Dragontown is a marked improvement on last year's rather forgettable Brutal Planet, boasting more creativity, more range — both melodic and thematic — and, thankfully, more willingness to avoid the nu-metal territory staked out by younger bands. Some of Alice's old flair is back, with the highlight being "Disgraceland," an Elvis piss-take all done up in metal- rockabilly drag. The lyrics are a hoot and sung with a nasty lip curl — the sardonic playfulness harks back to the Goes to Hell era. "Triggerman" provides a racy opener for the album, "Fantasy Man" is a sexy-catchy boogie burst, while "Every Woman Has a Name" is a ballad in the classic Alice mold. While it may not be the Alice of Killer and School's Out — that Alice doesn't live here anymore — Dragontown is quasi-tasty stuff — sometimes exciting, other times a little ponderous — from an old pro with plenty of miles still left on the odometer.

“He Will Break Your Heart”

A lightly swinging Latin-influenced, almost cha-cha groove and close harmonies decorated Jerry Butler's early soul hit "He Will Break Your Heart," delivering a stately warning that his rival would never love his girl like he did. The melody came to Butler as he was driving on the highway from Atlantic City, New Jersey, to Philadelphia with Curtis Mayfield, and as Butler told Rolling Stone, "I just sang the melody and Curtis put the chords to it." The song's premise, Butler added, "was something that I'd lived ...The lyric was an experience rather than a revelation. Whereas music is usually a revelation."