Musical Style: Hard Rock	Produced By: Bob Marlette
Record Label: Spitfire	Country Of Origin: USA
Year Released: 2001	Artist Website:
Tracks: 12	Rating: 75%
Running Time: 50:54

Alice Cooper fifteenth solo album Dragontown offers straightforward heavy metal goodness dressed up in an at times industrial and others Gothic hard rock wrapper.  Musically, the September of 2001 released work is not that far removed from the preceding year’s superlative Brutal Planet, albeit in my opinion not quite reaching similar heights of artistic acumen.  No doubt, Dragontown is inclusive to its share of choice material but also lacks the musical depth to the more consistent Brutal Planet realized in an uneven track listing in which I skip over a few too many songs.

Lyrically, Dragontown maintains the trend of 1994’s The Last Temptation, a concept album loosely based around Cooper’s life and return to Christianity, and Brutal Planet with unequivocal faith derivative prose.  Artist, for instance, proves masterful at weaving storylines and character based vignettes with biting social commentary while making based statements.  As we shall see later in the track listing, however, in certain instances lyrics end up overshadowing the music.

Dragontown picks up where Brutal Planet leaves off by opening to its six best songs beginning with “Triggerman”, a garish four minutes of redoubled rhythms and  uneasy hooks roused by artist’s recognizable acerbic and barbed mid-ranged vocal abilities.  This one successfully sets the at times athletic and others vitriolic tone of the material to follow.

“Deeper” in my opinion is albums finest.  It upholds a bottom heavy low end and mega guitar wallop to speak of the fathomless, shambling at a near crawl as baritone choirs periodically adorn the backend and vocals touch upon a spoken word form akin to Brutal Planet track “Sanctuary”.  The portentous levels multiply for the straight from a horror movie instrumental moments. 

“Dragontown” brings its share of diversity.  Albums title track starts to upbeat sound effects prior to trudging through ominous verse sections in touching upon an industrial tincturing.   Abruptly, however, song erupts upon acquiring its acoustic tinted refrain with an anthem-like straight from the eighties feel.  The left to right channel lead guitar accelerates the eerie resonance.

Aggression takes to the next level on “Sex, Death And Money”.  Guitar kicks, bites and snarls straight from the gate, further ameliorating the aggressive metal behavior as artist’s voice takes a caustic tone and rhythms touch upon the swarthy.  There is almost a borderline extreme metal edge to this one.  Lyrically, “Sex, Death And Money” represents a morality play on words:

Sex, death and money, sonny
Makes this wicked world go round
Sex, death and money
It's the Gospel here in Dragontown
Sex, death and money, honey
Grease the wheels and make them fly
Sex, death and money, sonny
That is why we all are gonna fry

“Fantasy Man” is another favorite.  It brings a much-needed upbeat feel, animated from the start with its mettlesome resolve, boisterous astuteness and catchy ‘hey, hey’ chanting adorning the uninhibited refrain.  I see this one being a concert favorite.  Song takes a tongue in cheek look at the ‘de-masculinizing’ of men in modern society:

You just want to squeeze my masculinity
Why can't you leave it alone
Hey, hey I ain't gonna change
Hey, hey don't you love it this way
Hey, hey I am what I am
So please understand
I'm not you fantasy man

“Somewhere In The Jungle” decelerates pace to driving mid-tempo territory.  It creeps to pulsating rhythms and slogging guitar that mirrors the doom-like as foreboding bass touches upon the Gothic.  An accessible side to the song, however, manifests in the layered vocal melodies adorning the lissome refrain.  I identify with this one as joining the stern and melodic.

