Product Description
Alice Cooper's widely anticipated new album, Welcome 2 My Nightmare, recorded with longtime collaborator Bob Ezrin, who produced the original multi-platinum "Welcome To My Nightmare" album in 1975, picks up right where they left off, with Alice trapped in his own warped mind.

The original release is an all-time rock classic that spawned a worldwide theatrical tour and pioneering U.S. TV special, and certified Alice Cooper as a visionary trailblazer whose influence persists today in rock, metal, pop, punk, theatre, television, film and much more. More than 35 years later, Alice and Ezrin have resurrected the horror and humor for a new generation.

There is an array of collaborators on the new album, including original Alice Cooper members Denis Dunaway, Michael Bruce and Neal Smith reunited on 3 tracks; global pop superstar Ke$ha, who affectionately calls Alice "dad"; and legendary Alice and Lou Reed guitarist Steve Hunter, who is part of Alice's current touring band and featured prominently on the first "Nightmare" album.

Musically, the album ranges far and wide, from trashing disco to garage punk, pop balladry to a rocking number, very much in the spirit of the Rolling Stones. And then there's the ballad "Something To Remember Me By," described by Alice as "the prettiest song we have ever released."

Glimpses of themes from the original album are intertwined throughout, each track representing a different aspect of Alice's nightmare.

From the opener, "I Am Made Of You," through the already established live favorite and first single "I'll Bite Your Face Off," to the surprising duet with Ke$ha, "What Baby Wants," this album is a reminder that albums just aren't made this way anymore.

And musicians do not play together like Dennis Dunaway, Michael Bruce and Neal Smith anymore.

"I wanted a `70s feel for `When Hell Comes Home,' says Alice, "and I didn't even have to ask for it, it's just how they play and they did it live in the studio. When they got done playing the basic track, Bob and I just looked at each other, that sound is built into their DNA. We didn't need to go and fix anything. The way they finished was a little bit ragged, and that's the way we used to finish songs, that's what I like about it."

Co-writers on various songs include the aforementioned Bob Ezrin, Ke$ha, Dunaway, Bruce and Smith, plus Buckcherry's Keith Nelson, Desmond Child (who famously co-wrote and produced "Poison" with Alice), longtime collaborator Dick Wagner, current touring band member Chuck Garric, and film composer Jeremy Rubolino.

"That's my rebellion," says Alice of the more surprising guests, "I like people that don't belong and yet what they're doing works perfectly. I don't care where it comes from, as long as it's right. If you tell me something doesn't work, I'll work my head off until it does then shove it down your throat."

"I think a lot of my audience is going to go 'KE$HA!?', but she probably wrote the most wicked lyrics in the song - we had to rein her in. I like people to know that just because artists are put in a pigeon hole, that doesn't mean that's what they are. Give people a little room."

With Steve Hunter, one of rock's great guitarists, added to the band's lineup of guitarists Damon Johnson and Tommy Henriksen, bassist Chuck Garric, and drummer Glen Sobel, Alice has been tearing up venues worldwide on his 2011 "No More Mr. Nice Guy" tour.

Alice gave fans an up close and highly personal experience in June with a surprise performance at London's legendary 100 Club, when actor Johnny Depp joined the band on guitar. Alice showcased the powerful band that had blown away the Download Festival crowd the previous weekend.

This year, the original Alice Cooper group was inducted into the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame, and Alice was honored with both the Kerrang! Icon Award in the U.K. and the Revolver Golden God Award in the U.S.

1. I Am Made Of You
2. Caffeine
3. The Nightmare Returns
4. A Runaway Train
5. Last Man On Earth
6. The Congregation
7. I'll Bite Your Face Off
8. Disco Bloodbath Boogie Fever
9. Ghouls Gone Wild
10. Something To Remember Me By
11. When Hell Comes Home
12. What Baby Wants
13. I Gotta Get Outta Here
14. The Underture

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005F6NA4W/?tag=imwan-20

From Billboard.com:

It's been a busy week for Alice Cooper. Not only did the platinum artist release his latest concert DVD, "The Theatre of Death," but he also kicked off another Halloween Hootenanny Tour with co-headliner Rob Zombie. And there was a bit of news from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, which nominated the shock-rock artist for its class of 2011. A decade and a half after first being eligible, Cooper maintains his sense of humor when it comes to finally being considered Rock Hall-worthy.

