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The Last Temptation (Alice Cooper album)

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The Last Temptation
Studio album by
Alice Cooper
ReleasedJuly 12, 1994
Recorded1993–1994
Genre
Length50:48
LabelEpic
ProducerDon Fleming, Duane Baron, John Purdell, Andy Wallace
Alice Cooper chronology
Hey Stoopid
(1991) 		The Last Temptation
(1994) 		Classicks
(1995)
Singles from The Last Temptation
  1. "Lost in America"
    Released: May 1994
  2. "It's Me"
    Released: July 1994
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[1]
Entertainment WeeklyB[2]
Q[3]
Rolling Stone[4]

The Last Temptation is the thirteenth solo studio album by American rock singer Alice Cooper, released on July 12, 1994, by Epic Records. It centers on a boy named Steven (also the protagonist of Cooper's earlier work, Welcome to My Nightmare), and a mysterious showman. The showman, with apparent supernatural abilities, attempts with the use of twisted versions of morality plays to persuade Steven to join his traveling show, "The Theater of the Real - The Grand-est Guignol!", where he would "never grow up".

The album once again features collaborations with some high-profile guests: Chris Cornell of Soundgarden co-wrote and sings on two songs, Dan Wexler of Phoenix metallers Icon co-wrote four songs including the single "Lost in America" where he also plays guitar, and Derek Sherinian of Dream Theater plays keyboards.

Comic

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The full storyline of the album was depicted in a three-part comic book written by Neil Gaiman,[5][6] the first part of which accompanied the recording. In the comic, the Showman (depicted as Cooper himself) attempts to entice the boy Steven to join his supernatural show. Pages from the comic are seen in the Lost in America music video.

It was originally published by Marvel Comics and later reprinted by Dark Horse Comics, collected as trade paperback.[7]

Video

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Music videos were made for "Lost in America" and "It's Me". Both music videos are available for download from Sony/BMG.

Reception

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Barry Weber of allmusic.com wrote, "By the time The Last Temptation was released in 1994, the hair band fad that had fueled Cooper's return was dead, and Cooper was obviously aware of its downfall – the album sounds almost nothing like its two predecessors (1989's Trash and 1991's Hey Stoopid). Far surpassing anything Cooper recorded in almost 20 years, The Last Temptation is unquestionably some of his best work."

Live performances

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Although Epic did not finance a tour and Cooper consequently did not tour The Last Temptation, four of the album's songs – "It's Me", "Lost in America", "Cleansed by Fire" and "Sideshow" – were incorporated into Cooper's setlist from the time of his first appearance on the Monsters of Rock circuit in September 1995. Although "It's Me" was dropped after four performances, the other three songs remained a regular part of setlists until the end of the Life and Crimes of Alice Cooper tour in 1999, and were joined by "Nothing's Free" on the "School's Out for Summer '97" tour. However, with the exception of "Lost in America", which has remained a frequent part of setlists excluding the first three quarters of the 2012 to 2015 "Raise the Dead" tour, nothing from The Last Temptation has been performed live from 2000 onwards.

Track listing

[edit]
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Sideshow"Alice Cooper, Brian Smith, Michael Brooks, Jon Norwood, Dan Wexler, Bud Saylor6:39
2."Nothing's Free"Cooper, Wexler, Saylor, Bob Pfeifer5:01
3."Lost in America"Cooper, Wexler, Pfeifer3:54
4."Bad Place Alone"Cooper, Wexler, Pfeifer5:04
5."You're My Temptation"Cooper, Jack Blades, Tommy Shaw5:09
6."Stolen Prayer"Chris Cornell, Cooper5:37
7."Unholy War"Cornell4:10
8."Lullaby"Cooper, Jim Vallance4:28
9."It's Me"Cooper, Blades, Shaw4:39
10."Cleansed by Fire"Cooper, Mark Hudson, Steve Dudas, Pfeifer6:12

Personnel

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Additional personnel
  • Chris Cornell – vocals on "Stolen Prayer" and "Unholy War"
  • Dan Wexler – guitars on "Lost In America"
  • John Purdell – keyboards on "You're My Temptation", "Lullaby" and "It's Me"
  • Lou Merlino – backing vocals
  • Mark Hudson – backing vocals
  • Craig Copeland – backing vocals
  • Brett Hudson – backing vocals

Charts

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Chart (1994) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[8] 15
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[9] 24
Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)[10] 70
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[11] 73
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[12] 7
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[13] 18
Hungarian Albums (MAHASZ)[14] 32
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[15] 20
Scottish Albums (OCC)[16] 37
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[17] 19
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[18] 13
UK Albums (OCC)[19] 6
US Billboard 200[20] 68

References

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  1. ^ https://www.allmusic.com/album/r204078
  2. ^ Sandow, Greg (June 10, 1994). "The Last Temptation". Entertainment Weekly. Time. Retrieved January 26, 2014.
  3. ^ Maconie, Stuart. "Review: Alice Cooper, The Last Temptation". Q (Q95, August 1994). EMAP Metro Ltd: 100.
  4. ^ Eddy, Chuck (July 14, 1994). "Review: Alice Cooper - The Last Temptation". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on November 12, 2007. Retrieved 13 August 2009.
  5. ^ Gaiman's page on the comic
  6. ^ Addicted to Comics #12 - Alice in Marvel-land[usurped]
  7. ^ Gaiman, Neil; Michael Zulli, and Alice Cooper (1994). The Last Temptation. New York: Dark Horse Comics. ISBN 1-56971-455-X.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  8. ^ "Australiancharts.com – Alice Cooper – The Last Temptation". Hung Medien. Retrieved May 25, 2024.
  9. ^ "Austriancharts.at – Alice Cooper – The Last Temptation" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved May 25, 2024.
  10. ^ "Top RPM Albums: Issue 2528". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved May 25, 2024.
  11. ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Alice Cooper – The Last Temptation" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved May 25, 2024.
  12. ^ Pennanen, Timo (2021). "Alice Cooper". Sisältää hitin - 2. laitos Levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla 1.1.1960–30.6.2021 (PDF) (in Finnish). Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava. p. 52.
  13. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Alice Cooper – The Last Temptation" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved May 25, 2024.
  14. ^ "Album Top 40 slágerlista – 1994. 30. hét" (in Hungarian). MAHASZ. Retrieved May 25, 2024.
  15. ^ "Norwegiancharts.com – Alice Cooper – The Last Temptation". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 30, 2021.
  16. ^ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved May 25, 2024.
  17. ^ "Swedishcharts.com – Alice Cooper – The Last Temptation". Hung Medien. Retrieved May 25, 2024.
  18. ^ "Swisscharts.com – Alice Cooper – The Last Temptation". Hung Medien. Retrieved May 25, 2024.
  19. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved May 25, 2024.
  20. ^ "Alice Cooper Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved May 25, 2024.
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