The Alice Cooper album of the Day: ALONG CAME A SPIDER

[dadascot]

the tell tale sign that an album was a complete dud is when nothing ever gets played off it again after it's release...anyone hear "vengeance" or "feminine side" lately? and it's only been out a few years. having said that,I just played it,and I rather like it,but echo what others have said: it should have been so much more.

Then again, I never heard those on the radio to begin with....nor any song off W2MN, or any song more recent than "Poison." So, that's not really a great indicator. (Alice's own show not being counted.)

I don't know if this is what Scotty meant, but for me the sign of a dud album is if I don't play anything off it a while after it's release. For me that is ACAS, RYFAY, Constrictor and Dragontown.

[darkmenace]

For me Constrictor, FYFAY, Eyes, and ACAS. W2MN is precariously close, a good album overall but not what I hoped for in WTMN "sequel." I like certain songs a lot (Caffeine, Last Man on Eath, a few more) but I also dislike some songs quite a bit which means I need to skip around a lot when I play it.

I don't consider Eyes a bad album but I guess I don't like any particular songs enough to listen to it.

On the other hand solo albums I listened to over and over when they were released and beyond: FTI, FTF, SF, Dada, TLT, DD. A quirky list, I know!

[A_MichaelUK]

>but for me the sign of a dud album is if I don't play anything off it a while after it's release.

That makes more sense. I just wasn't sure what he meant.

[Diane D.]

the tell tale sign that an album was a complete dud is when nothing ever gets played off it again after it's release...anyone hear "vengeance" or "feminine side" lately? and it's only been out a few years. having said that,I just played it,and I rather like it,but echo what others have said: it should have been so much more.

Then again, I never heard those on the radio to begin with....nor any song off W2MN, or any song more recent than "Poison." So, that's not really a great indicator. (Alice's own show not being counted.)

I know that the best songs from ACAS has never been played on the radio...
Except maybe on his radio show, and all I, me... have ever heard was ''Vengeance is mine''.

[Diane D.]

OH... except that at one time, I could swear that ''Wrapped in silk'' was playing every freakin' night, like in a loop. Does someone remember that?

[Diane D.]

OH... except that at one time, I could swear that ''Wrapped in silk'' was playing every freakin' night, like in a loop. Does someone remember that?

And that song sounded really nice and seductive, not aggressive like ''Vengeance is mine''. Anyway, probably that my ears were playing jokes on me.

[While Heaven Wept]

Very poor album overall.

Superb packaging and video though.

[AlongCameASpider27]

I love the album...still think there should have been a full tour support it...the 10 minute video is creepy as hell and those promos for the release (especially the Psycho inspired one) were awesome...favorite song from it is easily "Catch Me If You Can."

[departmentofyouth]

I like this album. I did from day one. I felt some of the songs like Hungry & Wrapped in Silk had a cool 70's throw back vibe. Vengeance is Mine, Feminine Side, Catch Me If You Can & I Am The Spider are flat out awesome rock tunes (IMHO).

I agree that a longer version of Killed By Love could've been used. That tune always seemed a verse short to me.

My only real complaints were that the (audio) production sounded a little thin and the fake hand claps could've been dialed back just a tad in mix.

Also, I would have liked the i-tunes bonus tracks worked into the concept/story line (except for the fake Salvation acoustic/unplugged track). I felt those tunes were album worthy.

Great packaging for the CD & the LP, too (love the alternate Vinyl Cover Art). I still play this one regularly.

[scotty]

[quote="A_MichaelUK"]>the tell tale sign that an album was a complete dud is when nothing ever gets played off it again after it's release...

Do you mean on the radio? If so, that isn't really an indication.[/quote]


I'm sorry guys-I meant in concert. And the disclaimer that is of course,just my little opinion...

[Mr.Bluelegs]

I was so ready for some new Alice (as all of us always are) and I remember trying so hard to not be disappointed with the LP while listening to it for that first week. Deep down I knew it wasn't as good as DD or Eyes, but my enthusiasm for a new release kept me constantly playing it. The production was terrible- so compressed it sounded like it was playing from a cell phone speaker. Squeezed from all of its life. Still love Spider,Salvation, Know Where you live, and maybe one more (been a while) but overall, a bit of a disappointment.

[grim fact]

But the pinball game, the pinball game...

[Diane D.]

Great album.

[Model Citizen]

Overall not a very impressive batch of tunes. Hate the production & I think this album has the all-time worst backing vocals on a Coop album. Dreadful.

[Mr. Misdemeanor]

I don't think this album is as bad as some of you guys do. Does it work as a concept album? No. But judging it on a song by song basis there is some good material here.
I'm not a fan of concept albums in general as I find that most of them sacrifice song quality in order to shoehorn them into a story. And, frankly, most of the stories on concept albums aren't very good.

