2000	Brutal Planet Wicked Young Man Sanctuary Blow Me A Kiss Eat Some More (Taste The Pain) Pick Up The Bones Pessi-Mystic Gimme It's The Little Things Take It Like A Woman Cold Machines Can't Sleep, Clowns Will Eat Me

RECENSIONE A CURA DI ALDO MOSCATELLI

Alzi la mano chi non è rimasto a bocca aperta ascoltando i primi dieci secondi di “Brutal planet”, canzone che apre l’omonimo album targato Alice Cooper: riff pesantissimo, accordatura bassa, produzione iper-compressa e modernismi a iosa. “Questo non è Alice Cooper”, avrà pensato più di qualcuno; “forse è Rob Zombie, o i Fear Factory, o i Pantera, o i Machine Head… ma non Alice Cooper”. Con l’arrivo della prima strofa si comprende facilmente che la voce appartiene proprio a Coop, e allora ci si chiede: “ma che diavolo (gli) è successo?”.
Beh, è successo che (come in altri periodi della lunghissima carriera di Alice) il genio di Detroit ha deciso di guardarsi attorno e di mettersi al passo coi tempi. Lo ha fatto spesso, dopotutto: nei primi anni Ottanta, con “Special forces” e “Flush the fashion”, che strizzavano l’occhio alla New wave. Si è ripetuto più in là con “Raise your fist and yell”, pesantemente influenzato dall’heavy metal. Anche “Trash”, in definitiva, era un compromesso fra la sua musica e il glam metal che tanto andava per la maggiore nel decennio in questione.
Nell’anno-simbolo per eccellenza, il 2000, Alice si propone in versione alternativa con “Brutal planet”, lavoro lontano anni luce dalle splendide atmosfere seventies presenti nel precedente “The last temptation”. Perché in “Brutal planet” tutto è all’insegna della modernità, dai suoni alle tematiche alla produzione; nessun virtuosismo (alla “Hey stoopid”, per intenderci) fa capolino fra i solchi dell’album, c’è soltanto una violenza sonora spaventosa, e la volontà di riprendere lo scettro in ambito rock, duellando sul medesimo terreno con le nuove icone del rock (Marilyn Manson, Nine inch nails, Korn, Rob Zombie). In tal senso, per molti la classe non è acqua, e Alice Cooper ha composto un capolavoro che in tanti possono sognarsi di realizzare; per alcuni fans, invece, Alice ha tradito ancora una volta la sua storia, il suo “Io” musicale.
Difficile stabilire da che parte stia la ragione. Se da un lato è vero che Alice, giunto a 52 anni, poteva anche fregarsene delle mode e comporre qualcosa di maggiormente personale, dall’altro c’è da chiedersi se non fosse proprio l’esplorazione di nuovi territori musicali a stimolarlo creativamente. Restando in tema: se da un lato Alice ha nel suo D.N.A. il rock stradaiolo e feroce degli anni Settanta, dall’altro è vero anche che una canzone come “Don’t talk old to me” (presente su “Special forces”) anticipa di un decennio la struttura-tipo del classico brano new metal: riff stoppati, strofa più parlata che cantata, ritornello melodico, niente assoli o tour de force strumentali. Per non parlare della proverbiale vena sperimentale che accompagna Alice sin dagli esordi.
Al di là di queste considerazioni, comunque, quel che resta alla fine è la musica, ed è su di essa che va espresso un parere; la già citata title track, al riguardo, è una delle note positive dell’album, carica com’è di groove e cattiveria, ben spezzata da un’eterea voce femminile. Convince meno “Wicked young man” (ispirata dalla strage compiuta in una scuola da un ragazzino che si professava neonazista), ma ci pensa “Sanctuary”, veloce e dotata di un ritornello contagioso, quasi punk, a risollevare le sorti dell’album. “Blow me a kiss” ricorda non poco il Marilyn Manson di metà anni Novanta (il che è tutto dire…), ed è tra le canzoni più industrial del cd; non convince granché, in virtù di un riffing monotono e ripetitivo. “Eat some more” è un macigno scaraventato sulle nostre povere teste; il riff di chitarra sembra rubato al songbook di Toni Iommy, chitarrista dei Black Sabbath, ma già qui comincia a farsi sentire una certa monotonia compositiva, volta a stordire l’ascoltatore, seppellendolo sotto una montagna di suoni compressi, monolitici, ma alla lunga noiosi. Per fortuna arriva “Pick up the bones” a farci tirare un po’ il fiato; canzone d’atmosfera, questa, quasi una ballata dark dal refrain potente e melodico. “Pessy-mystic” sembra continuare il medesimo discorso musicale: lenta e atmosferica nelle strofe, violenta nel ritornello (invero poco convincente). “Gimme” (misteriosamente scelta come singolo) è la solita, noiosa alternative-song pesante e monocorde; decisamente migliore il video (davvero divertente) tratto da essa. “It’s the little things” accelera i ritmi, tornando ad esplorare sonorità quasi punk-hardcore, già presenti in “Sanctuary”. “Take it like a woman” c’entra poco o nulla, invece, col contesto di “Brutal planet”: trattasi di una ballata romantica, con un ottimo (finalmente!) assolo di chitarra e un delicato accompagnamento di pianoforte. Si lascia ascoltare con grande piacere, a differenza della conclusiva “Cold machines”, davvero troppo simile alla mansoniana “The beautiful people” per poter piacere al fan medio di Alice Cooper.
Fan medio che, per concludere questa recensione, dovrà resettare la propria memoria per poter accettare il nuovo corso intrapreso da Alice agli albori del nuovo millennio.
In alternativa, c’è sempre “School’s out”…

