ALICE COOPER — Welcome To My Nightmare (review)

ALICE COOPER — Welcome To My Nightmare album cover Album · 1975 · Hard Rock Buy this album from MMA partners
5/5 ·
thellama73
Alice Cooper's masterpiece. His first solo album and for me the best thing he ever did. After the break up of the Alice Cooper Band, Alice was undeterred, and quickly recruited a bunch of studio musicians and recorded Welcome To My Nightmare. The result contains many of his most memorable songs.

The title track is a catchy disco funk number that introduces the album perfectly, preparing the listener for the tongue in cheek horror movie imagery to follow. Alice is characteristically witty when dealing with taboo and macabre topics. "Devil's Food" is about cannibalism, and "Cold Ethyl" is about necrophilia. Despite his reputation as a "shock rocker" Alice deals with these subjects tastefully and with enough humor that's it's obvious he does not intend to be taken seriously. "The Black Widow" features a vocal cameo by horror movie legend Vincent Price. His voice is so distinctive that it's a real treat to hear him here. "Some Folks" is a high-kicking music hall number that's quite catchy and "Department of Youth" is a powerful rocker. There's a even a hit single, the surprisingly sensitive power ballad "Only Women Bleed" (it's about domestic violence, despite what you might expect from the title.)

However, the jewel in Alice's crown comes with the three part "Steven" suite, a running storyline that goes through "Years Ago," "Steven," and "The Awakening." The story deals with a poor insane boy named Steven and the disturbing inner workings of his mind. Insanity is Alice's favorite lyrical subject and this suite surpasses even "The Ballad of Dwight Fry" for its vivid creepiness. The character of Steven will reappear on several other Alice Cooper records, but this is where he was born and it's his best moment.

Finally, the tension built by "The Awakening" is released by the catchy lightweight rocker "Escape." It's such a fun song that it almost makes me forget about all the great tracks that came before. There's not a weak moment here and while instrumental virtuosity is not on the menu, all the musicians play well. Most of all, Cooper's songwriting would never again be quite so inspired and energetic as it is here.
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