Brutal Planet
Release Date: June 6, 2000
Highest US Chart: #193
Tracks: Brutal Planet * Wicked Young Man * Sanctuary * Blow me a Kiss * Eat Some More * Pick Up the Bones * Pessi-mystic * Gimme * It’s the Little Things * Take it Like a Woman * Cold Machines
Cooper’s a brilliant chameleon; he can do any style of music and do it well. Here he tackles something new, a kind of industrial metal and whoo-boy is it a winner. It grinds away with the most muscular sound in Cooper history - even though many of the tracks are not fast paced, it rocks so hard and strong I never really paid much attention to whether a song was a ballad, mid-tempo or blistering.
The opening title number sets the tone, it's a steady rocker and the melody (and use of a female vocalist) surprises as it's like nothing he's done before. Artists who have been around as long as Alice are still capable of writing good tunes, but they often begin to have a familiar flavor to them. This is not always true with Cooper, a large part of that is due to the variety of different co-writers he works with. Here, his partner is noted producer Bob Marlette. The duo creates a sound that while it is still 100% Alice, is also completely fresh.
Alice called this part one of his Sci-Fi Trilogy (he’s yet to do the 3rd) but this really is all about his faith, Planet is about our wicked Earth, and its AC at his angriest. Mankind's darkest side is examined unflinchingly, none as much as the powerful and haunting Pick up the Bones, a song about genocide, which is based on a true story about families returning home to find body parts of relatives scattered about. In all his years of examining nightmares, Cooper has never written anything so horrifying. The first time I heard it, it caused my mouth to dry and my skin to crawl. The melody is strong, with an underlying ostinato played throughout the verses; it builds and builds to the chorus, where every bit of Alice’s outrage rushes to the fore as he screams his lyrics with a raw emotion that brings the sorrow of the situation to life. It is simply one of his finest, most potent efforts.
No other number on the CD can match it, but Coop and Marlette give it their all in the attempt ("Eat Some More" is strong, with words about over consumption that'll make you feel guilty, and "Cold Machines", about how dehumanized and disassociated we've become, hits as hard). And while a so/so attempt to revisit “Only Women Bleed” (Take it Like a Woman) sounds out of place musically, Planet winds up a benchmark in the Cooper canon.
Cooper’s a brilliant chameleon; he can do any style of music and do it well. Here he tackles something new, a kind of industrial metal and whoo-boy is it a winner. It grinds away with the most muscular sound in Cooper history - even though many of the tracks are not fast paced, it rocks so hard and strong I never really paid much attention to whether a song was a ballad, mid-tempo or blistering.
The opening title number sets the tone, it's a steady rocker and the melody (and use of a female vocalist) surprises as it's like nothing he's done before. Artists who have been around as long as Alice are still capable of writing good tunes, but they often begin to have a familiar flavor to them. This is not always true with Cooper, a large part of that is due to the variety of different co-writers he works with. Here, his partner is noted producer Bob Marlette. The duo creates a sound that while it is still 100% Alice, is also completely fresh.
Alice called this part one of his Sci-Fi Trilogy (he’s yet to do the 3rd) but this really is all about his faith, Planet is about our wicked Earth, and its AC at his angriest. Mankind's darkest side is examined unflinchingly, none as much as the powerful and haunting Pick up the Bones, a song about genocide, which is based on a true story about families returning home to find body parts of relatives scattered about. In all his years of examining nightmares, Cooper has never written anything so horrifying. The first time I heard it, it caused my mouth to dry and my skin to crawl. The melody is strong, with an underlying ostinato played throughout the verses; it builds and builds to the chorus, where every bit of Alice’s outrage rushes to the fore as he screams his lyrics with a raw emotion that brings the sorrow of the situation to life. It is simply one of his finest, most potent efforts.
No other number on the CD can match it, but Coop and Marlette give it their all in the attempt ("Eat Some More" is strong, with words about over consumption that'll make you feel guilty, and "Cold Machines", about how dehumanized and disassociated we've become, hits as hard). And while a so/so attempt to revisit “Only Women Bleed” (Take it Like a Woman) sounds out of place musically, Planet winds up a benchmark in the Cooper canon.
Purchases: Original CD release
🐍🐍🐍🐍½
Dragontown
Release Date: September 18, 2001
Highest US Chart: #197
Tracks: Triggerman * Deeper * Dragontown * Sex, Death and Money * Fantasy Man * Somewhere in the Jungle * DisGracedland * Sister Sara * Every Woman Has a Name * I Just Wanna Be God * It’s Much Too Late * The Sentinel
Brutal Planet tells of the sins of man on Earth, here Alice and Marlette turn their attentions to Hell - or the worst place on Brutal Planet, so yeah, Hell (I wonder, would the 3rd in this series been about Heaven, a city of hope, or were they all planned to be set in the darkest landscapes?) – While similar to Planet, it doesn’t have any breakout works of genius (like “Pick Up the Bones”) so for me it sounds like a lesser version of a masterpiece.
