Ticket 2 Ride

An entire album of new material by surging members of the Alice Cooper Group – hot damn! It’s been a bit more than 50 years since the band split, and other than a song or two on a few projects, the band hasn’t worked together.

After Muscle of Love in 1973, Alice or Vince as he was known at birth, legally changed his name to Alice Cooper and left the band for a solo career. The four remaining guys recorded an album together as the Billion Dollar Babies, and then mostly pursued their own projects.

To say that The Revenge of Alice Cooper is an anxiously awaited album would be an understatement.

I was almost afraid to play this album for fear of disappointment. Honestly, I never thought a reunion album would happen. Alice Cooper, Michael Bruce, Dennis Dunaway, Neal Smith and the spiritual guitar of Glen Buxton.

Of course, the album artwork is perfect. Retro Hollywood horror flick. While the album drips of nostalgia, this is not a limp, copycat effort, The Revenge of Alice Cooper is an original, an impressive new chapter in the band’s legacy. The album is stand alone good. The writing is crisp, muscular and reflective of just how good these guys were in their prime. Bob Ezrin is back behind the recording console and he might be the secret sauce here in making this a fresh, hard rocking and accessible album.

“Black Mamba” opens the album. This song is hard rock, not metal, and it sounds like the band that I remember. Robby Krieger of The Doors guests on lead guitar. “Wild Ones” is a fast rocker. “Up All Night” is a melodic rocker, chunky guitar riffs and muscular guitar solo.

“Kill the Flies” sounds like old days, it could have been lifted from one of their albums. “One Night Stand” is a killer, great smoking guitar work. “Blood on the Sand” is a creepy ballad that morphs into a churning rocker. “Crap That Gets in the Way of Your Dreams” is more of a throwaway. “Famous Face” features five guitarists, is most like a metal rocker on the album.

“Money Screams” is straightforward rocker, a song that could have been lifted from an early album, it’s a fairly simple song uncluttered by efforts to make it a bigger production. “What a Syd” has that jazzy Schools Out album vibe. Dennis Dunaway’s bass struts, along with Heus’ guitar. “Intergalactic Vagabond Blues” is a blues song that sails along at cruising speed. These guys can change speed and beat quickly.

“What Happened to You” is the song that the ghost of the late Glen Buxton resides. His guitar rises from the grave in this rocker. “I Ain’t Done Wrong” a song written by the late Keith Relf of the Yardbirds. It’s a blues-rocker that this band shreds into pieces. “See You on the Other Side” is a soaring rocker, perfect to close the album. This CD version included “Return of the Spiders 2025” a hard, bluesy rocker from the vault. And finally, “Titanic Overunderture” is a short, grand piece of music, a bit of over the top pastry, sweet with no filling.

These guys are still damn good players. Alice sounds in good voice for a man his age. It’s the group playing the album, augmented by guitarists Gussie Heus and Rick Tedesco, Bob Ezrin, Tom Booth and Ross Harwood on keyboards.

What I’ve read and heard about this album was generally positive, but also included remarks like underwhelming, uneven and overstuffed, a bit strained, conspicuous bloat, promised venom but delivered a sigh…and other such comments.

I get that this is a long album of fourteen tracks, not including the two bonus tracks. Could it have been trimmed? Sure, but why? After 52 years, give me all you got.

I rate the album A-