15 Brain-Twisting Concept Albums That Are Endlessly Rewarding
13. Welcome To My Nightmare Alice Cooper
When Alice Cooper started out, the name referred to the entire band, not just its iconic lead singer. By 1975, it officially referred to Mr. Vincent Furnier himself. As such, all the theatricality that the band had become renowned for all the bizarre concepts and horror themes found their first complete expression on the classic Welcome To My Nightmare. As the title suggests, the songs are all about a mans nightmares. Steven must be awfully mixed-up, because many of these songs showcase some truly deep fears. It starts out innocently enough, with the Devils Food/Black Widow suite highlighting Stevens fear of spiders and even featuring a cameo by the great Vincent Price thats an absolute hoot. But by the end, Steven has graduated to some serious psychological terrors, and Alices unique combination of the campy and the frightening are played to great effect. The climax comes with the song Steven, where Steven has a dream in which a murder is taking place, but it's unclear to whom or by whom it's being committed. Forget about the parlour tricks and cheese hes known for: Alice is a master of psychology. The answer to the riddle posed by Steven is answered in Awakening, and it shocks and surprises even on subsequent listens. Not only does this record contain some of Alices best-known songs, its also a tremendous execution of an original concept.
Kyle Schmidlin is a writer and musician living in Austin, TX. He manages the news blog at thirdrailnews.wordpress.com. Follow him at facebook.com/kyleschmidlin or twitter.com/kyleschmidlin1.