Brutal Planet

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 my 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 whore

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 ya
Upon an ugly cross
Over there we filled the ovens
Right here the holocaust

Wicked Young Man

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

Sanctuary

Your world full of creeps
Zombies walk the street
9 to 5 barely alive
Have a beer go to sleep
And start all over again

Same gray suit
Same round shoes
Same headache
Same pills
He goes home thinks about suicide
But hes got his diploma
Got to give him that

I got a radical place
Got my own private space
It's my sanctuary
It's the castle of doom
I'm the king of my room
Just a Quasimodo
Let the world blow away
This is where I will stay
In my sanctuary
Got my mess on the floor
Got my lock on my door

Go Away
Sanctuary
Go Away
Sanctuary

Someday I gotta get outta here
Gotta put on a shirt put on a tie
Get a job buy a car get some insurance
Cuz I'll probably have a heart attack
Before I'm 40

I guess I'll find the perfect wife
And I'll have 2.3 perfect kids
And if I work real hard
And die real fast
They'll all turn out just like me

I got a radical place
Got my own private space
It's my sanctuary
It's the castle of doom
I'm the king of my room
Just a Quasimodo
Let the world blow away
This is where I will stay
In my sanctuary
Got my mess on the floor
Got my lock on my door

Go Away
Sanctuary
Go Away
Sanctuary
Go Away
Sanctuary
Go Away
Sanctuary
Go Away
Sanctuary
Go Away

I got a radical place
Got my own private space
It's my sanctuary
It's the castle of doom
I'm the king of my room
Just a Quasimodo
Let the world blow away
This is where I will stay
In my sanctuary
Got my mess on the floor
Got my lock on my door

Go Away
Sanctuary
Go Away
Sanctuary
Go Away
Sanctuary
Go Away
Sanctuary

Blow Me A Kiss

Take one in the leg (Think about your baby)
Take one in the side (Think about your girl)
Take one in the head (Think about your mother)
Take one in the heart (It's the end of the world)

So blow me a kiss cuz I'm black
Blow me a kiss cuz I'm gay
Blow me a kiss cuz I'm shakin'
Say goodnight then blow me away
Blow me away
Blow me away
Tell me what you're thinkin' tell me why
Blow me a kiss then blow me away

Take one in the face (Think about your life)
Take one in the eye (Think about your soul)
Take one in the mouth (Think about your savior)
Take one in the thigh (Are you ready to go)

