Dirty Diamonds

Alice Cooper

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 2, 2005)
• Original Release Date: August 2, 2005
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: New West Records
• ASIN: B0009X75MY
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (73 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #66,467 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Although he never really left, it only felt that way because much of Alice Cooper’s 80s and 90s output has been, to be kind, forgettable. Hard rock fans were put off by the turn towards frigid techno and all but gone by Cooper’s slash and burn metal years.

2005’s return to the stinging hard rock that put him on the map is a welcome look back in anger. Kicking off with the gritty, driving guitars and snappy lyrical twists of "Woman of Mass Distraction," Cooper’s sleazy voice sounds as robust and distinctive as it did three decades ago. Riff happy nitroburners such as "Steal that Car," "Your Own Worst Enemy" and especially the "Under My Wheels" licks of "You Make Me Wanna" show that Cooper, now pushing 60, still has plenty of gas in the tank. A lovely, entirely non-ironic cover of The Left Banke’s "Pretty Ballerina," complete with harpsichord and string section, proves that Cooper hasn’t lost his touch with "Only Woman Bleed" style ballads either.

Dirty Diamonds, with it’s unnecessary nod to hip-hop ("Stand") and weak stab at country ("The Saga of Jesse Jane"), won’t knock classics such as School’s Out, Billion Dollar Babies and Love it to Death from their well-deserved perch as archetypal blueprints of Cooper’s Halloween-styled gutsy rocking. Yet, at its best, the raw guitars and tightly arranged songs refreshingly recapture the brash attack and dark humor of his glory years. --Hal Horowitz

Recommended Alice Cooper

Killers	Love it to Death	School's Out
Billion Dollar Babies	Welcome to My Nightmare	Flush the Fashion

Product Description

You’d think Alice Cooper’s demons would’ve been conquered by now—or maybe locked in a cage and fed undercooked meat. But the man who changed the course of rock music in the ‘70s with bloody guillotines, sparking electric chairs, slimy boa constrictors, and a little blood and eyeliner still has more to slay in 2005.

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Will the Real Vince Furnier Please Keep on Doing Whatever it Is He's Doing?, August 30, 2005

By	Kelly L. Norman "lil rock & roller" (Plymouth, MI United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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I have a confession to make. I (Shock! Horror!) had abandoned Alice for many years after the Welcome To My Nightmare days, seeking out more "rrrrefined" music. When I returned, it was out of curiousity to find out what the Dragontown-Brutal Planet-Last Temptation trilogy stuff was all about. I loved every note and lyric. This CD is great too, but it sounds very different. It seems as though there are two or three "characters" singing on the CD, which should be right up Alice's spookey alley, given his penchant for theatrical performances onstage. The hee-haw delivery of the sad tale of Jesse Jane is hilarious, if politically incorrect (somebody badly needs to request that one on Dr. Demento). "Woman of Mass Destraction" and "Sunset Babies" are good old fashioned rockers, the latter with the Cooper trademark freakshow brand. "Run Down the Devil"'s lyrics remind me of some of the old country gospel songs---"Drive on down to lonely street/He's always waiting there for me/Run down the devil/Run the devil down/Run down the devil/ Run him down down down."

What sounds totally un-Cooper to me...and maybe that's because of my long, inexcusable absence from Cooper fan-dom...is his cover of the Left Banke's "Pretty Ballerina." What a beautiful voice! I do think it is perfect though. And I do have to smile when I think of former Joffrey ballerina, now dance company owner Cheryl Cooper, as well as ballet student Sonora Rose Cooper. I'm sure the decision to record this had nothing to do with them though. Ohhh no.

21 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Try and Get it Out of Your Head....I Dare ya!, August 8, 2005

By	Graboidz (Westminster, Maryland) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

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Alice Cooper is just amazing. Think for a minute about all of the musical styles the Coop has gone through, whether it's the 70's guitar rock of the original band, disco with "Goes to Hell", new age with "Special Forces", hair metal with "Trash", nu-metal with "Brutal Planet", Alice Cooper's catalog is just amazing. And "Dirty Diamonds" incorporates all of those styles and more. There are tunes on "Diamonds" that you would swear Cooper wrote 30 years ago, the title song "Dirty Diamonds" could easily find a place on "Muscle of Love". "Perfect" sounds like a stripped down song from his "Zipper Catches Skin" era, while "Run Down the Devil" sounds as though it could have come from the "Dragontown" songwriting sessions. I really like the path Cooper started going down with "The Eyes" album, and continues following with "Diamonds". That's not to say that this is Cooper's best album, there are a few clunkers sprinkled here and there, "The Ballad of Jesse Jane" and "Steal that Car", but overall the album is everything you could want from Alice and company. And just a quick note; speaking of versatility, Ryan Roxie's guitar work on here is amazing. At times cranking it up to a blistering pace, while on tracks like "Zombie Dance" he just plays some great blues riffs, and tones everything down nicely on "Pretty Ballerina". I have seen Cooper live on a couple occasions and Roxie's work is just as impressive live. I have listened to this album several times now and keep going back, it really is addictive.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars LISTEN TO THE FANS. YES, ALICE RETURNS TO HIS ROOTS!!, October 5, 2006

By	Unlucky Frank (Lalaland, CA United States) - See all my reviews

True ALICE fans know. This feels like OLD ALICE, man!! Take my word for it. I've been a fan since 1973. Or, don't take my word. Sample it for yourself. ALICE COOPER hasn't made music this good since his days with the ALICE COOPER BAND. At the start of the new millennium(how I hate that term), ALICE COOPER turned out 2 hot and wicked metal albums!! BRUTAL PLANET and DRAGONTOWN. Then he goes way back and makes THE EYES OF ALICE COOPER. What a great album!! COOPER continues to discover his roots one more time with DIRTY DIAMONDS. I swear it's like he's been REBORN with these records. Even though these songs are completely new, I swear I hear strains from the KILLER and the LOVE IT TO DEATH lp's. The song YOU MAKE ME WANNA feels like YEAH, YEAH, YEAH from KILLER, for sure. And listen to THE BALLAD OF JESSE JANE(hilarious). It's the DWIGHT FRY melody!! Wow!! One of the best new songs is the blues ballad SIX HOURS. Incredible!! His voice just gets better with age. Read the rave reviews and sample the album. Make sure you sample all the albums I mention in this review. Those of you, like me, who have been away from The COOP for a while, here's your chance to discover his music again. You won't be sorry. ALICE IS GREAT AGAIN!!

WELCOME BACK, COOP!!