Review Summary: The Shameless Pretenders Have Come And They’ve Gone / But I Stand Here Before You And The Legend Lives On!
What do you hope to be doing when you’re 75 years old?
Most of us would believe in retiring, putting our feet up, and relaxing. Alice Cooper has other ideas.
At his advanced age, the Father of Fright doesn’t seem scared of hitting the studio between tours and recording his 29th studio album (31 if you include his Hollywood Vampires collaborations.) What he does seem scared of is innovation, as the past 3 albums have all sounded the same, and all with a homogeneous personality. You could transplant a song from another of these albums and nobody would notice. Even the variety seen 2011’s not so well received "Welcome 2 My Nightmare" is gone in favour of a modern take on 70's straight forward rock 'n' roll. It might be hard to hold against him at this point in his career, but it’s becoming glaringly obvious that the Coop and longtime producer Bob Ezrin aren’t interested in pushing the envelope anymore.
Road is the first Alice Cooper album to be recorded by his touring band, as well as having them involved in the writing process. It’s a nice change of pace to allow talented musicians to shine in their areas, and the live recording in the studio allows the energy to come through the record as there are no overdubs, as ‘the whole idea of this album is showing off how good this band is live.’
A keen example of this is the first track, the self-announcing “I’m Alice”; a song that is written to be an obvious concert opener when the show hits the road. Throughout the song Alice proclaims to an assumingly adoring audience “I’m Alice!”, and giving himself a variety of nicknames, as if the man needs any introductions. “I’m Alice – I’m The Master Of Madness; The Sultan Of Surprise”
Alice is known for his over the top concept albums, some of which the stories extend through multiple records. Here the theme tying the songs together is a bit less structured, it’s a celebration of touring and the life of a musician. Alice croons/snarls his way on topics ranging from being on stage (“Welcome to the Show”), seductress waitresses in diners (where Alice’s wit and love for wordplay play out on the slightly cringe-inducing and embarrassing-for-a-75-year-old-man “Big Boots”), and what it’s like having to leave loved ones behind for extended periods (“Baby Please Don’t Go”.) Most if it is average and competent, the song structures get quite repetitive and unmemorable but the clean sounding production allows the musicianship to shine through with some great guitar solos from the incredibly talented Nita Strauss and Kane Roberts (and even a drum solo on the cover of The Who’s Magic Bus.) Even a guest appearance from legend Tom Morello can be spotted on pre-release single “White Line Frankenstein” with his signature sounding guitar crunching away at the main riff.
The standout song is the one that does something a little different. Reminiscent of Alice’s 2017 release “Paranormal”, one of the last songs on the record gives us a taste of his classic, off-kilter and dynamic sound. "100 More Miles" is the most interesting song both lyrically and musically on the record. It’s dramatic affair, but just a shame it ends too soon, barely reaching 3 minutes.
At a swift 47 minutes, Road is astoundingly fine. But hey, you try releasing albums for over 5 decades
