CD Review: Alice Cooper, “Welcome 2 My Nightmare”

Your review confirms my fears, which is too bad, as I consider “Along Came A Spider” to be one of Alice’s all-time best albums. I’ll be giving this a listen on Spotify, but I certainly won’t rush out to buy it the first week.

Craigvory – “Your review confirms my fears, which is too bad,”

No, it’s his opinion, it didn’t confirm anything for you.  Only you can listen to the album and decide, that’s why you were given a brain and the freedom to make your own choices.

Guest – “It was Dick Wagner, who is in the I”ll Bite Your Face Off video.”

Steve Hunter is in the video, not Wagner.

“He went downhill in 1976 when Bob Ezrin left him for KISS.”

Bob stayed with Alice up through “Lace and Whiskey,” which is generally considered one of the poorest Alice Cooper releases.  “From The Inside” was Alice’s first release without Ezrin in a while and considered to be one of his best.

Devon,

I will in fact listen for myself (as I mentioned in my above comment), but I’ve been following Dw. for a long time and have found that our tastes in music generally coincide. I was personally disappointed in “I’ll Bite Your Face Off” (it’s okay, but doesn’t sell me on the album), and Dw.’s comments fall in line with my expectations for the album, thus “confirming” my fears. I may end up liking the album better than Dw. has, but I won’t be putting money down on it until I’ve heard it in its entirety.

this is a great album from alice and each song is a credit to all involved. just because its a sequel dont mean it has to sound like the first, that would be boring why bother!!! no dreams are the same!!!
 this is a new nightmare, a great nightmare and funny at times. if for some silly reason u dont like this at first then it will certainly grow on you. im no fan of Kesha but the song works and theres no harm in collaboration with other artists, i have to say i love this album and cant wait to see more of it in the live shows.

I’ve just finished listening to this album and I like it. There are some great tracks and some duds, but I think that’s true of most albums out there. And you always have to remember that even among the fans we can’t all agree on what’s good and what’s not from Alice’s vast catalogue of material.

I’ve been a Coop fan since Killer and have had my share of disappointments from him. What disappointed me about W2MN is more to do with my own expectations. For me what makes my favourite Cooper albums is the overall theme, the concept. When Alice brought out WTMN it was at a time when the conecpt album was king for many stadium style bands and I am sorry that this style of album went out of fashion over the years. Alice’s own shows were, and still are, massive theatrical events. But I don’t believe Alice has ever matched the sheer genius of the original Nightmare, although for me he has come close. His follow-up, …Goes To Hell, was a fitting sequel still following the concept album style. Even his much neglected, Lace and Whiskey, was still a concept album. Personally one of my favourite albums, it was obviously too big a departure from the musical style that made him rocks favourite anti-hero and didn’t fare well. From The Inside, again followed the concept styling with great success, producing some of Alice’s best material. And then we hit the eighties. An era that seems to split Cooper fans down the middle. I have many favourite Cooper albums from this decade although many of them were a quite a departure from Alice’s usual fare.

But although Alice did revisit the conecpt album (sometimes just nodding at the genre), and had some major hits (Last Temptation Anyone?), the albums never really approach true concept class.

And, sadly, that’s why I am ultimately disappointed with W2MN. Most of the tunes are really good, but I had hoped this latest album would mark a long overdue return to an album that tells a story, with a common theme woven through each track. It doesn’t. And that’s where I have to agree completely with Dw. This new album really owes little more than it’s title to the original. A really good, if not great, Alice Cooper album and certainly worth space on your music shelf or in your digital storage, but not really a sequel. Check it out for yourself and you decide, but I think most fans will enjoy it.

I’m listening on Spotify now, and I like it. No, it’s not among the best things Alice has done, but it’s not toward the bottom, either. I agree, Dw., that the humor is not as keen as Alice usually brings, but even Ghouls Gone Wild sounds fun and I’m willing to take it as is. I’ll pick this up eventually.

Okay, I’ve been listening to this for a week since my first comments and I’m liking it more. Some of the tracks are growers and some of the tracks are really pretty good. I still stand by my first comments though. If Alice had released this as just another album it would have been received as a good album. My problem is that it is definitely not a decent sequal to the original album and any one buying it thinking they will get anything near the quality of the first will be disappointed.

After comparative listenings I feel that the original is superior in every way. This new W2MN lacks the sophistication present in the original. Where people are saying the humour is not as good I would say that’s because Alice is now trying to hard. There is an easy, nonchalance to the lyrics on the original. They don’t sound or feel contrived, which just can not be said of the new album.

The production on the original, even though it is 35 years old, is amazing. But it also has a clarity, an honesty, that I feel is missing on the new album. Perhaps it goes back to the fact that what Alice & Co were doing in the ’70s was new and exciting and different. Now I think they are just pandering to current trends instead of forging their own unique sound and style for today. Yes, tastes change as do techniques and quality, but you shouldn’t be slaves to poularity at the expense of creativity.

If I was to critisize the original album at all it would be to say the ‘Department of Youth’ shouldn’t have been on it. Don’t get me wrong! I think this is a great track, but is really the only track that doesn’t fit neatly in to the Nightmare concept. It would have been better on a more general album. But, since Alice was obviously into the concept album ideas at the time it is difficult to see when it could have been used appropriately. So perhaps I should just be glad that we got it when we did.

My point is, that quite a few of the tracks on the new album don’t actually fit in with the Nightmare concept either. But in interviews Alice is coming up with some real tosh to shoe-horn then into it, to force them to fit, but it’s a real stretch of the imagination.

On any other album this would good, perhaps not great, but good Alice Cooper material. However, I do feel that by calling this a sequel he has not done justice to his original masterpiece and that is a shame.

Buy the album and enjoy the music, most of it is really good, just ignore the fact that it is not Welcome To My Nightmare 2.

I wish the motifs from the original (especially the into to Welcome and Steven) were woven throughout the new album, but I enjoying it. Alot. 

A few things that haven’t been commented on: the Undertune was a happy surprise. Alice’s voice is unbelievably strong. I would have thought his voice would be in shreds by now (63 years old?!) Compared to his last few albums, this one is remarkably light and good humored -almost jolly at times. 

IMHO, When Hell Comes Home is the  album’s highlight.  

you are right this album stinks from start to finish. what happened to alice get your edge back or give up

Seems like a lot of people posting on this site think they know what Alice should be all about. Sorry pseudo fans, you are so wrong. If you take a few minutes to go through Alice’s career, you’ll just realize that he’s been bouncing his alter ego from one theme to another without following a distinct path and to long time fans, that’s what’s so good about it.

There’s work behind W2MN (even the hearing impaired can acknowledge) and a great drive. Some songs might seem silly or plain stupid for some of you but anyone recalls Sun Arise on Love it to Death ? That surely wasn’t the song of the year but it is part of Alice’s repertoire.

Instead of criticizing the album because it isn’t what you had hoped it would sound like, why not embrace a bunch of songs that aren’t all classics but add up well in Alice’s diversified legacy.

Don’t think I didn’t like Alice’s heavier work; I’m a die hard fan of Raise your fist and yell, Constrictor, Brutal Planet, and Dragontown but I just don’t wish that every upcoming album will sound that way.

So my critics : W2MN is a well produced rock album with some catchy tunes, some well thought and written texts and that special Alice touch that’ll make you go through rush hour with a grin instead of a long face.