"Welcome 2 My Nightmare" Revisted......

[Freeze]

I still think W2MN is the best AC album since "Dada" at least, maybe even since From The Inside. That there wasn't a proper WTMN tour to back it up is a little mystery to me. Still a great record though!

[evil syd]

That there wasn't a proper WTMN tour to back it up is a little mystery to me. Still a great record though!

Great Point!

[Paulimo]

It's a great album, but, despite what Ezrin said, it's nowhere near as scary or creepy as it's older brother. Too much humour and zaniness for that. But, it's a solid record.

I also agree with the negative comments about the album sleeve.

[evil syd]

It's a great album, but, despite what Ezrin said, it's nowhere near as scary or creepy as it's older brother. Too much humour and zaniness for that. .

These are different times for Coop now. He's not as creepy as he was years ago. He's even been more tongue in cheek in his shows. He's older and now seems to be more poking fun at his former self. Put it this way, years ago, I would be kind of creeped out if I was on the stage with Coop. But now, he's less of a mystery, more open about himself (plays golf, family man, quit drinking, and he's even a born again) ....that creepy aspect is leaving, LOL!
To be honest,I think the first album had a lot of tongue and cheek tracks. Cold Ehtyl, Black Widow, Some Folks, Dept. of Youth...Of course, it was a better album and more atmospheric but it's not like this album was that much of a serious album.
I think "When Hell Comes Home" is like one of his creepiest songs he has ever recorded. It's more of a fun ride of an album.

[While Heaven Wept]

The album hasn't aged particularly well for me. I think it could have at-least 2 songs removed - Disco Bloodbath & Ghouls Gone Wild. There's a bit too much humour on the album and for me the jokes wear thin pretty quickly.

It does however have a few fantastic songs... I Am Made Of You, Last Man On Earth & When Hell Comes Home. Interestingly I wasn't too keen on the latter on first listen but i've really grown to appreciate that one. I also think Under The Bed is a great track and should have been on the proper release.

[The son of Don Quijote]

That is such a fantastic album. I liked it instantly and I still love it. Unlike Along Came a Spider which I was excited about for a while but then shelved it and forgot it. It mostly gathers dust nowadays. For me Welcome 2 My Nightmare is easily Alice's best album of this Century.

It is very unpredictable, over the top and diverse. Some of the jokes do wear thin quickly. But the production is spot on. Playing is absolutely wonderful, musicianship is really top notch. There are great guitar solos on I Am Made Of You, Runaway Train, I'll Bite Your Face and Disco Bloodbath Boogie Fever(although the song is a bit weak and messy). Lyrical quality is mountains above Along Came a Spider. It is one of those rare modern AC albums that sound fresh over two and a half years after its release. None of his other albums from this Century have achieved this.

It does have its low points but it also has more than its share of highlights and some of them like I Am Made Of You reach the level of brilliance. What Baby Wants is absolutely awful and Ghouls Gone Wild can be very annoying. But most of the time this album shines like a diamond.

[patrick]

These are different times for Coop now. He's not as creepy as he was years ago.

I personally think he wasn't creepy even on WTMN1 : look at the way he performed Some Folks on the dvd, hardly creepy isn't it . But then again, even then Alice didn't want to be creepy anymore ( SO on the muppetshow..) I think we saw the "old" Alice back from the Return of the Nightmare , which was more in the old style than the WTMNshow.

[A_MichaelUK]

From patrick:
"look at the way he performed Some Folks on the dvd, hardly creepy isn't it ."

Maybe so, but the performances of "Only Women Bleed" and "Cold Ethyl" were fairly vicious.

[Babysquid]

I've only just bought this in the last couple of weeks. I really like it. Surprisingly for me my least favorites are 2 of the ACG tracks (I think When Hell Comes Home) is excellent. I really like Disco, What baby Wants, something and ghouls. And I think IAMOY and LMOE are classics.

[pitkin88]

From patrick:
"look at the way he performed Some Folks on the dvd, hardly creepy isn't it ."

Maybe so, but the performances of "Only Women Bleed" and "Cold Ethyl" were fairly vicious.

I know you weren't at the 75 shows so you really can't comment on this not being there and being able to see the crowds reaction. To call either of those vicious is a bit silly. More pantomine like to be honest when compared to the earlier stuff when he was in a band.

