Alice Cooper
Welcome to my Nightmare 2
Track List Band Members
1- I Am Made Of You Alice Cooper Vocals
2- Caffeine Steve Hunter Guitar
3- The Nightmare Returns Damon Johnson Guitar
4- A Runaway Train Tommy Henricksen Guitar, Bass, Keyboards
5- Last Man On Earth Chuck Garric Bass
6- The Congregation Glen Sobel Drums
7- I’ll Bite Your Face Off
8- Disco Bloodbath Boogie Fever Produced By: Bob Ezrin
9- Ghouls Gone Wild
10- Something To Remember Official Site
11- When Hell Comes Home http://alicecooper.com
12- What Baby Wants
13- I Gotta Get Out Of Here Label Universal Music Group
14- The Underture
15- A Bad Situation (Itunes Bonus Track)
As you well know this is a sequel to the original Welcome To My Nightmare that was released in 1975, which was 36 years ago. It was a concept record that detailed stories or dreams of an alter ego named Steve. What also makes that record unique is that it was Alice’s first solo effort, all others prior were with the band. In Welcome To My Nightmare 2, Steve is back. What really makes this record special is that Bob Ezrin, who produced the first one, also produces this one. It doesn’t stop there. Alice all brings back all surviving members of the original line up to write and record on this as well as Dick Wagner who was on the first Nightmare, where he became Alice‘s main partner for several albums. The album does pay homage to the original but modernizes it with some elements of today. Obviously, having the founding members and Bob Ezrin and Dick Wagner on board help bring the 70’s classic rock sound back. But there are a few surprise guests that make this sound a little like today’s rock/metal, some country and pop. This is because Alice had some friends help him. You have Rob Zombie (today’s rock/metal) on singing background vocals on Congregation, you have Vince Gill, yes, you read that right (Country), playing lead, yes that’s lead guitar on A Runaway Train and I Gotta Get Out Of Here. You also get John 5 (rock/metal) playing guitar on Disco Bloodbath Boogie Fever. Another former member of Alice’s band in the later years Kip Winger also joined him with backing vocals on Ghouls Gone Wild and Congregation. Finally you have Ke$ha (Pop) singing and having helped write the song What Baby Wants. Now that you have the background about this record, let me review it.
The opening track, I Am Made Of You, is classic Alice and is a good opener. Some of my favorites include The Nightmare Returns. To me it’s probably the best track on the record. It sounds like it belonged on the original Nightmare. It is outstanding. A Runaway Train stays in that same vein and is very well done. Congregation will become a classic to all the fans and should be getting heavy rotation on the radio, it would be a big hit for Alice if they release. The song is worthy of Alice, just because I say it should be a hit shouldn’t diminish it as a song and what it contributes to the record. Something To Remember is as good as a ballad that Alice has ever done, it fits in quite well in the scheme of the record. When Hell Comes Home is Alice at his story telling best and the heavy bass lines in it, make it that much more eerie. The Underture is a great way to end the album, it is a instrumental that has elements of both records in it. Definitely worth a lesson. There a songs I didn’t mention and to me they are just filler but you can judge for yourself, typical tongue in cheek and catchy chorus are the bulk of them. You can judge that on your own.
I will say this: I am not disappointed over this record, there are some true highlights on this album. You will also hear some songs that will remind you of the Beatles and the Stones, which is ok, and it really doesn’t take away from the concept of the album and Steven is now all grown up and the lyrics reflect that, which makes the sequel, well, that much better. Alice brought in a lot of different styles here, but they worked and the story line is respectful of the original. You can tell he also had fun doing this record, which is always good to hear. The truly disappointing thing on this effort is that Alice used Auto Tune on the opening track and that always ruins things for me. Outside of that, Alice won me over with the rest of the record. I’m sure Alice Cooper fans will rejoice in the reunion of sorts and that the album grows on you the more you play it. I just hope Alice doesn’t go all Meatloaf on us and make third one, etc. Now to see him live and how this transcends on the stage.
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