"I always have made the joke [that] when I finally get in, I'm going to have Pete Rose accept for me just because of the fact he should be in some hall of fame," Cooper tells Billboard.com. "You know, there's a lot of bands that haven't been nominated -- Deep Purple, Cheap Trick. I was in an elite class and being nominated with Laura Nyro, my favorite female writer, and Neil Diamond and Tom Waits and Donovan. Those guys have been around as long as I have."

Cooper feels 2011 could be a big year with a special sequel in the works. It all started when he went to his legendary producer Bob Ezrin ("Billion Dollar Babies," "Welcome to My Nightmare," "School's Out" and "Love It to Death") to mix an audio CD of the 26-track "Theatre of Death," which comes with the purchase. This led to a few songwriting sessions for a new album, tentatively called "The Nightshift."

"We thought the story was good, but we started talking about 'Welcome to My Nightmare,' which I think is our biggest triumph," Cooper says. "He mentioned, 'What if Alice had another nightmare?' And we wrote three songs right there. He got really involved in it. Bob is even darker than I am."

So far the pair have come up with 13 songs, including the ballads "I Am Made of You" and "Something to Remember Me By." In addition, Cooper cut three new songs with original band mates Dennis Dunaway (bass), Neal Smith (drums) and Michael Bruce (guitar). "Welcome II My Nightmare" is scheduled for release next year on Bigger Picture records.

"When I listen to the first 'Nightmare,' I've got all kinds of things going on," Cooper says. "There's a lot of hard rock on it, but it'll go way off in a weird direction in one song and then way off in other direction for another song. So where 'Welcome To My Nightmare' left off, this one starts right up. When it comes out it'll have an entire new production around it, probably as big as the original 'Nightmare' show. It'll be a big moment in my career."

Three new songs with Dunaway, Smith and Bruce??? Wow. Thanks for the great news, IP!

Intriguing.

That is interesting. Too bad they didn't do the entire cd together. I'll bet there's reunion thoughts in the air with the pub they;re going to get from the likely R&RHOF induction.

I'd be up for a reunion of the original band. And Dick Wagner would be essentially doing what he did back in the day -- filling in for Glen Buxton. Dick Wagner or Steve Hunter would be okay as fill-ins for me.

Didn't Wagner pass away?

According to his website, Wagner's working with Ezrin & Cooper on Nightmare 2. It also says that he & Alice are writing together for a "rock horror" film called "Silas Gore"

I think Wagner had a heart attack a few years back, but he's still around.

I'm looking forward to this album. Alice has put together a good run of recent albums and this one looks to be just as good.

I was a bit skeptical at first, but the more I hear about this, it sounds better than it did at first blush.

Alan

This sounds really exciting, since I'm a big Cooper fan. I know that during the 80's Alice was originally going to do a Nightmare 2 with Joe Perry colloborating, but it didn't happen because Steven Tyler thought that would be the end of Aerosmith, so he called Joe Perry and that Nightmare 2 never happened.

Wasn't Goes To Hell supposed to be a direct sequel to Nightmare, albeit an underwhelming one? This project sounds like it has a ton of potential. Its always a good thing when the Coopers (good to finally say that again) get in the studio with Ezrin. Whether they go with Wagner, Mick Mashbir, or Ritchie Scarlett on lead guitar, count me as another one who's hoping this leads to a more substantial reunion project.

It'll certainly be worth a listen when it comes out. But it has big shoes to fill as the original is one of my favorite Alice albums.

I plan to at least listen to it. Unfortunately even the reunion for 3 tracks doesn't guarantee a great album; anyone remember "Muscle Of Love"? I did not like that record.

Muscle Of Love isn't great, but "Man With The Golden Gun" is the greatest James Bond theme song that was never actually used.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XsoyhpBsPus[/youtube]

I thought it was an enjoyable record. I felt the songs below were quite good from this album. The packaging was unique as well.

Hard Hearted Alice
Man With The Golden Gum
Big Apple Dreamin'
Never Been Sold Before
Working Up A Sweat
Teenage Lament

Muscle Of Love wasn't produced by Bob Ezrin, I'm just wondering if some of that old "lightning in a bottle" magic the group had will still be there after 35 years of them all doing their own thing.

