Detroit Stories-Alice Cooper Album Review:

 

Alice Cooper has been consistently making music since he hit the music scene in 1960’s, and since 2003 he has come out with album pretty much every year or two, as this is his 21^st album but 28^th overall. This album “Detroit stories” which went #1 on the billboard top album charts his first ever is a tribute to Detroit, Michigan a place he was born but had moved away to Arizona at a young age.  He does do a few covers of bands that actually come from the state like Bob Seger’s “East Side Story”, MC5’s “Sister Anne” that is odd but has harmonica/he plays harp, Outrageous Cherry’s “Our Love will change the world” which he actually does the vocals well, and the first track on the album “Rock & Roll” from Velvet Underground which rocks out to the nth degree.

Songs like “Go man Go” (which sounds like “Thin Lizzy” like you are in a mosh pit amped up to 100), “Hailmary”, “Detroit city 2021” (a blues bar sound) and “Shut up and rock” sound like songs he would be doing in his youth at the local clubs/bars where they amp up the rocking out part more than the words.

Then he has some odd songs which doesn’t mean they are all bad since a few like “Social Debris” rocks out and “I hate you” which should be viewed as comedic more than anything. The song “Independence Dave” is the worst song as it sounds like he is trying to rap fast or talk really fast. “$1000 High heel shoes” has a funk-jazzy feeling to it while it rocks out and “Drunk in love” is him just singing the blues to you with a harmonica.

The songs will real emotion and passion are “Wonderful world” and “Hanging on by a thread". “Wonderful world” sounds like one of his classic hits like “Under my Wheel” or “Election”, which is good you can sound like in your heyday. While “Hanging on by a thread”  which does rock out was released last year during Covid19 times with a different title. “Don’t give up” with some altered lyrics and now it’s a plea to hold on to your life even if things are bad. It ends with him stating his name and giving you the suicide hotline if you need to call it.

Alice Cooper is one of the more famous rockers ever but coming out with music essentially ever year seems like he is lazily putting out formulaic albums, which only his diehards will love it as this is kind of all over the place. It is a tribute to Detroit with some classic tracks but then many genres like blues, Jazz, hard rock and comedy mixed throughout. This isn’t his worst album or even his best album just another addition to his long collection of stories.