I also think highly of closer “The Sentinel”, another slower piece but differing with periodic industrial style keyboard.  That said it embodies the albums swarthy affects as overcoming guitars and razing low-end conjugate to draw upon traditional metal.  Lyrics are written from standpoint of the accuser:

Cause it's my fate
I operate on hate
I go by many other names
But now

I am the sentinel
I want the world to know
I'm sending you all to hell
I'm tired and I'm wired here to blow

Album takes a step down its remaining five tracks, albeit it is not a steep drop off.  In my opinion, “Disgraceland” and “Every Woman Has A Name” should not have made the final cut.  Former represents an off kilter if not contrived joining of rockabilly and hard rock that takes a much too apologetic approach to Elvis:

I had a lot of girls
I had a lot of guns
When they found me dead
The whole world was stunned
Went to the pearly gates
Said, "I'm the hippest thing"
And Peter said "Well son,
We already got ourselves a king"

Latter isn’t bad musically as a ballad and should be commended for its message regarding the identify of women in society, but it comes across too forced for my taste, almost as if pushed through the system to ensure the album has a ballad when it does not need one.

Final three songs are where that as noted lyrics overshadowing the music comes into play, with point being I appreciate the message but in order to best get the message across requires music to be stronger.  “It’s Much Too Late”, for instance, is albums mellowest as an average to good AOR tinged classic rocker detailing how living a good life (i.e.: good works) is not sufficient to get into heaven: 

The road to hell is littered
With nice guys with good intentions
But once you're there, you're there
It's much too late
I can cry and scream it's just not fair
To leave me here like you don't care
There must be some mistake up there in heaven

Now it's much too late
My time has passed away
All my plans and dreams have all ended
Now it's much too late
To try and plead my case
And I don't know the God I've offended
It's too late 

Likewise, “Sister Sara” is satisfactory as a driving plodder but shines lyrically with a haunting message about a fallen woman who becomes the opposite of what she is meant to be:

Now I don't know but I've been told
There's a nun having fun and she lost her soul
She's got cash, she got laid
Now she's dealin' with me and she's gonna get paid
She got caught with the bishop
She got caught with the abbot
Even cardinal sin tried to feed her habit

Sister Sara
It's your penalty for eternity
Did you think that you were saved
You forget your old identity who you used to be
Sister Sara
So depraved

Finally, “I Just Wanna Be God” is better in taking a straight on metal heading but is open to interpretation lyrically- either outlining an authoritarian cult like leader or biographical in written from standpoint of artist rejecting the self-serving ambition he once exhibited and embracing the humility required to serve God:

I'm in control
I got a bulletproof soul
And I'm full of self-esteem
I invented myself with no one's help
I'm a prototype supreme
I sit on my private throne
And run my lifestyle all alone
Me, myself and I agree
We don't need nobody else

I never learned to bow, bend or crawl
To any known authority
I really want to build my statue tall
That's all

When taken on the face value of its seven best tracks, Dragontown easily achieves a score in the 90% to 95% range- round out the album with two to three cuts on similar level and we potentially have a classic ranking alongside Brutal Planet.  The character and storytelling based lyrics are worth the price of admission alone.  Sadly, in certain instances the well thought out prose deserves backing by much stronger music.  Still, album leaves little doubt as to artists ability as a vocalist and songwriter, but the problem is a certain element of consistency is missing.  That said if a fan of The Last Temptation and Brutal Planet, make Dragontown a necessary purchase in that perhaps the songs in which I struggle you might embrace.  Overall, after the passing of over two decades, I would welcome to see the trilogy re-mastered and reissued with bonus tracks.

Review by: Andrew Rockwell

Track Listing: "Triggerman" (3:58), "Deeper" (3:54), "Dragontown" (5:04), "Sex, Death And Money" (3:37), "Fantasy Man" (4:05), "Somewhere In The Jungle" (5:20), "Disgraceland" (3:32), "Sister Sara" (4:33), "Every Woman Has A Name" (3:43), "I Just Wanna Be God" (3:51), "It’s Much Too Late" (4:38), "The Sentinel" (3:53)

Musicians
Alice Cooper - Lead Vocals
Ryan Roxie, Tim Pierce, Bob Marlette - Guitars
Greg Smith, Bob Marlette - Bass
Sid Riggs & Bob Marlette - Keyboards & Programming