Translation of the German review:

The career of rock musician Alice Cooper, born in the USA in 1948, began in 1969 with his debut album Pretties for You. His 20th solo album Paranormal was released in 2017 and follows the studio album Welcome 2 My Nightmare from 2011. In the meantime, Alice Cooper has mostly been on the road with the Hollywood Vampires, with whom he released a live album in 2015. What is new about Paranormal is that the album was recorded almost exclusively with guest musicians, including Larry Mullen Jr. from U2, Roger Glover from Deep Purple, Billy Gibbons from ZZ Top and Swedish guitarist Tommy Denander. The album was produced by longtime Cooper producer Bob Ezrin for earMUSIC, the rock label of Edel AG.

Paranormal achieved important chart positions after its release: U.S.: No. 6 (No. 32 on the Billboard 200, No. 1 hard music album, No. 3 actual physical album); Germany: No. 4 (Highest chart entry in 45 years since 1972's classic School's Out); Australia: No. 4 (Highest chart entry in 39 years); UK: No. 6 (Highest chart entry in 23 years; No. 1 on rock and independent charts); Sweden: No. 6 (highest chart entry in 28 years, since the smash hit album Trash from 1989); Finland: No. 9 (best chart entry ever; No. 1 in physical album sales). On the day of its release, the album climbed to No. 1 in the iTunes rock charts in twelve countries and into the Top 5 in 20 countries.

With Paranormal, Alice Cooper and his guys show how a genuine old-school hard rock album works. Some songs have the typical pattern of Cooper songs, others deviate a bit, which is certainly due to the large number of guest musicians who contributed to the compositions and arrangements. The album contains several hard rock tracks in which clearer blues rock-style moments alternate with scenes of greater instrumental density, as can be heard on the opening track Paranormal. Elsewhere, heavy guitar riffs dominate the action, as exemplified by the song Paranoiac Personality.

The songs Rats, You and All of Your Friends and Genuine American Girl were recorded by the classic band members Neal Smith, Dennis Dunaway and Michael Bruce.

The master tape copy generates a powerful atmosphere with great acoustic images and gets the stereo system going with its powerful drive. All the parameters that can be expected from a good rock album are achieved. The sound does not meet the highest audiophile expectations but is at a very high-quality level for the standard tape version with 320 nWb/m on an RTM LPR90 long playback tape. With this wonderful blend of hard rock expanding to include the range of rock 'n' roll, rock and psychedelic rock, Alice Cooper opens the door to all listeners, making Paranormal far more than just an album for fans.

The tape copies are manufactured at REVOX in Germany with the usual high-quality standards following the transition from Horch House. The REVOX Horch House design is very stylish: a precision aluminum reel printed especially for the album is housed in a tape archive box with a round sticker. The inserts, including seven high-quality photo prints, are in a cardboard folder. Everything is in a sturdy, gray cardboard slipcase. A precision blank reel in Alice Cooper design will soon be available from REVOX.

Translated with DeepL.com (free version)