Alice Cooper's 'Welcome 2 My Nightmare' Given Official Release Date; Ke$ha to Guest on Album

The wait is almost over for Alice Cooper fans as the legendary shock-rocker has announced that he will be releasing his new album, Welcome 2 My Nightmare, on September 13 via Universal.

Cooper worked with producer Bob Ezrin (Kiss, Pink Floyd), who also worked on 1975's Welcome to My Nightmare, hoping to recapture some of the original feel of the album to create a feeling of continuity between the albums.

"This is Alice's nightmare 35 years later," explains Alice. "Bob and I created this character and we know how to write for him. I play the part but we're not writing for me, we're writing for Alice. We kept the first Nightmare album very personal to us, on this one we found more humor and we were more open. This was our world and we want to present it to the fans. The original album was my first solo album after all those huge hit records with the original band and now that nightmare is exposed, this one can be a little bit more open. The music crosses all sorts of boundaries; we went where the lyrics took us."

The album features a variety of special appearances, including original Alice Cooper Band members Denis Dunaway, Michael Bruce and Neal Smith reunited on three tracks.

"I wanted a '70s feel for 'When Hell Comes Home,' says Alice, "and I didn't even have to ask for it, it's just how they play and they did it live in the studio. When they got done playing the basic track, Bob and I just looked at each other. That sound is built into their DNA. We didn't need to go and fix anything. The way they finished was a little bit ragged, and that's the way we used to finish songs, that's what I like about it."

The album also features a much more surprising guest star as pop-singer Ke$ha, who affectionately refers to Alice as "dad," is also set to make an appearance.

"I think a lot of my audience is going to go 'KE$HA!?', but she probably wrote the most wicked lyrics in the song – we had to rein her in. I like people to know that just because artists are put in a pigeon hole, that doesn't mean that's what they are. Give people a little room."