REVIEW: Along Came a Spider - Alice Cooper

I am a complete Alice Cooper mark and would be hard pressed not to like anything he does. With that out of the way, my review of his latest work... "Along Came a Spider"....

At the end of the day, I really like this album. Probably Alice's best constructed concept work. There are hints of humor, but by and large this is pretty dark stuff. Every song is from the point of view of "Spider"... a serial killer... a pretty unpleasant one at that (not that there are exactly LIKABLE ones of course).

I could have used a break by means of a song sung from some other point a view - a victim, passerby, family member, Mayor McCheese, etc... 11 tracks of quality time with Spider can be somewhat of a bleak journey.

Alice has gone dark before (Brutal Planet, Dragontown), but always allowed us to come up for air by providing some comic relief ("Its the little things" on the former, "Disgraceland" on the latter).

Most of the first half of the album features a healthy dose of the snarling guitars and/or snarling Alice we have all come to know and love. Then things get quirky and some strange broadway/Lennon-esque/stadium anthem hybrids emerge.

Bottom line -- this album rocks, features Alice's WAY underrated wordplay, and is interesting.

We don't get that a lot anymore. Buy it. Help get Alice back on the charts. He deserves it.

Song comments....

1. "Prologue / I Know Where You Live" - 4:21
   
   I remember a review of the Who's "Its Hard" in Rolling Stone that said when fans first hear the "Just a girl, just a girl, just a girl" in Athena, they will be in Who Heaven. Well, when Alices kicks this song off with "I like to watch from my car"... Alice Heaven - totally.
   
   
2. "Vengeance Is Mine" - 4:26
   
   Slash appears on this song with the expected killer guitar results
   
   
3. "Wake The Dead" - 3:53
   
   "Send me a redhead, send me a brunette, send a blond to me. When I unwind, I'm colorblind, they're all the same to me".
   
   Ozzy Osbourne co-wrote and play harmonic on this track. Probably my favorite track.
   
   
4. "Catch Me If You Can" - 3:15
   
   Meh
   
   
5. "(In Touch With) Your Feminine Side" - 3:16
   
   "Its your world, but its my street".... sweet :)
   
   
6. "Wrapped In Silk" - 4:17
   
   The creepy apex of the story arc. The song seems to fight off a dual possession by AC/DC and Whitesnake during the chorus. Successfully. Eventually.
   
   
7. "Killed By Love" - 3:34
   
   Ballad. 'nuff said. OK actually.
   
   
8. "I'm Hungry" - 3:58
   
   I love 88% of this song. Problem is, I can't get past hearing Spinal Tap's "Hell Hole" each time the "I'm Hungry!!" chorus rolls by.
   
   
9. "The One That Got Away" - 3:21
   
   Only Alice would kick off a love song with "You look like you'd fit in the trunk of my car". That is why he is a national treasure.
   
   
10. "Salvation" - 4:36
    
    Complex. Good. Not real Alice-y though -- it has moments that sound like the wrap up of an Andrew Lloyd Webber project. And Webber is the anti-Alice. Somewhat.
    
    
11. "I Am The Spider / Epilogue" - 5:21
    
    Welcome back Steven. We have missed you.