Sec. A8-The SUN, Flagstaff, Arizona, Friday, November 17, 1989 Alice By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS TRASH (Alice Cooper) Don Henley recently complained that pop music has become moronic, which would mean that Alice Cooper was way ahead of his time. Happily, two decades after the release of his first record, Cooper still sounds moronic. "Trash," his latest album, is impossible to take seriously and almost as hard to dislike. Don't be fooled by the biker sentiments the overwrought Cooper spits out over grinding guitars.
These tunes are cartoons they have more in common with Sam Kinnison than Judas Priest. No image is too obvious for Cooper, which is half the fun. And he shows cleverness in other ways. "I'll drive you like a hammer on a bed of nails," Cooper sings. Then the punch line: "Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow." The band is head-banger friendly.
Guitarist John McCurry nicely frames Cooper's frenzy, and guest appearances by Aerosmith and Jon Bon Jovi add to the fun. There are some dead spots, but such hormonal imbalances as "I'm Your Gun" and "This Maniac's in sounds moronic Love With You" make "Trash" the funniest heavy-metal record since Spinal Tap. Whether Cooper intended it to be that way is really immaterial. HEART SHAPED WORLD (Chris Isaak) Chris Issak works a narrow emotional range on "Heart Shaped World." Isaak's mood is despondent most of the time; he occasionally perks up to sound merely somber. The music has the sense of gloom found on records by certain British bands with droning lead singers who seem on the verge of suicide.
But Isaak doesn't drone. His riveting voice has a dynamic range that extends from a whisper to a wail. Pair it with the twangy lead guitar of James Calvin Wilsey, and the result is a terrific album. "Heart Shaped World" is rooted in the 1950s. The simple arrangements have the directness that made rock in that era special.
Isaak doesn't hide behind any studio frills; he wears his emotions on his T-shirt sleeve. Missing is the sense of calculation that limits such retro-rockers as the Stray Cats. There's no limit to Isaak's potential, as he shows on the title cut that opens the record. It begins as a dark ballad before Isaak switches to a higher vocal register, and by the end the song is rocking. Other standout cuts include the rockabilly "I'm Not Waiting," and the haunting "Wicked Game." Isaak seems to have a great song for every woman who has jilted him, and on "Heart Shaped World" that's an album full.
LOVE AND UNDERSTANDING (The Pogues) "Love and is a revelation for anyone beginning to believe the stereotype of the Pogues as a band of drunken Irishmen for whom music is a second language. The album is a careening wall of sound. Though at times too dense and unapproachable, it surprises with compelling and wholly unexpected twists. Shane MacGowan's guttural rasp and traditional Irish instrumentation are no longer this Christmas brings new records By ETHLIE ANN VARE Expect some big records to be released over the next few weeks as stores start stocking up for the Christmas rush. Phil Collins' first solo album since 1985's "No Jacket Required" was just released.
Tina Turner's "Foreign Affair" came out in late October. Also already on the shelves are long-awaited follow-up efforts from Tears for Fears and Janet Jackson. Terence Trent D'Arby and Tracey Chapman, both of whom took the music scene by storm with their debut efforts, released follow -up discs in October. Whitesnake, which sold 5 million copies of its debut, follows it up in November with an LP called "Slip of the Tongue." Greatest hits compilations are due from Michael Jackson (with four fresh tracks, as well), George Harrison, Dwight Yoakam, Eddie Money, Toto, the Scorpions, Rod Stewart and the Moody Blues. Bobby Brown and Jody Watley are putting out dance re-mix sets, featuring pumped-up versions of their best-known tunes.
And what about the gift album that everyone is waiting for: A new one (as opposed to a reworked old one) from overnight superstars Guns N' Roses? Well, there's no way we'll have that by Christmas. There's not even a hope that Axl Rose will be in the studio in 1989. He's having too much fun touring with the Stones. band's only voices. The opening "Gridlock" is a jazzy big band instrumental.
"Lorelei" is a rock ballad with Springsteen overtones. "Boat Train" sounds like a show tune. None are quite as thrilling as "Cotton Fields," a traditional Southern melody transformed into Irish punk rock and somehow working marvelously. The Pogues have a churning power sounding as if the Chieftains spent too much time in pubs on the wrong side of town and indulged every whim. MacGowan hands over lead vocal chores to several of his colleagues here, meaning it's sometimes possible to hear the lyrics.
More often than not, that's extremely difficult. It often seems this band thinks of vocals as afterthoughts, burying them so deep in the mix they're indecipherable. With such occasional snatches as "streets filled with blood" and "may you burn in hell tonight" slipping through, maybe it's better they often go misunderstood. The Pogues follow a muse that's uniquely their own. a ALICE COOPER FLAGSTAFF DENTAL DENTURE CENTER Comfortable Dentistry GUARANTEED DENTURES In-office Lab featuring Same-day Repairs Relines Full Partial Dentures Call for Appointment FREE 526-1807 Consultation 2633 E.
7th Ave. NEW OUT-OF-TOWN PATIENTS CALL TOLL FREE IN ARIZONA 1-800-752-0291 Music news KINGDOM COME SPLITS. After one very successful album and one considerably less so, Led Zeppelin soundalikes Kingdom Come have split up. They didn't feel they could find an approprite replacement for departing drummer James Kottak. DALTREY THE ACTOR.
Who frontman Roger Daltrey will portray a retired boxer working with slum dwellers in the upcoming movie "Father Jim." The shoot starts this month in Chicago. Already completed for Daltrey is a co-starring role in the movie adaptation of 'Threepenny Opera" retitled "Mack the Knife" in which he plays a street singer. Ex-Policeman Sting, by the way, plays the Macheath role in a more traditional mounting of "Threepenny Opera," currently running at the National Theatre in washington D.C. and expected to open on Broadway in November. WALES OF often considered band (they were by those famed but the guys in tually.
Welsh. PHIL COLLINS album, which features songs about their homeland, will also be available in Wales in the native Cymric language. NEW POISON TUNE. Headbangers Poison, who used to make this column by creating yet another obnoxious, sexist scandal, are changing their tune a bit in time for their upcoming video release, "A Sight for Sore Ears." First, lead singer Bret Michaels went on the record about his diabetes, acting as a role model for youngsters who may feel the disease is an insurmountable obstacle. Now, the glam singer has been quoted as saying, "I think the real heroes of today are not rock stars, but people like social workers and drug counselors, who are helping others put their lives back DOUBLE DOUBLE TIRE CORRAL TIRE CORRAL HERCULES Something better in a tire and a company that stands behind it.
TIRES HERCULES RADIAL $3495 $38.95 $41.95 $43.95 $44.95 $45.95 $47.95 $49.95 $53.95 15. $56.95 Studding $7.95 per Tire Front Disc or Rear Drum Brakes $5995 Includes: Labor, parts, shoes, Metallic Pads turn drums or Extra rotors. Serving Northern Arizona Since 1973 Your One Stop Complete Car Care Center 2160 Santa Fe 8-5 1808 Santa Fo 774-3527 774-3338 A BAND. They're yet another Irish first championed Irishmen in U2), the Alarm are acAnd their new.
