Review: Welcome 2 My Nightmare by Alice Cooper

Well, after the long wait for its release, and after many listens... here is my review of Alice Cooper's "Welcome 2 My Nightmare" (W2MN).   Alway dangerous to do a sequel to one of your best works, but this is a great album in its own quirky way.

"I Am Made of You"  (Alice Cooper, Bob Ezrin, Desmond Child)

Doesn't quite live up to Alice's list of killer first songs in past albums ("Hello, Hooray", "Sideshow", "Schools Out", "Brutal Planet", etc.), but a pretty strong start none the less.  Still trying to wrap my head around Alice using autotune.  We get to hear the piano part from "Steven" in the intro.... pretty sweet.

"Caffeine" (Cooper, Ezrin, Tommy Henriksen, Keith Nelson)

As a coffee addict, this speaks to me.  Great chorus and a rocking number.

Because I realize / If I close my eyes / I'm gonna wake up dead.

"The Nightmare Returns" (Cooper, Ezrin)

Ahhh, here's the Alice sing-song voice we need in a nightmare album.  "Years Ago" is still the best of these, but enjoyed this one as well.

"A Runaway Train" (Cooper, Ezrin, Dennis Dunaway)

First song on W2MN co-written with an original Alice Cooper band member - Dennis Dunaway.  There are three of these on the album - and all the surviving original band members play on these tracks.  Straight ahead rock with plenty of musical elements echoing a train running out of control.

"Last Man on Earth" (Cooper, Ezrin, Piggy D, David Spreng)

Alice as Tom Waits??

Just like "Some Folks" on Welcome to My Nightmare, Alice works in a vaudeville-esque ditty.  Heavily features a tuba.  Yes, a tuba.

"The Congregation" (Cooper, Ezrin, Henriksen)

Alice as the Beatles?

If Alice had been a member of the Beatles, pretty sure this is what is would have sounded like.  Also, Rob Zombie appears on this track.  Any song that indicates hell is mostly populated with Wall Street types, defrocked priests, telemarketers, lawyers, pimps, and mimes is OK by me.

"I'll Bite Your Face Off" (Cooper, Ezrin, Henriksen, Neal Smith)

Alice as the Rolling Stones?

Alice has proven he can execute the Stones sound dead to rights with "Sunset Babies (All Have Rabies)" off the Dirty Diamonds album.  Eagerly awaiting the opportunity to sing "I'll bite your face off!!" along with Alice  next live show I see.  Quite catchy.  Neal Smith from the original group co-wrote.

She put the whip in the cream

"Disco Bloodbath Boogie Fever" (Cooper, Ezrin, Henriksen)

Alice as a techno/rap guy singing about disco??

Pretty much a comedy/rock song.  It is funny.  The background singers do sound quite a bit the the Winkies for Wizard of Oz.  Not sure how I feel about that.  Still, the title (and chorus) of this song make it a keeper.

"Ghouls Gone Wild" (Cooper, Ezrin, Henriksen)

Alice as Dick Dale?

Not sure it was wise to put the two most heavily comedy/rock songs back to back.  Fun song, VERY reminiscent of "Summertime Blue" in parts.  Mark Volman (of the Turtles) turns in some awesome backgroud vocals.

"Something to Remember Me By" (Cooper, Dick Wagner)

I usually like Alice's ballads, but this one is kind of just "meh" for me.

"When Hell Comes Home" (Cooper, Ezrin, Michael Bruce)

OK, no comedy here.  Alcoholic father.  Abused mother.  Dead alcoholic father.  Michael Bruce from the original group co-wrote. A dark, bluesy rock number.  Listen close at the end, when the abusive father gets his comeuppance, he faintly yells out "Steven!".  You KNEW we would hear from the main character from the original Nightmare.

"What Baby Wants" (Cooper, Ezrin, Henriksen, Ke$ha)

I figured I'd hate this song since it is a duet of sorts with Ke$ha.  I didn't hate it, but don't love it either.  At least Alice didn't go with Justin Bieber as the devil.  I can buy Ke$ha as the princess of darkness.

"I Gotta Get Outta Here" (Cooper, Ezrin, Patterson Hood)

Alice as Dwight Yokam?

Tinges of country creep into the closing number.  Alice recaps the stories from the previous songs, then a choir of voices responds with an operatic "What part of dead don't you get?" Alice starts to protest to no avail.

"The Underture" (Cooper, Ezrin, Henriksen, Child, Wagner, Jeremy Rubolino, Kelly Jay Fordham)

Instrumental track featuring songs from both Nightmares.  Love it.

Bonus Track:

"Under the Bed"

There are several packages of this album with different extras.  Mine had this song.  It is a perfect Nightmare song, not sure why it didn't make the actual album.

My cat went under the bed and disappeared
All we found was a tail and a paw, and an ear

Google+

So, I have been playing with Google+ (gplus.to/kellythul) and here are some early observations:

• Location check-in is super crazy easy
   
• Appears to be plan to fold in Blogger to some degree.  If that is deep integration, it is going to confuse me.  I have viewed this blog and my Twitter and Facebook activity as connected, but different
   
• Circles look to be an effective way to organize feeds to work, home, industry, etc. -- IF you approach them thoughtfully and have some level of organizational skill.  So, I'm doomed pretty much
   
• The "sparks" feature is an awesome way to catch posts on your interests (and yes, the first one I set up was for Alice Cooper).  Sparks will be wasting much of my remaining existence
  
• As you would expect, works quite well on my Droid.  Not sure how the mobile integration will happen for iPhone users - but it clearly has to somehow/sometime.  Not that I associate with iPhone users of course
    
• Today was the first day where for a fleeting moment I wondered if my Facebook page will end up like my I-think-I-have-one-but-not-completely-sure MySpace page.  It was fleeting, but it crossed my mind
   
• Still seeing big differences in my use of Google+ and Twitter.  Google+ does not appear to be a particularly nurturing environment for hashtag games... and I GOTS to have my hashtag games

More to come... someday.

