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Album Details

• Artist: Alice Cooper
• Album: Brutal Planet
• Label: Eagle Music
• Year of Release: 2000
• ME Rating:
• Reviewed by: gwhill on 2013-01-21

While some long time Alice Cooper fans have been put off by the sound of this album, I’d put forward that it was quite probably Alice's strongest release in years, and possibly one of the best ever. This disc is a concept album that musically seems to take the classic Alice sound and bring it up to date with a hard (even brutal) edge. The album really seems to fully integrate those two types of sounds, which is something that he seems to have been struggling with in recent years. Much of this CD will stand tall among the considerable Coop catalog.

The lyrical picture that Alice paints for us here is not a pretty one, but his best moments never have been pretty. His cohorts in crime this time are China, Phil X, Ryan Moxie, Eric Singer and Bob Marlette. Long time collaborator Bob Ezrin both produces and helps with some of the writing chores. This disc would be a great introduction to Alice for a younger crowd while definitely pleasing most of the long time fans.

While the majority of the set is harder rocking, there are (in classic Cooper fashion) mellower moments. One of those moments is “Take It Like A Woman” which is based on an old-school Alice ballad format ala the Lace and Whiskey era or "Only Women Bleed.” The cut is a great one that really brings back the Coop sound of old. That “Only Women Bleed” concept is clearly represented in the lyrical message, too.

As mentioned before, most of this album is heavy and quite hard rocking. The tone is dark and oppressive. There are things that are a bit like Cooper’s earlier metal sounds, but this seems to up the ante. Additionally, songs like “Cold Machines” are rather like Rob Zombie, lending a more modern element to the proceedings. Personally, this is one of my all-time favorite Alice Cooper albums. I think that it does a great job of capturing the classic Cooper elements in a new and modern way. It’s cohesive and it’s powerful. Yes, it might be different for Cooper purists, but it’s great.

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