Paranormal Personality - the first single

[guttertrash]

I'm also not a fan of the path that Ezrin is leading Alice down or letting Alice go down. He is the producer, and Alice passed up dark Nightmarish songs like Under The Bed for an album of throwaways. Either he pushed Alice that way or he let it happen, and that is something a producer should not let happen. And I'm not a fan of this single which is being made out to be the centerpiece of where this album is going.

[HORRORHOLIC]

The funny thing is, Under My Bed would have been my favorite song on the album. That's the kind of album I was hoping for and I think what a lot of fans were expecting.

[guttertrash]

The funny thing is, Under My Bed would have been my favorite song on the album. That's the kind of album I was hoping for and I think what a lot of fans were expecting.

Yes, I agree. I like that song more than the ACG tracks which are the only songs I really like from the proper album.

[pitkin88]

The funny thing is, Under My Bed would have been my favorite song on the album. That's the kind of album I was hoping for and I think what a lot of fans were expecting.

Wasn't it excluded because it didn't fit the story line? Along with the 3 ACG tracks it was the best song.

[guttertrash]

The funny thing is, Under My Bed would have been my favorite song on the album. That's the kind of album I was hoping for and I think what a lot of fans were expecting.

Wasn't it excluded because it didn't fit the story line? Along with the 3 ACG tracks it was the best song.

It was. I think they could have made a much better storyline that fit along with the direction that song was in instead of the "Alice Cooper Goes 2 Hell: The Pop & Hip-Hop Circle" album we got.

[pitkin88]

The funny thing is, Under My Bed would have been my favorite song on the album. That's the kind of album I was hoping for and I think what a lot of fans were expecting.

Wasn't it excluded because it didn't fit the story line? Along with the 3 ACG tracks it was the best song.

It was. I think they could have made a much better storyline that fit along with the direction that song was in instead of the "Alice Cooper Goes 2 Hell: The Pop & Hip-Hop Circle" album we got.

The story lines seem sketchy at best and I doubt any fan would have leapt up saying it didn't fit.

[JoeyBananagoose]

If Alice or Bob think 'Under The Bed' lyrically fits the theme of Welcome To My Nightmare less than 'What Baby Wants', one or both of them have gone senile. It's a piss-poor excuse.

[guttertrash]

If Alice or Bob think 'Under The Bed' lyrically fits the theme of Welcome To My Nightmare less than 'What Baby Wants', one or both of them have gone senile. It's a piss-poor excuse.

Please explain what you mean. The way I see it. W2MN is a reboot of GTH. Alice ends up in a disco(theque) where he meets the devil. as with most reboots, it's not as interesting the second time around, and all the modern reworkings make it even more of a turn off. It definitely can't be called creative, because it is a rebooted storyline unlike an actual new story to add to the original.

Under My Bed is one song. It could have worked into a storyline or maybe there was a previous storyline, but they decided to change it. We will never really know.

[pitkin88]

If Alice or Bob think 'Under The Bed' lyrically fits the theme of Welcome To My Nightmare less than 'What Baby Wants', one or both of them have gone senile. It's a piss-poor excuse.

Please explain what you mean. The way I see it. W2MN is a reboot of GTH. Alice ends up in a disco(theque) where he meets the devil. as with most reboots, it's not as interesting the second time around, and all the modern reworkings make it even more of a turn off. It definitely can't be called creative, because it is a rebooted storyline unlike an actual new story to add to the original.

Under My Bed is one song. It could have worked into a storyline or maybe there was a previous storyline, but they decided to change it. We will never really know.

Then it would have surely been ACGTH2 then.

[guttertrash]

If Alice or Bob think 'Under The Bed' lyrically fits the theme of Welcome To My Nightmare less than 'What Baby Wants', one or both of them have gone senile. It's a piss-poor excuse.

Please explain what you mean. The way I see it. W2MN is a reboot of GTH. Alice ends up in a disco(theque) where he meets the devil. as with most reboots, it's not as interesting the second time around, and all the modern reworkings make it even more of a turn off. It definitely can't be called creative, because it is a rebooted storyline unlike an actual new story to add to the original.

Under My Bed is one song. It could have worked into a storyline or maybe there was a previous storyline, but they decided to change it. We will never really know.

Then it would have surely been ACGTH2 then.

It should have been.

[killer wolf]

If Alice or Bob think 'Under The Bed' lyrically fits the theme of Welcome To My Nightmare less than 'What Baby Wants', one or both of them have gone senile. It's a piss-poor excuse.

it's absolutely true. something living under the bed didn't fit the rest of the storyline of a guy dreaming about being taken to Hell.

[guttertrash]

That concept was just missing a good Bedtime Story to go along with it. I know one that would work really well.

"Lay still, Steven, and I'll tell you a bedtime story. I'll tell you a bedtime story that's not for all children. It's a very special story, that only special children will understand. It's a half-awake story, and it will be better if you close your eyes. It's a story that takes place in a dream, like other nightmares you have known. It's a dream that Alice has dreamed. You can dream along with him. You can follow Alice down the staircase, deep, down the stairs to the pit where he doesn't want to go, but he has to.

If you go to sleep now, Steven, you can go down the long and endless stairway and sing sweet songs to Alice and free him. And if you can't get to sleep, Steven, and in the middle of the night you get out of bed, when everything is quiet and the trees are still and the birds are hiding from the dark, you can lie down on your bedroom floor and press your ear tightly to the boards. If you listen very carefully you can hear Alice searching for a way out, forever chasing rainbows.

Sleep tight, Steven. And have a good night."

