Alice Cooper
Hey Stoopid

THE REVIEW

Hey Stoopid, in my opinion, is the best album created by Alice (born Vincent Furnier) in his dazzling career (not by chance, I also believe it is the one that achieved the best sales results). The said Alice is practically a legend and can be considered the precursor of all the various phases that hard rock has gone through up to our times (suffice it to say that, in the current era, when classic hard rock has almost vanished, the world's most famous snake lover gave life to the excellent Dirty Diamonds, released last summer).

The cover of the album in question, as well as the inner photo where the singer is portrayed with a knife in one hand and a rose in the other, a bit like arsenic and old lace, perfectly encapsulates what the listener finds in musical form, namely great hard rock tracks and enchanting and overwhelming ballads. The undeniable quality of Hey Stoopid is also due to the great ensemble that collaborated with Furnier (Satriani, Ozzy, Slash, Vinnie Moore, to name a few). The reviewed album doesn't falter at any point, maintaining a consistently high level from the opener that gives the album its name, where Alice dons the guise of a moralizer to dissuade kids from the temptation of suicide, to the astounding and enveloping "Wind-up Toy," introduced by the distorted sound of a music box and concluding with a little voice that pierces the soul.

There's everything in it: the gritty hard rock of "Snakebite" (his passion for reptiles is well known) "Hurricane Years" and "Dirty Dreams," the lightheartedness of "Feed my Frankestein" (horror cinema is also a passion of his, as evidenced by his many appearances in various films, including Nightmare 6), the hypnotic allure of the surprising "Dangerous Tonight" and "Might as well be on Mars," the sweetness of "Burning our Bed." Particular praise is deserved for "Die for you," a wonderful ballad where sweetness doesn't, as is often the case, turn into cheesiness, and, in my opinion, one of Alice's most beautiful songs.

In conclusion, there's little to add, this album deserves the highest rating and cannot be missing in the homes or cars of all the singer's admirers and, in general, of good hard rock.