Welcome 2 My Nightmare [CD]

I have listened to this album constantly since it's release and I can highly recommend it as probably Alice Cooper's finest hour for well...20 or 30 years! For those like me who were disappointed with the the previous outing - Along Came A Spider - this is a complete return to form from the great man himself.

The key to the album is the diversity of musical styles on the album - there really is something for everyone! My only gripes are the "jokey" songs - Disco Bloodbath Boogie Fever & Ghouls Gone Wild - which are not everyone's cup of tea. However - if you get the collector's pack edition of the album, you get the excellent bonus track - Under The Bed - which is stronger than both these songs combined. I'm baffled as to why this song wasn't one of the regular tracks on the album though as it is that good!

I'm willing to forgive Alice for putting Disco Bloodbath Boogie Fever & Ghouls Gone Wild on the album though as the rest of the album is first rate. The album benefits enormously from having Bob Ezrin producing and also having the remaining members of the original Alice Cooper band back for several of the songs. Even the ballads on the album - I am Made Of You and Something To Remember Me By - are really well written and produced, something I never normally liked on Alice's albums. The fact that a lot of the songs would not look out of place on one of the original Alice Cooper band's original albums shows you just how good this album is.

Highly recommended! Now go buy!

I've been waiting for this album to be released for months; since Alice first tweeted about it way back when .... and it's worth the wait.

Since the original 'Welcome To My Nightmare' I've bought numerous Alice albums but it was always going to be difficult to beat that classic. Now let me be clear, 'Welcome 2 My Nightmare' doesn't match the original but it is the best album since without a SHADOW of doubt (in my opinion).

Clever clever start with the piano hook from 'Steven' (original WTMN album) leads into the excellent 'I Am Made Of You'. Up-to-date and a little 'Kanye' as the song begins

Track 2 ('Caffeine') is a strong rock track and then 'The Nightmare Returns' and the intro to 'A Runaway Train' promises touches of inspiration a la original WTMN ..... but slips into some solid but not memorable rock.

Banjo and oompah music are hugely entertaining in the brilliant 'Last Man on Earth' and then there's 'The Congregation'; love it!! LOVE ..... IT .... !!

The next three tracks are ok but the 10th track ('Something To Remember Me By') is a weak ballad I'm afraid; it feels like a placeholder, a poor substitute for a track that should have been a 'Only Women Bleed II'.

'When Hell Comes Home' is an edgy and GREAT track about the horrors of abuse and is followed by a good link up with Ke$ha (yes, I know ..... me too) in 'What Baby Wants'.

The next track is ..... bland but then it's followed by an instrumental medley from the original 'Welcome' album. Bonus track is a cover and is okay I guess.

So in summary I'd say four things: -

- This is a definite 4 *'s but I can't give it a '5' because it doesn't quite match the original 'Welcome' album.
- there are some tracks on here that I WILL definitely listen to death; brilliant
- shame about 3 of the 15 tracks; feel like poor subs or space fillers
- I'm about to listen to the original 'Welcome' album again as this (W2MN) is a great follow-up album AND it reminds me that the original 'Welcome' is just IMMENSE and should be in everyone's collection. I can see this album re-igniting interest in the original for sure.

Alice, sit back and feel bl**dy smug mate; job well done

'Welcome 2 My Nightmare' is not the kind of Alice Cooper album to please some of his longest standing fans. There is a pop sensibility going on, a few tracks have 'borrowed ideas" ('Summertime Blues = 'Ghouls Gone Wild, 'Beat It' = 'What Baby Wants), Alice attempts to rap on one song and there are even moments when Cher, Madonna and Aqua -(Yes! Aqua of 'Barbie Girl' fame) spring to mind!

Sounds awful huh? Well, wait until you listen to this album!

'Welcome 2 My Nightmare' is as crammed full of great songs, fun ideas, storming riffs and violent mood swings as any of the very best Cooper albums from the 1970's. Unlike the distinctly average, 'Along Came A Spider' set, all of the songs here sparkle with invention, sound fresh, current and have either well crafted, menacing or witty lyrics. I admit that Alice doesn't quite have the demonic rasp to his voice these days and in some respects a lot of the songs here have even a slight sense of Cooper sending himself up but it all works spectacularly well and 'Welcome 2' comes together effortlessly as an album.

Opener, 'I Am Made Of You' is a shock to the system right from the off! With Alice using Madonna/Cher like vocoder effects on his voice and William Orbit like beats you wonder whether Cooper can really pull a song like this off? Can he, OH YES he can! Lyrically brilliant, the song sets the scene for the daring and diverse ride to come and the guitar solos have a majestic quality about them as if to advertise that this record is something special. 'Caffeine' seems to be a return to the Cooper of old being much more what you'd expect but this is quickly followed by the short, creepy 'The Nightmare Returns' and we realise that Alice has a good few tricks up his sleeve to come yet...

'Runaway Train' sounds like heavy metal meets Morrissey's rockabilly period! 'Last Man Standing' is Alice Cooper with a touch of Vaudeville Jazz Band and Dixie! 'The Congregation' sees Alice mix The Sweet with Cheap Trick and The Beatles for a STORMING rocker! 'Ill Bite Your Face Off' has a kind of 'dirty, lowdown rock' n roll melody' and is the first single from the album. 'Disco Bloodbath Fever' is a TOTAL pi**take of the worst rap and pop C*A* that we all have to put up with and is all the more hilarious for it and then, 'Ghouls Gone Wild' sees Cooper mugging Eddie Cochrane for his 'Summertime Blues' song and turning it into a pop/rock radio smash - expect it to be a single soon!

Then, as this brilliant album has a habit of doing, just when you think Alice has turned the whole album into a parody and comedy fest, along comes the tender, Beatlesesque, ballad 'Something To Remember Me By'. A beautiful song, Alice sings it as if he really means it and that comes through and helps to mellow you out for the next installment. Another potential single in my opinion.

Good job we are all mellowed out as it turns out because the next track, 'When Hell Comes Home', is the most disturbing and sinister thing on the album. A REAL throw-back to the feel of the first 'Welcome To My Nightmare' set, the song is brooding and lyrically unsettling. Next, almost hilariously, Michael Jackson is the next recording artist to feel Alice's cosh on the back of his head as 'What Baby Wants' utilises a well disguised 'Beat It' riff to underpin a pop/rock duet. 'I Gotta Get Outta Here' echoes The Rolling Stones in spots and The Backsliders in others but is lyrically all Alice.

To finish the actual album we get the wonderful instrumental 'The Underture' - a mini film soundtrack, all strings, tinkling piano and soaring rock guitar solos - WOW!

Depending on which version of the album you buy, there are a number of 'Bonus Tracks' to be had as well but they are frankly extra icing on an already perfect cake.

So what are you waiting for? Put simply, this is not just the best Alice Cooper album for a VERY long time, it is THE BEST album of 2011 for me.

Long live Alice Cooper!

BRILLIANT.