Detroit Stories

Alice Cooper

explicit

Released on 26/02/2021 by earMUSIC
Main artists: Alice Cooper
Genre: Metal

Available in

24-Bit/48 kHz Stereo

Unlimited Streaming

Listen to this album in high quality now on our apps

Start my trial period and start listening to this album

Enjoy this album on Qobuz apps with your subscription

Digital Download

Purchase and download this album in a wide variety of formats depending on your needs.

What do you do when you're a 73-year-old shock rocker in a world where rock doesn't shock but you still have gas in the tank? Relive the glory days. Alice Cooper's 28th album and first since 2017's Paranormal is an ode to the city where Alice got his start as one of the godfathers of hard rock. It was recorded with longtime producer Bob Ezrin, features players from Motor City legends like the MC5 and The Detroit Wheels, and attempts to recapture the grimy magic of his once-subversive project's inception in the early '70s. The stakes couldn't be lower for new Alice Cooper music in 2021, and the record sees him acknowledge that and then choose to rock out anyways for himself and whoever's listening.

Even at 73, Alice is still a charismatic vocalist who sounds best when he's knee-deep in dirt-kicking blues-rock riffs, like on "Go Man Go," "Sister Anne," and the Sabbathy "East Side Story." Unlike '90s acolytes like Rob Zombie and Marilyn Manson, Cooper's strain of shock was always more silly than scary, and those sensibilities have aged nicely as the last few decades of culture have drained all the transgression out of his schtick. "Hail Mary" is a hammy hard-rock song about a woman who certainly doesn't invoke Virgin qualities, and when Cooper self-deprecatingly groans, "I'm dumb but even sometimes losers win," you can practically see his toothy grin materalize before you. Forty years ago, you would've been hard-pressed to see a critic describe Alice Cooper as comfort food, but now his nostalgically endearing antics have a warm, Grandpa-esque quality to them.

The inoffensively awkward swerves into funk ("$1000 High Heel Shoes") and industrial ("Wonderful World") are goofy but easily forgivable. Other gimmicky tracks like "Detroit City 2021," a lovably dated-sounding anthem, and "I Hate You," a song where each band member playfully roasts the others with schoolyard taunts, find the sweet-spot between shlocky and unapologetically fun. The only track on the record that really doesn't work is the sunny power-pop song "Our Love Will Change the World," which is so bright and uplifting that it's unclear whether Cooper is being cheeky or earnest. The grungey power-ballad, "Don't Give Up," is a well-intentioned fight song for COVID-era resilience, but Cooper's spoken-word plug for the Suicide Prevention Hotline feels out of sorts on an album with a burning building and blood-red lettering on its cover art. At the end of the day, Detroit Stories doesn't really have all that much to say about its namesake and most of the songs lack the narrative focus one would associate with a story, but that's OK. Just hearing Alice Cooper do his thing, as he's done with remarkable consistency for over 50 years, is good enough. © Eli Enis/Qobuz

More info

Detroit Stories

Alice Cooper

You are currently listening to samples.

Listen to over 100 million songs with an unlimited streaming plan.

Listen to this playlist and more than 100 million songs with our unlimited streaming plans.

From €13,50/month

Rock & Roll