Description
Double picture disc with gatefold cover
Paranormal features two songs written and recorded with the original members of the Alice Cooper band and also has guest appearances by ZZ Top guitarist Billy Gibbons, U2 drummer Larry Mullen and Roger Glover of Deep Purple. The guitar-driven “Paranoiac Personality” is a perfect entry point to Alice’s searing rock record, an album that explores the fringes of society, the end of the world, encounters with the devil and more. In keeping with his passion for the unexpected, the singer decided to steer clear of writing another concept album like 2011’s “Welcome 2 My Nightmare”, and focused on creating an explosive collection of unforgettable standalone songs. “Bob Ezrin and I wanted to break the mold,” says Alice. “I said, let’s get 20 different ideas from 20 different places, put our spin on them, and go with whatever turns out the best.” Out of the 20 tunes, they picked a dozen to immortalize, each played for thrills, chills and even a few laughs. “Dynamite Road” tells the story of a band that has a deadly encounter with the devil. In “Fireball”, the singer has a bad dream about the end of the world, only to wake up in time to see it happening in real life. “Genuine American Girl” is about a tough guy who is transgender and not afraid to let the world know about it, and the title track is the tender story about a girl and her best ghoul friend. The biggest surprise on “Paranormal” is the historic two-song mini-reunion with his former bandmates, guitarist Michael Bruce, bassist Dennis Dunaway and drummer Neal Smith. “When the original band broke up in 1975, there was no bad blood,” explains Cooper. “There were no lawsuits — we had just burned out the creative process. We had gone to high school together and had recorded something like five platinum albums in a row. We were never out of sight of each other for 10 years. Everybody just went their own way. Neal, Dennis and I always stayed in touch. Mike disappeared for a while and Glen Buxton passed away in 1997, which was a big blow.” “But last year Neal called me up and said, ‘I have a couple of songs.’ I said, ‘Great. Bring ’em over.’ Then he said Mike was stopping by, so I had them come to my house and we just worked on a few things for a week. Then Dennis called up and said, ‘I got a couple songs.’ So, I thought, ‘Hey, let’s do this!’ When you listen to record, it just fits right in.” One could argue that the two songs, “Genuine American Girl” and The Who-inspired “You And All Your Friends”, do more than fit in. They stand out, as in their iconic sound being instantly recognizable. This album would get five stars for the new songs with the original Alice Cooper group alone, but it’s much more than that… If you’re buying an Alice record, you know what to expect before you even drop the needle, so no surprises here. Genuine America Girl is everything that is great about the Alice Cooper group all rolled into one song, tongue in cheek, witty lyrics and it’s catchy AF. The Sound of A sounds like something that would have easily came off of Killers or Love It To Death. Dead Flies, Fireball, Paranoiac Personality and Private Public Breakdown all classic Alice. Billy Gibbons does a great job on Fallen In Love.
Track list:
1. Paranormal
2. Dead Flies
3. Fireball
4. Paranoiac Personality
5. Fallen In Love
6. Dynamite Road
7. Private Public Breakdown
8. Holy Water
9. Rats
10. You And All Of Your Friends
11. Geniuine American Girl
12. The Sound Of A