I also had a little difficulty with the sanctimonious undertone found throughout. I understand he’s drawing from the good book itself but he's just going 'round damning souls to hell throughout this thing (including Elvis, though to be fair, he does toss himself into the pit as well, lol). I dunno, it was an aspect that made me uncomfortable. Saying that, the Elvis song, DisGracedland, is often funny and it is interesting to hear Alice do something Lennonesque with “It’s Much Too Late”.
And yes, Cooper continues to draw from the “Only Women Bleed” model (big heartfelt ballad) with Every Woman Has a Name, and it's not bad, though it isn't the standout OWB or I Never Cry were.
Dragon's not a dumpster fire, it opens with 4 strong numbers, and track 7 is a winner, but it's also marked by tedium; I grow weary of it, and inevitably the thought that that I'd rather be listening to Planet creeps into my brain.
Note: Sex, Death and Money, was the title of a book written by Gore Vidal - Alice named it as a favorite and an influence on his music going back to the 70s.
Purchases: Original CD release
🐍🐍🐍
The Eyes of Alice Cooper
Release Date: September 23, 2003
Highest US Chart: #184
Tracks: What Do You Want from Me? * Between High School and Old School * Man of the Year * Novocain * Bye Bye, Baby * Be with You Awhile * Detroit City * Spirits Rebellious * This House is Haunted * Love Should Never Feel Like This * The Song That Didn’t Rhyme * I’m so Angry * Backyard Brawl
Marlette is gone, the sci-fi trilogy forgotten, and ax-man Ryan Roxie (who'd been with AC since '96) and Eric Dover (signed on during the Brutal Planet tour) become Coopers new writing partners. The sound (recorded nearly live) is more hook-laden rock with a poppy yet grungy feel to it. Miles from the metal stuff heard on the last 2 releases.
Much of the music here is straightforward and familiar. The songwriters lift from Cobain (High School) the Vines (“I’m So Angry” gives off strong “Get Free" vibes) and the chorus in "Backyard Brawl" has the feel of Judas Priest or AC/DC.
The formula works initially, as the first five songs are a blast. The opening track is a lethal scorcher, with that signature Cooper trailer trash humor (“Ditched all of my girlfriends, even the dirty ones”), and an answering vocal in the chorus to lend some added punch. From here we are offered more pop rock melodies and humorous lyrics (“Man of the Year” is dark and funny and “Novocain” has a sweet driving tempo, and oh how I dig the horns on "Bye Bye, Baby").
But after that it ebbs and flows. "Be with You Awhile" is your standard issue AC ballad, “Detroit City” starts off fun; great words listing all the classic Detroit rockers Alice knew. But the pre chorus and chorus just sounds off, like they come from some vaudevillian number (might be why it was re-worked for a later release). "Spirits Rebellious" and the Gothic, "This House if Haunted", with its evocative lines that linger in the mind... "She left and took the colors with her, buried in her grave" - gives the CD a lift. "Love Should Never Feel Like This" has grown on me, though the chorus sounds Bon Jovi-ish, which makes me think of Trash. The remaining material brings the grade down a hair; "The Song That Didn't Rhyme" is oh so close, but... no cigar. Angry is both good & bad (weak verses, decent bridges, I don't really hear a true chorus). Brawl, I don't care for and usually skip.
So that's 7 goodies, and 6 that range from “satisfactory” to "nope".
Note: MC5's Wayne Kramer plays guitar on Detroit City, and daughter Calico provides the theremin on This House is Haunted.
Purchases: Original CD release (purple eyed version)
🐍🐍🐍½
Dirty Diamonds
Release Date: July 4, 2005 (UK & Europe), August 2 (US)
Highest US Chart: #169
Tracks: Woman of Mass Destruction * Perfect * You Make Me Wanna * Dirty Diamonds * The Saga of Jesse Jane * Sunset Babies (All Got Rabies) * Pretty Ballerina * Run Down the Devil * Steal That Car * Six Hours * Your Own Worst Enemy * Zombie Dance * Stand
Similar to Eyes, but with more variety and tighter songwriting skills on display. It has a lean, classic sound, and many sources note a bluesy, Rolling Stone's influence (Sunset Babies). In addition, Alice frequently trades in the growl for cleaner vocals, and it works... for the humor in Perfect, the prettiness in Ballerina, or the emotion in Six Hours.
Diamonds opens with a number that taps into the same vibe as “What Do You Want from Me”. It rocks and has laughs and while not a challenging number, it’s a good and exciting way to get things rolling.
