Published on Nov 2, 2001
Well, who on Earth would have thought that after breaking a long
six year silence in 2000 with the stunning
Brutal Planet album that Alice Cooper would follow up with
his next studio album barely a year later in October 2001?
Thankfully for him and for us, he realized that he was in a
songwriting zone with
Brutal Planet, an album that many critics considered his
best work in many years, perhaps even since his early 70’s peak,
and he wisely chose to strike while the proverbial iron was hot,
creating
Dragontown, another concept album dealing with mankind’s
gradual downfall. Musically and thematically, it’s a direct sequel
to
Brutal Planet.
One could forgive Alice for not being able to match the power
and ferocity of
Brutal Planet, but in terms of overall quality,
Dragontown comes astonishingly close. While sonically it
contains many of the intense industrial-tinged elements of
Brutal Planet, such as the proliferation of ultra-heavily
layered and distorted downtuned jackhammer guitar riffs, thunderous
rhythms, and ominous low end rumbles amid Alice’s tortured vocals,
Dragontown is much more musically diverse than its
predecessor. It sounds somewhat as if Alice had taken the modern
industrio-metallic punch he discovered on
Brutal Planet and applied that sound to various quirky
styles that he has experimented with in the past, in addition to
experimenting with several contemporary trends, creating yet
another album in his insanely lengthy discography that sounds
different from all the others. How a 53 year old rocker like Cooper
manages to sound fresh and inventive with each release simply
amazes me.
According to Cooper, Dragontown is the worst single place on the
fictional Brutal Planet, and each song is a unique tale of fallen
angels with the roots firmly placed in thinly disguised real-life
targets that he relentlessly criticizes through another serving of
ingenius lyrics…some might find his current style a tad preachy,
but at least he’s promoting a very positive message by exposing the
evils in society through the application of brilliant sarcasm that
he has always been a master at.
People who were a little overwhelmed by
Brutal Planet‘s unflinchingly serious approach and intense
dual bombardment of a thrashingly violent sound and venomous lyrics
will no doubt rejoice that while
Dragontown is often just as hard hitting both sonically and
lyrically. Alice’s patented cynical tongue in cheek sense of humour
is on full display again on many of the album’s tracks.
The tale begins with “Triggerman”, a supercharged fast tempoed
heavy rocker that instantly smacks the listener in the head with
its roaring layers of guitars and Alice’s distorted, growling
vocals. The wonderful energy on this song shows that Alice is more
than capable of competing with today’s rock young guns. I also love
the inclusion of many highly melodic guitar lines buffering the
main explosive heavy riffs.
“Deeper” sounds similar to the song “Brutal Planet” with an
assortment of dark shredding riffs, military style beats and sombre
gothic chants. The song paints an unbelievably dark mood, and works
perfectly as the theatrical sounding descent into hell (ie.
Dragontown) that it was meant to be as part of the storyline. I
love the way the album unfolds, with each song feeling like a
natural link to the next.
“Dragontown”, as the title of the track suggests, is our arrival
in a godless, apocalyptic place where we begin our journey of
meeting its numerous interesting inhabitants, who are destined to
remain there for all eternity as punishment for their sins. I now
must warn readers that anyone who is particularly sensitive about
the Sept. 11th, 2001 terrorist attacks on the U.S. might find this
song disturbing. The music is about as creepy as it gets, and the
lyrics, considering that they were written months before the
tragedy, hit startlingly close to home: “Well, here you are / lying
bleeding on a grimy street / see the broken glass / sparkling
darkly as it cuts your feet / smell the rotting stench / the rancid
odour of old Cantonese / reflections of the shattered dreams / feel
the toxic flames all around you / you can hardly breathe.”
Phew…that’s pretty intense.
The dire mood gets no lighter as we reach “Sex, Death And
Money”, one of the album’s standout tracks, and maybe one of
Cooper’s best ever, drenched with vintage cynical tongue in cheek
sarcasm as he sings: “When I go to the show / all I see on the
screen is a stream of pure vulgarity / I wrote down a note / I
complained for a day to the House of Representatives / they laughed
in my face / they said son, you’re a one in a million minority /
the name of the game / is to titilate the brain and stimulate the
immorality.”
