New Alice Album in 2 or 3 months

[RemarkablyInsincere]

"So it goes all over the place". That's a bit concerning for me as I thought that was the main problem with Nightmare 2. Many of my friends like the Coop but that last one had too many styles to keep them interested.

Yea, sadly the album hasn't held up for me. My early enthusiasm eventually waned and I now don't feel W2MN was a very good Alice Cooper album. The end-all-be-all barometer for me is, do I actually want to listen to the songs? And 5 years later, I largely don't. Aside from two of them (IBYFO, Caffeine), I really couldn't care less if I ever hear them again. Seriously.

Hopefully the guitar driven rock as he has stated will be the connection. Billy Gibbons is a good place to be. He definitely has a immediately recognizable rock guitar style.

Actually, I'd rather not hear of any guest stars as this can lead to a lack of cohesiveness in the sound, but this is something Alice has done throughout his career and it's not always been a problem so we'll see.

I still look forward to a new album, Alice is certainly due for a good one after a few releases that haven't stood the test of time, but I hope they are taking a different approach.

[JoeyBananagoose]

I'm inclined to agree. ACAS promised the menace but lacked the tunes. W2MN promised the archetype but was too wacky and off the wall. There have been a lot of good Alice songs in the last 17 years or so, no doubt. Unfortunately there hasn't been an album I found truly great since Brutal Planet. Hollywood Vampires I just couldn't care less about. I don't see how sticking largely to dull covers and standing next to an obnoxious violent abusive drug addict like Depp is supposed to enhance anything.

[mestreech]

I'm inclined to agree. ACAS promised the menace but lacked the tunes. W2MN promised the archetype but was too wacky and off the wall. There have been a lot of good Alice songs in the last 17 years or so, no doubt. Unfortunately there hasn't been an album I found truly great since Brutal Planet. Hollywood Vampires I just couldn't care less about. I don't see how sticking largely to dull covers and standing next to an obnoxious violent abusive drug addict like Depp is supposed to enhance anything.

Alice made some of his best work when he was on drugs.

[AlongCameASpider27]

Maybe its just that I am easier to please, but I feel like Alice has been consistently great since Constrictor after his rebirth...some albums are better than others...some of his newer solo material has what I call a "new classic" feel to them...Hey Stoopid produced the perfect Might as well be on mars for instance but for albums that are pretty good all the way through, for me Raise Your Fist and Yell, Last Temptation, Brutal Planet, Dragontown, Along Came A Spider, Nightmare 2...I can't wait for Paranormal.

[RemarkablyInsincere]

I felt everything Alice did in the 2000s on the whole up through "Dirty Diamonds" was really solid with a few them being really, really good albums. BP and TEOAC in particular.

Things have slipped since. I had high hopes for W2MN with Ezrin back in the fold, but it didn't translate into a great album. The new songs on the HV album were "okay", but didn't set my world on fire.

Maybe "Paranormal" will stem the tide and we'll get a strong album.

[guttertrash]

I am a huge Billy Gibbons fan, but I am also a huge Joe Walsh and Slash fan, and in my opinion, Ezrin's production on the HV album wasted their talents. You can't tell who is who on that album, because of it's terrible production, so I hope Gibbons contribution isn't wasted. I will withhold any judgement on the choice of Mullens on drums for now, but I was really hoping for an album with the live band. I also would like Ryan Roxie to be a major songwriting force on the album, because the last two without him (besides the 3 ACG tracks) have not delivered, but if it is going to be another album with guests and session players that Ezrin brings in, I have little hope for it. I truly hope this is not the situation though.

[Maaki]

Ezrin has been doing the hired hand thing since the 70s.

I am excited but, I guess I am still hoping that the musicians in the live band will have a role, instead too many inferior guests that Ezrin has brought in because he knows them or just for the name - like Mullen. Glen is several tiers better than him.

I mean, if you are bringing in guests at least bring in Portnoy and Vai.

