The Eyes of Alice Cooper [Red Eyed Cover]

Well, the CD cover certainly whets the appetite, with Alice’s eyes glaring at you from each grainy page, and a Gibson SG Custom making an overdue return to the mix. I can hardly wait! Outta my way!

What do you want from me? Is a capable track, nothing too clever, lyrics for the ordinary man, and a archetypal Alice guitar sound at 1 minute 17 seconds (if you’re quick), so we’re off to a reasonable start. Not so much kicking the garage door down as rebelliously leaving it unlocked overnight.
Between High School and old school is a track which us ‘traditionalist’ aficionados can relate to, another satisfactory track, but not one which finds Alice back to the boil.
Man of the year had me fooled initially, as the voice just doesn’t sound like Alice’s. There’s no snarl, no sneer, and no venom going on here, but it’s the best track of the album so far. It almost has the classic ‘Alice’ feel to it, is sharp, and has three gutsy plectrum scrapes - more than enough for old rocker like me.
Novocaine is bang on target. We’re out of the garage and halfway down an alley, and beginning to wish we'd kicked the garage door for the hell of it - bugger the bunions! We're being shown the good stuff with this simple, yet mature song, and at 1 minute 34 seconds there’s a nice dual bend of trebly guitar strings.
Bye Bye Baby starts off like something from the Stones circa ‘Some girls’, and develops into the weakest track on the album so far. It’s lifted slightly when the horns kick in and also - no insult intended - at the end of the song which, with its chord shifts and vocal, is the best part.
Be with you a while had me checking Ed Harcourt’s ‘Here be monsters’, to make sure that I wasn’t inadvertently playing ‘Beneath the heart of darkness’. I thought that I also heard Julian Lennon’s ‘Saltwater’, and Alice’s own ‘I’m the coolest’ and ‘I never cry’ peeking in. Plenty to recommend this ballad then, so this is still a CD for your collection.
Detroit City is a belter right from the start, and is almost good enough to have been a track which didn’t quite make it onto ‘Killer’ or ‘School’s out’. It’s sliced into shreds by the top notch guitar sound, and rolls along on pounding drums, whilst Alice growls through a recital of his highly credible heritage.
Spirits rebellious is debatably the lowest point of the album, with no redeeming features whatsoever. Its raucous inclusion spoils what could have been a good 12 track CD (…maybe 11 track - we haven’t go to I’m so angry yet). Move along quickly please, I’m getting a migraine.
This house is haunted has a lyrical time signature which reminds me of an old song, about a little car - ‘beep beep, beep beep, his horn went beep beep beep’. Okay, so maybe it’s only me who remembers that song, but if you knew it too you’d surely agree. Other than that - and the fact that the line ‘sit down on the couch’ could have been fitted in without grating - it has some nice ‘Steven’ style background noises. But I can’t get away from that beeping horn. A good attempt, and a step in the right direction but, with maybe a foot on the stairs, we’re not down in the basement with this one.
Love should never feel like this is a good workhorse and, thanks to a catchy chorus and an exemplary guitar solo, is one which should please everyone. Even me.
The song that didn’t rhyme plods along pleasantly enough, and even takes a determined run and jump at the high bar of wit. Oops, it’s carrying too much weight in the form of having no credible substance, and doesn’t quite make it over the bar.
I’m so angry - see Spirits rebellious. It’s like being back at the Youth Club on a bad night, and we’re all now way beyond those flare clad days. Other than the relief offered by the chorus and some slight feedback, it would be an opportune time to nip out, feed the dog, and still be back before you’d missed anything.
Backyard brawl first made me wonder what Alice was playing at. I don’t know about you, but my sciatica wouldn’t tolerate any backyard brawls these days - it's bad enough having to take the bins out. There’s a section of the song relating to colours which misses the mark by a mile, but, like most of the rest of the album, even this track grows on you after a few plays.

I’ve been consistently buying Alice Cooper music for more than 30 years - so more power to the man for still turning it out - but this offering only dips a toe back in the glory days. The bass could have been louder in the mix, the guitar solos are deeply buried in the Chuck Berry style (but at least you can distinguish them from the mire this time), but even the suspect tracks are lifted by Alice’s voice. 'The eyes of Alice Cooper' don't see us into the alley, I'm afraid, but he's looking in the right direction. Buy it, by all means, but don’t expect to love it to death.

The publicity compares this to the White Stripes, but that is kind of upside-down; the White Stripes should be compared to this, since they were probably influenced by the garage rock of early Alice. If you don't like the Stripes though, don't worry because this has the kind of melodies and riffing that any rock fan should be able to get down with.

Recorded live in the studio with a very raw feel, Alice is wittier than he has been in ages and more vibrant. I'd give it five stars but you'd assume that I was just over-hyping things. But really, it's that good.

It rocks, but its not metal, its got melody but its not twee and its got the clever lyrics and Alice's humour. Fantastic.