Facts are facts

If you were not aware, one of the greatest injustices of all time was addressed with Alice Cooper's induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame this year.

What resulted in them finally comprehending their oversight? Well, this is the FIRST induction after the distribution of this video:

While I don't want to claim credit for Alice getting in, I really have little choice.

Hashtaggery

I really enjoy Twitter. It speaks to me because...

1. Any insight I have usually runs out of gas in 140 characters or less
   
   
2. It is a fantastic instant news source. I am SO on top of where earthquakes hit now - instantly
   
   
3. It is a match.com for kindred spirits for any topic or idea. Examples include: Alice Cooper, Star Wars, social media, White Sox, the fake rock group Joplin, lobsters becoming our overloads, etc..
   
   
4. Unlike my e-mail inbox, no harm/no foul if I miss something
   
   
5. The warm glow of retweeting and being retweeted
   
   
6. Hash tag fun

Let's dwell on number 6 for a moment.

How fun is it to participate or start a dialogue in Twitter framed by a hashtag?? #realfun!

I love trying to come up with #badstarwarsnames, joining the shared experience of watching #sharktopus together, or asserting something #thatwouldbeawesome.

With hashtags you can start the dialogie, or simply join in. The one I like to advance is #improvedbyaddingzombies. Now, it has been pointed out, that zombies are awesome and nearly EVERYTHING is improved by their addition, but it is still fun to identify things that become the most enhanced (for example: Swan Lake is clearly #improvedbyaddingzombies)

So join in the hashtag fun, and be sure to share your zombie thoughts.

BTW, if I select the "Babe Ruths" of hashtaggery... nationally, I'd have to go with @paulandstorm, and locally @Doc_Shiv.

Alice Cooper and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

I found a new toy and I LIKE it :) Go to www.xtranomal.com and you likely will too!

10 Worst Holiday Albums

These are 10 stinkers featuring the likes of Carey. Twitty, and Bolton.

I had totally forgot about the Twister Sister one. Actually I had forgotten about Twisted Sister entirely. Kinda sad that is no longer the case.

In their defense, they did shoot a mildly creepy video with Alice.

Squidoo

I don't totally get it. I don't update my one lens very much because the interface is so painfully slow... but here is my Alice Cooper Squidoo Lens.

Alice Cooper - Samsung ad

Alice Cooper Samsung ad... pretty cool. He even bites a puppy :)

ALice Cooper shakes the world

OK, only California shook, and Alice was not responsible, but he did catch it on video.

Alice Cooper and Richard Simmons... part deux

Could have used more Alice, but I enjoyed it...

The commerical

Alice Cooper and Richard Simmons... hmmm, never typed THAT before

Such a good news, bad news moment.

Alice will be appearing, albino snake in tow, in a Superbowl commercial for Bridgestone Tires. While I still think the NFL is missing the boat in not securing him for part of the halftime performance, a Superbowl Commercial isn't too shabby.

Unfortunately, he will appear with Richard Simmons in this commercial. Kinda takes a bit of the luster off the deal. The premise....

What happens when a fitness icon, a rock legend and his slithery companion confront a speeding car equipped with the precision technology of Bridgestone-brand tires?

More info and a couple of screen shots are available on the Bridgestone media site.

Alice REALLY needs to evaluate the company he keeps. Golfing with David Cassidy in the 70s - and now this :)

Album dead?

Interesting post regarding the demise of albums by Mark Cuban (Blog Maverick). While you can't argue with the drop in sales, what Mark Cuban (Blog Maverick) incorrectly discounts is that certain artists - usually vintage I grant - create music that is to be enjoyed as a collection.

Sure, much of this comes from my Alice Cooper bias - "From the Inside", "Brutal Planet", "Alice Cooper goes to Hell" simply are better as a collection of songs than as a one by one product. Also, I might never have bought a single track off of Capt. Beefheart's "Trout Mask Replica" or Graham Parker's "Struck by Lightning" - but I gotta tell ya, but they grew on me after repeated plays.

Buy "The Wall" on an installment plan? I think not.

Mr. Cuban (Blog Maverick) also offers up this point of view:

My guess is that consumers will feel better about subscribing to an artist and getting a song a week or every 2 than dropping 10 dollars at a time for an album.

I guess if they are math challenged, or have the attention spans of dogs, that makes sense... but 99 cents paid out every two weeks eventually ends up around 10 bucks for 10 or 11 songs (or 18+ songs if you buy TMBG albums).

In fairness, the subscription idea does address the need to keep things simple. I would rather not have to scan the horizon for new stuff from favorite artists. Bundling them as albums helped me keep track - pretty sure subscriptions would too.

And any approach that would have let me opt out of "No More Love at your Convenience" off Alice's "Lacy & Whiskey" has some merit.