Alice Cooper - Welcome 2 My Nightmare

[binnie]

Anyone bought/heard this yet?

Thoughts?

I have to say that I am really, really disappointed - it sounds like an album made by someone resting on his laurels, and I never thought I'd say that about Coop......

[Shaun Ponsonby]

I'm gonna counter that. I really like it. There's only one track I'm not keen on, in fact.

Actually, I played it to someone who didn't like Alice and it turned him into a fan immediately (well...that and being present when he appeared on stage with Foos over the summer...that was fucking cool)

[binnie]

I'm curious to know which track you're not keen on.

To me, the nighmare concept does not work nearly as well as it did first time round. It feels like a ramshackle collection of songs rather than a coherent album (to my ears, at least).

Some of those songs are good - 'I'll Bite Your Face Off', for example - but the whole is much worse than the sum of its parts.

[Shaun Ponsonby]

Well...I kind of thought that about the first album anyway (where the hell does "Department of Youth" fit into the nightmare, for example?). I'm not saying it's as good as the first one...that would be silly. But, I'd definitely say it was his best album since "Brutal Planet" (which I still think is a criminally underrated album). I think we're kidding ourselves if we think that the "nightmare" concept here is nothing more than a gimmick to boost interest anyway...and it's worked because the album has received his best reviews and highest sales in years.


And "When Hell Comes Home" is the song I'm not keen on (discounting "The Underture, of course...cos that isn't a proper song)

[Mr. Vengeance]

I like it a lot. I went into it not even expecting to recapture the original. You can't. The memories of my youth, growing up and listening to Coop, will always outshine anything he does today. So, going in with that frame of mind, I just enjoyed the album. I even liked how he tried to do a song similar to "Some Folks" from the original Nightmare. I've given it a few spins and I'm happy with the entire album. And I like "When Hell Comes Home" a lot. (If you were actually interested in the story), it does shed some light on why Steven was so messed up.

[Shaun Ponsonby]

^^^

Oh, yeah WHCH is deinitely one of the songs that fit best conceptually, but as a song it doesn't really do anything for me. And I think with any act who has been around for a long time, you're always gonna prefer the stuff you grew up with, as strong as their latter day albums might be. When/if the new Van Halen record comes out...it won't matter how good it is, you're still gonna prefer VH1 or Fair Warning.

Love "Last Man On Earth" too (the "Some Folks" of the record)...sounds alarmingly Tom Waits-ish.

I wonder if he'll do a "new" show on the road now that the album is out, or if he's gonna continue with the show he was doing over the summer? Especially with a new guitarist over the last few weeks.

[binnie]

To be clear: I wasn't expecting it to be a patch on his glory days. It's just I was expecting more, in every sense of the word. It feels chronicly under-cooked.

'Brutal Planet' is very underated; as is 'The Eyes of Alice Cooper'.

[sonrisa salvaje]

I downloaded this and have listened to it once so i haven't gotten a chance to digest it. The things that struck me were that it has a 70's sound to it and the songs are eclectic. I wasn't expecting Brutal Planet or anything. I think it sounds about like what i expected. I heard a couple tracks that i really liked and i heard a couple i didn't care for. Too soon to tell = further listening required.

[Mr Walker]

I didn't like it... 'uninspired' sums it up for me.

[binnie]

Here's my review

_____________________

Alice Cooper – Welcome 2 My Nightmare

Re-capturing the essence of a classic record is impossible and anyone expecting ‘2’ to emulate its namesake will be sorely, sorely disappointed. That’s not to say that it’s a bad album – far from it – or that it’s not worth your time. Indeed, like just about every Coop album, it’ll entertain you – even the clunkers in his back catalogue manage to raise a smile.

Indeed, there are some bloody good rock ‘n’ roll songs here. ‘The Congregation’ has a whiff of the Oasis version of The Beatles about it, and is built around a filthy riff; the ballad ‘Something To Remember Me By’ – which features a beautiful, floating solo – sees Alice showing restraint where you’d expect overkill; and ‘Last Man On Earth’, featuring a tuba and violin no less, is a very Cooperian take on Americana. So far, so weird and wonderful. The best moments, however, are undoubtedly when Alice plays the garage rock on which he built his name and to which his voice is best suited. For example ‘Caffeine’, with its juicy riff and a teasing, pantomime vocal, would not be out of place in the Rocky Horror Show. Best of all are the three tunes on which Alice is joined by his Billion Dollar Babies bandmates Denis Dunway, Michael Bruce, and Neil Smith: ‘A Runaway Train’ is a shuffling blues, ‘When Hell Comes Home’ evokes the brooding, schizophrenic rock of their heyday, and ‘I’ll Bite Your Face Off’ is menacing and macabre, and features a damn fine set of lyrics. It’s everything you want from Alice Cooper – and you can’t help but get wrapped up in his world for 4 minutes.

