Alice Cooper - The Eyes of Alice Cooper - 2003

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Alice Cooper - The Eyes of Alice Cooper - 2003

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Product Description: This 2003 release marks a return to Alice's musical roots, infectious melodies, hooks and a wall of guitars. Special guests include legendary MC5guitarist Wayne Kramer who added his uncompromising garage rock sound on the track 'Detroit City'. 13 tracks. Eagle Records.

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Alice Cooper - The Eyes of Alice Cooper - 2003

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Review: You haven't bought this yet??? Oh, you need a reason for such a bold move? Let me spell it out for you…
"What Do You Want From Me?" - Seething with energy & reckless abandon, this opening track leaps from your speakers & kicks the album off in vintage raw fashion. Vocally, this song is possibly one of the strongest performances by Alice on the album. I haven't heard Alice sing this well since "From the Inside". Throw in Eric Dover's gritty backups & the relentless wailing guitars & you have yourself a future classic. Think "Cold Ethyl" for the nu-millenium. Grade: A+
"Between High School & Old School" - Wow, another pummeling, attitude-laden anthem for disenfranchised misfits everywhere. This is REAL punk, the way Iggy, MC5 & Blue Cheer intended it. Mix in a touch of "Last Temptation" era vocal harmonies & clever start/stop changups & you get the picture. If you didn't know this was Alice Cooper, you'd be completely fooled by the exuberant youthfulness that lies within. Some of the roughest guitar tones since "Muscle of Love". Grade: A
"Man of the Year" - An unusual mixture of nu-school pop punk & classic "Billion Dollar Babies" era backing vocals/lead guitar. This could potentially be a crossover single for the eMpTyVee generation. Alice's vocals are strangely VERY young sounding & his approach overall is like nothing you've heard him sing before. Great song! Grade: A-
"Novocaine" - I LOVE this track! VERY reminiscent of "Nobody's Home", from the "Fistful of Alice" disc. This has HIT written all over it folks. Excellent Hammond B-3 work by ZigZag, perfect harmonies & guitar work that mirrors Glen Buxton's classic style. One of the standouts on the disc. Grade: A+
"Bye Bye Baby" - Whoa! They just keep coming!!! This is prob one of my favorites here. This is prob as close to classic Cooper represented on this album. This would've fit perfectly on "School's Out". Alice sounds 25yrs old again, the horn section is subtle & perfectly interwoven. This sounds so much like the classic lineup, yet not derivative in any way. This one smokes!!! Grade: A+
"Be With You Awhile" - Another track which highlights Alice's flair for singing w/o the infamous sneer we all love. It's familiar & yet like nothing you've ever heard from Alice before. Not a bad song, but prob one of the lower points on the disc, if anything, for a lack of creative arrangement or chord changes. Grade: C
"Detroit City" - As if 1971 were warped into the nu-millenium, this track comes stomping thru the mix with an amazing "Killer" era vibe. Alice's vocal performance on the track is among the highlights of the album. INCREDIBLE chorus, infectious energy, slamming guitars, layers of horns & hey, Alice screams like used to when he was twentysomething! This track is unbelievable!!! Grade: A
"Spirits Rebellious" - Hmmm, pretty groovy dark track here that seems like a castaway from the "Brutal Planet" sessions, though it's clearly not since Eric Dover & Ryan Roxie co-wrote the tune with him this past year. Of course, we've heard this title thrown around since "Last Temptation" was released. I love the verses here & Alice's voice is pretty wicked sounding here, but this one might not fit in well with the general theme of the album. A decent, if unremarkable track. Grade: B+
"This House Is Haunted" - Though some reviewers might make the "Steven" references on this track, I would liken this more to a cross between "Gail" & "Formerly Warmer". Unfortunately, it's not as immediate or compelling as either of the aforementioned songs. Extra points for clever usage of the clarinet, but the lack of grandiosity & reverb really derail the ominous tone that was intended here. Grade: C
"Love Should Never Feel Like This" - Now THIS is more like it! This is a GREAT powerpop/retro blast of thick melody & harmonies. The chiming guitars & farfisa organs in the choruses really harken back to "Love It To Death" & the solo itself is BRILLIANT. Another standout track. Grade: A
"The Song That Didn't Rhyme" - Ok, the melody/accompaniment is very well written, but Alice's plaintive & wooden vocal delivery somewhat stifles the natural flow of the song. Sporting a mindblowing refrain & chorus, it's a shame to see this song really never progress to some sort of crescendo & resolution. A half-baked great idea that simply falls short of it's potential in the arrangement. Grade: B-
"I'm So Angry" - Holy SH*T!!! Like a trainwreck of "Long Way To Go" & "I Wanna Be Your Dog", this track is on FIRE. Another vocal highlight for Alice as well. I haven't heard him sing with this kind of unrestrained aggression since 1973!!! Chuck's bass work is VERY similar to Dennis Dunaway here also. The ending is EXPLOSIVE. WOW!!!! Grade: A+
"Backyard Brawl" - A sleek & choppy blend of "Brutal Planet" era & the heavier material from "Welcome to My Nightmare". Awesome subtle backing vocals toward the end & punchy guitars all the way around. A vicious way to end the album. This rocks! Grade: A-
It amazes me that a man in his mid-fifties can create such a vibrant, energetic & bombastic collection of tracks. For the first time in thirty years, we've been blessed with an album by the Alice Cooper BAND. The "group" feel of the album is undeniable & would surely make Glen & co proud of Alice's return to form. Make no mistake, Alice Cooper is NOT an oldies act. His creative steam has been building over the last decade & if this is any indication of the future for him, we'll be laughing at naysayers ten years from now, as a sixtysomething Alice is still kicking the a**es of his contemporaries in a true ROCK & ROLL backyard brawl…

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Alice Cooper - The Eyes of Alice Cooper - 2003

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