Thursday, August 3, 2017

Alice Cooper - Paranormal Album Review

Alice Cooper is back! The Master of Shock Rock...the villain, the victim, the everything macabre that has thrilled, and revolted us for years delivers his best new album in years!

There's just no substitute for quality production. Bob Ezrin has always been among the best in the business and his work on these new tracks are evident. They come alive under his vision and Alice flourishes.

The album is Paranormal and as Cooper explains, “I love that title, 'Paranormal', but it's not really a scary record. There's a couple of scary songs on it, but it's 'paranormal,' in the sense that it is other than normal.”

He and Ezrin set out to do an album without a theme in mind, just for the fun of it, and the theme emerged on its own. The songs do reflect those things that make Alice Cooper music what it is. You only need to listen once to bear witness to the twisted mental states delightfully being sung about here.

For a change Bob Ezrin brought in Larry Mullen Jr. on drums and from there added some guest work from Roger Glover and Billy Gibbons.

There's ten songs, and all are lyrically fantastic. One of the best things about this album is how deliciously interesting the songs are, and how relevant they are even now.

Most veteran rockers usually fade, they lose their way, and become nostalgia acts that still rock out live, but no longer make new music. That's never been the case with Alice Cooper. He gives us a well crafted album that can be played over and over.

His secret to ongoing success is that he does not try to be popular by today's standards, he stays true to himself, because that has always been more than enough!

"I have a world of fans out there, all over the world, and it took forty-five years to build that fan-base. So when I make records now, I make 'em for those people. I'm not trying to break a new audience. I am playing an album for an audience that's already there." - Alice Cooper

That's how ya do it!

The best new songs are Paranormal - Paranoiac Personality – Fireball - Private Public Breakdown

Paranormal Track Listing:

 1. Paranormal
 2. Dead Flies
 3. Fireball
 4. Paranoiac Personality
 5. Fallen In Love
 6. Dynamite Road
 7. Private Public Breakdown
 8. Holy Water
 9. Rats
10. The Sound of A

Bonus Disc Track Listing:

New studio recordings with the original Alice Cooper band Neal Smith (drums), Michael Bruce (guitar) and Dennis Dunaway (bass):

11. Genuine American Girl
12. You And All Of Your Friends

Live in Columbus, Ohio, May 6th, 2016 with the current Alice Cooper band:

13. No More Mr. Nice Guy
14. Under My Wheels
15. Billion Dollar Babies
16. Feed My Frankenstein
17. Only Women Bleed
18. School's Out

Alice Cooper is currently on tour in the US and here are some of his upcoming shows.

Sep 01 KeyBank Pavilion Pittsburgh, PA
Sep 02 Budweiser Stage Toronto, Canada
Sep 03 DTE Energy Music Theater Clarkston, MI
Sep 06 Tinley Park Chicago, IL
Sep 08 Hollywood Casino Amphitheater Saint Louis, MO
Sep 09 Blossom Music Center Cuyahoga Falls, OH
Sep 10 Riverbend Music Center Cincinnati, OH

For a complete list of all tour dates refer to his site for more information.

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