Based on what I had heard before the album came out, it piqued my interest to check this one out. By far, this is one of the best things Cooper has released. I am very pleased with this record. It reminds me of the Cooper of the “Billion Dollar Babies” era. The record is basically a concept album about life on the road. That being said, Let’s dive in.
Opening The album is I'm Alice. This one is all about his persona. The lyrics are brilliant throughout this song. When you see verses like this;
"They hang me from the gallows and they chop off my head
But like Lazarus rising, I come back from the dead
The shameless pretenders have come and they've gone
But I stand here before you and the legend lives on"
I love the attitude and angst within these words. Musically it sounds like seventies Cooper. I like the tempo and the drums stand out to me. I think they really make the song pop. All together this is a well done track
Next up is Welcome To The Show. The song describes what Cooper does to get prepared and perform. You get some insight on what it takes for him and the band to do for a concert. Pay attention to the guitar solo, it puts this track over the top.
Following that is All Over The World. This one keeps the pace of the preceding two tracks. It has a great riff and tells the tale of touring. This song features a lot of nice guitar licks and solo. Cooper makes a couple statements within this, one he never sees a final show on the horizon so no farewell tour. Secondly, as long as he is around, rock isn’t dead. I fear he may be right when our legacy bands are no more, we have no one to replace them.
Dead Don’t Dance is a song like I do on my reviews, will let you discover on your own.
Cooper takes a comical look at a stalking fan in Go Away. It’s worth the listen just to hear him sing thinks like this;
“Like a kidney stone that just won't pass through”
Now doesn’t that paint a perfect picture of annoyance and pain. Leave it to him to come up with something like that. The thing in this one is to check out the two guitar solos. I also have to say Cooper has a lot of energy in his vocal for this very uptempo track.
White Line Frankenstein was the second single from the album. The song features Tom Morello (Rage against The Machine, Audioslave, etc) on guitar. The song continues in the theme of being on the road, hence the title of the record. For the Cooper fans keeping track, this is the third time he uses Frankenstein in a song. Some may think the song is about doing coke, but it's referring to the white lines on the highway, but he does have a one in the song that says;
"Gotta load in my nose, I'm gonna drive, drive, drive"
Cooper uses some cliche type lyrics, but he puts his twist on them. But I'm not sure how you feel about a 75 year old singing the following verse;
"On the road to the show, I'm a gigolo
And all the girls know they can get a ride, oh yeah
'Cause I'm a hell of a man in a one-night stand
They're eatin' out of my hand so satisfied"
All that aside, the song still rocks and of course when you throw in Morello on guitar , you know you are in for. a treat when it comes to the solo. Morello doesn't disappoint. The team up seems to work really well here. The track as a whole is catchy and reminiscent of Cooper's late seventies style of song.
Keeping up with the temp of the record, we get the tongue in cheek song Big Boots. I really like the piano in this. To me that’s the highlight. I’ll leave it there.
Rules Of The Road has a very fast tempo. Cooper does more talking than singing in this one, which is interesting. Musically, I feel the song takes on a ZZ Top La Grange sound. I also here KISS’s Love Gun in the drumming so at the very list the song seems very familiar in that way. I guess that the long way for met say, I like it.
The Big Goodbye, I’ll let you discover this one on your own.
Cooper revisits his track Road Rats from his 1977 “Lace And Whiskey” album. It is basically an updated version with some minor lyric changes, but fits in well with the theme of the album. The original has more of an eerie vibe to it, where this one is more modern and polished. I suggest you search out the original to compare.
Baby Please Don’t Go is a ballad and a decent one for Cooper. Here he visits the hardships of being on the road within a relationship and you can feel his emotions when he sings. It slows the album down and I think it really suits the whole theme of the record. I also think he makes it very relatable to anyone who travels for a living. I also like the whole melody of the track. I think this is very nicely done.
100 More Miles and Magic Bus are the last two songs on the record. The latter being a cover by The Who. I’ll let you check those out as well.
Overall, I think this is a good album by Cooper. I enjoy it and have listened to it many times. It has that comfort food feeling when I play it. Sure there are some cliches and Alicisms, but that’s what makes this one so much fun to listen to. For a concept album, I think he hit it out of the park. I hope you like it as much as I do. Below is I’m Alice for you to check out.
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