"Road" - Reviews

[Mr. Misdemeanor]

Anyway Paranormal and Detroit Stories both by modern standards were huge successes for Alice. But now that I think about it Live From the Astroturf, A Paranormal Evening and Road haven't gotten the same promotion. Neither has the new Hollywood Vampires live album for that matter.

Does anyone know how the Hollywood Vampires album did sales wise? I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it.

[revinkevin]

I don't consider Road a 'failure' at all. Indeed, for me, it's Cooper's most enjoyable album since Brutal Planet. Stoopid, catchy, and back to basics - The Ramones built an entire career on that - it's a hoot. Simplistic lyrics? Well, so what; some of the best pop songs ever have those.And that's what this album is: a no-frills pop record.

The band sound fine to me. Being all together, playing live, gives Road a much rawer, immediate, and organic, feel than the previous three albums. Those sound very piecemeal. Ezrin refrains from chucking the musical kitchen sink in, pulls back on polishing & buffeting, so it actually comes across as a team effort rather than the disparate anonymity of Detroit Stories. And Road doesn't fall apart halfway through like Paranormal & W2MN did.

THIS.

[Mr. Misdemeanor]

I've never really thought of Alice's lyrics as being stupid. In fact, I think they are usually quite clever and often the strongest part of his music. There are several instances where, musically, he's dabbling in genres that I don't really care for, but his lyrics somehow turn the song into something that I really like.

[pitkin88]

A little bird told me that she got a nice little nest egg for coming back after she flew the Coop and that ruffled a few feathers in the hen house.

Rubbish.
As has been repeatedly said she never left the band, just took time out to do something different. She didn't need any inducement to return. Even Kane has said that he was just holding her place until she came back. That was always understood.
Stop making things up to fit your agenda.

I never said she left the band. I am not making this up either. I got this from a very reliable source with connections to the band. With her being the biggest star on stage behind Alice the pay hike was to keep her happy and not tempted to fly again. Believe what you want.

[del]

I’ve said it already, marketing/promotion is a key issue to look at. It stepped up for the last two albums and chart placing improved. I’m pretty sure it stepped back this time so it had to make a difference.

[del]

Some synonyms for “flew the Coop” deserted, cut loose, departed, ditched, dumped, left, walked out.

[mr.barlow]

A little bird told me that she got a nice little nest egg for coming back after she flew the Coop and that ruffled a few feathers in the hen house.

Rubbish.
As has been repeatedly said she never left the band, just took time out to do something different. She didn't need any inducement to return. Even Kane has said that he was just holding her place until she came back. That was always understood.
Stop making things up to fit your agenda.

I never said she left the band. I am not making this up either. I got this from a very reliable source with connections to the band. With her being the biggest star on stage behind Alice the pay hike was to keep her happy and not tempted to fly again. Believe what you want.

I rumors that hit my ears were that she was making a statement and flexing her muscles. She knows her value to the current state of Aliceland.

I also heard that Kane was brought in on rather short notice which would account for his "rustiness" on his first few gigs.

Who knows what to believe but common sense would tell you that she us burying Alice when it comes to streams, views, likes and all of the other modern day manipulated world of music. She is doing tours of her own.. teaming up with Demi Lovato and getting great press. Why leave that to come back to an act which is a dinosaur to modern auduences?

Money!

[mr.barlow]

I'm guessing she's good for one or two more legs of touring and she'll once again leave. She should...she's on the verge of being huge!

[Rock10]

"Welcome to My Nightmare 2" should get more criticism. That was a bad album. "Road" is probably better than his last 3 albums, but sounds the same as them. Ezrin doesn't have it anymore. I expected this album to be heavier. I'm sick of the comedy lyrics and garage rock. As far as the live concert goes, didn't Alice seem stiffer than usual, and his singing wasn't as good? I'm not complaining, because he's in his 70s.

[pitkin88]

Some synonyms for “flew the Coop” deserted, cut loose, departed, ditched, dumped, left, walked out.

I'll make sure to run my posts by you before posting.

[del]

No need. Just don’t deny them.

[del]

I’m struggling to work out why Nita wouldn’t have been offered a pay increase. Is that not a natural thing to do if you are a hired musician, negotiate? I don’t see that as a negative for anyone, just part of doing a job. Are we suggesting the others haven’t had any contract reviews? Of course you pay more for the person who is worth more..if you want to.

Nita’s challenge though is that she’s past her mid 30’s, doesn’t sing and is in a genre that is well past its peak. Not saying she couldn’t be bigger or make a stand alone career for a few years but is there really something huge out there for her? Just don’t know about that.

As for Kane, absolutely recognise his contribution back in the 80s but don’t rate him on tour then and saw his return as a neutral/step backwards decision.

[pitkin88]

I’m struggling to work out why Nita wouldn’t have been offered a pay increase. Is that not a natural thing to do if you are a hired musician, negotiate? I don’t see that as a negative for anyone, just part of doing a job. Are we suggesting the others haven’t had any contract reviews? Of course you pay more for the person who is worth more..if you want to.

Nita’s challenge though is that she’s past her mid 30’s, doesn’t sing and is in a genre that is well past its peak. Not saying she couldn’t be bigger or make a stand alone career for a few years but is there really something huge out there for her? Just don’t know about that.

