When Alice Cooper arrived on the music scene over fifty years ago with his worldwide hit School’s Out, he invited criticism and caused outrage with his over-the-top image and songs that did not fit in easily amongst his peers and the music scene.

In 2023, things have not changed that much on this, his thirty-ninth studio album, which has been recorded with his current touring band. The overall sound is one that is not polished; think more of the garage bands that hail from Cooper’s birthplace, Detroit, and you will get an idea of what to expect here.

Opening with I’m Alice, the song is one of the best ones on the album. "I stand there before you, and the legend lives on," he boasts as the song describes the experience of attending one of his live gigs. The initiated will know that Cooper’s head gets cut off with a guillotine and that he comes back from the dead—to live another day, much like his career.

Welcome To The Show continues the narrative of Cooper’s live gigs. Expect long guitar solos, frantic drumming, and a daft lyric—all underpinned by some great musicianship.

He describes "being invited to a jail in old Hong Kong" on All Over The World, though in reality Cooper is more likely to be found on the golf course rather than behind bars on one of his rest days when he tours!

Like most rock albums, there is a requisite ballad; Baby Please Don’t Go gives a respite from the heavy rock resplendent elsewhere. As Cooper goes out on tour again, leaving behind his wife and family, the track shows a more reflective side to his character.

Magic Bus, originally recorded by The Who, closes the album with a "live audience". Probably more of a tribute to the British band that inspired Cooper in his youth, the song fits in well with the rest of the album.

He may sound nostalgic at times, though for now the show seems set.