ALICE COOPER -WELCOME 2 MY NIGHTMARE

Alice Cooper Returns with a New Album, New Nightmare

The Long-Awaited Sequel to his 1975 classic
Welcome To My Nightmare Album

Global Album Release – September 19th

Single

I’ll Bite Your Face Off
Limited Edition 7” picture vinyl – September 12th
w/ exclusive live version as the b-side
Digital – August 22nd
w/ Caffeine as b-side

Alice Cooper releases the hugely anticipated new album “Welcome 2 My Nightmare” this year via Universal Music Group.

Recorded with longtime collaborator Bob Ezrin, who produced the original multi-platinum Welcome To My Nightmare album in 1975, the record picks up right where they left off, with Alice trapped in his own warped mind.

That original album is an all-time rock classic that spawned a worldwide theatrical tour and pioneering US TV special and cemented Alice Cooper as a visionary trailblazer whose influence persists today in rock, metal, pop, punk, theatre, television, film and much more. 

More than 35 years later, Alice and Ezrin have resurrected the horror and humour for a new generation.

“This is Alice’s nightmare 35 years later,” explains Alice, “Bob and I created this character and we know how to write for him. I play the part but we’re not writing for me, we’re writing for Alice. We kept the first Nightmare album very personal to us, on this one we found more humour and we were more open. This was our world and we want to present it to the fans. The original album was my first solo album after all those huge hit records with the original band and now that nightmare is exposed, this one can be a little bit more open. The music crosses all sorts of boundaries; we went where the lyrics took us.”

There is an array of collaborators on the new album, including original Alice Cooper members Denis Dunaway, Michael Bruce and Neal Smith reunited on 3 tracks; global pop superstar Ke$ha, who affectionately calls Alice “dad”; and legendary Alice and Lou Reed guitarist Steve Hunter, who is part of Alice’s current touring band and featured prominently on the first Nightmare album.

Musically, the album ranges far and wide, from trashing disco to garage punk, pop balladry to a rocking number, very much in the spirit of the Rolling Stones. And then there’s the ballad Something To Remember Me By, described by Alice as, “the prettiest song we have ever released.”

Glimpses of themes from the original album are intertwined throughout, each track representing a different aspect of Alice’s nightmare. 

From the opener, I Am Made Of You, through the already established live favourite and first single I’ll Bite Your Face Off, to the surprising duet with Ke$ha, What Baby Wants, this album is a reminder that albums just aren’t made this way anymore.

And musicians do not play together like Dennis Dunaway, Michael Bruce and Neal Smith anymore.

“I wanted a 70s feel for When Hell Comes Home,” says Alice, “and I didn’t even have to ask for it, it’s just how they play and they did it live in the studio. When they got done playing the basic track, Bob and I just looked at each other, that sound is built into their DNA. We didn’t need to go and fix anything. The way they finished was a little bit ragged and that’s the way we used to finish songs, that’s what I like about it.”

Co-writers on various songs include the aforementioned Bob Ezrin, Ke$ha, Neal, Dennis, Michael, plus Buckcherry’s Keith Nelson, Desmond Child (who famously co-wrote and produced “Poison” with Alice), longtime collaborator Dick Wagner, current touring band member Chuck Garric and film composer Jeremy Rubolino.

“That’s my rebellion,” says Alice of the more surprising guests, “I like people that don’t belong and yet what they’re doing works perfectly. I don’t care where it comes from, as long as it’s right.  If you tell me something doesn’t work, I’ll work my head of until it does then shove it down your throat.

“I think a lot of my audience is going to go ‘KE$HA!?’, but she probably wrote the most disgusting lyrics in the song – we had to rein her in. I like people to know that just because artists are put in a pigeon hole, that doesn’t mean that’s what they are. Give people a little room.”

With Steve Hunter, one of rock’s great guitarists, added to the band’s line-up of guitarists Damon Johnson and Tommy Henriksen, bassist Chuck Garric, and drummer Glen Sobel, Alice has been tearing up venues worldwide on his 2011 “No More Mr Nice Guy” tour.

