thing and you get something else. That’s what makes it a really scary album.” Ezrin isn’t the only Night-
mare alum to make it back for the sequel. Guitarist Hunter, who recently joined Alice on tour and filled in for the late Buxton for the live perform- ances at the Alice Cooper Group’s long overdue induction into the Rock ’n’ Roll Hall of Fame this spring, was also re- cruited to help bring back the classic sound. “The opening song on the
album, ‘I Am Made of You,’ is an epic, like ‘Hello Hooray’ [the opening track on Billion Dollar Babies], but maybe even grander,” attests Cooper. “Steve Hunter plays this guitar solo that might be the best we’ve ever had on any album. Every time I hear it I get the chills.” The track was co-written by
hitmaker Desmond Child, the principle songwriter on 1989’s Trash, an album from a very different and cleaner period in the shockmaster’s career. Un- fortunately, Wagner was not able to participate in the recording as he is currently re- covering from a stroke, but Cooper still found an interesting way to include him. “We recorded a song that we wrote in the late ’70s called
sic Vincent Price or Christopher Lee voice, then I’m going to go with something more modern. That’s when I realized that Rob Zombie would be perfect for it be- cause he is really one of the new voices of horror.” In an ironic twist, Cooper de-
cided that Welcome 2 My Night- mare would be the right time to reform with the classic Alice Cooper Group lineup – the same roster that he left behind to work on the original. So Bruce, Dun- away and Smith (along with Hunter) reunited to record the track “When Hell Comes Home,” as well as a bonus track “Under the Bed,” which will only be avail- able in Classic Rock magazine’s special “fan pack” release of the album. “Nothing has changed that
Dark Duo: A rare shot of Cooper with Vincent Price from the Welcome to My Nightmare publicity campaign, and (bottom) a recent live photo of the performer wearing a boa.
much from the original band,” proclaims Cooper. “Dennis, Neil and Mike are the exact same guys and they all play the same way. ‘When Hell Comes Home’ is a song that could have been on Love it to Death or Killer. I just said, ‘Let’s do this song live in the studio,’ and I didn’t even have to say, ‘Try to think 1971’ because when they started playing it, the 1971 was built right in. I kind of
looked at Bob Ezrin and said, ‘That was perfect.’” The original Welcome to My Nightmare is without a doubt the shin-
‘Something To Remember Me By,’” he explains. “The four biggest hits for Alice were the ballads ‘Only Women Bleed,’ ‘You and Me,’ ‘I Never Cry’ and ‘How You Gonna See Me Now’ but this might be the prettiest ballad we’ve ever done. My voice finally got into a position where I could sing it and do it justice. When Dick heard it, he just couldn’t believe how well it was done. It really is a clas- sic Alice/Wagner song.” One obvious hole to fill on the sequel was that of Price. Some-
how the album would just feel incomplete without a similar horror icon taking on the role of curator for this new nightmare. While early internet rumours suggested Sir Christopher Lee would be playing the part, the Hammer vet sadly turned it down, feeling that it would conflict with his own metal concept album,
Charle-
magne: By the Sword and the Cross (see review in RM#100), released last year. While Cooper contemplated pursuing actor Anthony Hopkins to play the part, in the end he offered
the job to an old friend, who he’s toured with over the years. “I thought about getting An-
thony Hopkins to do it as the Hannibal Lecter character, but that’s just not classic enough,” he says. “If I can’t get that clas-
RM 28
ing moment of Cooper’s solo collaborations with Ezrin, and only partly because of the music. The Nightmare TV special, Welcome to My Nightmare concert film, and world tour brought all of the album’s audio scares to life, from Alice battling a giant black widow, to running from an enormous robot cyclops, to dancing with the dead for “Cold Ethyl” (still part of his stage show). So the question is, how theatrical can the sequel get? Ezrin has been quoted in the media as saying that he could see the new album being transformed into a musical. “That will always be a possibility,” offers Cooper. “To me, Welcome
to My Nightmare part one and two could be done in theatres with someone else playing Alice Cooper 30 years from now. It’s a viable musical as it is. I would just hate to hear it watered down. In other words, I would like to see a rock musical stay a rock musical. I was a little disappointed with [the musical adaptation of The Who’s] Tommy because they went with all orchestration and violins. They turned down the amps because they didn’t want to offend anyone from the Midwest. The only way I see Welcome to My Nightmare working is as a rock performance.” In bringing back the original players and revisiting his crowning
achievement, Cooper is, for perhaps the first time in his career, car- rying out a project with only the old-school fans in mind. It makes
sense. Clearly in the twilight of his rock star career, he’s done it all. Even a haunted at- traction based on the two Nightmare albums is set to open this Halloween at Universal Studios Hollywood. It may be a bit much to expect Welcome 2 My Nightmare to come even close to matching the success of its predecessor, but don’t try telling that to Cooper. As far as he’s concerned, his horror business is never complete. “I keep reminding Rob Zombie and all my disobedient children out there that I am still
the oldest vampire, and to fear me,” he chuckles. “You would think that I would be secure, but still, every time I put an album out, every time I go on stage, I feel like I need to prove something. Some people think, ‘Let’s go see Alice. He’ll be up there and he’ll play all his songs and it will be nice,’ but what they get is pure Alice Cooper, full of energy, rage and devious tricks. They are not seeing the normal 63-year-old man up there. They are seeing someone that defies age.”
Alice and Vincent Price photo courtesy of Lee Davey at
www.alicecooperechive.com. Live shot © Carin Cronacher
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