[Si]

I would guess that Mullen's was around, they got chatting, and he was invited to take part. Doubt there was much more to it then that.

As to how good a drummer he may be, I honestly haven`t a clue, but you don`t always need a super-technical drummer to get the job done right, Depends on the song(s).

[revinkevin]

Yup, I would like to see more input from the touring band. They are truly a talented group. I thought I read months back they would be involved along with the old band members. But Alice does like to bring in guests to mix results IMO. Chuck Garrick's last 2 releases have been very heavy with a modern hard rock metal feel. That works for me.

[Saint&Sinner]

I would love to hear a more metal album, lots of shredding and fantastic hooks - guitar solos and gang vocals work for me!!! (or is that an album title in itself!) his 1986-2000 period is still my favorite

In regard to his touring band i have mixed feelings:
Personally outside of nita and chuck i dont care much for his touring band, glen sobel especially. i dont think i have ever heard a more boring drummer than him play for alice - he is the alice equivalent of matt sorum! does the beat but in the most boring way possible....he does know how to twirl drum sticks tho, so i guess there is that.

I actually really like tommy tommy tommy (so good you have to say it thrice) but he isnt a great writer and he is only there to sing the bits alice cant do anymore.
Ryan is fine but he is only an average player and just a classic rock and roll guy. Thats fine but i think given alice's pedigree of great guitarists he is found wanting.

Im excited to hear it and i hope its as good as W2MN, i really love that album (apart from the horrible ballad and ghouls) and it was the only good album he has done since dragontown for me.

[pitkin88]

I would guess that Mullen's was around, they got chatting, and he was invited to take part. Doubt there was much more to it then that.

As to how good a drummer he may be, I honestly haven`t a clue, but you don`t always need a super-technical drummer to get the job done right, Depends on the song(s).

You should ask Henry Rollins.

[Si]

I would guess that Mullen's was around, they got chatting, and he was invited to take part. Doubt there was much more to it then that.

As to how good a drummer he may be, I honestly haven`t a clue, but you don`t always need a super-technical drummer to get the job done right, Depends on the song(s).

You should ask Henry Rollins.

Ask him what?

[bigbradwolf]

In regard to his touring band i have mixed feelings:
Personally outside of nita and chuck i dont care much for his touring band, glen sobel especially. i dont think i have ever heard a more boring drummer than him play for alice - he is the alice equivalent of matt sorum! does the beat but in the most boring way possible....he does know how to twirl drum sticks tho, so i guess there is that.

I actually really like tommy tommy tommy (so good you have to say it thrice) but he isnt a great writer and he is only there to sing the bits alice cant do anymore.
Ryan is fine but he is only an average player and just a classic rock and roll guy. Thats fine but i think given alice's pedigree of great guitarists he is found wanting.

I think thats a bit harsh. This band musically is as tight as your going to get it IMO.

To call Glen a "boring drummer".
I can think of worse drummers over the years. He's tight and he drums well. Would you prefer a 'look at me' drummer who thinks he is star of the show by overplaying fills and overcomplicating the songs for the rest of the band? I'd find that rather annoying.

To call Ryan an "average player" and a "rock and roll guy".
He's above average otherwise he wouldn't be making a living in a touring rock band and Alice Cooper's band is a rock and roll band!

To say Tommy "isn't a great writer and he is only there to sing the bits alice can't do anymore".
I'm not sure Tommy has much input in the song writing process. He's more involved with the production side of things and I'm pretty sure Alice and Ezrin would have final say over the songwriting aspect so I don't see the need to criticise Tommy with that point.

[Suspiria]

Paranormal Slumbers

Way too early to write off the entire Paranormal album! Could be a lot of fun. Just think positive.

btw Am hoping that there will be at least one track as mighty as I Am Made of You was. Last Man On Earth & I'll Bite Your Face Off weren't too shabby either.

