Cover:
5 Forming Cataracts out of 10
Well, as with most other Alice Cooper album covers, this one has a picture
of -- surprise! -- Alice. It's a black and white closeup of AC's head.
He's holding a rag or something in front of his face so that you can only
see his eyes. The only splash of color is Alice's eyes themselves, whose
color hinges on which pressing of the CD you find. It was issued with
eye colors in green, red, and a few other colors. I got blue. Alice looks
creepy enough but he's had much better album covers in the past.
Booklet: 8
Optical Laser Surgeries Gone Wrong out of 10
The 16-page booklet is extremely well designed, chock-full of more creepy
pictures of Alice's eyes. There are a few group photos of Alice with
his current band members, this year consisting of Eric Singer, Ryan
Roxie, Eric Dover, and Chuck Garric -- all of whom perform on the CD
and on tour in support of The Eyes of Alice Cooper. All the lyrics are
included, with only one page devoted to thanks and credits. Not much
space is used, but Alice still remembered to credit our old pal Mike
Fasano as a 'recording session equipment technician.' What up, Sack!
Songs: 7
Seeing Eye Dogs out of 10
As with just about every other CD Alice has put out over the last few
centuries, most of these songs are excellent, some are ho-hum, and a
few blow big beefy chunks. Case in point: "Novocaine" is a
catchy, catchy song, one that's potentially the closest thing to a contemporary
hit he's had since 1989's "Poison." Conversely, "Backyard
Brawl" is just plum dumb -- probably about as dumb as "Thrill
My Gorilla" from the 'Constrictor' album. At least "Backyard
Brawl" might incite you to smash chairs over the heads of your
siblings, which is what I think I'd do to myself if I ever have to listen
to this song again. Luckily it's easy to skip as it's the last thing
on the disc. The rest of the tracks run the whole gamut from great to
mind-numbingly stupid. There's some modern rockers, a spooky song ("This
House is Haunted"), something campy ("The Song That Didn't
Rhyme," which sounds like something you'd see him singing during
a Sesame Street cameo), and the obligatory sappy ballad, which is called,
this time, "Be With You Awhile." One of the songs I don't
like, and I'll probably get beaten up for this, is called "Detroit
City." It's about Detroit. Didn't KISS already do a song about
Detroit some time ago? The thing to understand is that Alice took a
much different approach to writing and recording 'Eyes' than he has
since probably the early seventies. These songs were written in a short
period of time with members from his current touring ensemble, and recorded
in an even shorter period of time, basically "live in the studio"
-- Mates Studios in North Hollywood, to be specific -- with very little
overdubs, aiming for that raw, unpolished sound that was so prevalent
in the classic Coop albums like 'Love It To Death' and 'Killer.' So
instead of achieving a modern industrial metal Rob Zombie / Marilyn
Manson sound, as his last 2 albums strove for, 'Eyes' ends up with more
of a Foo Fighters / Weezer kind of vibe. Leave it to Alice to ride on
the cusp of whatever's en vogue in heavy rock music.
Comments: Recent Hollywood
Walk of Fame inductee Alice Cooper has graced Metal Sludge with more
than one interview and is rumored to be a closet Sludgeaholic, so we
don't want to piss him off too bad. This CD has gotten a lot of hype
as being the "album Alice Cooper fans have been wanting for years,"
but I really dug his last 2 albums 'Dragontown' and 'Brutal Planet.'
I liked his hair band glory days comeback albums like 'Constrictor,'
'Trash' and 'Hey Stoopid.' I liked his early 80s New-Wavey records 'Flush
The Fashion' and 'Special Forces.' I like everything Alice did in the
70s. I like something on every single Alice Cooper release in fact.
And generally, there's a song or two I don't like on every single Alice
record. So this one is no exception. That doesn't mean that you shouldn't
give it a listen. For old fans, it's nice to hear Alice do something
a little less produced-sounding than he has recently. For someone who's
never checked him out before, you'll still want to go and listen to
his classic albums from the early 70s, but it wouldn't be bad to start
your exploration with Alice's Eyes. Better than exploring his colon.
And for Mike Fasano completists, 'The Eyes of Alice Cooper' is definitely
a must-have.
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