Reviewed by David Cranson

Aaaaarrgghh... It's Alice Cooper again. Eh, yes that's right. I reviewed his latest album recently and have now read the accompanying comics, which flesh out (sic) the story on the album. So, is it Christian, what's it saying, does it belong in Cross Rhythms? Well, the answer is, could be, I'm not going to tell you (fully) and YES. The album and books follow the story of a boy called Steven and his encounter with a being who may or may not be the devil and various other nasty and not so nasty characters. He eventually learns a valuable lesson about life and may even learn the identity of his guardian angel. There is a serious story involved here. If you take the album for a denunciation against Satan and evil (as I did in the review), or look at the bigger picture using the books as well, you will see a turn around from previous Alice Cooper outings. There is definitely a moral in all of this. Theatrical, maybe. Relevant, certainly. Especially to those who would seek after escape. This type of media is normally used by those who seek a way out of reality. What we have here is, I believe, a pointer to a choice we all have to make, but in a fashion which, although an older or less knowledgeable generation might not approve, can be read and understood by the generation at which it is aimed. Alice is quoted elsewhere as saying, "I think the problem is that we've put ourselves on the throne, we've made man into 'God' and because we're such slaves to our lusts, we do a really poor job of being 'God', and as far as I see it, we need to take ourselves off the throne and put God back on it. There's a real lack of moral fibre today and that's because we've replaced God with ourselves." The man has a point.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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