An appreciation of the iconic rocker’s underrated 2017 album
“I’m condemned
to the long endless night
and I live in the absence of light…”
Thus begins ALICE COOPER’s 2017 double album release PARANORMAL.
In full disclosure I’ll say that I grew up a big Cooper fan. Eagerly devouring his 70’s and early 80’s releases but kind of lost track and, perhaps, interest after 1983’s DADA while still having a big soft spot for the Coop. So it was with no small trepidation that I approached this release, even being produced and co-mixed with frequent collaborator Bob Ezrin. I’d seen too many of my childhood heroes become parodies or even worse, pantomimes of themselves. So you won’t have to read this till the end to find out whether or not this reviewer enjoyed PARANORMAL; I frikkin’ LOVED it !
The album’s flow works beautifully-the lead song, PARANORMAL is introduced with a soft guitar jangle befor ebeing punctured with crunching metal chords, flowing into a thumping drum/bass rhythm and swelling guitars before again falling back to a repeat the softer bridge from the opening.
It just sounds like the perfect opening salvo to a night of ALICE!
Continue reading “Sound Shock: A Closer Look at Alice Cooper’s PARANORMAL”