Alice Cooper - Along Came A Spider
|
List Price: Our Price: $4.67 You Save: $13.31 (74%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: Music CD See more new music releases 
|
|---|
Buy this Music CD at online store in your country
Canadian Music Store
Canadian Music Store
Free Music Notes for Along Came A Spider
Free Music Review: Great
Hit: 5 Stars
This is a great CD it is more like his earlier material. A must for Cooper fans.Free Music Review: Along Came A Spider
Hit: 5 Stars
My husband is a huge Alice Cooper fan and he says this one is one of his best.Free Music Review: Along Came Alice, Back With The Nightmares
Hit: 4 Stars
Since ordering this album a few months ago, I don't think i've ever been so anxious to hear a new album from any artist (except maybe AC/DC)
The godfather of shock rock returns with a themed out album once again, something that I don't think he's done since 1994's Last Temptation.
1. Prologue/I Know Where You Live - ### at first hearing the prologue about murders, my first thought was, "he's going Rob Zombie style here" but then the hard rocking drums kick in and "I know where you live" was an interesting song to me because it sounded much like lyrics I wrote myself a few years back. I can't see this one being one of Alice's big hits, but it's a cool little number.
2. Vengeance Is Mine - this one kicks off sounding like something from the Brutal Planet or Dragon Town album, but then turns out not as heavy.
It's mostly memorable from the backing vocals, they guitar work is pretty much non stop soloing and a different kind of metal type of drumming from Eric Singer that sounded a little out of place in some areas, but after a couple of listens, tho the riffs and solos are not memorable, it's a pretty cool song.
3. Wake The Dead - this one kicks off like a southern boogie then crashes into an effect filled driving rock number. Not really the type of sound you have heard Alice preform before, then the chorus sounds like typical Alice from the last 10 years or so. Kind of sounds like a new age rock song musically, with a 70's type of vocal sound. Might take a few more listens, but I'm sure it will grow on me as most Alice songs do.
4. Catch Me If You Can - This one sounds like something that was left off Brutal Planet/Dragontown, but with more hard rock solo's over the top of it. Kind of reminds me of "sanctuary" for some reason.
5. (In Touch With) Your Feminine Side - Opening hard rock riffs like a AC/DC kind of thing, but then goes into something AC/DC would never do, but Alice would, and it's a catchy little number, lyrically anyway. The riff isn't that memorable, as I don't think much from this album was memorable guitar wise, but it's ok, it's Alice, not every album can be purely guitar driven.
6. Wrapped In Silk - This kind of sounds a bit like a song "Jet" would do. I'm not a fan of them, but Alice can make anyones sound seem great. It also has a bit of a feel to something you would have found on the "Constrictor" album, just updated from that 80's metal sound to the current sounds of hard rock.
7. Killed By Love - The balled, the tear jerker, the type of thing Alice has put on every album since success with Welcome To My Nightmares, "Only Women Bleed" - It kicks off as an acoustic strumming number, then the distorted guitars fill over the top of it... kind of sounds a bit too much like "Be with you a while" but it's not enough of a duplicate for me to say I don't like it, I did, it's a pretty good little song, even I could relate with it, so you don't have to be a woman to "get" these songs.
8. I m Hungry - Another "Jet" sounding kind of intro, however, I laughed when Alice hit's the chorus of, "I'M HUNGRY" cause it sounds just like "Spinal Tap" singing "Hell Hole"... however, I'm sure it's not a rip off, it was probably written/done on purpose, it's just Alice or someone in the bands idea to pay a little homage to "Spinal Tap", as both them and Alice have never really taken there music all that seriously.
9. The One That Got Away - By the time I got to this song, I was beginning to worry that there wasn't going to be an instant favorite for me. Usually when my favorite artists release an album, there is a song I just love from the first second it starts. This one was a few more seconds in then usual, but I loved this one. That sick twisted sense of humor that I have in common with Alice shines through on this song. At glance of the title, you'd think it was the balled, but it's about a girl who was almost taken away by Alice acting as a psychopath. I can see this one lasting for many years on the live shows set list. It's classic Alice.
10. Salvation - This first sounds like something like "Millie & Billie" from "From the inside" but goes into it's own thing, but keeps that kind of feeling of a story flowing through it. At first I thought this was to the running flow of the albums story, and I could be wrong about this, but I think this might be a song Alice has written for the fans who stopped listening to him when Alice announced he was a Christian. With lyrics like, "When did I change" - "Any chance of salvation, any chance for me", "In my heart, in my soul, something old thats very new"... lyrics like that made me think it's more Alice singing for the fans that turned there back thinking he was going to preach in his songs... HA, hardly.
11. I Am The Spider/Epilogue - Another one that I took a liking to as soon as the chorus hit. An instant favorite, and no wonder they picked this for the title, it's probably the best song on the whole album.
