Maps of Music

Dragontown (2001)

Where the lyrics of Dragontown take you, and where it was really made.

Dragontown is the first Alice Cooper studio album with no singles, and its chart run was his weakest since 1983.

Key places

Henson Recording Studios, Los Angeles (2001)

Recording site A&M Recording Studios — The French article says the album was recorded in 2001 at the Henson studios in Los Angeles. The pin marks the studio's listed location. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

The Blue Room, Woodland Hills (2001)

Recording site Very Loud House (Woodland Hills) — The French article also names The Blue Room in Woodland Hills as a recording location for the album. The pin marks only the Woodland Hills city centre. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Dragontown: fifteenth solo studio album and twenty-second studio album overall by American rock musician Alice Cooper
• Released in 2001 on Spitfire Records; the French article lists Eagle Records for Europe
• Like Brutal Planet, a heavier metal style than many of Cooper's earlier releases
• The first Alice Cooper studio album to contain no singles

Background

• Toured with the Descent into Dragontown tour in 2001 and 2002
• Only four album songs were performed on that tour, and only "Sex, Death and Money" and "Fantasy Man" stayed in the setlist to the end
• Apart from five performances of "Disgraceland" in July 2003 on the Bare Bones Tour, no song from the album has been played live since the supporting tour ended

Recording

• Recorded in California in 2001 at the Henson studios in Los Angeles and at The Blue Room in Woodland Hills
• Produced by Bob Marlette
• All tracks written by Alice Cooper and Bob Marlette
• Kenny Aronoff played drums
• Continues the industrial-leaning metal direction set with Brutal Planet, co-written with producer Bob Marlette

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · fr.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• Alice Cooper originated in Phoenix, Arizona in 1964 as a band formed by Vincent Damon Furnier, Glen Buxton, Michael Bruce, Dennis Dunaway and Neal Smith.
• The group first performed as the Earwigs and later renamed themselves the Spiders and then Nazz.
• In 1968 the band adopted the name Alice Cooper, which was later also the new legal name of Furnier.

Members

• The classic lineup consisted of Furnier (lead vocals), Buxton (lead guitar), Bruce (rhythm guitar), Dunaway (bass) and Smith (drums).
• Furnier legally changed his name to Alice Cooper after the band disbanded in 1975.

Career

• The band released seven studio albums from 1969 to 1973, including Love It to Death, Killer, School's Out and Billion Dollar Babies.
• The band is known as a pioneer of shock rock, using theatrical stage shows with props and illusions.
• As a solo artist he released Welcome to My Nightmare in 1975 and has released 30 studio albums in total.
• The original band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2011.
• Cooper is considered by music journalists and peers to be 'The Godfather of Shock Rock'.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Peaked at number 12 on Billboard's Top Independent Albums chart
• Reached number 197 on the Billboard 200, his lowest album chart placing since 1983's DaDa, which did not chart at all
• Stayed on the Billboard 200 for only one week
• Heavier metal sound noted in comparison with his previous releases

Reappraisal

• HM Magazine editor Doug Van Pelt, who writes for a Christian music oriented publication, likened Cooper to C.S. Lewis
• Van Pelt read the track "It's Much Too Late" as exposing unrestrained truth about the road to hell
• Van Pelt compared "Sex, Death and Money" to Proverbs 5, arguing that the song speaks against its own subject
• "Disgraceland" has Cooper singing verses in the voice of Elvis Presley, and Cooper called it a commentary on the absurdity of Presley's death

Records

• Billboard Top Independent Albums: number 12
• Billboard 200: number 197
• First Alice Cooper studio album with no singles
• Chart performance was his lowest for an album since DaDa in 1983

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · fr.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• "Disgraceland" is a track about Elvis Presley's final years and death, sung by Cooper in Presley's impersonated voice.
• "Somewhere in the Jungle" addresses genocide and tribal warfare in Africa.
• "Can't Sleep, Clowns Will Eat Me" is inspired by the Simpsons episode "Lisa's First Word."
• Only four album songs were played on the Descent into Dragontown tour, and "Disgraceland" returned in five July 2003 shows on the Bare Bones Tour.
• The album was released through Spitfire Records in the US, while the French article names Eagle Records for Europe.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · es.wikipedia.org

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