Interesting Review

While Heaven Wept · Post by **While Heaven Wept** » Tue Jul 29, 2008 12:24 pm

I was gonna write a full review for ACAS however it seems someone has done a MeatLoaf and taken the words right out of my mouth ...

http://www.treehouseofdeath.com/?p=700

I think it's a fair review and i agree with about 99% of it

steven_crayn · Post by **steven_crayn** » Tue Jul 29, 2008 2:28 pm

It's all about opinions, but when the guy said

"Whilst Alice has never shown any great inclination towards songs of the epic and experimental variety in recent years, for short four minute hook-laden tunes he’s always been solidly reliable. It’s for this reason that Along Came A Spider is, in general, so disappointing, because so few of the riffs jingle in your brain afterwards and many of the vocal melodies fail to resonate on a level that makes them truly memorable. This is extremely unfortunate considering Alice’s gradual rise back to the limelight after the under-rated classic Brutal Planet and the aforementioned Dirty Diamonds. Too many of the songs though reek of filler, coming across more like the work of a new band than a seasoned pro. The curse of the concept album - that there was a concept and the music got put to it afterwards, seems very apparent unfortunately. Whilst the album does contain a few excellent guitar solo’s in places, including some very memorable work by former Guns N’ Roses maestro Slash on ‘Vengeance Is Mine’, these seem misplaced considering the hook-absent riffs that precede them."

I had to laugh! can he not hear the riffs on Vengeance Is Mine?, the backing riffs that underline the fills and solos have a touch of Welcome To The Jungle about it, they hooked me right in.
There are more memorable riffs on this album than those in recent years and I think that is because it has been better thought out, rather than the guys in the band jamming around certain ideas, Greg Hampton's input is what makes this album more creative than recent efforts which apart from some songs I haven't been that blown away by.

He then goes on to say

"Along Came A Spider isn’t complimented by Alice’s expected mastery of wit and sadistic double entendre. Whilst the lyrics clearly have Alice’s trademark satirical humourous quality, this time poking fun at the rather lazy gorno movies that have populated cinema screens of late, too many times the satire becomes too close to its object of parody resulting in rather lazy clichés like ‘Wake The Dead’,"

If he isn't keen on the lyrics to 'Wake The Dead' maybe he should direct some of the blame towards Ozzy not that I think their are anything wrong with them.
I think Alice has taken a more direct approach with his lyrics on this album but it works within the concept.

Great album for me

While Heaven Wept · Post by **While Heaven Wept** » Tue Jul 29, 2008 3:02 pm

Well as you can probably guess, i disagree. I feel the guitar work on DD and EOAC is much more heartfelt and innovative than anything on ACAS.

With regards to 'Wake The Dead' - i wasn't aware Ozzy had any input with the lyrics anyway? Regardless, he is making the judgement that they are not very good. I happen to quite like the song until the line 'Run For Your Life' and i believe i have already stated this in other discussions (which is why i picked up this review as it pretty much echoes my thoughts word for word). It just seems to be stuck in as narrative tool without really adding anything clever to the music.

But like you said, it's just an opinion and no-one should be made to feel like their opinion is worth less than anyone elses.

Gorehound · Post by **Gorehound** » Tue Jul 29, 2008 3:13 pm

Review by 'the_holy_ferret'

I really gotta find a way to keep Freddy in his cage

criss · Post by **criss** » Tue Jul 29, 2008 4:27 pm

A well written review , that im sorry to say i ve got to agree with it.

The marketing was top notch , the visuals are fantastic . The dribble about the album being a cross between billion doller babies and dragon town was also smart marketing . The older fans that like BDB are saying wow i gotta get this album and the fans that like the real heavy coop style are also saying im getting this album for sure as its like DT . The notion of similarity rests either on ACAS , BDB And DT all having guitars on them or all these albums have the coop on them .

If anyone can point out any similarity between ACAS and BDB or DT plz chime in

WickedYoungMan · Post by **WickedYoungMan** » Tue Jul 29, 2008 5:11 pm

Criss: Just a small note but it was supposed to be "B$B" and "Brutal Planet," not "Dragontown."

Feezle-Nuts · Post by **Feezle-Nuts** » Tue Jul 29, 2008 5:11 pm

I see no similarity. The only thing that you could say is that Vengeance sounds like it could have been a DT reject.

RemarkablyInsincere · Post by **RemarkablyInsincere** » Tue Jul 29, 2008 5:15 pm

Which of you are actually expecting something on par with B$B at this stage of the game.

I find the idea preposterous.

WickedYoungMan · Post by **WickedYoungMan** » Tue Jul 29, 2008 5:22 pm

RemarkablyInsincere wrote:Which of you are actually expecting something on par with B$B at this stage of the game.

