Alice Cooper is simply amazing...and his latest effort prooves it. I bought Dragontown when it first came out, and I didn't like it as much as his under-appreciated Brutal Planet, but I still liked it. Today I went to Best Buy and saw this Limited Edition CD in a white slip case with mirrorized red lettering and had to have it. Not only is Dragontown an awesome record, but the bonus disc just adds to its' brilliance. Four songs-3 live and one remix and 2 videos. "Clowns will eat me" I think is on the Brutal Planet deluxe edition, and the song is great. The 2 live tracks are ultimate classics (in my view), "Go to Hell" & probably my favorite Alice song, "Ballad of Dwight Fry." His vocals sound amazing...even on hitting the high notes in "Ballad of Dwight Fry." The remix could sound more haunting, more Alice. It sounds as if "Brutal Planet" was being played at a dance club (but not as poppy or cheesy). I think if Rob Zombie remixed it the song would be better. All in all, Dragontown Limited Edition is amazing and it's a must have for any Alice Cooper fan.

When the CD came out, I went positivly crazy until I gould get it. Then I finally bought it, got it home, and sat there fumbling with the plastic wrapper. Buying a new CD by a classic, beloved artist is sort of like paying good money to get ahold of Pandora's box. Do you dare open it and play it? Will certain doom befall the world? Where is my Magic 8-Ball?

I was scared. I'd over played Brutal Planet. That's a great album there, even if I played every single song every single day until I was sick of all of them. I had this little voice in my head that said, "You're a gonna be livin in pain once you put that CD on." That little voice was WAY WRONG, buddy.

I was blown away. I don't feel that all the songs were quite as heavy as on Brutal Planet, but soundwise it had a much more diverse style on every song. A few of the songs seemed a bit reminiscent of old Alice Cooper, some not. Definatly, Brutal Planet and Dragon Town are modern Alice Cooper. It amazes me that Alice Cooper can adapt modern musical styles, but make them ALL HIS OWN. And to top that off, it's always some of the best music as well. Even though he/they don't have the hype of most current metal/hard rock bands, and get quite a bit of hatred from the Spooky Manson Club of 14 Year Old Middle Class Goth Kids, they're still doing better music than you're going to find running on MTV. And I mean that too. There's this overwhelming notion that Alice Cooper is "not cool". Well, guess what. Alice Cooper ain't cool. Marilyn Manson ain't cool. Slipknot ain't cool. BRITNEY SPEARS and NSYNC are the cool ones. So if you're worried about only listening to the "cool" music, you better dump all that metal and get with the In Crowd on MTV's TRL. Every day at four est. standard time. Better hurry, you might be missing it right now! U BeTteR sEt Ur VcR nOw PEEPS : ^D !!!!11

Enough ranting on that.

"Triggerman" = fast paced, hard hitting, awesome. "Deeper" is... woah. I love this song. It's hard, it's heavy, I could listen to it all day. "Dragontown" is a good song. A really good song, but not my personal favorite. "Sex, Death, and Money" is simply magnificent. I grin, I sing along, I dance around. "Fantasy Man" wins me over just because it's funny, very funny. "Somewhere in the Jungle" will rock your world, you'll be humming it all day.

As somebody whose family comes from the south, specifically MEMPHIS, TN, I'm used to Elvis as being revered as something close to Jesus. If Memphian Catholics had more of an influence, I'm sure he'd have been named a saint by now. So "DisGraceland" hit me first as extreme heresy, ("OH MY GOSH! He just insulted Jesus... errr... I mean, ELVIS!") and then I fell over laughing. It's so, so SO true. God bless you, Alice Cooper, you said what needed to be said. And in the voice of The King Himself.

"Sister Sara" has this amazing chorus that sticks with me. I really, really love this song. Almost to counteract "Sister Sara", "Every Woman Has a Name" comes up next. It's a shame that this song will probably never get the recognition that it deserves. In meaning and overall empathetic kindness and understanding, I feel that it gives "Only Women Bleed" a run for its money. I'd say it's one of the best songs I've heard in a long, long while. It's such a true, true song. I've been toutched.

