Road Era

Background

Road is the 29th 'Alice Cooper' studio album and was released in 2023. As the title suggests, the album is principally Alice's experience of over 50 years' of life on the road. In addition to long-time Producer Bob Ezrin, Alice heavily involved his touring band, with significant writing contributions made by Chuck Garrick, Tommy Henriksen, Ryan Roxie, Glen Sobel and Nita Strauss (who, of course, also feature as principal musicians throughout).

After some fairly ropey efforts on recent albums, Road featured some excellent artwork with Alice (in classic make up) driving on a highway at twilight and looking menacingly into the rear-view mirror. Naturally, a creepy-looking spider is also present, dangling from the roof. 

An advance single from the album, I’m Alice is a classy opener full of trademark bravado and arrogance. Whilst suggesting it’s another Hello Hooray may be a bit of a stretch, it’s easily one of the best starters we’ve had for many of a year and will no doubt work well as a live show opener too. The track features an interesting spoken section, which has a real King Herod’s Song vibe to it. Alice also takes a swipe at the likes of Marilyn Manson and Maryann Cotton as he labels them "shameless pretenders", which is a truly satisfying moment.

Also released in advance of the album, Welcome To The Show is, in my opinion, somewhat unnecessary as I’m Alice already did such a great job of warming us up (and had already reminded us of his critical need for a top hat and cane). It’s a perfectly acceptable high-tempo rocker, but one that is fairly indistinctive, and likely to be quickly forgotten I’m afraid.    

As the title suggests, the laid back All Over The Road references the many and varied places that Alice visits on tour (I’ll have to check the records to verify whether he’s ever actually performed in Katmandu as claimed though!). Regrettably, this is another one that doesn’t really hit the mark as it’s just too safe and, dare I say it, a little cheesy.

Things massively pick up with the aggressive Dead Don’t Dance which, with its dark humour, thumping instrumentals and husky vocals, is much more what I was hoping for. The guitar quartet of Tommy Henriksen, Ryan Roxie, Nita Strauss and guest Kane Roberts are a particular highlight on what is probably, no almost definitely, the best track on the album.

Go Away is a perfectly acceptable, if again unspectacular, rocker about the girl who just won’t leave you alone. Whilst not entirely the same, it carries more than a passing resemblance to What Do You Want From Me from The Eyes Of Alice Cooper, which was released 20 years earlier.

The other song to be released in advance of the album, White Line Frankenstein is elevated from plodding rocker mediocrity by its thumping guitar riff. This is another one that will almost certainly translate well to the live shows in one of the much-coveted ‘new album song’ spots. 

Big Boots is not my cup of tea at all, a veritable car crash of a track if you may. I don’t think I’ve disliked an Alice song more since the atrocious The Song That Didn’t Rhyme (also on The Eyes Of Alice Cooper). Like that song, it’s almost offensively silly (only with added awful innuendo). It’s position in the middle of the album only magnifies its deficiencies and necessitates a diversion at all costs.

With such a ropey track preceding it, anything that follows is going to sound decent. Regardless of that, Rules Of The Road is pretty good as Alice light-heartedly imparts his unrivalled wisdom about what you should, and shouldn’t, do to succeed as a touring artist.

The Big Goodbye is another stomping rocker, with Alice declaring himself unfit for long-term romance, as he sets off to the next city on his tour, breaking hearts in the process. Big guitar and drum work helps push this one into the fast lane.

Road Rats Forever is the most intriguing song on the album, as Alice provides a subtle reboot of ‘Road Rats’ from 1977’s Lace And Whiskey album. Having attempted similar with Detroit City on the Detroit Stories album, this isn’t necessarily a surprising move, but it succeeds better here (due mainly I think to the significantly higher number of years that have passed since both versions were recorded).

We had to have a ballad right? Baby Please Don’t Go moves us firmly into the slow lane, but is actually higher in tempo than we’re used to hearing, which means that it has some much needed personality that helps it stand out from the ever-growing ballad traffic. I particularly like the ironic contrast to The Big Goodbye, where Alice couldn’t wait to get out of the door (here, his departure is necessary, but regrettable).

