Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
To discover where the road may lead you, you have to first admit that being lost is just the start of the journey.
To still be producing albums of such intensity after more than 50 years is remarkable, and for that alone the legend is set in concrete, protected by a court order of significant cultural appreciation, and a monument to perseverance. Every now and then a lost soul will happen across this monument, they will pull across to the hard shoulder, read the inscription, listen to the audio description, and realise they were never lost, they just needed Alice Cooper to offer them direction.
To have brought 22 solo albums to life is no mean feat, add that to the abundance of other projects, the works when Alice was a name rather than this larger than life persona, the forever longevity of going out on the highway, it then comes as no surprise that the Road is one that the Detroit musician was always fated to create, to throw away the map, to throw out all the manuals and do it yourself repair kits, and just rock the house and tear the asphalt up with tyre marks pointing the direction of the next adventure.
Accompanying Alice on the road are the stalwarts of recent years, what is proclaimed as his touring band, but which adds more than a sense of remarkable edge and power to the perspective of the songs, and with the electrifying Nita Strauss, Ryan Roxie, Tommy Henriksen, Chuck Garric, and Glen Sobel all adding precise mayhem and rock shock to the proceedings, to the markings that warn of creative pleasure as the moments of truth and the songs of mean crusade fill the air.
From the start of the album opener, I’m Alice, the band take the listener on a trip, a powerful one designed to seep into the blood stream and turn the experience to one of red-hot flushes, of the pistons of catching fire and the engine purring as the driver turns off the auto navigation.
What also becomes aware is that rear view mirror, it shows the distance travelled, all the curves, the u -turns, the misdirection, and the sometimes hitchhiker leaving you breathless with their chatter…and as tracks such as All Over The World, Go Away, the excellent White Line Frankenstein, which features Tom Morello, the knowing Rules Of The Road, The Big Goodbye, the spooky 100 Miles, and the surprising cover of The Who’s Magic Bus all join to make a concept and metaphor of life, what is evident is that Alice Cooper isn’t going anywhere where the road is already known, he is up for traversing and criss-crossing all the souls he has ever met and taking them all along for the musical ride.
The road is long, and having Alice Cooper steering the wheel and choosing the fast lane is the only way to live when on the Road.
Ian D. Hall