In 1986, Alice Cooper (Vincent Furnier) was returning to the rock-n-roll spotlight after a 4 year absence. Yes, Alice did release two albums

&

since he last toured in 1981 for his underrated

album, but those albums were very poorly marketed and hence, unsuccessful. AC was also battling alcohol problems again during the early '80s which hurt his ability to tour. In 1985, AC met the bodybuilding, vocalist and guitarist extraordinaire Kane Roberts. AC also met a then unknown bassist, Kip Winger, and the combination of Roberts and Winger helped to revitalize and energize AC for the heavy metal '80s. AC was able to kick his drinking problem (for good) and really concentrate on his music. In 1986, AC released his first album in two years,

, to mixed reviews and sales. AC wrote the lyrics, while Roberts and Winger wrote most of the music. Even though the album had a mediocore reception, the anticipation for AC live and in concert was very high! Alice Cooper and his live show was becoming something of a legendary myth in the 80's, and the new, young heavy-metal crowd could not wait to witness and experience the macabre performances the master showman, Alice Cooper, was famous for.

Cue 10/31/86. Halloween night. First AC show in 4 years. Live on MTV in front of his "home town" Detroit. "The Nightmare Returns". This one broadcast did more for AC's career than all the publicity AC had at the time put together! MTV enabled AC to be seen live, nationwide at a time when heavy metal was about to explode in popularity. Needless to say, AC put on a show for the ages! The 20,000 people that sold out Joe Louis Arena in Detroit that night were rabid. The general admission floor crowd was moving en masse and like a human wave. The energy was so strong, that it still emanates from the concert DVD! AC put on his most violent and hard hitting show for the broadcast. The band was pumped, primed and they delivered full force! From the opening "Welcome To My Nightmare", it's evident that this was going to be a special night! AC does it all: mutilating baby dolls, beating up ghouls, impaling a camera man, fighting a giant robot, cutting himself and Kane with a sword, escaping from a straight-jacket and finally being beheaded! The screams of horror from the audience are funny to hear, LOL! THIS one broadcast resulted in sold out shows all over the world, AC was back on top of the rock-n-roll mountain!

Wow! Buy this DVD and witness the triumphant comeback of THE greatest showman in the history of rock-n-roll! I was lucky enough to witness this tour live at the George Mason University auditorium. I was an AC neophyte and one of those people that had heard surreal tales of AC shows; the show made me an AC fan for life. This concert will do the same for you, as long as you enjoy a good horror movie and excellent hard rock music.

FYI, Megadeth opened for AC during the U.S. portion of this tour. AC, after witnessing Dave Mustaine's alcohol problems, helped Dave with this self-destructive issue, and the two have remained close friends ever since. How Cute! Put him on the guillotine!

This DVD has the added bonus of two videos: Teenage Frankenstein and Freedom that are not on the original VHS release.

Set List:

Welcome To My Nightmare

Billion Dollar Babies

No More Mr. Nice Guy

Be My Lover

18 (Little Flower Of Ulysses)

The World Needs Guts

Give It Up

Cold Ethyl

Only Women Bleed

Go To Hell

The Ballad Of Dwight Fry

Teenage Frankenstein

Sick Things

I Love The Dead

School's Out

Elected

Under My Wheels

If you like Alice, you're gonna love it! The Coop returns to the arena where he belongs still to this day! He's still this good live if you haven't seen him in the last couple of years. For a more modern rendering, get the "Brutally Live" DVD & crank it up in DTS! But back to the Nightmare; great show as usual from Alice with Kip Winger on bass & Paul then Horowitz (Taylor, Winger keyboard/rhythm guitarist) on keys & the absolutely phenomenal Ken Mary on drums (by far the best drummer Alice has ever had!). An excellent investment for Alice fans, but the DVD would sound better! The Wolf

This is the best Alice concert I ever watched! It has Alice doing everything he use to with out the staggering! I esspecialy loved the part where the lead guitar player takes out a machine gun guitar and makes it look like its firing! Get this video at all costs!

It seems to me and i could be wrong about this,when i first saw this on MTV Saturday Night Concerts many years ago,at the end of the show they show Alice out of character sweeping the stage with a push broom and wearing,i think a red cap.

You won't see that here on this dvd,too bad.

Ken Mary the drummer was awesome to watch but a bit of a show-off,but seemed to never miss a beat none the less.

In this dvd you'll see a big snake,Yvonne i believe,also the strait-jacket segment, building a monster(pretty cool,)and also the Guillotine scene.

When i first saw this on MTV it blew me away not so much now.

Kane Roberts is one big muther,Devlin,Ken,Kip,and Paul playing the all kickin' ass rock tunes.

I would recommend this,but i think the one concert that stands out for me would be The Strange Case of Alice Cooper,now that is one that literally kicks your butt.

Especially the beginning,where he comes out of the film strip.

I enjoyed the bonus video "Freedom",but not the repeated video "Teenage Frankenstein",probably was used as a filler.

This is a great concert to review Alice in the 80's. He has a little bit of the 70's Alice and 80's ALice combined, however I still miss the Alice Cooper Band from 1968-1974. That was the best. However this video is excellent, any ALice Cooper fan wont be disappointed