ALICE COOPER: 'Welcome 2 My Nightmare' Cover Artwork Unveiled

Legendary rocker Alice Cooper will release his hugely anticipated new album, "Welcome 2 My Nightmare", later this year via Universal Music Group.

Recorded with longtime collaborator Bob Ezrin, who produced the original multi-platinum "Welcome To My Nightmare" album in 1975, the record picks up right where they left off, with Alice trapped in his own warped mind.

That original album is an all-time rock classic that spawned a worldwide theatrical tour and pioneering U.S. TV special and cemented Alice Cooper as a visionary trailblazer whose influence persists today in rock, metal, pop, punk, theater, television, film and much more.

More than 35 years later, Alice and Ezrin have resurrected the horror and humor for a new generation.

"This is Alice's nightmare 35 years later," explains Alice, "Bob and I created this character and we know how to write for him. I play the part but we're not writing for me, we're writing for Alice. We kept the first 'Nightmare' album very personal to us, on this one we found more humor and we were more open. This was our world and we want to present it to the fans. The original album was my first solo album after all those huge hit records with the original band and now that nightmare is exposed, this one can be a little bit more open. The music crosses all sorts of boundaries; we went where the lyrics took us."

There is an array of collaborators on the new album, including original Alice Cooper members Denis Dunaway, Michael Bruce and Neal Smith reunited on three tracks; global pop superstar Ke$ha, who affectionately calls Alice "dad"; and legendary Alice and Lou Reed guitarist Steve Hunter, who is part of Alice's current touring band and featured prominently on the first "Nightmare" album.

Musically, the album ranges far and wide, from trashing disco to garage punk, pop balladry to a rocking number very much in the spirit of THE ROLLING STONES. And then there's the ballad "Something To Remember Me By", described by Alice as "the prettiest song we have ever released."

Glimpses of themes from the original album are intertwined throughout, each track representing a different aspect of Alice's nightmare.

From the opener, "I Am Made Of You", through the already established live favorite and first single "I'll Bite Your Face Off", to the surprising duet with Ke$ha, "What Baby Wants", this album is a reminder that albums just aren't made this way anymore.

And musicians do not play together like Dennis Dunaway, Michael Bruce and Neal Smith anymore.

"I wanted a '70s feel for 'When Hell Comes Home'," says Alice, "and I didn't even have to ask for it, it's just how they play and they did it live in the studio. When they got done playing the basic track, Bob and I just looked at each other, that sound is built into their DNA. We didn't need to go and fix anything. The way they finished was a little bit ragged and that's the way we used to finish songs, that's what I like about it."

Co-writers on various songs include the aforementioned Bob Ezrin, Ke$ha, Neal, Dennis, Michael, plus BUCKCHERRY's Keith Nelson, Desmond Child (who famously co-wrote and produced "Poison" with Alice),longtime collaborator Dick Wagner, current touring band member Chuck Garric and film composer Jeremy Rubolino.

"That's my rebellion," says Alice of the more surprising guests, "I like people that don't belong and yet what they're doing works perfectly. I don't care where it comes from, as long as it's right. If you tell me something doesn't work, I'll work my head of until it does then shove it down your throat.

"I think a lot of my audience is going to go 'KE$HA!?', but she probably wrote the most disgusting lyrics in the song we had to rein her in. I like people to know that just because artists are put in a pigeon hole, that doesn't mean that's what they are. Give people a little room."

With Steve Hunter, one of rock's great guitarists, added to the band's line-up of guitarists Damon Johnson and Tommy Henriksen, bassist Chuck Garric, and drummer Glen Sobel, Alice has been tearing up venues worldwide on his 2011 "No More Mr. Nice Guy" tour.

Alice gave fans a treat in June with a surprise performance at London's tiny 100 Club, when actor Johnny Depp joined in on guitar. Alice showcased the powerful band that had blown away the Download festival crowd the previous weekend.

This year, the original Alice Cooper group was inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, and Alice was honored with both the Kerrang! Icon Award in the U.K. and the Revolver Golden God Award in the USA.

* U.K. fan pack album release / global album release: September 16
* U.K. general album release: October 17

Single: "I'll Bite Your Face Off"

* Limited-edition seven-inch picture vinyl: September 12 with exclusive live version as the B-side
* Digital: August 22 with "Caffeine" as B-side

"Welcome 2 My Nightmare" will be released first as a "fan pack" in conjunction with Future Publishing in September, with a conventional release following in October. The fan pack includes the album, a giant poster, a facepaint set, a metal badge, an Alice face mask and a 132-page magazine dedicated to all things Alice.

"Fan Pack" track listing:

01. I Am Made Of You
02. Caffeine
03. The Nightmare Returns
04. A Runaway Train
05. Last Man On Earth
06. The Congregation
07. I'll Bite Your Face Off
08. Disco Bloodbath Boogie Fever
09. Ghouls Gone Wild
10. Something To Remember Me By
11. When Hell Comes Home
12. What Baby Wants
13. I Gotta Get Outta Here
14. The Underture

Exclusive fan pack bonus tracks:

15. Under The Bed
16. Poison (Live at Download Festival)

Standard U.K. and international track listing:

01. I Am Made Of You
02. Caffeine
03. The Nightmare Returns
04. A Runaway Train
05. Last Man On Earth
06. The Congregation
07. I'll Bite Your Face Off
08. Disco Bloodbath Boogie Fever
09. Ghouls Gone Wild
10. Something To Remember Me By
11. When Hell Comes Home
12. What Baby Wants
13. I Gotta Get Outta Here
14. The Underture

Standard bonus track:

15. We Gotta Get Out Of This Place

Deluxe U.K. and international track listing:

01. I Am Made Of You
02. Caffeine
03. The Nightmare Returns
04. A Runaway Train
05. Last Man On Earth
06. The Congregation
07. I'll Bite Your Face Off
08. Disco Bloodbath Boogie Fever
09. Ghouls Gone Wild
10. Something To Remember Me By
11. When Hell Comes Home
12. What Baby Wants
13. I Gotta Get Outta Here
14. The Underture

Deluxe bonus tracks:

15. We Gotta Get Out Of This Place
16. No More Mr. Nice Guy (Live at Download Festival)
17. The Black Widow (Live at Download Festival)

General album formats released via Universal Music Group:

1. 2xLP blood-red vinyl with poster and exclusive track "Flatline"
2. Deluxe digipak CD with exclusive "ticket to hell" not available anywhere else, plus poster and bonus tracks "We Gotta Get Out Of This Place", "No More Mr. Nice Guy (live at Download Festival)", "Black Widow (Live at Download Festival)"
3. Standard CD/Digital Album with bonus track "We Gotta Get Out Of This Place"
4. iTunes-exclusive album with bonus track "A Bad Situation" and track-by-track commentary

Chris Ingham, group publisher at niche publishing house Future, which is pioneering "The Fan Pack" format, tells The Independent, that the fanpack format has the potential to transform the relationship between the magazine industry and the music business. "Record companies have acknowledged that music magazines are amplifiers but they have also thought they were parasites," he says. "Moving forward, magazines will be seen much more as partners and something to rely on."

Other albums that have been released in the U.K. as "fanpacks" include Slash's self-titled solo CD, MOTRHEAD's "The Wrld Is Yours" and WHITESNAKE's "Forevermore".