So blow me a kiss cuz I'm lonely
Blow me a kiss cuz I'm afraid
Blow me a kiss cuz you don't know me
Say goodnight then blow me away
Blow me away
Blow me away
Tell me what you're thinkin' tell me why

I'm in my room I'm Dr. Doom
Cuz I'm not me I'm someone else
Why should you die don't ask me why
You know it you know it you know it
Blow me away

I turn the page I am the rage
I'm coming from a darker place
A much darker place
So blow me away
Blow me away

Yeah blow me away
Tell me what you're thinkin' tell me why
Blow me a kiss then blow me away
Yeah blow me away
C'mon and blow me away
Tell me what you're thinkin' tell me why
Blow me a kiss then blow me away

Eat Some More (Taste The Pain)

Sixty million tons of meat
Spoiling in the stinking heat
Train full loads of moldy bread
Millions will still go unfed

Acres full of dying wheat
Burning brightly at our feet
A billion tons of roasted fish
Some with nothing on their dish

We can't see we're going blind
We're just dying on the vine
We're all sinking from the weight
Open wide and salivate
Do you like the taste?
Stuff it in your face
Its not nice to waste

We're not happy 'til we're choking
So we eat some more
Throw up on the floor
Go back to the store
We're so hungry
So pathetic

Lots of melting cheddar cheese
Spreading instant meat disease
Rotting veggies on the ground
Where hungry little kids are found

Worms in fruit an ugly sight
They're begging for a single bite
Our garbage dumps are mountains high
While other people sadly die

We can't see we're going blind
We're just dying on the vine
We're all sinking from the weight
Open wide and salivate
Do you like the taste?
Stuff it in your face
Its not nice to waste

We're not happy 'til we're choking
So we eat some more
Throw up on the floor
Go back to the store
We're so hungry
So pathetic

We can't see we're going blind
We're just dying on the vine
We're all sinking from the weight
Open wide and salivate
Do you like the taste?
Stuff it in your face
Its not nice to waste

We're not happy 'til we're choking
So we eat some more
Throw up on the floor
Go back to the store
We're so hungry
So pathetic

Pick Up The Bones

Collecting pieces of my family
In an old pillow case
This one has a skull

But it don't have a face
These look like the arms of father so strong
And the ring on this finger

Means my Grandma is gone
Here's some legs in a cloud
Where my sister once played

Here's some mud made of blood
And these teeth are decayed
The ear of my brother

The hand of a friend
And I just can't
Put them back together again

Pick up the bones
And set them on fire
Follow the smoke going higher and higher
Pick up the bones
And wish them goodnight
Pray them a prayer and turn out the light

There are stains on the floor
Where kitchen once stood
There are ribs on the fire place
Mixed with the wood

There are forces in the air
Ghosts in the wind
Some bullets in the back
And some scars on the skin

There were demons with guns
Who marched through this place
Killing everything that breathed
They're an inhuman race

There are holes in the walls
Bloody hair on the bricks
And the smell of this hell
Is making me sick

Pick up the bones
And set them on fire
Follow the smoke going higher and higher
Pick up the bones
And wish them goodnight
Pray them a prayer and turn out the light

Pick up the bones
And set them on fire
Follow the scope going higher and higher
Pick up the bones
And wish them goodnight
Pray them a prayer and turn out the light

Now maybe someday
The suns gonna shine
Flowers will bloom
And all will be fine

But nothing will grow
On this burnt cursive ground
Cuz the breathe of the death
Is the only sound

Pessi-Mystic

Don't need a crystal ball
For me to see clearly
No astrology or Tarot cards
Watching CNN
And holding my breath
To face the day
Scares me to death

I'm pessimystic
I'm so fatalistic
I'm pessimystic
I don't believe a thing
I'm pessimystic
I'm so nihlistic
I'm pessimystic
For what tomorrow brings

I can't hear a word you say
So shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up
I like being sick this way
So shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up

Everybody's mind is badly infected
Everybody feeds the parasite
Everything is dark so why not accept it?
Everything is far more black than white