And yet, ‘2’ leaves you feeling a little cold. The problem is not that the songs aren’t good, but rather that – despite the nominal presence of a ‘story’ – they don’t gell sonically into a unified album. Part of the problem is surely the rather revolving cast of songwriters. Alice and producer Bob Ezrin have assembled something of a ‘hit team’ in Keith Nelson (Buckcherry), Desmond Childs (arrrrrggh!) and Kei$ha, who appears in all of her auto-tuned glory. The result is something of a clutter, albeit an enjoyable one. You do wish, however, that someone had pressed ‘delete’ on ‘Disco Bloodbath Boogie Fever’ – a song as clumbsy as its title suggests – which sees Alice rap (yes, ‘rap’) some funky-uncle lyrics which sound as edgy as Neil Sedaka; and the woeful ‘What Baby Wants’, in which he duets with the aforementioned Kei$ha, a girl young enough to be his granddaughter, in a song which at least fulfils the nightmare’s role of being creepy.

In truth, then, ‘2’ is not much different from most records by ageing rock stars: it features moments which remind you of former heights, moments which surprise you in their quality; and moments which are downright embarrassing. What it does have, however, is Alice Cooper, who oozes charm throughout. ‘2’ is a lot of fun, but it’s far from being the best of even his latter day albums.

[Shaun Ponsonby]

^^^

I'd say Disco Bloodbath Boogie Fever is parody above anything else, which Alice has always done to some degree. Kinda like "You Gotta Dance" on "Alice Cooper Goes To Hell".

[binnie]

I've no doubt it's a stab at parody. But if you're going to do parody it's got to be accurate.

I love Cooper, but he should have avoided the whole 'Nightmare' concept and just made another garage rock record.

[Shaun Ponsonby]

I've no doubt it's a stab at parody. But if you're going to do parody it's got to be accurate.

I love Cooper, but he should have avoided the whole 'Nightmare' concept and just made another garage rock record.

Well...he's still got to Cooperize it. It's half parodic, half continuing the concept. He said of "You Gotta Dance" that disco music represents hell in the world of Alice Cooper. So, it has to resonate that too. (Also, judging by a line in "I Gotta Get Out Of Here", Ke$ha is the devil in "What Baby Wants", which I'm guessing why it has that similar electronic feel to it).

[Mr Badguy]

I like it a lot.

It's nowhere near the classic that the original is, but what sequel is?

However, it is a very good Alice Cooper album with something for everybody.

I have to admit, though, that it did take a few spins to get into it.

The only weak spots for me are "Runaway train" and perhaps "What baby wants".

The rest is great.

[Nitro Express]

Welcome to my nightmare would be a good 2012 campaign song for either side. LOL!

[Shaun Ponsonby]

I like it a lot.

It's nowhere near the classic that the original is, but what sequel is?

However, it is a very good Alice Cooper album with something for everybody.

I have to admit, though, that it did take a few spins to get into it.



Consider me concurred.

As I said earlier, the "nightmare" gimmick was probably only employed to boost interest and sales, and the tactic has worked as I believe it has been his biggest seller for about 20 years and the reviews have been largely positive. Good. Hooray for The Coop!

[binnie]

Do you guys really think it lives up to some of his other more recent records like 'Dirty Diamonds' or 'The Eyes of...'?

[Shaun Ponsonby]

Do you guys really think it lives up to some of his other more recent records like 'Dirty Diamonds' or 'The Eyes of...'?

Well...I think they're two good albums. But I think an album that had the best tracks from each under one roof would have been better.

[Mr. Vengeance]

Do you guys really think it lives up to some of his other more recent records like 'Dirty Diamonds' or 'The Eyes of...'?

"Eyes" I loved the return to garage rock. DD, I thought was okay. I don't listen to it all that much in comparison to most AC albums. Along Came a Spider I liked a lot.

I think W2MN stacks up well with Eyes and ACAS. Blows DD away.

[Seshmeister]

To put the release in some context Alice Cooper is a teetotal 63 year old Christian golfer.

Don't get me wrong I like him as a person but at this point he is overachieving just getting on stage and putting on a decent show.

[Jesus Christ]

Indeed, it even surprises Me that Vincent ended up on My team :jesuslol: