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 Doesn’t Alice look menacing on the cover of his new CD? He may to some people, but I have to chuckle inside when I look at pictures of him. We all know its an act and damned good one, that’s why I enjoy him so much, every aspect of his get up and music is a kick. Alice’s lyrics always have had a sick and sinister dark side but he always managed to throw some humor into the mix. His is the master showman and still reigns as the king of ‘Shock Rock’ on his twenty fifth album, count them, that’s right, he has been around for a long time, and long before copycats like Marilyn Manson came along. 'Dragontown' is a strong follow up to last years ‘Brutal Planet.’ Gone is a lot of the humor and the basic rock sound, its replaced by a heavier industrial sound to keep up with times. He totally blows away his younger competitors that are looking for the same ears. Although some of the songs have a softer radio friendly ‘Only Women Bleed’ sound. ‘Every Women Has A Name’ and ‘It’s Much Too Late’ harkens back to that day. Those two tracks are the only ones that break from the maniacal Alice going full bore singing about hell, sex, and violence. He sings about a fat Elvis that killed himself with pills, complete with the Elvis imitation, thank you very much on ‘Disgraceland.’
The guy hasn’t lost his sense of humor and still out rocks 90% of the blowhards trying to make music that sounds similar or is a weak imitation thereof. ‘Triggerman’ starts off the theatrical rock show with pounding backbeat and crunching mind-blasting guitar. It pulls the trigger all right, and it’s a loaded gun that is still smokin’ by the end of the album. ‘Sex, Death, and Money’ is the prototypical Alice. You know, he sounds as good as he did when he was making all of those great albums with the ‘Alice Cooper Group’ of the seventies. I wouldn’t think twice about buying an album by this man, and I wouldn’t even have to hear it or ask anyone’s opinion on it, I know it would be a great slice of rock and roll hands down. He is an old rocker but he still has what it takes to kick some ass. Keep rockin’ Alice. UB
Keith "The Muzikman"
Hanneleck has been diligently composing detailed music reviews since
1998. In the process, he has managed to network his way into various
record labels and now boasts a captivated worldwide audience— not to
mention all of the cool perks.
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