Alice Cooper

Man, this sure came out of left field. Just when everyone is talking about a solid new Iggy record, everyone’s favourite golf-playing shock-rocker drops one of his best albums since Alice Cooper was a group and not a person. It’s hard to believe, but Alice still has some juice left in his wrinkled old frame, and his characteristic voice and melodies have seldom sounded better. Sure, the lyrics on "What Do You Want from Me" are super dumb, but Alice was never exactly an intellectual and with hooks like this, who cares. The band is shit-hot in a Guns N’ Roses kind of way, yet the use of sax on several tracks helps the tunes retain a classic ‘70s vibe. Alice does, however, tread on some mighty shaky ground on his tribute to the classic era of Motor City rock, "Detroit City,” but he does have former MC5 member Wayne Kramer playing on it, so a little slack has to be given here. While this record falls right in the guilty pleasure/cheese zone, I defy you not to head bang along approvingly out at your fave bar when the DJ throws on tracks like "Man of the Year.”