Everything Old is New Again

A few upcoming releases from classic rockers that I am looking forward to!

Welcome 2 My Nightmare, Alice Cooper

Coming in September is Alice Cooper’s Welcome 2 My Nightmare, the sequel to the 1975 release Welcome to my Nightmare.  The original Nightmare release was a concept album that took us through the nightmare and/or life of a character named Steven.  I had heard the original Welcome to My Nightmare a few times but never owned my own copy until a couple of years ago.  It was only then that I gained a true appreciation for it and it quickly became a favourite. 

Alice’s most recent release, 2008’s Along Came a Spider, was also a concept album that tells us the story of a serial killer going by the name of Spider.  Interestingly, the character of Steven is mentioned on a few of Alice’s albums and again during the spoken word epilogue on Along Came a Spider.  Some speculate that Spider and Steven are the same person.  Both these albums are favourites of mine.  Check out my review of Along Came a Spider by clicking here. 

Welcome 2 My Nightmare is due out in September and is said to be about what else but another Nightmare, but this one worse than the first promises Alice.  (Aside:  I turn 40 in September, is this some sort of omen?)  Will we see the return of Steven?  Spider?  Going to be interesting to see what Alice has in store for us this time. 

I hope to see Alice perform in concert someday but I am not holding my breath.  I have attempted to see him in concert three times and twice had tickets purchased!  Different life circumstances prevented me from attending all these concerts.  I think over the next few days I am going to break out the original 1975 classic and the 2008 Spider album (his 25th release) and have a listen to both.

Van Halen

Next up is another of my all time favourite bands, Van Halen.  A new album is apparently recorded and back is the original line up with David Lee Roth on the vocals.  Well not really the original line up because out of course is Michael Anthony on the bass and in is Eddie’s son Wolfgang making a triple threat of Van Halen’s in the band with brother Alex still on the drums. 

There is some talk and information starting to leak around the Internet about the album that is now apparently now in the mixing phases.  There is talk of a return to that classic Van Halen sound from those early recordings.  I hope so.  I love those old songs and to this day I still find myself needing an occasional fix of tunes such as Ain’t Talking ‘Bout Love, Janie’s Crying, Unchained, And The Cradle Will Rock among others.  As much as I like Sammy Hagar I rarely revisit the albums recorded with him with the exception of 5150 at times.  I am excited to hear this new Van Halen release and hopefully some new classic sounding songs for me to add to that list of old favourites.  This release will also no doubt bring about a tour that I would love to see.

Aerosmith

Next up is another Aerosmith album.  The boys are currently recording their 15th studio release.  It wasn’t too long ago we were wondering if we would ever see this.  It has been quite a career and quite the few years for Aerosmith.  There was the public feuding between guitarist Joe Perry and vocalist Steven Tyler causing us to speculate if Tyler’s days with Aerosmith were done.  Of course Tyler remained in the spotlight with his much talked about fall off the stage during a concert and his newest job as a judge on American Idol.

I was first introduced to Aerosmith in 1987 when they appeared on MTV and Muchmusic (in Canada) with RUN DMC singing their classic hit Walk This Way.  Soon after they released what I consider to be classics of that decade, Permanent Vacation and Pump.  Both were fixtures in my CD player for years.  I also went back and experienced older releases from the band including the classic 1975 release Toys in the Attic. 

Thankfully the boys got themselves together and I am looking forward to hearing what they have to offer up this time.  If you pay attention to some of their comments on the Internet and on Twitter things are apparently going well and they are having a great time making new music.  This is another band that I have not seen perform and are on my lists of concerts. 

What are the chances of me achieving a hat trick of the concerts above this year?  What a great 40th birthday gift it would be!  For now it’s back to listening to some older efforts of all three and enjoying the final full month of my 30s.