooper tracks like School’s Out and Teenage Lament ‘74.

9) School’s Out

Back in ‘72, the king of shock rock released his most identifiable song, School’s Out. It became an instant classic, and an anthem which would be rolled out at the end of every school term for the last 36 years. Its tendency to be mercilessly overplayed is perhaps the reason why it charts at number 9 on our list!

8) How You Gonna See Me Now?

What? The king of shock rock in ‘vulnerable moment’ scandal! How You Gonna See Me Now was released after Cooper had spent an extensive period in hospital while being treated for alcoholism. The song’s as far from ‘classic’ Alice as he could possibly get, but fans of the man will dig this track for its autobiographical nature showing Cooper’s insecurities after dealing with his addiction.

7) Freedom

How could we resist this slab of pre-Trash album cheese? Freedom was released in 1987, and is notable for Schwarzneggerian guitarist Kane Roberts’ appearance in the video – guitarists aren’t ever meant to have that build, are they? Just watch some of those Status Quo-esque guitar moves…awesome!

6) The Ballad of Dwight Fry

If you’ve seen Alice live, you’ll recognize this brilliant early track which he sings while trussed up in a straightjacket. The lyrics are brilliantly psychotic and delivered with Alice alternating between docile and out-and-out crazy, often in the same verse.

5) Billion Dollar Babies

The title track from the Alice Cooper band’s best albums, Alice was riding high at the time (1973) and hanging out with Salvador Dali.

Cooper veritably sneers and spits out the lyrics of the tune, which comes fully loaded with misogynistic and highly sexual themes.

4) Only Women Bleed

It might be hard to imagine a rocker whose pastimes included cavorting with snakes and getting killed on stage receiving praise from women’s groups, but in 1975, Cooper released Only Women Bleed (which bizarrely had nothing to do with menstruation). The song sensitively tackled the issue of domestic violence. Of course, Alice also performed it on stage after fake murdering one of his fellow performers from time to time, also.

3) Desperado

Back in ‘71, Alice recorded one of our favourite songs – Desperado – an almost Western-themed track about a loner who kills for money. Brilliantly bleak lyrics – “You’re a notch and I’m a legend/You’re at peace and I must hide” – make this an all-time great.

Cooper is seemingly forgetful as to who the song was written about, having cited both Doors frontman Jim Morrison and a character from The Magnificent Seven as the inspiration. However, as far as we’re aware, Jim Morrison was not a hitman at any stage in his career.

2) Poison

Cooper’s 1989 comeback track would have taken the top spot, and it’s the song that introduced a new generation to Alice’s greatness, even if it was co-written by Desmond “All rock bands should sound the same” Child.

From that searing intro to the blistering riff, those big-ass Hair Metal drums and Cooper striding above it all, whip in hand, sneering his lyrics and loving every minute. Oh, and don’t forget the MTV-friendly video babes, a reminder that women once wore their eyebrows au naturalle. But we digress…

1) Halo Of Flies

We know what you’re thinking, “But it wasn’t even a single!” Quit crying, baby. Halo Of Flies is quite simply an epic, 8 and-a-half minutes of amazing rock music. It arguably has no parallel in Cooper’s entire back catalogue.

From 1972’s Killer album, Halo Of Flies is unlike anything you’ve ever heard before. Listen to the track below for an example of its sheer brilliance (and also look for Dead Babies from the same album which should have been on this list).

We’ve tried to include some obscure Alice tracks in this round-up. Undoubtedly, long time fans will have their own favourites, so give us your own top 10 down in the comments!

The Sugababes are one of the most enduring girl groups we’ve ever seen in the UK. They started their chart careers back in 2000 as glum-faced teens, but with a surprisingly fresh urban sound that was more interesting that the kind of pop Atomic Kitten were flogging at the time.

There’s always been a cloud of bitchiness hanging over the group and this has brought about two personnel changes leading to the departures of original members Siobhan Donaghy and Mutya Buena. However, the Sugababes have always managed to reinvent themselves with each new album.

These days, of course, they’re a very slick pop act. There’s no denying that. So, without further ado, let’s take a look at what we think are the best ever Sugababes songs.

