Welcome to the asylum, Alice Cooper style. This was the way the Godfather of Shock Rock signed off for the Me Decade - by cutting a concept album about his stay in a New York asylum - because at the time, no actual rehabs existed for serious alcoholics such as Alice. What follows is ten tracks of head-slapping bewilderment, and it is hard to tell if I mean that in a good way or not. From a sheer health standpoint, this was most definitely not the best move for Cooper to make. I'm sure, on some level, it was therapeutic and even cathartic, but at the end of the day, all of the Jacknife Johnny's and Millie and Billie's and Veronica's and Nurse Rozetta's were once again elaborate covers for the real issues deep inside the man's psyche. Going against the grain, Alice collaborated with Bernie Taupin and David Foster (although he did retain long time guitarist Dick Wagner), so there had to be some thought of commercial intent behind this already twisted idea, right? And, from a technical standpoint, the general sound is less harsh than preceding Cooper releases. Cooper sings quite clearly throughout, the instrumentation is flashy and pronounced, the background vocals are fairly prominent, and overall, this is more of a pop then a rock record. But wow, is the lyrical material - and delivery of it - disturbing on average or what? Cooper and Taupin run through this cast of characters all too vividly, which I am certain turned a lot of people off, except for maybe hard-core Cooper fans. Even so, the bizarre back-and-forth of "Millie and Billie" really personifies the niche this record should occupy - late night B-movie cheap thrills. In the end, From The Inside serves as a rickety bridge between Alice's garish solo escapades with Bob Ezrin and Dick Wagner, and his more obscure early 80s blackout albums.
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