Alice gave fans a treat in June with a surprise performance at London’s tiny 100 Club, when actor Johnny Depp joined in on guitar. Alice showcased the powerful band that had blown away the Download Festival crowd the previous weekend.

This year, the original Alice Cooper group was inducted into the Rock n Roll Hall Of Fame, and Alice was honoured with both the Kerrang! Icon Award in the UK and the Revolver Golden God Award in the USA.

Releases:

STANDARD TRACKLIST
1. I Am Made Of You
2. Caffeine
3. The Nightmare Returns
4. A Runaway Train
5. Last Man On Earth
6. The Congregation
7. I’ll Bite Your Face Off
8. Disco Bloodbath Boogie Fever
9. Ghouls Gone Wild
10. Something To Remember Me By
11. When Hell Comes Home
12. What Baby Wants
13. I Gotta Get Outta Here
14. The Underture
Standard Bonus Track:
15. We Gotta Get Out Of This Place

DELUXE TRACKLIST
1. I Am Made Of You
2. Caffeine
3. The Nightmare Returns
4. A Runaway Train
5. Last Man On Earth
6. The Congregation
7. I’ll Bite Your Face Off
8. Disco Bloodbath Boogie Fever
9. Ghouls Gone Wild
10. Something To Remember Me By
11. When Hell Comes Home
12. What Baby Wants
13. I Gotta Get Outta Here
14. The Underture
Deluxe Bonus Tracks:
15. We Gotta Get Out Of This Place
16. No More Mr. Nice Guy (Live at Download Festival)
17. The Black Widow (Live at Download Festival)

Album Formats:

1.    2xLP blood-red vinyl with poster and exclusive track ‘Flatline’
2.    Deluxe digipak CD with exclusive ‘ticket to hell’ not available anywhere else, plus poster and bonus tracks ‘We Gotta Get Out Of This Place’, ‘No More Mr. Nice Guy (live at Download Festival)’, ‘Black Widow (Live at Download  Festival)’                                                   
3.    Standard CD/eAlbum with bonus track ‘We Gotta Get Out Of This Place’
4.    iTunes-exclusive eAlbum with bonus track ‘A Bad Situation’ and track-by-track commentary

Alice Cooper’s Night Of Fear Tour 2011

OCTOBER 2011
Wednesday 12     Rome, Italy Atlantico
Thursday 13            Padova, Italy Gran Teatro Geox
Friday 14                  Milan, Italy Live Club
Tuesday 18             Vienna, Austria Gasometer Wien
Thursday 20            Chemnitz, Germany Stadthalle (Grosser Saal)
Friday 21                  Göppingen, Germany EWS Arena
Saturday 22            Mannheim, Germany Rosengarten (Mozartsaal)
Sunday 23               Zoetermeer, Netherlands Silverdome
Tuesday 25             Sheffield, UK Oval Hall
Wednesday 26     Bristol, UK Colston Hall
Thursday 27            Birmingham, UK NIA Birmingham
Saturday 29           London, UK Alexandra Palace
Sunday 30               Manchester, UK O2 Apollo Manchester
Monday 31             Finnieston Glasgow, Scotland Clyde Auditorium

NOVEMBER 2011
Wednesday 2        Brussels, Belgium Ancienne Belgique
Thursday 3              Lille, France Zenith
Saturday 5               Toulouse, France Zenith
Sunday 6                  Lyon, France Halle Tony Garnier
Tuesday 8                Paris, France Zenith
Wednesday 9        Rouen, France Zénith de Rouen
Thursday 10            Rennes, France Liberté
Saturday 12            Bremen, Germany PIER 2
Sunday 13               Mülheim An Der Ruhr, Germany RWE Halle
Monday 14             Berlin, Germany Columbiahalle
Thursday 17            St Petersburg, Russia Oktyabrsky Concert Hall
Saturday 19            Moscow, Russia Crocus City Hall

Source: Universal Music