Brutal Planet
In 2000, Alice shatters this earth with “Brutal Planet” one of his most hard hitting albums musically, lyrically, and emotionally. Alice ask what scares us today in the 20th century. Alice can’t do anything on stage that’ll make the audience winch as he did in the 70’s and 80’s. What’s scarier than Alice? Matter of fact what scares Alice? Not Marilyn Manson, Slipknot or Rob Zombie. It’s as simple as turning on your TV. Alice says watching CNN was scary. Seeing stories on the news that no one could of made up was a shock to even Alice.
Brutal Planet is the first part of this conceptual trilogy. Set in a post apocalyptic time on Earth a sort of Blade Runner and Road Warrior genre. Alice musically goes into a heavy dark direction that is almost industrial. I actually love this style Alice is doing on “Brutal Planet” as he takes “the cadence of a goose-step, heavy metal beat” you can actually smell the sulfur burning from this planet of doom.
Produced by Bob Marlette, Executive Producer Bob Ezrin. Alice uses some of his musicians he has toured with in the past like Ryan Roxie on guitar and Kiss drummer Eric Singer along with other musicians China and Phil X on guitars as well. Alice and Marlette collaborated on all the songs.
“Brutal Planet” Alice presents the question what if there is an after life and you have to explain yourself?

there’s no parole there’s no great escape
we’re sentenced here until the end of days and then my brother
there’s a price to pay

Alice gives a fire and brimstone approach as he points out the errors of our ways.

We stoned the prophets, built idols out of mud
Right here we fed the lions Christian flesh and Christian blood
Down here is where we hung him upon an ugly cross
Over there we filled the ovens right here the holocaust

Alice wrote 2 songs that are Columbine related. “Blow Me A Kiss” and “Wicked Young Man” gives you their perspective.

I got a pocketful of bullets and a blueprint of the school
I’m the devil’s little soldier I’m the devil’s little tool

Alice also points out the scapegoats people blame saying it was listening to Marilyn Manson or watching Natural Born Killers on video.

It’s not the games that I play, the movies I see,
the music I dig, I’m just a wicked young man

“Sanctuary’ is one of my favorites on this CD. It sort of reminds me of a Rollins song. It’s just a person who escapes into his room.

It’s a castle of doom, I’m the king of my room just a quasimodo
let the world go away this is where I will stay in my sanctuary

“Pick Up The Bones” actually came from Alice watching CNN. He watches the destruction of villages in Kosovo and notices a man carrying a pillowcase digging through smoldering rumble to find anything from his family so he can bury them.

Collecting pieces of my family in an old pillow case
This one has a skull, but it don’t have a face
These look like the arms of my father so strong
And the ring on this finger means my grandmother’s gone

There’s two thing you can always count on in an Alice album. Either you have a ballad or one black humor track.
On this one we have both. “It’s The Little Things” you can’t help but laugh particularly when we read interviews on Alice they never fail to ask how he got the name Alice for the umpteen time.

You can steal my car, drive into the lake
You can stick me in the oven and put it on bake
You can throw a big brick thru my window pane
But if I ever hear ya ask me how I got my name

I also like when Alice reminds of us of his past songs as he notes

I’m on some thin ice, you push me too far
Welcome To My Nightmare, No More Mr. Nice Guy

Matter of fact Alice also does this in his self explained title “Gimme”
which is the single from this CD.
Many may not recognize it but there is a line
That he refers to from “Nothing’s Free” on “The Last Temptation” album.

I can make your dream come true, there is one thing
I mean everything has a price,
I really hate to repeat myself but Nothing’s Free

Ballad “Take It Like A Woman” is more violent version of “Only Women Bleed”
What would happen if she still stayed with an abused man. This isn’t a happy ending as it explains the serious issue.

“Cold Machines” starts off sounding like “Beautiful People” by Marilyn Manson. This song and “Pessi-mystic” are the only two songs that seem kind of weak.

But in a whole album scheme of things all the tracks fit well in this conceptual album. It’s definitely a new direction I like to see Alice go in.

Artwork: the design of this CD is done by Kane Roberts, Alice’s alumni student from the Alice Cooper University of Backing Band Members. Kane Roberts from Alice’s “Constrictor” and “Raise Your Fist & Yell” albums.
Getting into creating videos games has a company called Planetf/x Graphics.
The cover has half of Alice’s face off to the right side. Under his eye are symbols. Inside are various pics of Alice that you can see Kane was playing around with Photoshop. It also include the lyrics which are very clearly readable which I like to see. Inside back cover is a cool pic of Alice against a threatening sky. The back cover is another pic of Alice
As well as the back cover of the CD which list the lyrics.