Alice Cooper: Welcome to My Nightmare (1975)

Alice Cooper: Welcome to My Nightmare (1975)

Alice's masterpiece began life as a concept album. It deviated somewhat from the original idea, but, personally, I still regard it as one due to how well its individual parts complement each other, despite their obvious compositional differences. It's like a painting in musical form, layered with vibrant textures and blurred lines that when followed lead back upon themselves.

Not all songs flow into each other effortlessly, but the order in which they're arranged is so deeply ingrained in my mind after decades of listening and re-examination that to remove or shuffle one would ruin the unifying essence that makes each one work alongside its neighbour.

Chariots of the Gods (1970)

Chariots of the Gods (1970 / 2021)

Dir. Harald Reinl

A documentary based upon Erich von Däniken's 1968 book of the same name, a work that was regarded as little more than supposition and pseudoscience by most of the scientific community. Likewise, Dir. Harald Reinl's film also lacks credible evidence to support the claims, but it's more enjoyable than its dog-shit cover might imply.

It posits that aliens may have had a hand in constructing many of the world's most famous ancient landmarks, such as the pyramids in Egypt and the statues of Easter Island.

The claims are often presented as heavily weighed suggestions or questions designed to encourage viewers to arrive at their own conclusions, but the hope is clearly that any such conclusions will be congruous with that of the filmmaker's own. For while it lacks evidence to prove that aliens did contribute, it also shows that we can't prove they didn't.

Regardless of which side of the extra-terrestrial fence you reside on, the documentary has some great footage of both the natural world and its people. The 50th Anniversary Edition (2021) is a new 2K scan from the OCN. That it was released in the 51st year seems entirely fitting.