This is as extreme and outrageous as rock got back in the early '80s--the Plasmatics, after all, introduced the mohawk haircut into rock and the general culture. But in retrospect COUP D'ETAT is far more conventional than anybody could have suspected. The songs are very much in the vein of Alice Cooper in his commercial prime. They consist of sloganeering lyrics mated to catchy tunes, with easily identifiable choruses. The musicianship is much better than it needs to be, with legendary geek guitarist Richie Stotts performing a pretty good Ritchie Blackmore imitation. Besides possessing a growl that Marilyn Manson only wishes he could muster, it turns out that front-person Wendy O. Williams could actually carry a tune. Radical, indeed.