Album Review: Alice Cooper – Paranormal (earMusic)

Paranormal is Alice Cooper’s 27th studio album. What an incredible achievement that is. That the band & the man himself are still going strong after so many years is one of the most heartening things within rock & metal. The times change but Alice Cooper doesn’t, well…for the most part.

27 albums does mean a fair few stinkers amongst them but the question right now is about Paranormal & if it falls into the good Alice Cooper album pile.

Honest answer? It’s probably going to end up in the pile marked ‘decent but unmemorable’.

Opening with the title track, Paranormal. It’s not initially the most exciting but once it gets going it’s a catchy little number that has plenty of the Cooper trademarks. The up-tempo guitar solo at the end is a particular strong point.

The hard rock patter continues with the chorus heavy & classic sounding Dead Flies before Fireball’s annoying vocal effects bring things crunching to a halt. Cooper can sing, he can still sink his teeth into a good vocal line but the computerised sounding vocals here just sounds so off & so odd!

Things don’t improve with the bland beat of Paranoiac Person (you can read an opposing opinion about the song written earlier here). It sounds like it should have snarl but doesn’t actually have any! Fallen in Love & Dynamite Road are perfectly fine rock songs that will get the foot tapping while listening but will be instantly forgotten the moment they end.

Every so often though all the right boxes are ticked. Private Public Breakdown is a great little rock tune built around solid guitar riffs. While Holy Water’s use of trumpets & upbeat vocals is great fun, quite a bit different from the rest of the album but certainly not a bad thing.

The expected ballady number comes with The Sound of A. A lazy offering that is so forgettable that it will be gone from the mind the moment it ends provided it didn’t put you to sleep already.

The album wraps up with two standard Alice Cooper songs. Genuine American Girl could be part of any modern day setlist, simple-sounding with a little bit of sexy groove about it. While You and all Your Friends ends things on a flat note.

Paranormal is not a bad album, it’s a modern day Alice Cooper album. Filled with far too many average songs but when he gets it right though, it’s an absolute blast.

Alice Cooper – Paranormal Full Track Listing:

1. Paranormal
2. Dead Flies
3. Fireball
4. Paranoiac Person
5. Fallen in Love
6. Dynamite Road
7. Private Public Breakdown
8. Holy Water
9. Rats
10. The Sound of A
11. Genuine American Girl
12. You And All Your Friends

Paranormal is out now & can be streamed/bought from every major music place in the world! Including Apple Music where you can preview the album below. Of course, you can keep up to date with all Alice Cooper related news via Facebook & Twitter.