I'm not ashamed to admit that I was a major Alice Cooper fan during his heyday of the early 70's. Everything from "Love it to death" up to and including ""Welcome to my nightmare" in 1975. Beyond nightmare however, he fell off my radar screen completely. To be honest I haven't really thought about him for a very long time. So when I stumbled on the above article & subsequent 411, it brought back a ton memories for me because I owe ALic Cooper a huge debt musiclly speaking. By listening to him so much in my early "formative" rock years, he helped open the door for to all kinds of music & bands that I probably would not have listened to or cared that much about.
So now I read that Alice Cooper is getting back together with his old bandmates & music producer all I can say is "bring it on". I do hope the Imwan/Ice GOD's will keep us posted as this most interesting project moves closer to an actual release date. You have helped make an aging rock and roller VERY happy today, thanks!

From Antimusic.com:

Alice Cooper has completed work on Welcome II My Nightmare. He says: “It’s sitting there. It’s done. It’s the next nightmare – 35 years later Alice has another nightmare, and this one is even worse. We’ve never done a part-two so it’s a great idea.”

Alice Cooper's new album 'Welcome 2 My Nightmare', the sequel to 1975's classic 'Welcome To My Nightmare', will be released prior to his gigs in September. Once again produced with Bob Ezrin, it will feature in Alice's upcoming new shows. The original spawned a worldwide, full theatrical tour so expect Alice's comic book cruelty to be taken up a notch.

"I had an idea to do a part two to (2008's) 'Along Came a Spider'," Cooper told Billboard.com. "I came to Bob with it, and he listened and goes, 'Eh. I would be more excited if 'Along Came a Spider' was a No. 1 record.' He wasn't really into it. Then we started talking about 'Welcome to My Nightmare's 35th anniversary or something like that, and he said, 'What if Alice had another nightmare?' All I was trying to do was get Bob to say, 'Yeah, I want to produce the album,' so we found a place where both of us really felt comfortable, and that was doing 'Nightmare 2'."

The album features some other familiar faces from Cooper's past. The original 'Nightmare' tandem of Steve Hunter and Dick Wagner played on the album, while Vince Gill plays on a track called "Runaway Train." And surviving Cooper band members Michael Bruce, Dennis Dunaway and Neal Smith reunited on the track "When Hell Comes Home." "I was going to go in and say, 'What I want this thing to have is this live, 70s sound -- but I didn't have to say that. That's just the way they play," Cooper recalls. "They just had that sound you couldn't go in and try to direct them to get. That's the normal way they play. I said to Bob, 'I don't want it to sound any different than that."

In related news, Alice Cooper will once again take control of Halloween this year, bringing all the thrills, blood spills, guts and gore we can take as Alice Cooper's Halloween Night Of Fear hits the UK. Following last year's outstanding Halloween gigs at London's Roundhouse, which left fans gasping for more, Alice takes to the road in the UK, extending his reign of terror to Sheffield, Bristol, Birmingham, London's Alexandra Palace, Manchester and Glasgow.

But the insatiable Alice wants more. In London, he is calling together the spectacular ghouls, depraved weirdos and the hottest fire starters. Last year, Alice took on the role of a sadistic Simon Cowell by judging the auditions for freaks who shocked and grossed out the fans in equal measure. This year, he is hunting down spectacular fire acts and VERY bizarre performance artists to bring that hellishly warm glow to the night.

"It takes a lot to shock me," says Alice, "But last year even my stomach was churning, Britain really has got freaks. That's what's Halloween is all about. It's my favourite time of the year, bring on the gore!"

Auditions are June 27th in London's Hyde Park. Just like last year, go to AliceCooper.com/freaks to submit audition videos by June 22nd. Audition show producers Wake Up Productions will choose the line up and 3 acts will be picked by Alice and a panel of judge on the night to perform on stage October 29th at Alexandra Palace. There, the audience will decide the winner. The night will be London's largest costume party with cash prizes. Last year at the Roundhouse, hundreds of people showed up in costume... this year thousands.

The legendary New York Dolls join as support and Alice's band has been described as the best he has ever worked with. Lou Reed and original Alice sideman Steve Hunter has joined to present an unprecedented 3 guitar attack, pushing the group to new heights.

I just hope (& pray) that the magic between Alice Cooper and Bob Ezrin is still present and accounted for even after all these years So much time has passed and the musical playing field had changed dramatically since 1975. I still remain "cautiously optimistic on this endeavor however. Come on guys, make us aging classic rockers proud!