It is that time of the week again and as per normal, it is quite an interesting musical adventure.
Alice Cooper: Welcome to My Nightmare II
There are times in this gig that reviews are tough to write. This is one of those, it is of course easy when a release is a steaming pile or something special. What is tough is when most of it just leaves you unmoved. This is one such disc. I have listened to this disc quite a few times and for the most part is just doesn't do anything for me. I say this as someone who likes the ole' Coop's music both old and new. The music sounds far more like the music from his first big time in the charts. This is far more rock (and in some cases roll) than it is metal. This is dark poppy rock music that would not have been out of the place in the '70s.
There are some amusing ditties on here, as you would expect from
Alice, but nothing that really rivals anything on its original namesake. I can't even figure out whether the opening track "I am made of You" is brilliant or balderdash. It is, of course, very possible that I am taking this way to seriously and missing the point of the CD. I mean the pseudo-rap of "Disco Bloodbath Boogie Fever" is just freaking awful, but that might be deliberate.
Another problem with the disc is that it's 14 tracks, which is quite a few too many. "Last Man on Earth" and "Ghouls Gone Wild" have grown on me, the latter is a great song that should be a hit at Halloween. There seems to be the missing "catchy" element that is so common in the best of Alice's tracks. The ballad "Something to Remember" seems quite out of place mid-CD and should have been left to last. It just ruins the vibe of the disc and is just not very good. "What Baby Wants" has the same vibe as his hit "Poison", but with a modern Glee-esque duet touch.
Overall, this disc strikes as trying too hard to be hip. Not a bad album, but not the usual quality and consistency we expect from Alice.
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