A new twist on the well-worn tribute album concept,
Humanary Stew?: A Tribute to Alice Cooper assembles a series of all-star, one-off "supergroups" -- a different lineup on each track -- for run-throughs of staples from the Cooper catalog. Big names from superstar acts mingle with journeyman players, most of whom will nevertheless be familiar to ardent hard rock fans. Like any tribute album, the results are uneven, but the novel approach will definitely hold interested listeners' attention. At times, the producers play it safe when teaming up the various musicians; bands contributing more than one member to a particular song include
Motley Crue (
Vince Neil and
Mick Mars),
Iron Maiden (Bruce Dickinson and
Adrian Smith),
Def Leppard (
Joe Elliott and
Phil Collen) and
Megadeth (
Dave Mustaine and
Marty Friedman). The songs holding the most intrigue, though, are those with the farthest-ranging matchups -- for example, the Who's
Roger Daltrey belts out "No More Mr. Nice Guy" with guitar backup from Slash, while former
Guns N' Roses rhythm section Duff McKagan and
Matt Sorum supports the guitar team of Steve Jones (
the Sex Pistols) and
Billy Duffy (
the Cult) on "Elected." Other featured musicians include
Ronnie James Dio ("Welcome to My Nightmare"),
George Lynch ("Billion Dollar Babies"),
Dee Snider ("Go to Hell") and
Don Dokken ("Eighteen"). ~ Steve Huey