In a magazine article interviewing the Godfather of shock rock, Alice Cooper, he made mention that he didn't make Christian music; he made prophetic music. With Brutal Planet, this notion is set forth in probably the strongest way possible, as the songs contained on this CD are reflections of a world that rejected GOD. Sort of a modern-day philosophical observation with strong allegory to Romans chapter 1.
The CD starts off with the title track, "Brutal Planet", where Alice laments: "It's such a brutal planet, it's such a living hell / It was a holy garden, that's right where Adam fell / It's where the blood was taken, it's where we chose to sin / It's where we first were naked, this is where our death begins". "Wicked Young Man" is a chilling account of a teenager ready to kill, seemingly taken from today's headlines. I love the chorus, where it nails the source of the problem dead-on: "It's not the games that I play, the movies I see, the music I dig, I'm just a wicked young man." "Blow Me A Kiss" is about the Littleton shootings. The two songs that really stick out to me the most though, are "Eat Some More" and "Gimmie". "Eat Some More" seems on the surface, about wasting food and resources and letting people and children starve on the streets. But, and this may be another case of me over-analyzing things, it could also be taken as Christians being greedy with the spiritual food we have, gluttonizing and stuffing ourselves until we choke and not sharing it with the lost who are starving for this food. But, that could just be me. "Gimmie" is a song that I used for a Bible study in my youth group. It's a very well-written and well-played little ditty about satan and the way he tends to flatter us and play on our insecure weaknesses to get us to give in ("Tell me who's more important than you? You're the apple of my ancient eyes / How could the world be so cruel? I'll make you my own precious jewel / I'm on your side...").
Now, you're probably wondering, "That's all fine and good, but what's the music like?" The sound is, to say the very least, heavy. It's very, very heavy, with a touch of some industrial rock thrown in to give it a nice jagged edge, but with all this modern updating, the sound is still very uniquely Alice Cooper. He's been talking much more candidly about his faith in magazine articles, and his songs reflect this. Not that I'm expecting him to show up at Cornerstone or anything (that's something for Slayer to do- cough cough), but Brutal Planet shows maturity both musically and lyrically from The Last Temptation. Long live the Cooper.
9.5/10
Other coverage for this album
The Phantom Tollbooth 2000Reviewed by Josh MarihughReports that Alice Cooper had embraced Christianity were solidified by his 1996 album The Last Temptation. After that album, fans old and new alike eagerly awaited Alice's newest offering. Finally, here it is. Fans of the overt Christianity of Last Temptation tracks such as "Cleansed by Fire" may be somewhat disappointed with Brutal Planet. The album opens strong, with this impassioned cry from…Similar sounding releases
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