Dragontown is the fifteenth solo album by American rock musician Alice Cooper. It was released in 2001 on Spitfire Records. Like Brutal Planet, the album displays a heavier metal style than many of his previous releases. It peaked on Billboard's "Top Independent Albums" Chart at #12, and the Billboard 200 at #197, his lowest album chart performance since 1983’s DaDa, which did not chart at all.
| Dragontown | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | September 18, 2001 | |||
| Recorded | 2001 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 50:48 69:11 (Special Edition) | |||
| Label | Spitfire | |||
| Producer | Alice Cooper, Bob Marlette[3] | |||
| Alice Cooper chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Special Edition | ||||
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This is the first Alice Cooper studio album to contain no singles. Although Cooper toured the album with his Descent into Dragontown tour in 2001 and 2002, only four Dragontown songs – "Sex, Death and Money", "Fantasy Man", "Every Woman Has a Name", and "Triggerman" – were performed at all during this supporting tour, with only "Sex, Death and Money" and "Fantasy Man" remaining in the setlist to the end. With the exception of five performances of "Disgraceland" in July 2003 during the Bare Bones Tour, nothing from Dragontown has ever been performed live subsequent to the end of the album's supporting tour.
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   Link |
| Rolling Stone | (favorable) link |
| HM Magazine | [4] |
Story and themes
editDoug Van Pelt, editor of the Christian music oriented HM Magazine, likened Cooper to C.S. Lewis, stating that he "grabs the devil's microphone and attempts to spill his guts and reveal his wicked schemes."[4] Van Pelt further states that "It's Much Too Late" exposes "unrestrained truth" in stating that "The road to hell is littered with nice guys and good intentions..." and likens "Sex, Death and Money" to Proverbs 5 and isn't really about 'Sex, Death, and Money, but talks against it, as the Bible states.[4]
"Somewhere in the Jungle" addresses the issue of genocide and tribal warfare in Africa.
The track Disgraceland sees Cooper deliver verses while impersonating Elvis Presley.[5] The song relates to Presley's final years and subsequent death and of the track, Cooper has said: "I'm sort of doing a commentary on the absurdity of it, the fact that the greatest rock 'n' roll hero of all time died on a toilet."[6]
Track listing
editAll tracks are written by Alice Cooper and Bob Marlette, except where noted
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Triggerman" | 4:00 |
| 2. | "Deeper" | 4:36 |
| 3. | "Dragontown" | 5:06 |
| 4. | "Sex, Death and Money" | 3:39 |
| 5. | "Fantasy Man" | 4:05 |
| 6. | "Somewhere in the Jungle" | 5:22 |
| 7. | "Disgraceland" | 3:34 |
| 8. | "Sister Sara" | 4:35 |
| 9. | "Every Woman Has a Name" | 3:45 |
| 10. | "I Just Wanna Be God" | 3:53 |
| 11. | "It's Much Too Late" | 4:40 |
| 12. | "The Sentinel" | 3:53 |
A special edition was released on September 24, 2002, limited to 7,500 units. It includes the original album and a bonus disc with four additional tracks.
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Can't Sleep, Clowns Will Eat Me" | 4:09 | |
| 2. | "Go to Hell" (live) | Cooper, Dick Wagner, Bob Ezrin | 3:48 |
| 3. | "Ballad of Dwight Fry" (live) | Cooper, Michael Bruce | 4:27 |
| 4. | "Brutal Planet" (remix) | 5:27 |
Personnel
edit- Alice Cooper - Vocals
- Ryan Roxie - Guitar
- Greg Smith - Bass
Session musicians
edit- Tim Pierce - Guitar
- Wayne Swinny - Guitar
- Bob Marlette - Rhythm Guitar, Bass, Keyboards and programming, String arrangement
- Sid Riggs - Keyboards and programming
- Teddy Andreadis - Backing vocals
- Eric Dover - Backing vocals
- Calico Cooper - Backing vocals
- Gionvanna Morana - Backing vocals
- Kenny Aronoff - Drums
Charts
edit| Chart (2001) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Albums (ARIA)[7] | 182 |
| Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[8] | 75 |
| French Albums (SNEP)[9] | 142 |
| German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[10] | 54 |
| Scottish Albums (OCC)[11] | 98 |
| Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[12] | 41 |
| Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[13] | 98 |
| UK Albums (OCC)[14] | 87 |
| UK Rock & Metal Albums (OCC)[15] | 6 |
| US Billboard 200[16] | 197 |
| US Independent Albums (Billboard)[17] | 12 |
References
edit- ^ "Classic Alice Cooper Albums To Be Released On Vinyl". Blabbermouth.net. September 26, 2016. Retrieved September 26, 2016.
- ^ Coleman, Mark; Edmonds, Ben (2004). "Alice Cooper". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. pp. 11–13. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
- ^ "Alice Cooper : Dragontown - Listen, Review and Buy at ARTISTdirect". Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2008-06-19.
- ^ a b c Van Pelt, Doug (January–February 2002). "Reviews / Dragontown". HM Magazine (93): 56. ISSN 1066-6923.
- ^ Alice Cooper - Dragontown (CD). Metal Temple. 25 January 2002. Retrieved 15 January 2021.
- ^ Flying the coup. Las Vegas Sun. 1 August 2003. Retrieved 15 January 2021.
- ^ "Bubbling Down Under Week Commencing July 6, 1992". Bubbling Down Under. Retrieved July 6, 2024.
- ^ "Austriancharts.at – Alice Cooper – Dragontown" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved May 25, 2024.
- ^ "Lescharts.com – Alice Cooper – Dragontown". Hung Medien. Retrieved May 25, 2024.
- ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Alice Cooper – Dragontown" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved May 25, 2024.
- ^ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved May 25, 2024.
- ^ "Swedishcharts.com – Alice Cooper – Dragontown". Hung Medien. Retrieved May 25, 2024.
- ^ "Swisscharts.com – Alice Cooper – Dragontown". Hung Medien. Retrieved May 25, 2024.
- ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved May 25, 2024.
- ^ "Official Rock & Metal Albums Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved May 25, 2024.
- ^ "Alice Cooper Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved May 25, 2024.
- ^ "Alice Cooper Chart History (Independent Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved May 25, 2024.