New album update

Anything Alice Cooper or AC band related goes here

Moderators: Devon, Gorehound, Si, SickThings, Shoesalesman

Post Reply
pitkin88
Dada God
Dada God
Posts: 4478
Joined: Sat Dec 09, 2006 3:25 am
Location: calif

Re: New album update

Post by pitkin88 » Fri May 12, 2017 10:41 pm

A_MichaelUK wrote:From guttertrash:
"I feel like the original title could have had a great, clever lyric, but he went for the silly factor instead of clever. It's just gotten tiring."

You don't even know what the lyrics are. As Si pointed out, it's extraordinary how some people have already made up their minds about what the album s is like based on almost no information.

Why do you have to be so defensive? I think we can get a pretty good idea about idea about these two songs based on the titles.

guttertrash
Billion Dollar Baby
Billion Dollar Baby
Posts: 473
Joined: Mon Aug 04, 2008 4:11 am

Re: New album update

Post by guttertrash » Fri May 12, 2017 10:43 pm

You know where the lyical content is going. It is a place explored, and it has really made for no great song in it's other explorations. So yea, I will form opinions based on analysis of previous releases and what it seems to be going this tome aroynd from what we do know. I could be wrong, and if I am, I will admit it, but my first thoughts are more of the same.

mr.barlow

Re: New album update

Post by mr.barlow » Fri May 12, 2017 11:03 pm

guttertrash wrote:
mr.barlow wrote:
I'm Pain wrote:The new song titles make me cringe - to be honest. When W2MN came out, I voiced my concerns about the Weird Al Yankovic humor on a few of the songs, and was torn apart on this page. However, I stand by my opinion. Turning bad jokes into songs is always a bad idea because any joke really only needs to be heard once or twice. This is what seperates Alice from other artists from his era (Doors, Stooges, MC5, Bowie). For whatever reason, Alice has a silly streak which runs through his art which causes you to not take it seriously. I think the original band anchored him in a good way. I'm looking forward to the album, but my expectations are somewhat low now.
The whole point of Alice Cooper was that is was absurd! It was never meant to be taken seriously. Alice has talked since the beginning as he had no intentions of ever being a pretentious serious minded artist. On the contrary, it was all about great music, having fun, using satire and comedy to mock both the music industry and the current culture, and to make tons of money.

This is why I love Alice. He never took (or still takes) himself too seriously. If you truly understood the whole of Alice Cooper you enjoy it even more as you are in on a big inside joke!

The band and solo Alice gave the world incredible music all while laughing all the way to the bank--literally!

I will agree that this may have hurt him as being taken "seriously" by the music press and scholars, but I think the fans are more upset over this than Alice himself.

Need not worry--history will be very kind to Alice.

There is a huge difference in using satire and comedy to mock the industry and putting out absurdly silly ditties with no depth. Satire always has a clever, poignant slap in the face or a way to make somebody feel uneasy or else it is useless. Alice has crossed way passed that to the point that there doesn't even seem to be a purpose for the humor.

The way he explains I Wanna Be is exactly the issue. It originally started as I Want A Genuine American Girl, but he felt like the Alice thing to do is make it another cross-dressing song. The joke is played out. It's not funny when you rely on the same puns over and over. It is lazy or a lack of searching for new ideas. I feel like the original title could have had a great, clever lyric, but he went for the silly factor instead of clever. It's just gotten tiring.
If there ever was a time for a satirical cross-dressing song it it now. The issue of gender identity is one of the top issues in our culture right now.

Alice has tread this ground several times before, but I don't blame him one bit for resurrecting it once again. It would only be better if he had Bruce/Caitlyn Jenner on the song or appear in some press for the album.

Bruce Jenner was at one time the All-American male. He was the epitome of everything male. Now we find out that all that time he wanted to be a woman! If there was ever a time for a song like this it's now!

HORRORHOLIC
Fashion Flusher
Fashion Flusher
Posts: 705
Joined: Tue Jun 28, 2005 4:55 pm
Location: Hamilton Ontario

Re: New album update

Post by HORRORHOLIC » Sat May 13, 2017 1:03 am

RemarkablyInsincere wrote:I doubt it would ever happen, but I'd love to see Alice and the original guys work with Rick Rubin and do an album..
YES!!!
"THEY'RE NEVER GONNA FIND YOUR FACE"

- ALICE COOPER

HORRORHOLIC
Fashion Flusher
Fashion Flusher
Posts: 705
Joined: Tue Jun 28, 2005 4:55 pm
Location: Hamilton Ontario

Re: New album update

Post by HORRORHOLIC » Sat May 13, 2017 1:15 am

Lucius Morthem wrote:
ANYONE BUT RUBIN!


