Alice Cooper thinks he is a better performer now than he was 30 years ago.

The 64-year-old rocker admits his earlier gigs had ''real power'' but he was not as strong a frontman as he is now because he was drinking so much alcohol.

He said: ''We're doing better tours now than we ever did. When I was 30, I was a mess. I was drinking a bottle of whiskey a day. I did shows that weren't anywhere near as good as the shows I do now.

''In some ways, [the early shows] were better because it was more guerilla. You couldn't come out there wimpy, you had to come out strong. It was rock 'n' roll and in your face but the drunk edge gave it real power.''

The 'School's Out' hitmaker - whose real name is Vincent Furnier - believes other bands have always ''looked down'' on his act because of their theatrical stage show, but he insists he is every bit as good as his peers.

He told Independent Radar magazine: ''We were kind of looked down on by other bands but only because we were so theatrical and sensational that people said, 'Well take your theatrics away and you're not a good band.'

''We were every bit as good a band as anybody out there. In our heads we were competing with Led Zeppelin, the Rolling Stones and the Beatles.''