Vehicle
Aging Metalhead
Released on the Warner Bros. label June 25, 1976, and is Alice's second solo offering, (Welcome To My Nightmare being the first.)
Goes To Hell is a concept album, with Alice's usual balanced mixture of rock, macabre, and camp.
What makes it so good, is the fact that it's a bit autobiographical, with Alice sprinkling his real life throughout the story.
The sleeve has this preamble for the listener:
A Bedtime Story
Lay still, steven, and I'll tell you a bedtime story. I'll tell you a
bedtime story that's not for all children. It's a very special story, that
only special children will understand. It's a half aware story, and it will be
better if you close your eyes. It's a story that takes place in a dream, like
other nightmares you have known. It's a dream that Alice has dreamed. You can
dream along with him. You can follow Alice down the staircase, deep, down the
stairs to the pit where he doesn't want to go, but he has to.
If you go to sleep now, Steven, you can go down the long and endless
staircase and sing sweet song to Alice and free him. And if you can't get to
sleep, Steven and the middle of night you get out of bed, when everything is
quiet and the trees are still and the birds are hiding from the dark, you can
lay down on your bedroom floor and press your ear tightly to the boards. If
you listen very carefully you can hear Alice searching for a way out, forever
chasing rainbows.
Sleep tight, Steven. And have a good night.
The story goes.......
1. Go To Hell
The opener, a medium tempo, bottom heavy ethereal cut finds Alice being sentenced to damnation:
"For criminal acts and violence
On the stage
For bein' a brat
Refusing to act your age
For all of the decent citizens you've enraged
You can go to hell."
The song goes on to name several more of Alice's transgression. Most all of them are true to life things he's actually done.
2. You Gotta Dance
Like the first cut, it's got a heavy beat. It also has some funky guitar riffs that give it a hint of disco. And yes, you can dance to it.
Alice arrives in Hell, and the lucky souls already there give him a heads up on the rules:
"We gotta blow when we says blow
And we gotta shake and shimmy
We got the strings tied to our soul
Says dance
Says dance
Says we gotta dance"
3. I'm The Coolest
Laid back, with some brushes on the snare drum, a great guitar solo, this track has a real smooth jazz feel.
And here he is. The devil introduces himself.
"You know that I'm the coolest
That's ever come around
You'll notice things get hot
Whenever I'm in the town
I mean I gotta be the coolest
Who else could it be
Everybody knows who's really cool..
...Me"
4. Didn't We Meet
The feel fluctuates, going from fairly even verses, then rips open the chorus with some heavy power chords.
The song culminates in a great instrumental part with some Iron Maiden-esque galloping guitar and a big beat.
There are actual hooves clopping (belonging to our cloven hooved host, no doubt), and Alice panting, giving the
song the illusion of the devil chasing Alice.
Alice meets the devil, and realizes that, hey, maybe I've seen you before....maybe I'm not such a good person after all.
Maybe I really am in Hell....
With this revelation, Alice turns and tries to run away.
"Pardon me
But you see
I've seen that face before
I know those eyes
Unearthly wise
I feel it more and more
To look at you
Deja Vu
Chills me to the core"
5. I Never Cry
The big hit, no need to describe it, other than to say it's Alice's confessional about his alcoholism.
"Sometimes I drink more than I need
Until the TV's dead and gone
I may be lonely
But I'm never alone
And the night may pass me bay
But I'm never alone
And the night may pass me by
But I'll never cry"
6. Give The Kid A Break
Alice's brilliant balance of rock and tongue-in-cheek camp, this song has a ragtime-vegas show tune-rockabilly miture. Really.
Alice pleads his case with the devil, with the his greeters from 'You Gotta Dance' appearing again and sing the chorus.
The comedy is in the spoken conversation between Alice and the devil.
The greeters: Give the kid a break
The devil: Give me one good reason why I should
Alice: All, right, all right, so I made a few mistakes
But listen for Heaven's sake
The devil: Watch your language ,Kid
Alice:OK, OK, don't get hot
7. Guilty
A straight up rocker in which Alice thumbs his nose at the devil. Yea, I did all those things. So what?
"Just tried to have fun
Raised Hell and then some
I'm a dirt talking , beer drinking, woman chasing
Minister's son
Slap on the make-up
And blast out the music
Wake up the neighbors with a roar
Like a teenage, heavy meta,l elephant gun
If you call that guilty then that's what I am"
8. Wake Me Gently
Starting with a single flamenco guitar, this cut gets heavier as it goes, becoming, by the end, a very good rock ballad.
The lead solo, I think, is a masterpiece, one of my absolute Alice favorites.
The song is an interesting concept in itself, because Alice hopes he's just dreaming this whole ordeal,
but he also shares his fear of dying and seeing himself laid out and lifeless.
"I was scared to death
Afraid to close my eyes
And find that I was gone
Like every other one
Who left before the dawn
I vanished in the air
Am I still there"
9. Wish You Were Here
Alice gets back to the beat-driven flavor from the A-Side, with a mix of power chords and funky riffs.
The last minute of the song has a great screaming guitar solo. Not fast, not technically complicated,
but an absolutely perfect fit. Another one of my favorites.
The song's title is what it implies. He's writing to, presumably, his wife.
"I bought you postcards
Thought it'd be funny
I would've sent a souvenir
But they took all my money
It's pretty warm down here
But it ain't sunny
And I'm having a Hell of a time, my dear
Wish you were here"
10. I'm Always Chasing Rainbows
I've never been a fan of this cut. It's campy, with a sort of Mel Brooks musical number from one of his movies.
It's not horrible, but I can't recall the last time I let it play.
"At the end of the rainbow there's happiness
And to find it how often I've tried
But my life is a race
Just a wild goose chase
And my dreams have all been denied"
11. Going Home
A slowly building rock ballad,the Big Finish. It gets richer and fuller as the song goes, ending with a really great choir & symphony chorus.
A great end to a pretty cool trip.
Alice wakes up.
"I'm going home
I wonder if anyone missed me
Or have I been gone so long
They thought that I'd died
How many said
I wonder what happened to Alice?
How many shrugged or laughed
How many cried"
it was all just a dream. Or was it?
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