With Ozzy‘s passing still fresh in our hearts and minds, there is no escaping the reality that all rock ‘n’ roll things have to come to an end at some point. In cahoots with the undead since the late ’60s, Alice Cooper shows no signs of tottering off this mortal coil, he even seems to be picking up speed. “The Revenge of Alice Cooper” reunites the original lineup of the ALICE COOPER band, sadly departed guitarist Glen Buxton aside, for the first time since 1973. Despite the fact that everyone involved — Cooper, guitarist Michael Bruce, bassist Dennis Dunaway, and drummer Neal Smith — is in their seventies, it sounds more like a debut album than some long-awaited comeback. The follow-up to 2023’s “Road” (his best album in decades) is another stripped down, back-to-basics affair, but this lineup have lost none of the manic weirdness, garage rock spikiness and giant, undeniable songcraft that first turned them, and their leader in particular, into superstars. A big, ballsy riot, “The Revenge of Alice Cooper” is so entertaining that the obvious question to ask is: why did it take so long to happen?

But when the time is right, the time is right. These boys grew up in a nascent world of rock ‘n’ roll that was making the rules up as it went along. “The Revenge of Alice Cooper” revels in the same freedom, albeit within the consistent context of a swaggering rock band with more than a few miles on the clock. This shit is in the blood, and it shows.

It starts with “Black Mamba”: a sinister, strutting rocker, with venom in its fangs and an insouciant vocal from Coop that rolls back the years to the early ’70s. The legendary Robby Krieger from THE DOORS pops up to deliver a brilliantly slack-jawed solo, and the stench of Detroit gutters is unmistakable. “I’m crawling up your leg now baby, to whisper in your ear…” drawls Alice, to macabre comic effect. The whole thing is sublime.

Thereafter, “The Revenge of Alice Cooper” is a bruising, sardonic joy. There are several, strident anthems that tap into the dark underbelly of the late ’60s: the white-knuckle motoring of “Wild Ones”, the self-explanatorily priapic “Up All Night”, the darkly comic “What Happened to You? “. Elsewhere, there is plenty of the warped humor that provided the band with some of their most out-there, shocking moments more than five decades ago. “Kill the Flies” is a cod-theatrical blizzard of insects and incendiary guitars; “Crap That Gets in the Way Of Your Dreams” is a tragicomic ball-buster with solid punk credentials; and “Inter Galactic Vagabond Blues” is a bluesy, boozy YARDBIRDS tribute with howling harmonica and avowedly goofy lyrics like “I’ve got cosmic debris in my shoes!”.

Two major facts can be drawn from “The Revenge of Alice Cooper”. Firstly, everybody involved in this album is having a tremendous time. Secondly, having taken the leap of faith and reunited for real, the ALICE COOPER band sound more than able to keep this train a-rollin’ into the future. Do it for Ozzy. Do it for rock ‘n’ roll. Just do it.