I would have been more accepting of the album as Goes 2 Hell. It wouldn't have made me like the album any better, because I think the majority of the songs are subpar and overly silly, but it would at least have made sense as a follow-up of that album considering that it is a re-imagining of the same concept. I would have had a less critical view since it wouldn't have been billed as something that it was not. This is also the reason I have such an issue with the new single not sounding "classic," because it has been talked up as a throwback, and it is noticeably not. I might be more open to things if the promotion wasn't completely misleading. Don't tell me that you are selling me something black when it is noticeably blue.

[A_MichaelUK]

From pitkin88:
"Wasn't it excluded because it didn't fit the story line? Along with the 3 ACG tracks it was the best song."

I think it was because "Classic Rock" wanted an exclusive recording which they could include in their "Fan Pack" version of the album. Apparently the version available from "Best Buy" was the same.

[A_MichaelUK]

From guttertrash:
"The way I see it. W2MN is a reboot of GTH.

In a way, yes it is.

>Alice ends up in a disco(theque) where he meets the devil.!

No. Only one song takes place in there which is "Disco Bloodbath Boogie Fever". After that, the protagonist finds himself at a beach party populated by zombies ("Ghouls Gone Wild"), falls in love with a zombie ("Something To Remember Me By"), is transported back to his childhood ("When Hell Comes Home") before we get to "What Baby Wants".

[guttertrash]

I've always seen the album as him falling asleep, and he is on a train to hell which is a club/discotheque, and he is there where he meets The Congregation and the Devil (I'll Bite Your Face Off). She shows him around the club/discotheque where everybody is enjoying the dance music, and then their is a massacre, and they re-animate and are now listening to rock music (I get that it is surfy, so the beach makes sense now, but I always saw it more of a pop-punk Ramones-y thing). I saw those two songs as being a bit of a jab at the quick shift the young generation makes from one fad to the next. As in, they were clubbers, and then they "re-animate" to punk or rock n' roll fans or whatever, and the club just changed to fit the current trend. I also assumed that I'll Bite Your Face Off and What Baby Wants is the same female character, thus is The Devil meeting him and being a guide. I didn't really dive too much into all of it considering that I never got into the album, but that is the way I interpreted it. Definitely see what you are saying too though

[A_MichaelUK]

From guttertrash:
"and the Devil (I'll Bite Your Face Off)."

No, that's meant to be just your regular vampire, I think.

"She shows him around the club/discotheque where everybody is enjoying the dance music,

No, she actually seduces our protagonist.

>I didn't really dive too much into all of it considering that I never got into the album, but that is the way I interpreted it.

It is definitely open to interpretation, as was "Welcome To My Nightmare", partly because Alice kind of likes it that way and partly because I don't think he was able to fully realise the concept (that he had in his head) in the lyrics.

>Definitely see what you are saying too though

It was mainly based on my own conversations with Alice and other things he's said.

[wind_up_toy]

There's no doubt that Under The Bed is a great tune.

Andy has already provided a sound explanation why it wasn't included in the standard album but another potential reason for its omission is that it would have made actually getting into the nightmare / hell too long.

Steven doesn't actually make it 'there' proper until track 5 so if UtB was included then you'd be well into the album by that point. I wouldn't have welcomed that as it would be too similar to another nightmare of mine, commuting to London by train.

I would happily have swapped UtB for Caffeine though, but the latter is also a good track (just not as good).

[HORRORHOLIC]

Under My Bed was the 1st song written for the album. Alice said Bob thought it should go in a different direction which I think was a huge mistake.

It's not that I have a problem with how the songs sound when it comes to the actual audio, it's more the musical direction and some of the creative decisions. As I said earlier, Alice and Bob's creativity together has run it's course and Alice needs to be pushed more creatively. He still has in in him to put out another great album, but I don't see that happening with Bob at this point. I just think he's been steering Alice in the wrong direction lately.

I also think he should have recorded this with his touring band because they have great chemistry.

[cooperrocks]

My opinion is not going to be a popular one but I feel compelled to voice my two cents on a few things. First, it amazes me that some fans seem to have already decided they aren't going to like the new album before they have heard all the songs. Yes the first single does sound somewhat modern but here is the thing. This is 2017 and though people don't buy much music any more, Alice has always expressed a desire to be "competitive." This isn't 1970 anymore and it is virtually impossible to make an album that truly sounds like it came from that era. Case in point, The Eyes of Alice Cooper and Dirty Diamonds are more classic sounding garage albums yet I remember when both came out, though many liked those albums there were plenty of complaints as well that it didn't sound like the older stuff. I don't know why anyone would realistically expect it too.

That's one thing that has always bothered me about Alice fans (And this isn't directed at anyone in particular and is not intended to be an insult in any way) but this can't get past the original band and perhaps the Welcome To My Nightmare era mentality. Yes, the original band was really good and those albums are great, no question. There is nothing wrong with preferring one era over another, but why does it not seem possible with some fans to like the original band and his solo work as well. I love the early Alice albums, but I love plenty of his solo work as well. In fact, there are a couple of solo albums I actually prefer over anything the original band did, but it is all great. For those that can't seem to get past the original band, we are talking about over 40 years of complaining. That's a long time to apparently be so dissatisfied. When you go in already complaining about the new album before you have heard it, then you pretty much have in some ways already given up on it without giving it a chance. I will never get that.

In my view, the first single is catchy and there seems to be a real effort by Alice's new label to try and promote the album and single as much as possible. A lot of classic rock radio stations have the song linked or in their news files, Nights With Alice Cooper are playing the song a lot, and the album's preorders seem to be doing well on Amazon. In a day and age where people don't go out and pay for music very much, I think there is a lot to be optimistic about. Just my two cents.

[The son of Don Quijote]

Thank you cooperrocks for your great post. It was very refreshing to read it here and I can relate to all that you wrote.