Overall, at the first listen to this, I was a little disappointed till I was half way through the album. There was some things I was hoping for that where not done for this album. The last two albums steered more away from that Brutal Planet/Dragon Town sound, and went more classic hard rock... and for this one, it seems Alice has tried to combine both sounds of the last ten years with a lot of that 70's vocals he has done on the last two. But now when I'm thinking about it, that is probably the sound they are going for now. There not going for Alice Cooper 70's, 80's, 90's, 00 to 06, there just going for Alice Cooper and I think it's worked pretty well for this album.
Something I think the album could have done without was the audience clapping effect, it seemed WAY over used. I think there was only about 4 songs that effect wasn't used in.
As I said before, I would have liked more guitar driven riffs, classic riffs, memorable riffs and such... but the memorable sounds of this album really come from the lead and backing vocals.
I personally think this album is not the best of Alice, as you're probably sick of hearing, I do prefer "The Eyes of Alice Cooper" & "Dirty Diamonds" over this album. But thats not to say I hate it or anything, if it just had more memorable riffs, or something hugely standing out about it, I'd rate it higher. But for me, this one's about 3½ stars from me.
It's kind of hard for me to explain it clearly what it is I really mean about this album... it's a good album, but could have been a lot better... I think thats what I mean. But don't get me wrong, even my least favorite Alice Cooper albums are 10 times better then most other bands greatest hits.
EDIT:
I recently found there are 3 more tracks to this album that you can only download via itunes so far. track 12, "shadow of yourself" & 13. "i'll still be there" where two songs I think where left off for just sounding like fillers. They really don't seem like anything special to me, they fit in with the album well, but there easily forgettable tracks. Then there is a so called unplugged version of Salvation. Basically it is the same song without the guitars, and sounds boring without them.
This has been my least favorite album from Coop since 1982's Zipper Catches Skin. Although, don't misjudge me, this album is a lot better then ZCS, but it's been my least favorite Coop album in a long long time.
Final analysis.
"You trap, you kill, you eat"
You buy, you listen, you like
Free Music Review: It's Like an Early Halloween Treat
Hit: 4 Stars
Only Alice Cooper can sing a lyric like "You Look Like You'd Fit In The Trunk Of My Car" and bring a smile to your face. The original shock rocker has just released a new concept album, just in time for the upcoming Halloween season. Cooper presents the story of an "Archanaphobic Psychopath" out to collect body parts from various victims...basically a horror film, told in song. "Along Came a Spider" covers quite a few bases musically, and shouldn't really be pidgeonholed into one "sound" or genre. There are elements of the classic Alice Cooper Band, touches from Alice's hair metal "Trash" album to his Nu-Metal "Brutal Planet", and even some musical elements that will remind you of Alice's New Wave "Zipper Catches Skin" era.
Prologue/I Know Where You Live - The album kicks off with a cool little "news" report of a serial killers diary being found, and then Alice starts things off with the high energy "I Know Where You Live". Great tune, and there is a fantastic bass line that really grinds the song along. Excellent tune.
Vengeance is Mine - Great guitar work by Slash, and an instantly memorable chorus. Alice is still able to tap into that gutteral growl vocally, and does so here to maximum effect.
Wake the Dead - Ozzy makes a guest appearance here and for some reason this tune really reminded me of the Alice Cooper Band days. I could see this being wedged onto "Muscle of Love". The drum work is phenomenal here.
Catch Me If You Can - This is a great tune! This sounds quite a bit like the music found on his "Dirty Diamonds" and "The Eyes of Alice Cooper". I would love to see this one performed live.
Feminine Side - I was expecting this to be a ballad along the lines of "Only Women Bleed", and was surprised at how it rocked out? Really strong tune.
Wrapped in Silk - Alice has the "creepy" vocal kicked up to 10 on this one. This is the kind of song Cooper is known for, and why he still has legions of fans.
Killed by Love - This is probably the weakest song on the album, it doesn't really move the overall story along, and comes off as a hair metal power ballad that wasn't good enough for the "Trash" album.
I'm Hungry - Another great tune, which sounds as though it came from his "Hey Stoopid" era. Another great bass track.
The One That Got Away - As soon as I heard the opening lyric, I was hooked on this song. Just a great rock tune, if you are looking for a single this is it! I would say this is the highlight tune of the record but.....
Salvation - This song is the highlight of the album for me. Cooper's vocals really remind of his 80's New Wave era. I could see this song fitting on the "Flush The Fashion" album perfectly. Just a great song, and well worth the price of the disk.
I Am The Spider/Epilogue - Fantastic song that wraps up the album. And one of the true highlights is when Alice addresses the "Steven" character again, a character introduced on "Welcome to My Nightmare" years ago.
In this day and age of pre-packaged pop, recycled tunes and blatant rip-off artists "sampling" classic songs, it's a genuine breath of fresh air to hear a genuine rock star still producing relevant and enjoyable music.
Free Music Review: Viva La Coop
Hit: 4 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 his 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":
"Any chance for 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."