The original Shock-Rocker returns with a creepy concept-album!
Along Came a Spider is Alice Cooper's 25th studio album (I think), and this time Cooper fleshes out a concise story of a spider-themed serial killer. You get to hear much of the story from the psychopath's perspective, and it creeps you out like old-school Alice used to do.Stylistically, the music follows Cooper's recent trend of retro-rock as he continues to stick to a more stripped-down, classic rock feel like he utilized on The Eyes of Alice Cooper & Dirty Diamonds. This fits Alice well, although part of me misses his heavier sound he employed on the Brutal Planet & Dragontown albums. For the most part, much of this album sounds right at home with some of his mid-70's material.
As for Along Came A Spider, this is a pretty cool concept album. There's a clear plot, and the songs develop it well. There's also a prologue and epilogue that sort of set the context of the story, so there are no loose threads, or strands of silk if you'd rather... Long time fans of Alice may also recognize the main character of Steven from some of Alice Cooper's previous material. Basically, if you enjoyed either of Alice Cooper's last 2 albums, you should like this one too. Just be prepared for a twisted and haunting tale!
Here are my recommended tracks:
-Vengeance Is Mine
-Catch Me If You Can (this track contains a lot of the story's plot development)
-Killed By Love (this is the token ballad on this album, but again it fits in with the album's theme- although it may sound pretty, if you catch the lyrics you'll find it just as dark & twisted as the rest of the album)
-I Am The Spider/Epilogue
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