The chorus continues: “I was so offended as I sat for three
hours / it was mental cruelty / I was so shocked / just a little
more flesh / just a little more blood / a little closer to the edge
/ a little deeper in the mud / I’ll never be the same / sex, death
and money, sonny, makes this wicked world go round / sex, death and
money, it’s the gospel here in Dragontown.” I don’t think more
needs to be shown to illustrate that Alice is on a roll here, and
music perfectly suits the theme, with a very sleazy, pelvic
thrusting rhythm that would be perfect for grinding on a
dancefloor. The vocal melodies are highly catchy without ver
sounding commercial as well. What an awesome song.
“Somewhere In The Jungle” has Alice berating the apathy of
average Americans when it comes to world affairs, using the recent
savage massacres in Rwanda of hundreds of thousands of people as an
example over which nobody in our isolated selfish society batted so
much as an eyelash. Very powerful lyrics once again, as Alice finds
himself in full take-no-prisoners mode. The music fittingly sounds
as eerie as you’d expect hell on earth to sound.
The most enjoyable track on
Dragontown in my opinion is “Disgraceland”, which makes me
laugh out loud every time I listen to it, and along with “I Love
America”, this has to be one of the funniest songs Cooper has ever
written. The lyrics are a very mean spirited suggestion in no
uncertain terms that Elvis Presley’s last years and untimely death
were pathetic. To add insult to injury, Alice sings all the verses
in one of the most surprisingly convincing Elvis impersonations
I’ve ever heard…I swear you’ll be on the floor listening to this
stuff…fantastic! I certainly wouldn’t be suprised if you start
seeing Elvis fanatics picketing Alice Cooper concerts!
“Sister Sara” is another hilarious story, this time about the
indiscreet carnal adventures of a nun! The weirdest thing about the
song is that it begins with sludgy Korn-style percussive guitar
riffs, and Alice actually *raps* the verses. Now, before you staple
that hand to your forehead and whine about Alice pandering to the
rap-metal crowd, I have to say that he not only pulls it off
without sounding like a fart in the wind, but the lyrics are
hilarious! I love the sudden shift to an innocent, mellow waltz
timed section with the angelic voices of a girl’s choir. Now
that is twisted!
Part of what makes these songs so much fun to listen to is that
you get a strong sense that Alice was truly having a great time
recording this music. He doesn’t just sing; he adds expressive
character to seemingly every note. Just hearing a performer with so
much confidence and unique personality makes the listening
experience a true joy…it’s almost like Alice is right there
beside you, personally guiding you through a trip into his
unorthodox mind!
The required Alice ballad is found in the form of “Every Woman
Has A Name,” a soft acoustic number with a sentimental melody in
the fine tradition of the classic “Only Women Bleed”. It’s an
excellent song once again…man, does Cooper even know how to screw
up a ballad? He certainly hasn’t lost a thing in terms of
songwriting diversity.
“It’s Much Too Late” throws us another musical curveball,
sounding like something you’d expect more from Semisonic or one of
those more generic mainstream pop rock bands with it’s predictable,
simple chord sequence. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still a great song
and very catchy, but I never imagined hearing Alice tackle this
style. Of course, he adds a twist that only he’s capable of, when
the chorus suddenly embraces a tricky overlap of unconventional
chords that sound very Beatle-esque…a beautiful change of pace
which adds a snappy theatrical element to a song that started off
in a very misleadingly straight forward manner, despite hilarious
lyrics and a geeky singing voice adopted by Alice for the character
being portrayed.
“The Sentinel” ends the disc on decidedly moody note, with a
return to ear-shattering, brutal riffs and more disturbing lyrics
that once again are eerily reminiscent of the recent terrorist
attacks. Judging by the way Cooper decapitated the seemingly rising
optimism of the album towards the end with one fell swoop, I’d say
it’s a safe bet that we can expect a sequel to
Dragontown in the future.
Well, I must say that Alice Cooper has definitely struck upon
another creative high early in the 21st century, and if he
continues to craft masterpieces such as
Brutal Planet and now
Dragontown in the future, then it will indeed be society’s
loss if they continue to be ignored. I highly urge anyone to start
their Alice Cooper collection with
Dragontown, an engrossing album from start to finish that
contains a depth rarely seen in rock these days.