"I Just Wanna be God" is funny, funny parody of the mindset loads of people have today. You just listen, shake your head, and say to yourself, "Yes, it's ALL true." "It's Much Too Late" is probably, right under the Elvis song, the funniest on the album. Funny in the way that it's true, and sort of a spiritual warning to all of us that when it comes to living your life, sometimes it ISN'T just the thought that counts. "The Sentinel" ends the album. It's got some good words, good points, and overall is a pretty darn accurate view on terrorism and violence.

It's a shame the daily news doesn't have the clarity of Dragon Town.

"Dragontown" is Alice's best album since 1994's "The Last Temptation". This edition comes with (Can't Sleep) "Clowns Will Eat Me" which was only previously available on the Japanese import of the "Brutal Planet" album. The song "Brutal Planet" is remixed on the bonus CD and it is not all that interesting of a remix and probably should not haven been done. It also features two live tracks "Got to Hell" and "Ballad of Dwight Fry" which isn't all that thrilling either since live versions of these tracks were previously available on various imports. A common complaint about Alice Cooper concerts is that you know what songs you are going to hear because he adds very little recent material in his set lists (material from "Constrictor" to "Dragontown"). If he added a couple live tracks of recent material that haven't been available before, I would've given it five stars "Dragontown" rocks, but the bonus CD is only worth buying for "Clowns" and if you have the Japanese import of "Brutal Planet", don't bother picking this CD up. My four star rating is based on the "Dragontown" album itself, not this bonus CD.

This latest offering titled "DragonTown" comes in true Alice fashion. Kicking the album off is the powerful "Triggerman". With the line "I am the triggerman, I am the underhand, I'm full of dirty tricks, I'm twice as smart and certainly twice as sick" it is a perfect Alice song.

I've seen Alice in concert several times and when listening to his new music, I visualize the song live and this album has several cuts to offer for the live forum.

The album is solid overall and features the ballad "Every Woman Has A Name" which is one of Alice's strongest ballads ever. Not since "Only Women Bleed", "How You Gonna See Me Now", and "You and Me" has Alice shined like this on a ballad. A definite high point of the disc.

Another high point lyrically is the song "It's Much Too Late" about finding yourself in hell after doing everything right while here on earth. The hypnotic "Deeper" is a rockin' track as is "Somewhere In The Jungle", and the albums title track. "Disgraceland" has Alice singing ala Elvis. It's a tongue in cheek tune about "The King" and his passing. Finally, undoubtably the most controversial song on the album is "Sister Sarah" about a nun who has had the bishop, the abbot, and even Alice.

The whole album has the underlying theme of death running through almost every song. If this album were to be released by Marilyn Manson it would be a very controversial piece of work with a lot of negative press and publicity. But since it's Alice who is no longer seen as he was twenty plus years ago, I doubt much will come of it in any negative way.

The album is a must for any Alice fan and it proves that he still has a lot left to offer. Pick this one up for sure!

The latest--and darkest--of Alice's releases takes us on a chilling tour of the underworld, rock-n-roll style. From the explosive opening of the anonymous "Triggerman" ("got no fingerprints or DNA; don't need an alibi cuz I don't exist") we are guided by the Master through his version of the apocalypse. Stops along the way include "Sex, Death, and Money," which is "the gospel here in Dragontown." Alice tells the amusing tale of how he was "so offended" as he "sat for 3 hours" at an adult entertainment show, where, "a couple hundred dollars later I was up on a morals rap." The Beatle-esque "It's Much Too Late" is dedicated to--and sounds very much like--the late John Lennon, who wonders why he's "down here" and plaintively claims that "there must be some mistake up there in heaven." The hilarious spoof of "Disgraceland" (which needs no explanation, really) reminds us that even a king can die on his throne; Alice spookily emulates the "once and former king's" voice to perfection. Our journey ends with the haunting tale of the "Sentinel," who smugly informs us that he's sending us all to hell (while he calmly sits, soldering his C2 bomb). Wonder what the Master can possibly do for an encore? Alice, you'll ALWAYS be MY "Fantasy Man!"