Rubin is the kind of producer that DOES NOT DO THE JOB



Metallica, Johnny Cash and Black Sabbath: The same situation, Rubin let them be and then just engineered everything.

Alice needs a producer who challenges him, who pushes him beyond the limits (In fact, every artist needs a producer like that)
I completely disagree about Rubin not doing the job. He does exactly what he should. He gives the artist direction and also gives them the freedom to create their own album, but also steers them back in the right direction when things don't work. Rubin was able to bring out the best in the likes of Johnny Cash, Sabbath, Metallica etc... I think Rubin could do wonders for Alice Cooper. Alice and Ezrin seem almost to comfortable with each other at times, far too much humor as has been mentioned. So yeah, I'm all for Rubin working with Alice, I think they could create something epic!!
"THEY'RE NEVER GONNA FIND YOUR FACE"

- ALICE COOPER

guttertrash
Billion Dollar Baby
Billion Dollar Baby
Posts: 473
Joined: Mon Aug 04, 2008 4:11 am

Re: New album update

Post by guttertrash » Sat May 13, 2017 3:13 am

Corey Taylor of Slipknot said Rick Rubin today is a shadow of what he was in the 80s and early 90s. Many bands spoken experiences with him are that the majority of the work is done by the engineer. He is also one of the major proponents of the Loudness War and the awful digital compression and clipping that has taken over modern mainstream music production. Possibly his fault or the fact that he is hardly at sessions at all. ZZ Top's La Futura, Death Magnetic, and the Sabbath albums are all absolute crap sonically. Weezer's album with him is their worst. He has made some killer pop albums though.

Alice needs to work with somebody that is new to the scene and who doesn't get stuck in the dumb mainstream world. His albums are not going to be played on the radio. Get some new creative, non-stagnant blood in the producers chair. Get somebody who will push and force new ideas without falling into the self-parody trap. Chips K in Sweden would be an amazing choice, but I know that will never happen.

mr.barlow

Re: New album update

Post by mr.barlow » Sat May 13, 2017 3:44 am

Did anyone stop to think that the reason Alice loves working with Ezrin is because he loves working with Ezrin?

Also, this project, as well as any other are self-financed by Alice, Shep and I'm quite certain Ezrin.

Why inflate the costs by hiring an outside producer when you have one of the greatest producers in rock music history involved in the project?

Alice at this stage has limited reach and as he correctly stated is making albums just to satisfy his fans. Alice can make the best album of his career and it will not reach far beyond his established fan base when it comes to sales.

What baffles me is that we are two months away from the release of a new album and there are those on this forum already putting forth opinions on who should do his next album. Here's a little secret folks---if Alice takes as much time as he did between W2MN and this album, he will be 75 years old when the next album is released. Let that sink in!

User avatar
Daggers & Contracts
Dada God
Dada God
Posts: 2812
Joined: Mon Feb 04, 2013 5:47 pm
Location: 340 Sanitarium

Re: New album update

Post by Daggers & Contracts » Sat May 13, 2017 4:20 am

mr.barlow wrote:Did anyone stop to think that the reason Alice loves working with Ezrin is because he loves working with Ezrin?

Also, this project, as well as any other are self-financed by Alice, Shep and I'm quite certain Ezrin.

Why inflate the costs by hiring an outside producer when you have one of the greatest producers in rock music history involved in the project?

Alice at this stage has limited reach and as he correctly stated is making albums just to satisfy his fans. Alice can make the best album of his career and it will not reach far beyond his established fan base when it comes to sales.

What baffles me is that we are two months away from the release of a new album and there are those on this forum already putting forth opinions on who should do his next album. Here's a little secret folks---if Alice takes as much time as he did between W2MN and this album, he will be 75 years old when the next album is released. Let that sink in!
Maybe on that tour he could Co-Headline W/The Stones!! :unclesam:
I've Got The Answers To All Of Your Questions...

User avatar
RemarkablyInsincere
Dada God
Dada God
Posts: 2800
Joined: Wed Sep 07, 2005 5:47 pm
Location: Pittsburgh, PA

Re: New album update

Post by RemarkablyInsincere » Sat May 13, 2017 5:24 am

guttertrash wrote:Corey Taylor of Slipknot said Rick Rubin today is a shadow of what he was in the 80s and early 90s. Many bands spoken experiences with him are that the majority of the work is done by the engineer.
And yet he continues to get great albums out of his artists. I don't really care *how* he does it, either. Whether it's him showing up once a month and nixing the crap or whatever.
"Golly gee it's wrong to be so guilty..."

