PART 5: The New Millennium
The year 2000 ushered in a new Alice. He had a new record label - Spitfire - which specialised in heavy metal. He had a new musical style - a heavier, more industrial metal sound. And, more importantly, he released his first studio alum for 6 years
'Brutal Planet' is a concept album. It deals with a dystopian world, containing themes of dark 'social fiction', including domestic violence, prejudice, psychopathic behavior, war, Neo-Nazism and school shootings. Ironically however, the lyrics on the album were praised by Doug Van Pelt, who was the editor of the alternative Christian music-oriented HM Magazine, who stated that they '
communicated biblical morals in a very powerful way'
The band used were constant throughout the entire album
Alice Cooper - Vocals
Ryan Roxie - Guitars
Phil X - Guitars
China - Guitars
Bob Marlette - Bass, Keyboards
Eric Singer - Drums
Producer - Bob Marlette
The first song is the title track,
'Brutal Planet', which establishes the dark atmosphere of the album right from the start. The guitar riff is simple but ear-catching, and the melody is very memorable
The video is the live version of the song, opening with a monologue from 'The Controller'
01/11 - Brutal Planet (Cooper, Marlette)
"We're spinning round on this ball of hate
There's no parole, there's no great escape
We're sentenced here until the end of days
And then my brother there's a price to pay
We're only human, we were born to die
Without the benefit of reason why
We live for pleasure to be satisfied
And now it's over there's no place to hide
Why don't you, come down to
It's such a brutal planet
It's such an ugly world
Why won't you, come down to
"This world is such perfection" (What a sight)
"It's just like paradise" (For your eyes)
"A truly grand creation" (What a sight)
"From up here it looks so nice" (For my eyes)
It's such a brutal planet
It's such a living hell
It was a holy garden
That's right where Adam fell
It's where the bite was taken
It's where we chose to sin
It's where we first were naked
This is where our death begins
We took advice from that deceiving snake
He said "don't worry it's a piece of cake"
And sent us swimming in a burning lake
Now we're abandoned here for heaven's sake
Why don't you, come down to
It's such a brutal planet
It's such an ugly world
Why won't you, come down to
"This world is such perfection" (What a sight)
"It's just like paradise" (For my eyes)
"A truly grand creation" (What a sight)
"From up here it looks so nice" (For my eyes)
Here's where we keep the armies
Here's where we write their names
Here's where the money god is
Here's our famous hall of shame
Here's where we starve the hungry
Here's where we cheat the poor
Here's where we beat the children
Here is where we pay the whores
Why don't you, come down to
It's such a brutal planet
It's such an ugly world
Why won't you, come down to
"This world is such perfection" (What a sight)
"It's just like paradise" (For my eyes)
"A truly grand creation" (What a sight)
"From up here it looks so nice" (For my eyes)
Right here we stoned the prophets
Built idols out of mud
Right here we fed the lions
Christian flesh and Christian blood
Down here is where we hung him
Upon an ugly cross
Over there we filled the ovens
Right here the holocaust"
The second song,
'Wicked Young Man', is even better. It's been a long time since Alice recorded something that is truly chilling and disturbing, and this song is both. This is a response to rising number of school killings that were happening around the world, specifically the Columbine massacre. When Alice sings:
"I got a pocketful of bullets
and a blueprint of the school
I'm the devil's little soldier,
I'm the devil's little tool"
the hairs on the back of the neck stand up
Musically, it's another very catchy song, and the evil vocal performance is spot on for the subject matter
02/11 - Wicked Young Man (Cooper, Marlette)
"Cold blue swastika tattooed on my skin
The ice in my veins the staples in my chin
I've got it carved in my forehead "Slave To My Sin"
Too violent for the brotherhood to ever take me in
Gonna write down my law in blood upon the street
To the cadence of a goose-step heavy metal beat
Wanna purify my race gonna turn up the heat
Just wanna make 'em die and make the job complete
I am a vicious young man, oh I am a wicked young man
It's not the games that I play, the movies I see, the music I dig
I'm just a wicked young man
I like to run my body on heavy heavy fuel
I can punch through a wall, I can kick like a mule
I got a pocketful of bullets and a blueprint of the school
I'm the devil's little soldier, I'm the devil's little tool
I am a vicious young man, oh I am a wicked young man
It's not the games that I play, the movies I see, the music I dig
I'm just a wicked young man
I got every kind of chemical pumpin' through my head
I read Mein Kampf daily just to keep my hatred fed
I never ever sleep I just lay in my bed
Dreamin' of the day when everyone is dead
I am a vicious young man, oh I am a wicked young man
It's not the games that I play, the movies I see, the music I dig
I'm just a wicked young man
I am a vicious young man, oh I am a vicious young man
I am a vicious young man, oh I am a wicked young man"