One-time scourge of every straight-laced school teacher, and the main architect of shock rock, the now 69-year-old Alice Cooper has nothing left to prove. With his place in the rock ‘n’ roll pantheon long since assured, he could live off past glories like many of his peers, but that was never his style.

Instead, Cooper takes cues from the movie monsters he loves so much, and keeps coming back for more. With 27th album Paranormal, he’s saved one of his biggest shocks for (almost) last.

Much better than anyone expected, there are times when the opus sounds like vintage Alice. Buoyed by the presence of U2’s Larry Mullen, Deep Purple’s Roger Glover and ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons, as well as members of the original Alice Cooper Band, the record rocks with the best of them. The fun, blues-based ‘Dead Flies’ could be a spiritual cousin of Cooper’s classic ‘Feed My Frankenstein’, while the slinky ‘Paranoiac Personality’ is a guaranteed live highlight. Another stand-out is the brass-led ‘Holy Water’, which offers some exhilarating rock thrills.

Both a homage to Cooper’s classic rock roots and tribute to his heroes Jimi Hendrix and Deep Purple, Paranormal mightn’t be as inspired as the singer’s iconic ‘70s work, but it’s still a fiendishly good listen.
7/10
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