It gets even better with the cute n' catchy “Perfect”, then “You Make Me Wanna” (which gets its hooks into ya with its irresistible chorus and stinging guitar riff) and "Diamonds", a grinder that recalls the ACG with its 007 flavoring. I like these songs all very much, but just as I fear it might go down the same path as Eyes and lose a step, Alice takes a left turn with the hilarious “Jesse Jane”, a twisted tale of a cross dressing truck driver that features Cooper doing his best Johnny Cash impression, accompanied by gorgeous and articulate guitar picking. It’s a golden moment that shifts the gears.
Other tracks that do the same is his rather haunted take on the Left Bankes “Pretty Ballerina”. Alice would have been 18 when the song was released in 1966, of interest because that's the same year Talk Talk (Music Machine) and Seven and Seven Is (Love) came out, both tunes were covered during the blackout period. Also, “Six Hours” - this was so different for Alice that I thought it too must be a cover, but no, it’s a Cooper and Roxie original. The blues melody, Rick Boston's emotive guitar solo, and the mature lyrics (about an affair?) proves that Alice can do more than humor and chills. Instead of throwing in an OWB type for the umpteenth time, Cooper goes down a different path and creates a strong –adult- ballad.
I have a few complaints: The production's perhaps overly compressed, the drums too muffled and in need of a little more punch in spots. Song wise, Your Own Worst Enemy (with an opening guitar strum that recalls the Who's "I Can't Explain"), is a fair, though conventional rocker, and the CD ends with a thud, with a bonus song that was originally featured on a Summer Olympics companion album in 2004 - Stand is heavy handed lyrically and features rap by Xzbit, and that murders the perfect grade.
All the same, Diamonds flourishes more than it flounders, making it another Cooper classick.
Note: A rarer track that I would have preferred having on the release, instead of Stand, was a tune titled The Sharpest Pain, which showed up on a couple of European releases of the CD.
Purchases: Original CD release
🐍🐍🐍🐍½
Along Came a Spider
Release Date: July 29, 2008
Highest US Chart: #53
Tracks: Prologue/I Know Where You Live * Vengeance is Mine * Wake the Dead * Catch Me If You Can * (In Touch With) Your Feminine Side * Wrapped in Silk * Killed by Love * I'm Hungry * The One That Got Away * Salvation * I Am the Spider/Epilogue
Alice taps into the concept vein again and sings the story of a serial killer called the Spider who is undone when he falls in love with one of his potential victims. The CD was highly anticipated by fans and the album design is the best I’ve seen from Coop in years. Each song is illustrated in the insert by colorful horror film style art, and it really got me pumped for some great music to go along with it.
Unfortunately, what greeted my ears was pretty tired. AC has put out some amazing albums in his old age –Last Temptation, Brutal Planet and Dirty Diamonds all offered something fresh and exciting. I couldn’t wait to return to those recordings and listen to them again and again. With Spider I can barely make it through to the end and there’s little that strikes my fancy and draws me back.
Gene Hampton and Danny Saber are ACs collaborators this go ‘round and I hope this is the last we hear of the duo. The production is uneven –sometimes the drums blast out, at others it’s barely a presence (The One That Got Away). I did like some of the guitar work, but the background vocals are generally thin, and grating. And as songwriters they are predictable, pedestrian.
Lyrically the serial killer stuff hasn’t generally been ACs strong suit. Aside from the classic “Tag, Your It” from “Zipper Catches Skin” the subject doesn’t draw out Cooper’s best work. He’s much better with gothic madness, nightmares, sick predilections and addictions.
Music wise, “Wake the Dead” opens up with a different vibe (Ozzy Osborn adds a bit of harmonica) but then that melody… “Where have I heard it?” I hummed it a few times then it struck me, the verses are lifted straight from Madonna’s “Material Girl” -- Sweet Jesus McGillicutty, say it aint so Alice!
“I’m Hungry” stinks to high heaven and along with "Wrapped in Silk" is a skipper. “(In Touch With) Your Feminine Side” is a familiar sounding yawner. Did I find any decent tracks? “I Know Where You Live” and "Vengeance" are solid openers, and there are moments here and there ("Killed by Love" shows promise but is undone by a standard, blah chorus) but alas, even the better songs would be nothing other than filler on greater releases like Diamonds or Planet.
To sum up, I never enjoyed this one, and didn't like revisiting it. It bums me out to be so dissatisfied with an AC CD and honestly, I think at this stage, I'll retire it from the rotation.
Of Note: The voice of Cooper’s daughter Calico can be heard as the ‘one that got away’
iTunes (underwhelming) Bonus Tracks: Shadow of Yourself, I'll Still Be There and an unplugged version of Salvation.
Purchases: Original CD release
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Entertaining movie, Alice fans should seek it out.
Also, in Sept of that year, a Halloween tune and a contest.
Another flick during the decade was The Attic Expeditions (2001). It's only a cameo, but he's a kick.
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The colorful covers of "The Eyes of Alice Cooper"