I don't think anyone was, however, it was Greg himself who said he was going for a "Billion Dollar Babies" meets "Brutal Planet" sound. So if you see people mentioning that, that's why.

MacQueen · Post by **MacQueen** » Tue Jul 29, 2008 6:01 pm

WickedYoungMan wrote:
RemarkablyInsincere wrote:Which of you are actually expecting something on par with B$B at this stage of the game.
I don't think anyone was, however, it was Greg himself who said he was going for a "Billion Dollar Babies" meets "Brutal Planet" sound. So if you see people mentioning that, that's why.

Just goes to show all of you that none of us should take the words of any producer to heart.

I strongly disagree with the reviewer's opinion that EOAC and Dirty Diamonds had more guitar riffage. ACAS blows Dirty Diamonds away on guitar riffs and melodies alone. Dirty Diamonds missed out on it's principal object: it simply doesn't ROCK.

I think maybe ACAS is a throwback to Killer and WTMN and not Billion Dollar Babies or Brutal Planet, it doesn't have the sounds of the former two.

Although the reviewer was right about Ryan Roxie, I think his style would have been a keen element to ACAS. But it's still a great album.

WickedYoungMan · Post by **WickedYoungMan** » Tue Jul 29, 2008 6:12 pm

MacQueen wrote:ACAS blows Dirty Diamonds away on guitar riffs and melodies alone.

Oh really now.....

Dirty Diamonds missed out on it's principal object: it simply doesn't ROCK.

I thought it rocked.

I think maybe ACAS is a throwback to Killer and WTMN and not Billion Dollar Babies or Brutal Planet, it doesn't have the sounds of the former two.

I don't think it sounds anything like any of those personally. The only thing even close to an older sounding album is "I'm Hungry" which practically is the "Is It My Body" riff.

Although the reviewer was right about Ryan Roxie, I think his style would have been a keen element to ACAS. But it's still a great album.

MacQueen · Post by **MacQueen** » Tue Jul 29, 2008 6:19 pm

Sorry, but I feel the need to clear something: when I say throwback, I mean reminiscent of Killer and Welcome to My Nightmare.

And I won't debate with you or anyone who holds such high regards for Dirty Diamonds, you're entitled to what you want to believe.

RemarkablyInsincere · Post by **RemarkablyInsincere** » Tue Jul 29, 2008 7:08 pm

The only thing I can say about "Dirty Diamonds" is that everyone I know personally liked it even less than I did.

There's some good material on there, but much of it feels underdeveloped to me.

smanomega · Post by **smanomega** » Tue Jul 29, 2008 7:18 pm

ACAS is alright BUT As for not hearing classic ALICE I think you all may not be listening as much as judging or critiquing instead of just listening Killed by love could be mixed with I Love the dead especially the chorus sing it now I LOVE THE DEAD- killed by love- i love the dead (lower) -Killed by love

wake the dead -run for your life line out of place
Chorus of salvation - what!? why so good till then
Chorus of catch me at times not so good

Baz · Post by **Baz** » Tue Jul 29, 2008 8:16 pm

RemarkablyInsincere wrote:The only thing I can say about "Dirty Diamonds" is that everyone I know personally liked it even less than I did.

There's some good material on there, but much of it feels underdeveloped to me.

Thats the way I feel about ACAS, every song has got something good about it, but they don`t feel like they are the finished article.

RemarkablyInsincere · Post by **RemarkablyInsincere** » Tue Jul 29, 2008 8:37 pm

Baz wrote:
RemarkablyInsincere wrote:The only thing I can say about "Dirty Diamonds" is that everyone I know personally liked it even less than I did.

There's some good material on there, but much of it feels underdeveloped to me.

Thats the way I feel about ACAS, every song has got something good about it, but they don`t feel like they are the finished article.

I don't feel that way... this album feels so much more finished. There is just so much more melody across this album than there was on the last.

steven_crayn · Post by **steven_crayn** » Wed Jul 30, 2008 1:43 am

WickedYoungMan wrote:Criss: Just a small note but it was supposed to be "B$B" and "Brutal Planet," not "Dragontown."

I'm sure Welcome To My Nightmare was also mentioned as an influence.

It isn't as good as Billion Dollar Babies or Nightmare, but that is a tall order how can Alice ever match those albums?

But I prefer it to Brutal Planet even though I can hear a Brutal Planet influence.

There are degrees of greatness and I still think it is a great album, I would put it at #8 in my all time Cooper albums behind From The Inside at 7 but ahead of Hey Stoopid and Last Temptation which I've got at 9 and 10.

1-6 all come from 1971-1975, how do you match that period when Alice can't be in his 20's again when the hunger to create was at it's peak, but another Greg Hampton or Bob Ezrin produced album would be a step in the right direction.