Threaded together loosely as a concept record about life on tour, on stages, and in perpetual motion,
Road finds
Alice Cooper half a century into his weird and fantastical rock & roll nightmare but sounding fresh and invigorated as ever. Always the showman,
Alice uses
Road to bring the on-stage power of his band's live show to record, with songwriting contributions from various members of the group and a gritty production style that has a live-in-the-studio feel. Though they were recorded in the 2020s, moments like the winkingly self-aware opener "I'm Alice" or the sleazy riffage and pounding backbeats of "Welcome to the Show" could pass for vintage
Alice Cooper. Longtime producer
Bob Ezrin sculpts a back-to-basics hard rock sound that's powerful and not overly polished. Minimal overdubs put the focus on the energy the band is generating, and the entirety of the album sounds like a group playing live in a room, feeding off each other's excitement. The styles vary from bombastic, bluesy hard rock on "White Line Frankenstein" (a song that features
Tom Morello's signature out-of-the-box guitar soloing) to chuggy metal power chords on "The Big Goodbye" to the campy glam rock and sauntering horn sections of "All Over the World." There's a revisitation of the 1977
Lace and Whiskey cut "Road Rats" in "Road Rats Forever," a tune paying tribute to the roadies and crews that keep things moving behind the scenes. The pace slows down a little bit for obligatory power ballad "Baby Please Don't Go" (the weakest point on the album) and the creepy, '70s-style slow-burner "100 More Miles" before the set closes out strong with a hard-grooving rendition of
the Who's "Magic Bus."
Road is primarily killer and only a little bit of filler, with
Alice tapping into the power he harnessed in his younger days to create a surprisingly inspired collection of new material. With
Road,
Alice Cooper and his band make it clear that they intend to keep the show on the road until the wheels fall off the tour bus. ~ Fred Thomas
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