Link: Alice Cooper
The Inside Pulse:
This isn’t your “Poison” years, and it’s definitely not your “School’s Out” years, either. Thank goodness for us all, it’s not the “Lost In America” years. But 2005 brings us an Alice that is getting back to his roots, never mind that this sort of sound is all the rage right now (although his band just plain sounds like they’re having a hard time mastering their instruments). A minimalist production accompanies Dirty Diamonds down a road of straight ahead rock, many songs with the typical Alice pun-like humor (“Women of Mass Distraction”) and traces of his shock-rock past (“Zombie Dance”). While there don’t seem to be any immediate hits with a sub-par record like this, “Sunset Babies (All Got Rabies)” sure is one hell of a catchy tune; while most of the disc is throwaway or on the very low side of mediocre, it’s good to know Alice still has one or two good ones left in him.
Positives:
Surprisingly interesting and amusing is “The Saga of Jesse Jane,” a dark-folk tale about a cross-dressing truck driver. This is the sort of thing on which Alice built his fame.
Negatives:
“Stand,” featuring Xzibit. Taking chances is always fun but this is just utterly ridiculous and ear-bleedingly awful.
Cross-breed:
’70s Alice with one of those bar bands that just barely manages to play covers after exherting extreme effort.
Reason to buy:
You’re either a big Alice fan or the concept of this transvestite song really intrigues you.