I'm pessimystic
I'm so fatalistic
I'm pessimystic
I don't believe a thing
I'm pessimystic
I'm so pissed-off-istic
I'm pessimystic
Of what tomorrow brings

I can't hear a word you say
So shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up
I like feeling sick this way
So shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up

Shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up
Shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up

I'm pessimystic
I'm so fatalistic
I'm pessimystic
I don't believe a thing
I'm pessimystic
I'm so nihlistic
I'm pessimystic
Of what tomorrow brings

I can't hear a word you say
So shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up
I like being sick this way
So shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up

I can't hear a word you say
So shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up
I like feeing sick this way
So shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up

Shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up

Gimme

I know all your desires
Your heart is so full of pain
Is there something I can provide
When you feel like life's passed you by

I'm on your side
Gimme this gimme that
Gimme this gimme that
Gimme this gimme that
Gimme this gimme that
Gimme this gimme that
Gimme this gimme that
Gimme this gimme that
Gimme this gimme that

Please don't ask me my name
Does it matter I'm just here for you
Trust me just let yourself go
And that's all you need to know

I'm on your side
Sincerely
I'm your only friend
Yes I'm on your side
Sincerely

Don't you wish you had it all
Don't you deserve to have it all
Kneel down and tell me what you need

Fame and money all for you
I can make your every dream come true

Gimme this gimme that
Gimme this gimme that
Gimme this gimme that
Gimme this gimme that
Gimme this gimme that
Gimme this gimme that
Gimme this gimme that
Gimme this gimme that

Tell me whose more important than you
You're the apple of my ancient eyes
How could the world be so cruel
I'll make you my own precious jewel

I'm on your side
Sincerely
I'm the only one that cares
Yes I'm on your side
Sincerely

Don't you wish you had it all
Don't you deserve to have it all
Kneel down and tell me what you need

Fame and money all for you
I can make your every dream come true

There is one thing
I mean everything has a price
I really hate to repeat myself
But nothing's free

Yes I'm on your side
Sincerely
I'm the only one that cares
Oh I'm on your side
Sincerely

Don't you wish you had it all
Don't you deserve to have it all
Kneel down and tell me what you need

Don't you wish you had it all
Don't you deserve to have it all
Don't you wish you had it all
Don't you deserve to have it all
Kneel down and tell me what you need

Fame and money all for you
I can make your every dream come true

Gimme this gimme that
Gimme this gimme that
Gimme this gimme that
Gimme this gimme that
Gimme this gimme that
Gimme this gimme that
Gimme this gimme that
Gimme this gimme that
Gimme this gimme that
Gimme this gimme that

It's The Little Things

You can burn my house
You can cut my hair
You can make me wrestle naked
With a grizzly bear

You can poison my cat
Baby I don't care
But if you talk in the movies
I'll kill you right there

It's the little things
It's just the little things
Aw it's the little things
It's just the little things
Yeah it's the little things
That drive me wild

I'm like a mad dog
I'm on a short leash
I'm on a tight rope
Hanging by a thread

I'm on some thin ice
You push me too far
Welcome to my nightmare
No more Mr. Nice Guy

You can steal my car
And drive it into the lake
You can stick me in the oven
And put it on bake

You could throw a big brick
Through my window pane
But if I ever hear you ask me
How I got my name

It's the little things
It's just the little things
Aw it's the little things
It's just the little things
Yeah it's the little things
That drive me wild

I'm like a mad dog
I'm on a short leash
I'm on a tight rope
Hanging by a thread

I'm on some thin ice
You push me too far
Welcome to my nightmare
No more Mr. Nice Guy

I've done it all
I mean I been everywhere
I've been beaten
I been stabbed
I been hung
I been burried alive
And I can deal with that
But its the little things

It's the little things
It's just the little things
Yeah it's the little things
Just the little things
Aw just the little things
That drive me wild

I'm like a mad dog
I'm on a short leash
I'm on a tight rope
Hanging by a thread

I'm on some thin ice
You push me too far
I'm just a psycho
Pathic psycho pathic

I'm like a mad dog
I'm on a short leash
I'm on a tight rope
Hanging by a thread

I'm on some thin ice
You push me too far
Welcome to my nightmare
No more Mr. Nice Guy

