When I sat down to write this review one question came immediately
to mind: Who the hell am I to write anything about Alice Cooper?
This man was the innovator of shock-rock, a rock legend and
is still going strong after 30+ years (or is that 100 years?).
But in fact fans do have the right to know if this album is
any good. The last 10-15 years or so haven't been particularly
kind to Alice I suppose. He has experimented with various
types of rock and metal. From the hair metal of Trash to more metal sounding releases like Brutal Planet,
albums have been solid and mildly entertaining but he has
never been able to re-capture what he created in the 70's.
Dirty Diamonds tries it's best to re-create a 70's
classic rock sound: raw, sleazy and dirty rock n' roll. There
are no squealing guitar solos and no metal present from Alice's
recent releases. Instead the sounds falls somewhere in between
classic Alice Cooper and Queens Of The Stone Age. The whole
garage-type sound does indeed sound fresh although it's nothing
totally original or groundbreaking.
"Woman Of Mass Destraction" is a good opener and
re-introduces you to the albums sound. "You Make Me Wanna"
is just kind of silly and White Stripes in style. Not a bad
song, but it just sounds as if this is destined to be an overplayed
single. "Perfect" is another one I really didn't
take to much. It is almost too Cheap Trick-ish in sound and
doesn't really fit for me as a second track of an album. "Dirty
Diamonds" is a damn good and dirty rocker even if it
does sound very similar to Queens Of The Stone Age's "You
Think I Aint..." It is an excellent title track and if
there were more songs like this on here it would make for
a better record. "Sunset Babies" could be off of
any Rolling Stones album but fits in here very well. "Zombie
Dance" is a bluesy and very well written song and probably
one of the strongest here as well. "The Saga Of Jesse
Jane" has Alice doing his best Johny Cash and is funny
as hell and catchy. "Run Down The Devil" is by far
the catchiest and grooviest of the release and is just awesome.
Now for something interesting: "Stand" features
rapper Xzibit, making a guest appearance although I wouldn't
really classify this as a rap-rock song by any means. Alice
sounds as creepy and evil here as ever and the groove will
have you into it from the start. The song doesn't really seem
to fit on here but is an excellent and surprising collaboration.
Dirty Diamonds is a decent comeback for Alice Cooper.
It's highly doubtful to be a huge hit but fans of Alice's
early material will find some very good things with this release
and the casual rock and metal fan will take a liking to some
things here as well. |
