Love him, yes we Love Him
4 Out of 5 Stars
Little Steven is back for his fourth round as Alice Cooper's madchild alter-ego on his 25th studio album, "Along Came a Spider." Cooper has been on a hot streak since entering the new century with Brutal Planet, and he once again proves that when it comes to horror rock, he has few peers. The little boy who couldn't escape his night terrors in Welcome to My Nightmare, battled the devil in the devil's own disco during Alice Cooper Goes to Hell, then got trapped in an evil carnival to fight off The Last Temptation has grown up to be a serial killer. "Along Came a Spider" is the musical diary of Steven's carnage.
Like both Dragontown and Dirty Diamonds, Alice has surrounded himself with a solid band (this time many of the DD touring crew, and Slash on "Vengeance is Mine"), and they rock with conviction and clarity. While anyone expecting the grit of Killer will be disappointed, this is certainly nowhere near as lame as the late 80's albums for Warners. One of the oddities for me is Alice (who, it must be noted, considers himself a born again Christian) wailing on "Salvation":
Little Steven is back for his fourth round as Alice Cooper's madchild alter-ego on his 25th studio album, "Along Came a Spider." Cooper has been on a hot streak since entering the new century with Brutal Planet, and he once again proves that when it comes to horror rock, he has few peers. The little boy who couldn't escape his night terrors in Welcome to My Nightmare, battled the devil in the devil's own disco during Alice Cooper Goes to Hell, then got trapped in an evil carnival to fight off The Last Temptation has grown up to be a serial killer. "Along Came a Spider" is the musical diary of Steven's carnage.
Like both Dragontown and Dirty Diamonds, Alice has surrounded himself with a solid band (this time many of the DD touring crew, and Slash on "Vengeance is Mine"), and they rock with conviction and clarity. While anyone expecting the grit of Killer will be disappointed, this is certainly nowhere near as lame as the late 80's albums for Warners. One of the oddities for me is Alice (who, it must be noted, considers himself a born again Christian) wailing on "Salvation":
Someone died for me
washed in blood
he cared enough to pity me."
The standard ballad also appears in the form of "Killed By Love." But there's also plenty of guts, gore and dangerous innuendo ("I've got chloroform and handcuffs just for you" he sneers during "I'm Hungry"), as well as that famous AC attitude. For a 60 year old guy to sing "It's your world, but it's my street" and sound like he could still kick your butt is pretty impressive.
Equally impressive is the quality package, with some of Steve's murderous drawings and some great artwork in the liner book. Each lyric is illustrated with some Grindhouse Movie style poster art (personal favorite, Alice crying spider tears and Saw-ish gear for "I am The Spider"). Great stuff for both us older Billion Dollar Babies and for those who may just have cheered School's Out forever, "Along Came a Spider" is as good as any of Alice Cooper's solo albums. I'm digging this just as much as this year's Motley Crue "Saints of Los Angeles" and Judas Priest's "Nostradamus."
The standard ballad also appears in the form of "Killed By Love." But there's also plenty of guts, gore and dangerous innuendo ("I've got chloroform and handcuffs just for you" he sneers during "I'm Hungry"), as well as that famous AC attitude. For a 60 year old guy to sing "It's your world, but it's my street" and sound like he could still kick your butt is pretty impressive.
Equally impressive is the quality package, with some of Steve's murderous drawings and some great artwork in the liner book. Each lyric is illustrated with some Grindhouse Movie style poster art (personal favorite, Alice crying spider tears and Saw-ish gear for "I am The Spider"). Great stuff for both us older Billion Dollar Babies and for those who may just have cheered School's Out forever, "Along Came a Spider" is as good as any of Alice Cooper's solo albums. I'm digging this just as much as this year's Motley Crue "Saints of Los Angeles" and Judas Priest's "Nostradamus."
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