[Babysquid]

From patrick:
"look at the way he performed Some Folks on the dvd, hardly creepy isn't it ."

Maybe so, but the performances of "Only Women Bleed" and "Cold Ethyl" were fairly vicious.

I know you weren't at the 75 shows so you really can't comment on this not being there and being able to see the crowds reaction. To call either of those vicious is a bit silly. More pantomine like to be honest when compared to the earlier stuff when he was in a band.

Hi I know I wasn't there either (not even born actually) and I've only got the archive film to go by, but I have to agree with pitkin88. What I've seen of the band comes across as far more subversive and threatening than the Welcome to My Nightmare show, especially (I'm assuming)
the pre B$B footage. I watched some of WTMN on sky the other night and if anything it came across more Halloween theatre than a rock n roll show, I take on board that that may have been the intention.

[A_MichaelUK]

From pitkin88:
"I know you weren't at the 75 shows so you really can't comment on this not being there and being able to see the crowds reaction."

I wasn't commenting on "the crowds reaction" and neither was patrick in his post which I replied to. I was commenting on a performance "on the dvd" which is what he referred to.

>To call either of those vicious is a bit silly. More pantomine like to be honest when compared to the earlier stuff when he was in a band.

I heard people say exactly the same thing that about the "earlier stuff", too. I think David Bowie said something similar about "the earlier stuff". It just depends on your perspective.

[pitkin88]

From pitkin88:
"I know you weren't at the 75 shows so you really can't comment on this not being there and being able to see the crowds reaction."

I wasn't commenting on "the crowds reaction" and neither was patrick in his post which I replied to. I was commenting on a performance "on the dvd" which is what he referred to.

>To call either of those vicious is a bit silly. More pantomine like to be honest when compared to the earlier stuff when he was in a band.

I heard people say exactly the same thing that about the "earlier stuff", too. I think David Bowie said something similar about "the earlier stuff". It just depends on your perspective.

Oh well if david says that then it proves your point. The old band was vicious not WTMN. Please stop stretching.

[mr.barlow]

I always felt that the original band was more shocking and subversive rather than creepy or scary. The establishment and mainstream were frightened at the effect they were having on the youth culture. They really shook things up--and it was amplified by Shep's hype and playing the media.

With "Welcome To My Nightmare" Alice was turning more mainstream. Shep and ALice knew that the shock was wearing off as by 1975 it was no longer shocking and needed something else. They decided to smooth the edges on the character and made him more a beloved villain. They wanted to take Alice to the next level--make him a household name celebrity--not just a rock star. It worked. if it were not for solo Alice taking that turn I truly believe he would by now be a 1970s trivia question.

It did become Halloween theatre. It was as much a stage spectacle as a rock concert. More Broadway than Fillmore. Alice became the rock n roll version of Vincent Price. A lovable rogue villain that everybody knew and loved.

To me the only time Alice was truly vicious and absolutely scary was the Special Forces character. That character was downright messed up--as was Alice.

When he came back with The Nightmare Returns he gave the classic loveable character a mean streak with some real edge. The only time I ever saw the classic "horror" character be downright vicious and nasty with some real bite was on the "Live In The Flesh" tour. That show was just downright wicked.

He then went off to hair metal purgatory with his Alice Bon Warrant act and thankfully came back to embrace the classic character with The Last Temptation. Since then he has played it pretty much the same with some minor variations in tone.

[A_MichaelUK]

From pitkin88:
"Oh well if david says that then it proves your point."

My "point", as I said, was that everyone's perspective is different.

> The old band was vicious not WTMN. Please stop stretching.

Maybe I should ask you to learn to read. That is the second post in a row where you've put my words in my mouth - read what my original post. I didn't say anything about "WTMN" - I referred to two specific songs.

[A_MichaelUK]

From mr.barlow:
"It worked. if it were not for solo Alice taking that turn I truly believe he would by now be a 1970s trivia question."

Exactly (and this has been discussed here many times before) - it has actually helped extend his career. Even Marilyn Manson has let the mask slip and Prince (who was supposed to be so mysterious) appeared on "Muppets Tonight" - it's almost inevitable.

> That show was just downright wicked.

The way he performed "Dead Babies" on that tour was amazing. I remember at one show Brian Nelson looking at me in wonderment during one sequence in that song.