Alice Cooper, the master of shock rock is back, with Road, a Bob Ezrin-produced concept album detailing the rock ‘n’ roll life on tour. Packed with humour, but tinged with poignancy, it’s a strikingly honest portrait of the love-hate relationship musicians have with the touring lifestyle and, in digging behind the myth of Alice Cooper, you could argue that this is the closest we’ve yet come to a Vincent Furnier album, for all the theatrics that leap to the fore.
It starts with a declaration, however. I’m Alice is as gloriously self-referential as David Bowie immortalising The Thin White Duke on Station to Station and, as the song progresses around a suitably sleazy riff, you can almost feel the character breaking through to the surface – the aura of normality projected by Vincent replaced by the sneering, top-hat wearing showman, ready to lead us through the album. Certainly, Alice remains on top for Welcome to The Show, a hard rocking number set to Glen Sobel’s metronomic beat. With a sound not unlike that employed by Kiss on Psycho Circus, the track is a gloriously theatrical and over-the-top piece, amping up the rock ‘n’ roll cliches to the max and revelling in the sheer absurdity of it all. A slinky track with a bluesy pulse, All Over The World is the story of every rock ‘n’ roll band on the rampage ever, the protagonist finding himself variously on a train without his pants, and in a jail cell, but still killing it on stage for all of the excess exhibited. In contrast, elemets of Vincent creep into Dead Don’t Dance, a song with a dark sense of humour, but also a slight edge of paranoia as to what might have happened had Alice Cooper not burst forth so spectacularly. Opting for a change of pace, Go Away is a hard rocker telling of a rock star groupie wannabe who spams by text, email and phone every night, driving Alice to distraction in the process. With a cool Guns ‘n’ Roses pulse (circa Use Yr Illusion), it’s a cracker, delivered with typical panache despite the slight discomfort inherent in the subject matter. Next up, the unsubtle allusion of White Line Frankenstein details the role of drugs on the road, their easy accessibility and illusion of invulnerability captured neatly in both the lyrics and the epic solos (with a guest spot from Tom Morello) that conclude the track.
Kicking off the album’s second half, the sweet slide riff and hard rocking piano of Big Boots is an utterly ridiculous parody of hair metal’s salacious sexuality, while Rules of The Road hilariously lays bare the absurdity of the rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle, promising that, should you follow the rules, you’ll surely be dead by 27. A bluesy number, with a Walter Trout vibe, it’s a crackling song with a simple, yet addictive chorus guaranteed to get under the skin. Returning to the subject of groupies, The Big Goodbye summarises the one-night stands of a rocker on a road, with one of the album’s heaviest riffs to boot. The next track takes a side step to pay tribute to the army of techs and roadies who make the show possible. With a hard hitting rock ‘n’ roll vibe, Road Rats Forever is a great tribute to all those who have kept Alice on the road all these years. For the final two original songs, however, it’s not so much Alice as Vincent who comes to the surface. First up, Baby Please Don’t Goadopts a similar position to Kiss’ Beth, Vincent torn between staying home with his loved ones and heading out on the road to fulfil his calling as Alice. Then there’s the end-of-tour blues of 100 More Miles, which captures some of the sense of loss that comes when the adrenaline has been shed and it’s time to trudge home once more – a bittersweet feeling that is hard to shake off. Concluding the album is a cover of The Who’s Magic Bus, and you know that Vincent / Alice is finally on his way home, the titular bus in his possession and delivering him back to his loved ones safe and sound. It’s a fitting end to an album that proves to be one hell of a ride.
Road is a brilliant album from one of rock’s greatest showmen. Its strength lies not just in the crack band Alice has at his disposal, but in a narrative that revels in the glory of rock ‘n’ roll yet also pokes fun at it, lest it get too serious. There are personal elements too. Alice may be our guide, but Vincent gets to come out and play from time to time and, in him, we find a reflective artist, in love with life on the road but occasionally conflicted by the price it exacts. Fortunately, at the end of it all, he has a Magic Bus to take him home, a comfort not every rock star is afforded. For long-time fans of Alice Cooper, and for fans of rock ‘n’ roll in general, Road is a great trip well worth taking. 8.5/10
Bonus Disc:
As a bonus, the album comes packaged with a DVD or Blu Ray of Alice Cooper’s blistering 2022 Hellfest set. Well -filmed (although occasional long-shots form a rain-soaked lens distract slightly), and with decent 5.1 surround sound (in Dolby), it captures Alice and his band in fine form, delivering a concise set packed full of classics. From the opening blast of Feed My Frankenstein to the closing School’s Out, it’s one of those shows that passes in a blink of an eye. Highlights include Alice being led to the Guillotine at the end of Dead Babies, an absolutely bruising solo from guitar diva Nita Strauss and, of course, all the classic hits that Alice has amassed over the years. The only slight disappointment is the absence of anything from the brilliant Brutal Planet, but you can’t have everything. However, in compensation, you get to see the Hellfest audience go mad for Poison, while the moment the band interpolate Pink Floyd’s Another Brick in the Wall into School’s Out is inspired.
It’s a hell of a bonus and highly recommended.
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