It’s a tricky proposition reuniting an old team. On the one hand, it can be inspiring to be back among the people with whom you started your musical adventure. On the other, you have to compete with the nostalgia of an unforgiving fanbase. However, Alice Cooper is hardly one to temper expectations and so, rather than test the water, he embedded the return of original members Michael Bruce, Dennis Donaway, Neal Smith, and Glen Buxton into the very artwork of the album. With super-producer and long-term collaborator Bob Ezrin (Pink Floyd, Meat Loaf, Kiss) also returning to the fray, the stage is set for a return that fans have been clamouring on for some five decades.
The result is a fun, frothy album that finds the band slipping deftly between blues, rock, and even a touch of NYC punk, often having more in common with the grainy, somewhat campy horror of the Hammer studios than contemporary fearmongering. Most importantly, it finds the original members of Alice Cooper simply happy to be back in one another’s company for one last crack of the whip, and their obvious enthusiasm translates well across the fourteen tracks on offer.
The album sets out its creepy stall with Black Mamba. While Alice is clearly having fun, Michael Bruce and Robby Krieger trade wah-inflicted licks, leaving Dennis Dunnaway’s slithering bass to give form to the titular terror. With its singalong chorus, it makes for a satisfyingly groovy start to the album. Picking up the pace, Wild Ones finds Michael, Gyasi Heus, and Rick Tedesco trading riffs as Neal Smith pounds away at the skins. A hard rocker that captures the spirit of vintage Alice, with just a hint of early Kiss thrown in for good measure, it boasts a cracking chorus that gets the blood flowing freely. Better still is the deliciously dark New York groove of Up All Night, which makes a fair argument for Alice’s influence on everyone from Guns ‘n’ Roses to White Zombie.
With the album having found its footing, Alice takes us on a digression to the sanatorium with the exquisite Kill The Flies – the sort of creepy, sneering, minor-key rocker (complete with doo wop influences) that Bob Ezrin has long enjoyed teasing out from Alice’s subconscious. It’s followed by the lascivious One Night Stand, a great track that provides a neat showcase for Dennis’ excellent bass work. Speaking of Dennis, he emerges as the sole songwriter on the unexpected Americana of Blood On The Sun. Opening with acoustic guitar and neo-folk vibes, it slowly morphs into a heavy rocker with a taut rhythm, and it stands as most of the album’s most tightly wound – even paranoid – songs. In contrast, Crap That Gets In The Way Of Your Dreams is simply a fun rocker – very much in the vein of Neil Young’s Piece Of Crap or Walter Trout’s recent Too Bad – and it’s guaranteed to bring a smile to your face.
Opening the album’s second half, Famous Face is another cracking hard rock piece that finds co-writer Bob handling percussion and backing vocals as the band let rip around him. Rather more stripped back is the punky Money Screams, which harks back to the New York Dolls with its simple, stabbing riff and blue-collar lyric. Then there’s the easy blues of What A Syd, which aims a wry eye at the cliché of living fast, dying young and leaving a good-looking corpse. The band keep things bluesy with Intergalactic Vagabond Blues, which throws harmonica trills and the smell of cheap whiskey into the mix, the band clearly having a ball as they dig into the bar-room rock that kicked off their career. We’re not done yet, either, because What Happened To Youshamelessly reworks Johnny B. Goode, honky-tonk piano and all, into a blazing gem that stands as an album highlight.
With the album nearly done, Alice Cooper and his ghoulish crew pay tribute to the masters with a fun cover of the Yardbirds’ I Ain’t Done Wrong, Michael and Gyasi clearly having a blast as they tear into the myriad solos that make up the song’s epic conclusion. It leaves the slow-paced ballad, See You On The Other Side, to wrap up the album on a slightly nostalgic note, leaving us to wonder if these musicians will ever stand in a room together again.
The Revenge Of Alice Cooper is one of those albums that comes across as slightly light touch on first listen, only to work its way slowly under your skin the more time you spend in its company. From Alice’s multifaceted vocal performance to the band’s deft shifting through the gears from the hard rock of Wild Ones to the laid-back blues of Intergalactic Vagabond Blues, it’s clear that everyone involved was in it for the sheer joy of making music together, and it’s a pleasure to hearing them all sounding so relaxed in one another’s company. An unexpected highlight of the year, The Revenge Of Alice Cooper is that all-too-rare of beasts in horror – a sequel that stands equal to the original. 8.5/10