100 Miles More is a dark, unsettling, rocker featuring signature Alice eeriness as he nears the ends of another tour in a near zombie-like state. This is, or at least should be, a fitting way to close the album off and is more like a million miles away from I’m Alice, the energy-laden opener.

Having effectively steered clear of covers, Magic Bus (originally by The Who) makes a rather unnecessary appearance to close the album out. Partial relevance to the road concept aside, and completely inoffensive as it is, it simply isn’t needed and I can only assume that it was added to appeal to a wider fan base (especially given the apparent success of the cover-heavy Hollywood Vampires side-project).

So how does Road stand up? I suppose how much you like it will ultimately depend on what your favourite previous Alice albums are. I would suggest that if you loved The Eyes Of Alice Cooper or Detroit Stories then this will be right up your street. For me, and like Detroit Stories beforehand, it misses the mark somewhat, but it’s also far from being a poor album. There are some genuinely good moments here, but not enough to elevate it to anything other than ‘solid’ status. Personally, I would really have liked to have seen more obvious 'in-your-face' contributions from Chuck, Glen, Nita, Ryan and Tommy, who very much remain on the sidewalk throughout.

This definitely isn’t the end of the road for Alice though, who at the remarkable age of 75, can still deliver outstanding moments... when he gets into the right gear.

Road Box Set

2023, earMUSIC, 0218617EMU

This cool European 'Limited' deluxe set provided fans with everything they needed in one box, with the following items included:

> Black 12" vinyl version of Road in gatefold sleeve;

> 'Digpak' CD version of Road with 20-page booklet and bonus Blu-Ray featuring the excellent 'Nightmare Castle' tour show at the Hellfest Festival, France, in 2022; 

> A baseball cap;

> Two bumper stickers;

> A keychain; and

> An air freshener.

One interesting observation is that the vinyl sleeve is the same as the separately sold versions (see below), which means that it mentions the bonus DVD of the Hellfest show that was provided with them, even though it's not actually included in this instance (due to the Blu-Ray being provided with the CD version).

Both the black vinyl (with the Hellfest DVD) and Digipak CD / Blu-Ray versions were also sold separately. A CD / DVD version was also produced, which was exactly the same as the CD / Blu-Ray other than featuring a DVD disc instead. Finally, a CD / DVD version with the keychain as an extra bonus was also produced. All these versions featured yellow 'road sign' hype stickers (see example images below). Additionally, some separately sold vinyl, CD / DVD and CD / Blu-Ray copies were provided with additional prints that were signed by Alice (see example images below). 

At a cost of about £60, this set offered pretty good value for money and was definitely the best version to buy if your budget could stretch to it. 

Discogs Link: Click Here

Road 12" Vinyl Album

2023, earMUSIC, 0218617EMU

This 'Limited' European 12" vinyl version of Road features a gatefold sleeve design and includes a black 'road sign' hype sticker on the front proudly proclaiming that it features "13 Dangerous New Songs'. As with the black vinyl version included in the box set (above) the inside of the sleeve features an image of Alice peering behind a curtain, which has his touring band (including Kane Roberts) superimposed on it. On the back is an image of Alice looking down a flight of stairs.

Inside the sleeve are two 'Transparent Orange Marbled' 180 gram discs, with custom earMUSIC labels, which are housed in inner sleeves that include further themed artwork and relevant track listings, lyrics and credits.

All separately sold vinyl copies of Road also came with a bonus DVD featuring the full 2022 'Nightmare Castle' tour show at Hellfest, France. This was provided in a simple card sleeve.

Other than the bespoke hype sticker, orange discs and bonus DVD, this version is exactly the same as the black vinyl. However, this version includes a different barcode on the back (that is stuck over the original one).