1. Ugly – Our favourite Sugababes song of all time, Ugly is a sweet pop song that talks about growing up and feeling unattractive, but gradually realising that inner beauty is important too. It’s a real nice message that their teenage fanbase could easily relate to. It’s the Sugababes’ answer to Christina Aguilera’s Beautiful.
2. Overload – Their debut single showed three very nervous girls singing this awesome song. Overload has such a great beat and the tension in the lyrics and the music makes this a classic Sugababes track.
3. Soul Sound – Another track from the Sugababes’ One Touch album, it continues in the same sparse style as Overload. Where it differs is that there’s more vocal interplay between the girls and you really get an idea of what this group are capable of.
4. Freak Like Me – This song marks the dramatic change in style the Sugababes underwent for their second album. A collaboration with the hot producer of the day, Richard X, it was the girls’ first number one single. Freak is such a good song, it still sounds fresh today.
5. Round Round – This song followed hot on the heels of Freak Like Me, and gave the girls their second number one single. Very much in the same vein as its predecessor, Round Round may have aged slightly less well, or perhaps it’s been overplayed a little too much.
6. Hole In The Head – This has got to be one of the Sugababes most overlooked songs. It’s probably one of their best floor-fillers, and has a pretty scathing anti-male lyric. That’s the thing with the Sugababes – you never know when they’re being sexy and when they’re about to castrate you. With Hole In The Head you walk away checking your groin to make sure everything’s still there.
7. Push The Button – Another about turn stylistically. Sure, it didn’t stray far from the ‘pop’ formula, but this was the girls getting raunchy as evidenced by a scorching hot music video. The kind of music video the missus won’t let you watch in front of the kids. Or – indeed – her.
8. About You Now – From the latest album, About You Now was the lead single. Although Change features some of the Sugababes’ less memorable songs, About You Now is more mainstream pop than we’re used to from the Sugababes but a top song nonetheless.
9. Too Lost In You – A definitive Sugababes ballad, Too Lost In You sees them put away their claws for about 4 minutes to declare undying love for some nameless bloke (me, actually). The forlorn vocals are evocative of their early style – sparse beats and melancholy vocal harmonies.
10. Stronger – Considered one of the best ever Sugababes songs, Stronger is another brooding ballad. It has a lot in common with Too Lost, which came along on their third album. An epic tale of someone rebounding from a broken heart. Knowing the Sugababes though, they’ll have cut up all his clothes and set the alsatian on him.

That’s our top ten Sugababes singles listed for your comfort and convenience. Have we left anything out or rated something too low? Let us know in the comments.

It’s hard to believe, but Barbados-born warbler Rihanna’s been bothering worldwide charts since 2005, peaking in the summer of 2007 with Umbrella.

She’s one of the hottest pop/R&B artists in the world right now, so we’ve taken a look back over Rihanna’s singles and picked out the best musical moments of her career so far. Starting with…

5. Don’t Stop The Music

This one hasn’t been released in the UK yet, but it’s going to be an instant dancefloor classic.

It’s probably the most blatantly club-oriented track Rihanna has released to date (yes, even better than SOS). Pumping bass, classic Jacko sample and tres hot video. Brill.

4. Shut Up And Drive

The follow-up to the massive Umbrella, Shut Up And Drive was a much needed injection of hi-octane rock. With some suggestive lyrics about handling her curves and running the lights, it’s a racy little number (pardon the pun, folks).

Oh yeah, and the video features one of them there all-female garages where the mechanics are impossibly hot and can wear white overalls without getting dirty. That, people, is how you know it’s a fantasy, by the way.

3. Umbrella

Undoubtedly her biggest hit to date, Umbrella gets marked down somewhat for the severe overexposure it enjoyed during the summer. Still one of the best tracks of her career, and – if you read my review – that intro from Jay-Z eventually grew on me.

It’s bizarre to think that this track was offered to Mary J Blige first. I don’t think it would have been nearly as popular though.

2. SOS

2006’s SOS is one of my favourite Rihanna songs – an electro-pop rehash of Soft Cell’s Tainted Love. Guess what though? It’s another song that was offered to a different artists – Christina Millian this time – before landing on L.A. Reid’s desk.

In the video, Rihanna sports a variety of different looks, most of them smoking hot. Probably one of my favourites as she looks quite bubbly and fun compared with other videos where the hair and dress are quite harsh.

1. Pon de Replay

Rihanna’s debut single, and in my opinion her best release so far. I remember loving how different she sounded compared with other female acts at the time.

A fantastic dance/pop track that still sounds fresh two years later. Here’s the video, turn the music up….