It's the little things
Aw it's the little things
It's just the little things

Take It Like A Woman

I bet ya never thought
That it would never turn out like this
Mama's little girl
Daddy's little princess

But somewhere in your fairy tale
Everything went wrong
Now the sun don't shine
The words don't ryhme
You're out of time

You've been beaten down
Kicked around on the ground
But you took it like a woman
Victimized, terrorized, paralyzed
But you took it like a woman
Pushed too far pulled too hard
Deeply scared
I know you must have felt the pain
But you took it like a woman

Ya thought you had your Mr. Right
But he was really Mr. Hyde
Ya gave him your most precious gift
You were his bleeding bride
He tied you up pulled your hair
He slapped your innocent face
Yeah, you were black and blue
He laughed at you
So what'd you do?

Aw you've been beaten down
Kicked around on the ground
But you took it like a woman
Victimized, terrorized, paralyzed
But you took it like a woman
Pushed too far pulled too hard
Deeply scared
I know you must have felt the pain
But you took it like a woman

And so its over
Your fantasy life is finally at an end
And the world above is still a brutal place
And the story will start again

You been beaten down
Kicked around on the ground
But you took it like a woman
Victimized, terrorized, paralyzed
But you took it like a woman
Pushed too far pulled too hard
Deeply scared
I know you must have felt the pain

Felt the pain
I know you must have felt the pain
But you took it like a woman
You took it like a woman
I know you must have felt the pain
You took it like a woman
I know you must have felt the pain
You took it like a woman
I know you must have felt the pain
You took it like a woman

Cold Machines

I see you working at your station
Radiation burns my eyes
Love's forbidden so is passion
This whole place is sterilized

I just want to see tomorrow
Day by day to just survive
But this place is built to kill me
No one here gets out alive

I don't wanna be
I don't wanna be
Just a memory
I don't wanna be
I don't wanna be
Gone

You don't know my name
You don't know my number
You don't know my face at all
We walk right past each other
Every single day
Like cold machines
We're marching on and on and on and on and on

Got your thumb print always with me
Got your barcode memorized
They came here to electroshock me
But can they erase you from my mind?

I don't wanna be
I don't wanna be
Just a memory
I don't wanna be
I don't wanna be
Gone

You don't know my name
You don't know my number
You don't know my face at all
We walk right past each other
Every single day
Like cold machines
We're marching on and on and on and on and on

I don't wanna be
I don't wanna be
Just a memory
I don't wanna be
I don't wanna be
Gone

You don't know my name
You don't know my number
You don't know my face at all
We walk right past each other
Every single day
Like cold machines
We're marching on and on and on and on and on

Can't Sleep, Clowns Will Eat Me

[Japan-only bonus track]

Don't sing me lullabies
I won't close my eyes,
I can't close my eyes
It's true,
I'm doomed
'til dawn
shines through
Got too many things to do
Got friends to see,
I can't miss a thing
It's true,
I'm through
I'm screwed,
unglued

I won't close my eyes, I can't close my eyes,
I never close my eyes
You see, they're always there with funny hair,
Oh, I'm so scared

It happens to me every night
Can't sleep, the clowns will eat me
They always want to take a bite
Can't sleep, the clowns will eat me
And if you think this isn't real
I'll show you wounds that never heal
To them I'm just a happy meal
Can't sleep, the clowns will eat me

Make the coffee black as night
Help me through the night
I know their appetite for me
I'm meat
but I'm sweet
as can be
And if I do too much booze
I begin to snooze
I hear the big old floppy shoes
It's true,
I'm stew,
unchewed

I won't close my eyes, I can't close my eyes,
I never close my eyes
See, they're always there with that funny hair,
Oh, I'm so scared

It happens to me every night
Can't sleep, the clowns will eat me
They always want to take a bite
Can't sleep, the clowns will eat me
And if you think this isn't real
I'll show you wounds that never heal
To them I'm just a happy meal
Can't sleep, the clowns will eat me