Dressed to the hilt in raven black, pate adorned with a tipped top hat and facial features accessorized with bold lines of macabre design, the awe-inspiring Alice Cooper needs no introduction.
A legend in the making over the last six decades, Alice Cooper whacked the music industry across its cerebral matter with a cane and expert showmanship. Disrupting matters, and becoming the father of Shock Rock, his musical footprint is forever embedded in the house of Rock. For example, his signature “School’s Out” while released in 1972, remains a pop culture’s favorite as the last day of school global anthem. Difficult to deny, he still finds a way to create something special in 2023 with his latest album Road.
Released on August 25th through earMusic, Cooper initially rolled out blood red carpet to Road with the song “I’m Alice” back on June 14th. Giving fans a toothsome sonic sample to savor, the guitar riffs in rise and fall crashing onto the rhythmic surf sustaining the wild heart pounding beat of the melody. As he belts out the nefarious lyrics in this racy soundtrack with his signature raspy voice and singular magnetism, he ensnares the rapt attention of all within the ever-widening silken spider web adhesive of macabre references. To follow on July 19th was “White Line Frankenstein” (featuring Tom Morello) before “Welcome to the Show” arrived on August 8th. So, what would the rest of the journey of Road have in story?
Overall, Cooper’s 22nd overall studio album, Road, contains enough frenetic energy to mobilize an entire army of zombies. A bold statement, the collection consists of 13 tracks and is amply named Road for a reason. Together in camaraderie with a tight knit band – Ryan Roxie (guitar), Chuck Garric (bass), Tommy Henriksen (guitar), Glen Sobel (drums) and Nita Strauss (guitar) – Cooper use melodic spinnerets to weave a tale of life on the road. That in mind, interspersed throughout the album is the familiar old school sound with a cup of new energetic chords tossed in to keep the music fresh and head bobbing with hair swinging back and forth. With this, each song roars to life and hurls itself along at high speed for over 47 minutes.
Giving further insight, Cooper’s visions offer vivid glimpses into the road show life that can easily be recognized. For example, “All Over the world” describes the various exotic places where the band have performed in concert, but with a backdrop of a nostalgic melody. The tracks speed by, and “Dead Don’t Dance” with Alice Cooper alumni Kane Roberts leaves you breathless and yearning for waiting for more. This is while “Road Rats Forever” embodies the general sentiment of the band, earmarked as their anthem song, and “Rules of the Road” offers a theatrical narrative of the rule book to success.
Overall, Road is a fun album from Alice Cooper. Now after spending extensive time touring through 2023, on November 15th Cooper in association with Rufus Publications announced the forthcoming release of a new book called Starring Alice Cooper. Plotted for release later in 2024, it is reportedly 400+ page career spanning photographic book 2 years in the making overseen by Cooper himself. A great Christmas gift to pre-order, those who have not picked up a copy of Road yet should also do so, and be prepared for a ride. A worthy edition to Alice Cooper’s extensive collection of music, Cryptic Rock gives Road 5 out of 5 stars.
){kind=link}
No comment