User avatar
RemarkablyInsincere
Dada God
Dada God
Posts: 2800
Joined: Wed Sep 07, 2005 5:47 pm
Location: Pittsburgh, PA

Re: New album update

Post by RemarkablyInsincere » Sat May 13, 2017 5:39 am

guttertrash wrote: The way he explains I Wanna Be is exactly the issue. It originally started as I Want A Genuine American Girl, but he felt like the Alice thing to do is make it another cross-dressing song. The joke is played out.
I felt the same way about "I'll Bite Your Face Off". I think it's really a *fantastic* song, but the title immediately gives into the Alice Cooper "80s horror film" stereotype that so many people have of him. It just comes off as juvenile to me.

They could have come up with a title/chorus that was much smarter and subtle that better served the song. The title is silly and right from the get go prevents it from being taken seriously. It also diminishes any chance (no matter how small) of rock radio picking up on it, too. Too bad, because I feel this song really could have done well for Alice under the right circumstances.

The early stuff didn't hit you over the head with this kind of stuff the way Alice does far too often lately.
"Golly gee it's wrong to be so guilty..."

guttertrash
Billion Dollar Baby
Billion Dollar Baby
Posts: 473
Joined: Mon Aug 04, 2008 4:11 am

Re: New album update

Post by guttertrash » Sat May 13, 2017 6:01 am

RemarkablyInsincere wrote:
guttertrash wrote: The way he explains I Wanna Be is exactly the issue. It originally started as I Want A Genuine American Girl, but he felt like the Alice thing to do is make it another cross-dressing song. The joke is played out.
I felt the same way about "I'll Bite Your Face Off". I think it's really a *fantastic* song, but the title immediately gives into the Alice Cooper "80s horror film" stereotype that so many people have of him. It just comes off as juvenile to me.

They could have come up with a title/chorus that was much smarter and subtle that better served the song. The title is silly and right from the get go prevents it from being taken seriously. It also diminishes any chance (no matter how small) of rock radio picking up on it, too. Too bad, because I feel this song really could have done well for Alice under the right circumstances.

The early stuff didn't hit you over the head with this kind of stuff the way Alice does far too often lately.
I definitely agree. I disagree with the other topic about those Rubin produced albums being great, but that boils down to preferences, I guess. Where I am from, you can get an album produced for very little that kicks as more than the high price of Rubin or Ezrin.

pitkin88
Dada God
Dada God
Posts: 4478
Joined: Sat Dec 09, 2006 3:25 am
Location: calif

Re: New album update

Post by pitkin88 » Sat May 13, 2017 6:14 am

RemarkablyInsincere wrote:
guttertrash wrote:Corey Taylor of Slipknot said Rick Rubin today is a shadow of what he was in the 80s and early 90s. Many bands spoken experiences with him are that the majority of the work is done by the engineer.
And yet he continues to get great albums out of his artists. I don't really care *how* he does it, either. Whether it's him showing up once a month and nixing the crap or whatever.

I agree 100 percent with this.

pitkin88
Dada God
Dada God
Posts: 4478
Joined: Sat Dec 09, 2006 3:25 am
Location: calif

Re: New album update

Post by pitkin88 » Sat May 13, 2017 6:22 am

RemarkablyInsincere wrote:
guttertrash wrote: The way he explains I Wanna Be is exactly the issue. It originally started as I Want A Genuine American Girl, but he felt like the Alice thing to do is make it another cross-dressing song. The joke is played out.
I felt the same way about "I'll Bite Your Face Off". I think it's really a *fantastic* song, but the title immediately gives into the Alice Cooper "80s horror film" stereotype that so many people have of him. It just comes off as juvenile to me.

They could have come up with a title/chorus that was much smarter and subtle that better served the song. The title is silly and right from the get go prevents it from being taken seriously. It also diminishes any chance (no matter how small) of rock radio picking up on it, too. Too bad, because I feel this song really could have done well for Alice under the right circumstances.

The early stuff didn't hit you over the head with this kind of stuff the way Alice does far too often lately.

Strange Days when i am agreeing with RS so much. IBYFO is by far the best song on the album but the title hurts it especially with that poor guy in the news that had his face literally bitten off by someone high on bath salts. ( I did mention the problematic title awhile ago but don't have my owm archives like some here to prove it ). A rewrite would have been no problem.

Babysquid
Fashion Flusher
Fashion Flusher
Posts: 543
Joined: Mon Aug 11, 2014 10:13 am

Re: New album update

Post by Babysquid » Sat May 13, 2017 6:36 am

pitkin88 wrote:
RemarkablyInsincere wrote:
guttertrash wrote:Corey Taylor of Slipknot said Rick Rubin today is a shadow of what he was in the 80s and early 90s. Many bands spoken experiences with him are that the majority of the work is done by the engineer.
And yet he continues to get great albums out of his artists. I don't really care *how* he does it, either. Whether it's him showing up once a month and nixing the crap or whatever.

