Road is the twenty-second solo and overall twenty-ninth studio album by American rock musician Alice Cooper, released through Earmusic on August 25, 2023. It was recorded live in the studio by Cooper and his touring band—guitarists Nita Strauss, Ryan Roxie and Tommy Henriksen, bassist Chuck Garric and drummer Glen Sobel. The album was announced on June 14, 2023, alongside the release of the lead single "I'm Alice" which was followed by the album's second single, "White Line Frankenstein" (featuring Tom Morello), on July 19, 2023, and the album's third single, "Welcome to the Show" on August 8, 2023.[1] Cooper will promote the album with a tour of US stadium shows supporting Mötley Crüe and Def Leppard in August, followed by a co-headlining tour with Rob Zombie into September.[2]
For the album, Cooper wanted to showcase his live band and for them to be "involved in the foundation of all the songs". He insisted on no overdubs as the "whole idea of this album is showing off how good this band is live".[2] Prior to announcing Road, Cooper spoke of it being a "concept album" about "things that happen on the road. There's a lot of humor in it. There's a couple of heartbreakers, but it's very guitar-driven because that's what I look for in an album."[3]
Road received a score of 76 out of 100 on review aggregator Metacritic based on seven critics' reviews, indicating "generally favorable" reception.[4]Uncut remarked that it is "all great fun and played by a road-hardened band full of vigour",[9] while Mojo described it as "a hugely enjoyable hoot".[8]Classic Rock called it a "cohesively themed album lathered in multi-tiered guitars, anthemic chouses and high-density power riffage, tempered by road-honed dynamism and built for the stage".[7] Hal Horowitz of American Songwriter felt that "while Road is no five-star masterpiece like the recently reissued and expanded KillerorSchool's Out collections", it is "perhaps unexpectedly, worthy of being mentioned in the same breath as his best".[6]AllMusic's Fred Thomas summarized it as "primarily killer and only a little bit of filler, with Alice tapping into the power he harnessed in his younger days to create a surprisingly inspired collection of new material".[5]
^"Czech Albums – Top 100". ČNS IFPI. Note: On the chart page, select 35.Týden 2023 on the field besides the words『CZ – ALBUMS – TOP 100』to retrieve the correct chart. Retrieved September 4, 2023.
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