Discogs Link: Click Here

Road 12" Vinyl Album

2023, earMUSIC, 0218617EMU

This further 'Limited' European 12" vinyl version of Road is exactly the same as the orange vinyl version (above) only that it features opaque 'Blue Marbled' 180 gram discs, an alternative blue 'road sign' hype sticker and includes a different barcode on the back (that is stuck over the original one).

Discogs Link: Click Here

Road 12" Vinyl Album

2023, earMUSIC, 0218617EMU

This further 'Limited' European 12" vinyl version of Road is exactly the same as the orange vinyl version (above) only that it features opaque 'Red Marbled' 180 gram discs, an alternative red 'road sign' hype sticker and includes a different barcode on the back (that is stuck over the original one).

It is understood that this particular version was only available from independent record stores.

Discogs Link: Click Here

Road 12" Vinyl Album

2023, earMUSIC, 0218617EMU

This USA 12" vinyl 'Astroturf Edition' version of Road was limited to 1,000 copies and was sold by Good Records in Dallas (the masterminds behind the iconic Live From The Astroturf, Alice Cooper releases).

It is exactly the same as the black vinyl version (above) only that it features stunning 'Blue & Black Split With Yellow Splatter' discs, an alternative blue and black 'road sign' hype sticker and includes a different barcode on the back (that is stuck over the original one). 

Additionally, it came with the following exclusive goodies included:

> 12" x 12" chipboard silkscreened art print of the Alice Cooper touring band (which also features in the Road CD booklet); and

> Deluxe custom Alice Cooper trading card.

Additionally, those who pre-ordered this version also received a bonus holographic sticker and button badge.  

All copies were provided with pink stickers that were stamped with a unique number (mine being #0056) on both the sleeve and the rear of artwork. For information, the '#14' referenced on the stickers identifies that this was, at the time, the 14th Astroturf Edition produced by Good Records (these include non-Alice Cooper releases by the likes of Will Johnson, Grandaddy, Steve Earle & The Dukes and Beachwood Sparks).

This blue / black vinyl design looked especially cool in promotional images (see example below) as, if correctly aligned with the labels on Side A and C, it gave the impression of the sky and road extending onto the disc. In reality though, this was never going to happen as it would have taken ages to put them all on properly in the factory!

It is worth noting that a European version of this variant was also produced. This was exactly the same but did not include the exclusive goodies described above. Although widely promoted as being limited to 1,000 copies, there were actually 1,000 copies of the European version and 1,000 copies of the Astroturf Edition, making a total of 2,000 copies. As you will see though, the additional goodies of the Astroturf Edition made it superior so if you're only going to buy one then this is definitely the best to have!

Finally, and unlike the other variants, this is not confirmed on the hype sticker as being pressed on 180 gram vinyl.

Discogs Link: Click Here

Road CD Album

2023, earMUSIC, 0219001EMU

This USA standard CD version of Road comes in a 'Digipak' case.

The 20-page booklet is identical to that provided in the box set version (above) only that it has reduced text content on the final page (to reflect the fact that the Hellfest performance is not provided as a Blu-Ray / DVD with this version). 

Discogs Link: Click Here

Road CD Album

2023, earMUSIC, 0218844EMU

This European standard CD version of Road comes in a Jewel case featuring yellow 'road sign' hype sticker.

The 20-page booklet is almost identical to that provided in the box set version (above) only that it features a different centrefold image (the same as that used in the gatefold sleeve of the vinyl version, rather than of Alice and his touring band in a parking lot) and has reduced text content on the final page (to reflect the fact that the Hellfest performance is not provided as a Blu-Ray / DVD with this version). Finally, and somewhat randomly, the background image on the final two pages is now a brick wall (rather than a highway).  

Discogs Link: Click Here

Road T-Shirt

2023

This official shirt was offered to fans at the time of pre-order for the Road album and features the cover artwork on the front (the back is blank).   

Road Promotional T-Shirt

2023

This promotional T-shirt was sent to retailers at the time of Road's release and features an 'Alice Cooper Road Crew' logo on the front and the cover artwork on the back.  

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