I agree 100 percent with this.
Also agreed

pitkin88
Dada God
Dada God
Posts: 4478
Joined: Sat Dec 09, 2006 3:25 am
Location: calif

Re: New album update

Post by pitkin88 » Sat May 13, 2017 6:53 am

mr.barlow wrote:Did anyone stop to think that the reason Alice loves working with Ezrin is because he loves working with Ezrin?

Also, this project, as well as any other are self-financed by Alice, Shep and I'm quite certain Ezrin.

Why inflate the costs by hiring an outside producer when you have one of the greatest producers in rock music history involved in the project?

Alice at this stage has limited reach and as he correctly stated is making albums just to satisfy his fans. Alice can make the best album of his career and it will not reach far beyond his established fan base when it comes to sales.

What baffles me is that we are two months away from the release of a new album and there are those on this forum already putting forth opinions on who should do his next album. Here's a little secret folks---if Alice takes as much time as he did between W2MN and this album, he will be 75 years old when the next album is released. Let that sink in!
I think we all know about the bromance between Bob and Alice. Sadly the greatest producer's ears disappeared along with his hair and the singer is just resting on his crutch. Ezrin would have jettisoned a lot of this stuff years ago ( no pun intended ) but today it seems he's patting Alice on the back and saying look how clever he is. Fresh Blood ( pun intended for Mr Barlow ) is looking like it is sorely needed or we get another album that would make a decent ep and no more.

As for satisfying fans is there anyone here who wants another Ghouls Gone Wild or Disco Bloodbath? You put out two great promos that make people sit up and react and then serve up the flat champagne of I've Fallen In Love And I Can't Get Up ( titter titter ) and the fourth rewrite of an homage to transexuals ( not that there's anything wrong with transexuals ).Maybe Alice is planning to go all Bruce Jenner like in real life who knows.

We had Alice Cooper 80 which was an amphetamine blast lets hope Alice 75 is not a bawdy Viagra romp in a wheelchair.

A_MichaelUK
Dada God
Dada God
Posts: 5383
Joined: Thu Nov 16, 2006 12:35 pm

Re: New album update

Post by A_MichaelUK » Sat May 13, 2017 9:53 am

From pitkin88:
"Why do you have to be so defensive?

Being "defensive" has nothing to do with it. How can anyone judge anything based on almost no information?

>I think we can get a pretty good idea about idea about these two songs based on the titles.

Only if you only want to judge a book by the cover, whereas they could turn out to be great songs with great lyrics. Some people seem to have already made up their minds which is a shame but not surprising.

A_MichaelUK
Dada God
Dada God
Posts: 5383
Joined: Thu Nov 16, 2006 12:35 pm

Re: New album update

Post by A_MichaelUK » Sat May 13, 2017 9:57 am

From guttertrash:
"I could be wrong, and if I am, I will admit it, but my first thoughts are more of the same."

In that case, more power to your elbow but if that's the way you want to make judgements on something, that's pretty revealing.

User avatar
patrick
Fashion Flusher
Fashion Flusher
Posts: 547
Joined: Mon Oct 22, 2012 6:38 pm

Re: New album update

Post by patrick » Sat May 13, 2017 10:02 am

A_MichaelUK wrote:From pitkin88:
"Why do you have to be so defensive?

Being "defensive" has nothing to do with it. How can anyone judge anything based on almost no information?

>I think we can get a pretty good idea about idea about these two songs based on the titles.

Only if you only want to judge a book by the cover, whereas they could turn out to be great songs with great lyrics. Some people seem to have already made up their minds which is a shame but not surprising.
------------
exactly: that's why I made my comment on titles like Blue Turk and Yeah Yeah Yeah, which revealed absolutely nothing , not about the further lyrics and certainly not about the music ..
you really wouldn't understand..

A_MichaelUK
Dada God
Dada God
Posts: 5383
Joined: Thu Nov 16, 2006 12:35 pm

Re: New album update

Post by A_MichaelUK » Sat May 13, 2017 10:04 am

From RemarkablyInsincere:
"It also diminishes any chance (no matter how small) of rock radio picking up on it, too."

While those are valid points, I would have thought we all knew by now that since say, "Brutal Planet", that has hardly been an objective.

A_MichaelUK
Dada God
Dada God
Posts: 5383
Joined: Thu Nov 16, 2006 12:35 pm

Re: New album update

Post by A_MichaelUK » Sat May 13, 2017 10:06 am

From pitkin88:
"IBYFO is by far the best song on the album but the title hurts it especially with that poor guy in the news that had his face literally bitten off by someone high on bath salts."

Imagine the outcry though, especially here, if Alice had censored himself in the hope of having a hit record.

Post Reply