The Dark Prince of the Macabre, Alice Cooper, is back with his 22nd studio album, Road, another strong collection of hard rockers from this music legend who shows absolutely no signs of slowing down anytime soon. As a celebration to all the time spent out on the road in recent years, Road's songs have an almost 'ready for the stage' feel to them, and it's easily Alice's best collection of new anthems in quite a while. Take a gander at the track list below for the cast of co-writers for the album, and you'll see some surprising names, such as ex-Europe guitarist Kee Marcello, Kane Roberts, MC5's Wayne Kramer, producer Bob Ezrin, plenty of Alice's current bandmates, and even Fuzzbubble & Hittman guitarist, and Sea of Tranquility's talent, Jim Bacchi! Road is also noteworthy for being the first studio album to feature longtime live guitarist Nita Strauss, who just recently came back to the band after being away for a short stint. It all adds up to 47 minutes of kick ass new songs plus a cover of The Who's "Magic Bus", which, is also lots of fun.
Some of the highlights here include "I'm Alice" (I can see this as a show opener going forward....amazing how he's never had a song like this before), the rousing "Welcome to the Show", "All Over the World", and the headbanging rocker "White Line Frankenstein". "The Big Goodbye" is another crunchy rocker with a great chorus, while "Road Rats Forever" has some ultra memorable riffs and blazing solos, and seems like another great fit for the stage. "100 More Miles" is another gem here, a song that sounds like it could have come off any Alice album from the '70s...great stuff.
In the end, Road is basically a concept album about life out on the road, and I wouldn't be surprised to see audiences accepting any of these rockers nestled in the set list alongside the old favorites. This is a fun, fun album, as Alice Cooper once again shows that age is just, well, a number.
Track Listing
1. "I'm Alice"
Alice Cooper/Anders Fästander/Bob Ezrin/Kee Marcello/Ryan Roxie
3:55
2. "Welcome to the Show"
Cooper/Ezrin/Chuck Garric/Glen Sobel/Nita Strauss/Roxie/Tommy Henriksen
3:36
3. "All Over the World"
CooperEzrinGarricSobelStraussRoxieHenriksen
3:52
4. "Dead Don't Dance" (featuring Kane Roberts)
Cooper/Ezrin/Evan Magness/Kane Roberts
3:30
5. "Go Away"
Cooper/Ezrin/Keith Nelson
4:20
6. "White Line Frankenstein" (featuring Tom Morello)
Cooper/Ezrin/Morello
3:40
7. "Big Boots"
Cooper/Ezrin/Garric/Sobel/Strauss/Roxie/Henriksen
3:14
8. "Rules of the Road"
Cooper/Ezrin/Wayne Kramer
3:48
9. "The Big Goodbye"
Cooper/Ezrin/Garric/Sobel/Strauss/Roxie/Henriksen
3:32
10. "Road Rats Forever"
Cooper/Dick Wagner
4:04
11. "Baby Please Don't Go"
Cooper/Ezrin/Nelson
3:29
12. "100 More Miles"
Cooper/Ezrin/Garric/Jim Bacchi
3:04
13. "Magic Bus" Pete Townshend 3:39
Total length: 47:43