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Se al mondo abbiamo Marilyn Manson, un po'lo dobbiamo anche ad Alice Cooper. Lui fu il prototipo dell'irriverenza musicale, lui, l'incantatore di serpenti più famoso del mondo, usò per primo la morte come sberleffo.
Questo "demone grottesco", tra i '70 e gli '80 soprattutto, senza togliere niente agli ultimi lavori tra i '90 ed oggi, ha regalato al mondo moltissimi dischi, convincendo e deludendo, scandalizzando tutto e tutti. Un rock 'n' roll, a metà tra l'hard e l'heavy commerciale, che a tratti ricorda le sonorità degli ultimi AC/DC, a tratti quelle di Bon Jovi e Van Halen. Una formula musicale semplice e immediata.
Siamo in pieni anni '80 e il boom dell'heavy metal sembra relegare Alice nell'oblio degli artisti dimenticati. In questo periodo ricordiamo "Special Forces" e "Zipper Catches Skin", che non decollarono molto davanti al mostro del Metal in continua avanzata. "Constrictor" rappresenta una parziale ripresa, dove Alice esplora sonorità Heavy classiche, senza mai perdere la sua vena Rock 'n' Roll e la sua proverbiale irriverenza, tangibile fin dall'artwork del disco.
Merito della riuscita dell'album va anche al chitarrista-culturista Kane Roberts, che ha composto gran parte del lavoro finale. Alice è in perfetta sintonia con queste nuove sonorità, e lo dimostrano appieno brani come "Teenage Frankenstein", "Give It Up!", e "Thrill My Gorilla". Riff granitici, cori semplici e immediati. "Life And Death Of The Party" è quasi una semi-ballad, che non si discosta troppo dagli schemi precedentemente adottati. Un brano godibile, impreziosito dall'uso di intermezzi acustici. "Simple Disobedience" sembra una canzone disco dance anni '70, e forse per questo non entusiasma troppo, restando anonima. Si accelerano i toni con la successiva "The World Needs Guts", dove abbiamo un riffing semplice e tagliente. "Trick Bag", "Crawlin'" e "The Great American Success Story" non presentano particolari innovazioni, brani godibili senza troppa ricerca musicale, efficaci nella loro commercialità. Chiude il disco il tema del sesto film della serie "Friday The 13th", ovvero "He's Back (The Man Behind The Mask)", più elettronica delle altre, che ricorda pesantemente la dance anni '70 (come per "Simple Disobedience").
Un buon disco per un gruppo, o un artista che dir si voglia che, nel bene o nel male o in entrambi, ha regalato bei momenti, restando quasi sempre al centro dell'attenzione grazie ad una formula vincente ed efficace. Questo è "Il peggior gruppo di Los Angeles", dopotutto.
Elenco tracce e testi
02 Give It Up (04:13)
You got your sugar
You got your spice
You got a kitten
Now isn't that nice
You just can't wait for a picnic in Spring
I just get nauseous
When I think of those things
You wait and wait and you wait for a lifetime
For a little piece of cake in the night time yeah
You wait and wait you can't wait any longer
You wait and wait, couldn't be any wronger no
Give it up
Don't let it get you down
Give it up
you really really blew it
Give it up
Turn your head around
You shop around for a sensible car
You hold your breath when you wish on a star
You settle down in a warm little house
You make some babies with your warm little spouse
Ah, how nice
You wait and wait and you wait for a lifetime
For a little piece of cake in the night time yeah
You wait and wait you can't wait any longer
You wait and wait, couldn't be any wronger no
Give it up
Don't let it get you down
Give it up
you really really blew it
Give it up
Turn your head around
Just when you got it made
And all your bills are paid
You stumble and fall into your grave
Ah, too bad
You wait and wait and you wait for a lifetime
For a little piece of cake in the night time yeah
You wait and wait you can't wait any longer
You wait and wait, couldn't be any wronger no
Give it up
Don't let it get you down
Give it up
you really really blew it
Give it up
Turn your head around
03 Thrill My Gorilla (02:56)
Sukie honey, we're gonna turn back the clock
To a time when we danced to volcanic rock
We loved to hunt and kill
That's how we used to be
We drank the blood we spilled
And growled at our enemies
Where were you when the monkey hit the fan
Thrill my gorilla
Where were you when monkey turned to man
Thrill my gorilla
Sukie honey, weren't you right there with me
I seem to remember chasing you from tree to tree
Those prehistoric nights are coming back to me
We must have been the first
To go down in history
Where were you when the monkey hit the fan
Thrill my gorilla
Where were you when monkey turned to man
Thrill my gorilla
We lay on our skins, original sins
Ah, ah, ah, ah yeah
We touch, we feel
We scream, we squeal
Thrill my gorilla
Thrill my gorilla
Where were you when the monkey hit the fan
Thrill my gorilla
Where were you when monkey turned to man
Thrill my gorilla
05 Simple Disobedience (03:30)
Looks like all your laws are broken, all your lines are down
And all your officers are shook up babbling little clowns
Looks like all your power's gone, it's sprayed upon the wall
In blood and spit, it spells out your inevitable fall
And all the hungry outlaws have taken up a stance
Simple disobedience
Yeah, all the hungry outlaws have taken up a stance
Simple disobedience
Now all your complex little schemes that form your master plan
Are scrambled up and that is something you just don't understand
A cyclone of confusion rips right through your holy troops
The very thing that weakens you gives power, gives me juice
And all the hungry outlaws have taken up a stance
Simple disobedience
Yeah, all the hungry outlaws have taken up a stance
Simple disobedience
Take your laser microscope and try to find an answer
No antidote or drug to cure our special strain of cancer
It spreads its revolution wide from cell to cell to cell
Your kingdom's like your body, it dies and goes to hell
And all the hungry outlaws have taken up a stance
Simple disobedience
Yeah, all the hungry outlaws have taken up a stance
Simple disobedience
08 Crawlin' (03:22)
Your dress is hangin' on a hook on the door
My jeans are lying in a pile on the floor, yeah
Flat on my back, tryin' to catch my breath
When we were rockin' tonight
I thought that we were gonna rock to death
But what's that in your eyes?
I'm no longer paralyzed
Here we go again
Crawlin', you come crawling to me
I go crawling to you
We come crawling
You come crawling to me
I go crawling to you
Your hair is tangled and your lipstick is gone
You're stretched out, calling my name
With just your high heels on
We hunt each other on our hands and our knees
Well I'm an alley cat
And you're a hot little Siamese
But what's that in your eyes?
I'm no longer paralyzed
Here we go again
Crawlin', you come crawling to me
I go crawling to you
We come crawling
You come crawling to me
I go crawling to you
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