FEATURING THE NIGHTMARE 1975 TV SPECIAL
Everyone has a favourite ALICE era whether it be the original band, the initial solo era, the “lost” 80’s era, the rebirth or the modern stuff but nobody can argue about WELCOME TO MY NIGHTMARE being a pivotal release in his career. Had it all gone wrong after going solo, it could have been it. As we know now, it went the other way and the rest is history.
This release is split into two parts. WELCOME TO MY NIGHTMARE is already available as a stand alone DVD recorded in LONDON in 1975. Everyone knows ALICE and everyone knows his stuff. Always portrayed as a figure of menace and evil, this is ALICE at his most flamboyant and as close to vaudeville as it is possible to get. From people dancing about, dressed as GOD knows what, the title track kicks everything off. A few other classics are thrown in for good measure and we actually get to see a bit of the band and the stage in full.
As for great features, well the all time classic dancing skeleton routine appears as ALICE brings out his finest white suit complete with top hat as the show takes another twist. COLD ETHYL is as brilliant as it has always been. DEVILS FOOD/THE BLACK WIDOW finally give us a chance to see the rest of the band. The schizophrenia of STEVEN has always been a favourite from the album . Plenty of crowd scenes at the end are good to see before the show finishes with a band jam and DEPARTMENT OF YOUTH. A great live show which really should have been recorded and released as a live album instead of the woeful ALICE COOPER SHOW ’77.
Then comes the gem. Previously unavailable and not even appearing on YOUTUBE. When the album was released, the record label managed to get ABC to broadcast a full length special featuring stories for each of the songs on the album. ALICE plays STEVEN and VINCENT PRICE plays the embodiment of the nightmare. More dancers herald the start and introduction of the nightmare. The nerdiest will notice some drastic lyric changes to the finished album most noticeably on DEVIL’S FOOD, which is very different to the finished article. There is a long and fascinating dialogue between STEVEN & THE SPIRIT which gives a huge explanation of the story before the dancing skeletons herald SOME FOLKS.
With some song lyrics altered and the running order slightly different, I wonder if the album was altered at the last minute or if this was just done to make it slightly different. The fantastic ONLY WOMEN BLEED (also with slightly altered lyrics) has always been a stand out ALICE track. With just him and a group of dancers behind him, it is an even more amazing piece of work. COLD ETHYL has always been a favourite and it is interesting to see the story of necrophilia brought to life. VINCENT PRICE appears again and it’s plain to see he is enjoying hamming it up. He recites, word for word the intro to THE BLACK WIDOW before STEVEN battles it out with a whole load of them.
After YEARS AGO, comes DEPARTMENT OF YOUTH, which has been available before. VINCENT PRICE reappears (on a see-saw) before the magnificent STEVEN. A vastly different THE AWAKENING precedes more from VINCENT. Strangely THE BALLAD OF DWIGHT FRY pops up before we get back to things. The rousing ESCAPE runs through the story before sadly we arrive at the end. Time for one more appearance from THE NIGHTMARE before another version of THE AWAKENING finish this thoroughly entertaining release.
Quite why this has only just been released I don’t know. A must have, if only for the TV SPECIAL which has to be seen to be believed. Great stuff.
Welcome To My Nightmare:
1) The Awakening
2) Welcome To My Nightmare
3) Years Ago
4) No More Mr. Nice Guy
5) I’m Eighteen
6) Some Folks
7) Cold Ethyl
8) Only Women Bleed
9) Billion Dollar Babies
10) Devil s Food
11) The Black Widow
12) Steven
13) Escape
14) School’s Out
15) Department Of Youth
The Nightmare:
1) Welcome To My Nightmare
2) Devil’s Food
3) Some Folks
4) Only Women Bleed
5) Cold Ethyl
6) The Black Widow
7) Years Ago
8) Department Of Youth
9) Years Ago (Reprise)
10) Steven
11) The Awakening
12) Ballad Of Dwight Fry
13) Escape
14) The Awakening (Reprise)
RATINGS: WELCOME TO MY NIGHTMARE 3/5 TV SPECIAL 4.5/5
