ALICE COOPER IN SUMMERLAND: DADA BY DUANE PESICE

 
I confess that I’ve never heard this disc before. I see it’s a Bob Ezrin joint so I know it’s going to sound great and the music will be interesting.

1. Dada

This is good and spooky with bass synths and weird clean guitar and Alice rasping over the melody in his patented Evil Alice voice. This isn’t the arty Dada, this is Dada MamaFo.
It sounds vaguely like an outtake from The Wall with a surfeit of chord-coasting but the drippy sound and the baby voice make it ookier and way more fun.

2. Enough’s Enough

More words about papa – the details are kind of vague but dad seems to be a killer here. This is pretty punchless without that narrative focus. It has nice sounds and goes through the motions but doesn’t ring authentic.

3. Former Lee Warmer

His zombie brother plays piano, alone in his room. This is really creepy and good in a way that Enough’s Enough couldn’t be. Chilly little electric piano part and a tune that sounds like it was borrowed from early Genesis, but with Alice’s lyrics and conceit instead of Gabriel’s. Very sophisticated vibe. A bit like Some Folks crossed with Down the Dolce Vita.

4. No Man’s Land

Rockabilly follows prog, nice segue. Dumb tune though...a bad Santa riff with a little bit of wordplay. The song itself is cool and nicely uptempo but those lyrics, ugh.

5. Dyslexia

The lyric here doesn’t really describe any form of dyslexia but instead talks about disorientation. I’d bet most of the audience don’t know or care, but I do and it ruins the tune. The music here is good in an 80s-pop sorta way and there are great harmonies. I’d like it with a different title.

6. Scarlet and Sheba

A big old powerchord and we’re off into Blue Murder territory with atmospherics and percussion and squeaks and sort of Arabic-sounding legato stuff. This is a cool tune with nice touches. Very catchy. Kind of sounds like Hawkwind in parts. Hassa I Sabba indeed.

7. I Love America

The lyrics to this are a Tubes-esque scream as Alice ably skewers American pop culture. All that’s missing are Fee Waybill and a new Monza. The martial drum break is killer.

8. Fresh Blood

Alice’s version of a vampire yarn, creepy instead of eerie as is his wont, and clothed in horn-driven hard rock with a tinge of funk. I love the music even if the breakdown does sound like Toto. The combination of horror and funky beat is odd but compelling. This one even sounds inspired from time to time, as if Alice woke up for a while – this IS a ‘blackout period’ album.

9. Pass The Gun Around

Alice plays Russian Roulette in this final track, making explicit reference to blackouts. I gotta say, the band is very pro and sound great throughout. The tunes leave something to be desired from time to time, and Alice himself is less-than-inspired most of the time, but there’s no denying those chops and the lush production that make it all sound worthwhile.

And boy, is this track lush. It’s a Bob Ezrin production, with extra production and guitars by Dick Wagner. The whole album is. Those guys know what they’re about. Here they really shine, especially when Wagner breaks into a wonderful long bendy solo that evokes Dave Gilmour and then those choruses of female voices wail away into the breakdown and verse.
Ezrin uses his whole bag of tricks on this album, stuff he created or learned from working with Peter Gabriel and Pink Floyd especially, and he almost makes this whole damned thing work.

If the opening songs hadn’t so patently been the beginning of a concept, the lack of cohesion here wouldn’t even be an issue. But they are, you see, and by that one can hear how far the original idea went afield compared to the relative brilliance of Alice’s more classic conceptual work.
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It’s all very smooth and professional, but that’smjust it. It’s zipped-up-tight and teflon-deflective, and no actual feelings were harmed here. It’s the aural equivalent of a hollow donut. Yeah, it tastes right, and even has chocolate, but there’s no creamy center.

BIO:
My principal influences are "Golden Age" and "New Wave" SF, Lovecraft Mythos, noir, and gonzo journalism. I've been published in a number of genre periodicals and write a tri-weekly column about the Chicago Cubs.
My work is mostly speculative fiction shot through with veins of cosmic horror, a touch of satire, and a generous helping of scientific extrapolation.
I was born in northern Maine, moved to the Chicago area as a youngster, and currently reside in the desert Southwest with my cats and guitars, books, and computers.
Hope you enjoy the work. Thanks for reading!