As for Kane, absolutely recognise his contribution back in the 80s but don’t rate him on tour then and saw his return as a neutral/step backwards decision.

Well according to Si I was making it up to further my agenda. He can't deny it. Odd how I wasn't the only one that heard about it. Not you btw Del. Hopefully it wasn't off the charts.

[Agrophile in Texas]

Silly lyrics I can handle, dumb fun, okay, I've enjoyed many like that. But lyrics and make me wince, that cause my shoulders bend and make me want to fold up and disappear because they are so God awful, nope. And that's what I feel listening to Big Boots and Rules of the Road. And I might be able to ignore awful, or embarrassing lyrics if the music is good to great - For example, I hate the words to I'm Your Gun, but musically it makes me rock in my seat, if I block out what Alice is singing, I can get through it. But so many of the songs on Road leave me unimpressed musically (songwriting-wise) as well.

W2MN was amazing, Paranormal was consistently top notch, Detroit Stories had many good tracks as well. But I revisited Road tonight after taking some time away from it, and it has actually gotten worse - I'm wanting to skip too many tunes to deem it anything but a failure. Funny, all those complaints about too many musicians and songwriters on the 3 CDs that came before... well here you have a band, with their songs, "Hey, we have a singular vision and voice" and the results? It's significantly lesser than the previous 3. I have to say, all over the map Alice worked pretty well to my ears.

If you're loving it, I'm happy for you, you spent time and money on something worthwhile, and that's the point of it all. You don't buy music with the intention of hating it. But for me, if not for the 2 songs I love, it's a throwaway. Bottom 4 - it joins that group I rarely listen to. But hey, that means I have 25 studio albums that range from like to love, that's pretty decent odds.

So, I'm retiring this one and will hope for better from the next. It'll be his 30th studio release (as ACG or soloist) so I hope he marks that occasion with something that'll knock my socks off.

Edit - looking back and reading the current debate, I have nothing against Nita, she's good at what she does. I do prefer leads that employ more expressive musical phrasing (who use their leads like a voice), over shredders. But she has speed and dexterity and does the job in the concert footage I've seen with her. I think Road was lacking in catchy guitar riffs with personality (those don't need to be complicated, just memorable, like Schools Out, Road needed some/more of that)

[lordcatfish]

I'm guessing she's good for one or two more legs of touring and she'll once again leave. She should...she's on the verge of being huge!

What's your definition of huge? She does have some sort of profile of course, playing with Alice, Demi, and doing events with WWE and American sports teams (sorry, don't know which particular sports / teams). How far do you see it going from here?

Looking at her Spotify stats, the most popular songs are the singles with guest singers. I'd wager those numbers are significantly padded by fans of Alice, Disturbed, Arch Enemy, The Agonist, In Flames etc checking out what their favourite vocalists are doing. Many of the other album tracks (which are instrumentals if I recall correctly) have a lot less than 100k plays. Very surprised to see a song with Lzzy Hale has only 123k plays, although it seems this wasn't a single so wasn't as heavily promoted as other tracks.

Touring wise, she's supporting Mammoth WVH in what looks like venues that hold 1-1.5k people. Any idea what she's drawing as a headliner? For some reason I'm thinking she was at one point doing clubs with a couple of hundred people, but I could be wrong. As someone mentioned above, I'm not sure how much bigger it can get for her, at least as a solo artist.

[Mr. Misdemeanor]

What's your definition of huge?

He's being sarcastic.


"For he was born stubborn as well as stupid; and the harm which his stupidity might do, his stubbornness would hinder him from admitting. He was not a man to be persuaded; having few ideas, he clung to them. It was no use to argue with him, for he did not hear the argument, but behind his vacant eyes all the while he turned over his crippled thoughts and was satisfied."

[mr.barlow]

What's your definition of huge?

He's being sarcastic.


"For he was born stubborn as well as stupid; and the harm which his stupidity might do, his stubbornness would hinder him from admitting. He was not a man to be persuaded; having few ideas, he clung to them. It was no use to argue with him, for he did not hear the argument, but behind his vacant eyes all the while he turned over his crippled thoughts and was satisfied."

I love when others use the thoughts and works of others as they can't put together thoughts of their own.
Use your own voice or just go away.

[mr.barlow]

I think the best thing to do when Nita's run with Alice comes to an end is go back to the two guitarist set up. Ryan and Tommy.

Both are light-years ahead of Nita in abilities and in versatility. If the next album truly is a complete effort from the original band, I would guess the following tour would be even more heavy with original band songs. Which is even more of a reason to have two guirarists who can play that style . Tommy became a full member of HV which is quite a statement of what the other band members think of him.

Nita's star is on the rise and her time as a hired hand is coming to an end...even with a raise. You can see it here on the forum...people seem to care about her as much as they do Alice.

Strip it back to two guitarists, possibly add a keyboardist...if not a keyboardist then take Nita's salary ( or any third guitarist) and invest it in the stage show.



I

[Spiner202]

Both are light-years ahead of Nita in abilities

Ryan and Tommy are great players, but this simply isn't true.

[Miller]

Strip it back to two guitarists, possibly add a keyboardist

Yes exactly or get a keyboardist/guitarist like he has in the past.