Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)Lotsa dark humor and hard rockin' music with a new wave flavor make this a must-have. Favorite tracks: Skeletons In The Closet and You're A Movie.
Alice had fallen out of favor when he released this album in 1981 which stalled at US #125. That's the only explanation I can think of for it not yielding a handful of hits. This is a peppy, slick, high-energy feel good album with some of Alice's funniest lyrics. The (very) loose theme is some kind of para-military fantasy and the album begins with a helicopter (which Aldo Nova would steal a year or so later for Fantasy) dropping the head banging song Special Forces into your ears. There is a good cover of Seven and Seven is (a mixed drink?) and a piece of fluff about a transvestite policeman, Prettiest Cop On The Block, which is probably the weak link in the chain of tunes.
Don't Talk Old To Me comes at you with a real punk feel. Generation Landslide adds a few lyrics to the classic from Billion Dollar Babies, but not much else. Skeletons in the Closet is as good a song as Alice ever did, and could've fit on any of his more popular albums. It begins with a nice faux harpsicord and ends with the trademark whispering of "Alice Alice..." This is an obligatory track for your next Halloween party mix.
You Want It, You Got It and You Look Good In Rags continue the hard punk sound Alice was experimenting with here quite successfully. Vicious Rumours rocks pretty hard and closes out the album where it began with guns loading and helicopters flying. The stand out piece, though, is You're A Movie, which features Alice as a General, who is the reincarnation of Patton, with Hannibal's heart, and Alexander's prowess. It is delightfully smug and condescending. After 21 years I still laugh out loud everytime I hear it.
This is the perfect cure for a bad day or a boring drive. It's hard not to nod along and smile as Alice struts and frets his hour or so on your CD player.
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1981 album for Warner Brothers. 10 tracks, including a coverof Love's 'Seven And Seven Is' and a live version of 'Generation Landslide '81'.
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