Ελληνικά
Last Updated on 05:55 PM by Giorgos Tsekas
Genre: Hard Rock
Country: U.S.A.
Label:BMG
Year: 2017
Alice Cooper has reached the 27 studio albums on a 48-year career full of both artistic and commercial success and recognition. Whether you knew him as the glam / shock rocker from Detroit in the 1970s, or as the ultimate poser idol of the mid-80’s-early 90’s, or even as the industrial Panteroid of 00’s, Cooper almost always had the ability to intrigue his crowd. Since 2003, his attempt to make a new hit and embrace the younger audience began to tire and reminded us of the stone years that Alice lived through before 1986 when after the great albums that he released in the 1970s somewhere in time he fell down the stairs both compositionally and commercially. Now 6 years after ‘Welcome 2 My Nightmare’, which was nothing short of a rapprochement to his legendary first solo album ‘Welcome to My Nightmare’ in 1975, Mr. Fournier falls into the trap of our times, as well… With Bob Ezrin as a producer, he tries to hit the thrill and pour some nostalgia into the (fortunately still many) of his remaining fans. It’s not only about Alice Cooper’s famous friends that assist him in the studio, (drummer Larry Mullen, Jr. of U2, Billy Gibbons and Roger Glover among others) showing his anxiety about recognition and success (after all, he has done this before with great success in ‘Poison’ and ‘Hey Stupid’). It’s mostly about the foolish lyrics that make reference to Cooper’s oldest songs… “I was a Billion Dollar Baby in a diamond dress,” we hear him saying in “Fallen in Love” despite ZZ TOP’s guitarist’s contribution, Billy Gibbons, which actually doesn’t say much and a bit of disappointment strikes us suddenly. Nonetheless, good moments are also present (the opening / homonymous track of the album with Roger Glover’s participation is certainly one of these moments). Unnecessary poser explosions are also here, as well. Alice’s ace in his sleeve is the dramatic way he sings, especially when joining forces with the old gang from his original band. Epic closure of the album that saves the batch: ‘The Sound of A’ that despite its self-referentiality is top notch and two more songs as a bonus, ‘Genuine American Girl’ and ‘You and All of Your Friends’ reuniting Cooper again with Michael Bruce, Dennis Dunaway and Neal Smith. In all three of these tracks we listen to real Alice Cooper, upgrading the albums fair, of not just average, quality. Yes, we are talking about such quality, especially ‘The Sound of A’ (signed by Cooper, Dunaway) is an amazing song that eventually raises the overall result. In shallow waters fall the guitar work and slightly superior is the work of two Tommys (Denander and Henriksen), and while the production of Ezrin is always shining, nonetheless he cannot do miracles…
3,5/6