[cooperrocks]

I must be in the minority regarding W2MN because I still love the album. It is diverse and a fun album though I really think the humor in the album more aligns with GTH than the original WTMN album.

I agree with other posters that I think his work from Constrictor to the present has been consistent and good to great for the most part. I think The Last Temptation for example is one of the best albums he has ever done at any point in his career.

I don't want to get into another ACG vs solo Alice debate, but I will say this. My nieces and nephews and some of my cousins who are still relatively young, really like the more modern Alice albums while they aren't fans of the 70's stuff for the most part. Obviously older Alice fans in many cases are into the 70's material.

As far as Alice's current band, musically I think the last few years are the best band he has ever had and I respectfully disagree about Glen. I think he is a tremendous drummer and the rest of the band are amazing too. Tommy and Ryan are both solid players, all anyone has to do is check out Chuck's stuff with Beasto Blanco to realize how talented he is, and Nita Strauss is more than good, she is flat out great in Alice's band.

[Suspiria]

I agree with other posters that I think his work from Constrictor to the present has been consistent and good to great for the most part.

I would agree with that but with the exception of one post-'86 album: 2008's Along Came A Spider. I honestly thought that release was awful (except for the Vengeance Is Mine track) and unfortunately, it has now made me very wary when a new AC album is imminent.

[The son of Don Quijote]

I love W2MN too. Production on it was great, playing was excellent and songwriting incredibly diverse. It was and still is a very entertaining album. It is probably his only album from this century that has retained some of its freshness and I still think it's one of his most inventive albums ever without being experimental and chaotic like Pretties for You.

Along Came A Spider on the other hand is quite terrible. Music on it is seriously lacking for the most part, production is sterile, dry and without any feel or depth and lyrics are clumsy and Alice's side project Hollywood Vampires is in some ways even worse, certainly more pointless.

I have also met some people who don't care Alice Cooper's 70's output at all and but are really into 86 - 91 era.

[concolz]

Re: discussions above.....I must be in the tiniest of tiny minorities, because I really like ACAS. There's a certain Roger Cormanesque quality to it, and I've never got fed up of playing the album.

On the other hand, I got rid of W2MN last year....got bored with the comedy songs, sappy ballad, and Beat It duet; crummy cover as well.

Paranormal is a good album title; will the songs reflect that?!

[kevinuk81]

Re: discussions above.....I must be in the tiniest of tiny minorities, because I really like ACAS. There's a certain Roger Cormanesque quality to it, and I've never got fed up of playing the album.

Make that 2 who like ACAS.

[guttertrash]

W2MN and HV doesn't have great production at all. They are both slick and sound huge, but they do very little to give ambience or atmosphere to the project, and the albums fall flat in my opinion because of it. They have no personality. This is most likely due to digital/protools production. Yes, they sound really good compared to ACAS, but that album was produced by hacks who should have never been given the opportunity to produce an Alice Cooper album. One thing that ACAS did do that no album has done in quite awhile is bring out the snarling, venomous side of Alice's singing. While some of the songs are still silly, the album brings out the darker side of Alice especially in his delivery, and I loved that element. W2MN had no element of horror to it unlike the original or ACAS. The "horror" of it was in how bad the puns came off. "Disco Bloodbath Boogie Fever" with it's terrible disco/pop and "Ghouls Gone Wild" with it's awful "surf influence" and the "Beat It" duet with Kesha mentioned above are definitely scary, but only because Ezrin and Alice thought that it was good. The best sounding production he has had post Brutal Planet/Dragontown was The Eyes Of Alice, because it is actually a pretty big, but still organic sounding album. I am not a fan of the bright, power/pop production and elements at times, but it does sound fantastic from an engineering standpoint. Much of that is due to them recording the album live in the studio and then overdubbing leads and other bits to correct mistakes. W2MN and HV (as well as the last to Deep Purple albums) however just makes no sense to me and makes me fear that I will dislike anything Ezrin touches these days.