ALICE COOPER / The Last Temptation (1994)

Something Alice this way comes. It's the king of theatrical rock back in the chair where he belongs, giving us a full concept album with a cast of weirds and a young boy called Steven (yes, Steven!). There are nods to WtMN musically too, particularly in album opener Sideshow, which sounds both retro and current.
Chris Cornell adds his voice once or twice but can be ignored, along with the first single, Lost in America, which has the dubious honour of being Alice's worst song since Trash. It's easy to make a playlist without it and neither the story nor album flow suffers from its removal. What's doubly great about TLT is that the softer lullaby tracks are equally as interesting as the regular guitar tracks.

Songs of Note: Sideshow; Nothing's Free

4 ringmasters with blackened eyes out of 5