Along Came a Spider doesn't have much of a plot I'm afraid. Instead we have several songs about murder. We also get a love song (maybe?) and an inspirational religious song that doesn't appear to fit into the context of the album. So how could this have been improved? One possibility: dramatization between the songs. Something similar to the opening track of DaDa. A series of dialogs between Steven, his doctor, his nurse, and himself that sort of set the stage for the upcoming track. This would create a coherent narrative to connect the story's plot points and also make it easier to explain how tracks like "Salvation" and "Killed By Love" fit into the plot. Keep in mind that the album is less than 45 minutes long so there is over half an hour worth of empty space on the CD to flesh out the story.

Another problem with the album is some of the songs just don't sound good. Which, y'know, is a pretty big problem. I'm no musician, I can't sing a note, and I know absolutely nothing about producing an album so take my opinion with a grain of salt.

Problem one: the background vocals are frequently bad. Distractingly bad.

Problem two: the lead guitar work on several tracks is underwhelming. Sure I think that's the style they were going for on some songs, but other songs were begging for better guitar work.

Problem three: the drumming. Sometimes it sounds great. Sometimes it sounds...not so great. I don't know if it's the drummer so much as that there are times when the drums should be lower in the mix and are instead featured very prominently. The drumming in "I Know Where You Live" sounds like something you would hear in an old commercial for headache medication. This is only an issue for me on a few tracks.


Prologue - I Know Where You Live: The lyrics are fine. and the opening guitar bit isn't bad. Other than that I find the song pretty bad. The obnoxious pounding drum, the bad background vocals, the clapping. Not good. As I said I do like the lyrics and the intro riff. A less stripped down version with different production might turn this into a good tune.


Vengeance Is Mine: A great track. Wouldn't change a thing.

Wake the Dead: A great track. Wouldn't change a thing. I seem to be in the minority on this one.

Catch Me If You Can

"Arachnophobic psychopath"? So Spider is afraid of spiders? That guy really is crazy. I don't think this is a bad song. It's just kind of average. The lyrics of the chorus could use a little work. I also think the lead guitar is a little blah.


(In Touch With) Your Feminine Side

This is one another one that could have been good. I like the lyrics other than the opening "scare in your hair" lines and the music isn't terrible. The biggest problem is the stripped down sound. A repetitive banging drum, the no frills guitar. I see what they were going for, but I just don't care for it. A live version with a flashier guitar performance and a drum lower in the mix would probably sound great.


Wrapped in Silk

This is AC/DC if Angus Young had his hands cut off by a wheat thresher. Seriously, this was a huge missed opportunity for a kickass blues based hard rock song. Instead the lead guitarist goes M.I.A. and the song ends up fizzling out at the end.

Killed by Love

I don't hate the song, but I don't understand how it fits into the story. I like the music just fine. Maybe if it were more clear who Alice is singing about. It would have been interesting if Steven was singing about (or to) the wife he murdered in WTMN. I'm just not clear on what's going on.

I'm Hungry

I like how this one starts. Good lyrics. And then we get to the "gimme gimme gimme" part. Ugh! Then it gets better again before we get hit with some "Woo hoo woo!" background vocals and never recovers.

The One That Got Away

I like this one. No complaints about the musicians, production, or anything. The only change that I'd make is that I'd move the voice-over parts to the beginning of the song instead of the middle. It breaks the mood having it in the middle of the music.


Salvation

The chorus is catchy, but I'm not crazy about the song. I have no idea how it fits into the story.


I Am the Spider / Epilogue

It feels like it should end after about 90 seconds.


Shadow of Yourself: Great track. Should have been on the main album.

I'll Still Be There: Great track. Should have been on the main album.



So to sum up: not a bad album. It's got 4 or 5 songs that I like a lot and a couple more that are ok. With some different production choices and a few tweaks to the guitar work and lyrics on some songs and it would have been a very good album.

One last thing: I wish there had been some musical callbacks to Devil's Food and the Black Widow.

[SickThings]

The One That Got Away

I like this one. No complaints about the musicians, production, or anything. The only change that I'd make is that I'd move the voice-over parts to the beginning of the song instead of the middle. It breaks the mood having it in the middle of the music.

That whole sequence should have been omitted, since it's a direct rip-off of a scene from The Silence of the Lambs. Which means it's overly-familiar to anyone who's seen the movie.

The production of this album is dreadful. Alice's vocals on this song are just shrill, and it's not his voice, it's the way the production was done.

[Mr. Misdemeanor]

Yeah, it was an odd choice to emulate such a famous movie. He uses the violin music from the shower scene in Psycho in a couple of songs and it always stands out to me. But, hey, at least he didn't use the original title: "No mutton Latrodectus mactans (For Jodie and Demme)"

[Seriously]

I like it.

Me too.

And me.

[patrick]

the AC album of the day : ACAS ...Seriously ?
thought it was fun to read this in one line
but you're right: every album has got his fans . I think the "problem" here for me is that Alice is sticking too much to the concept, which, imo, makes it a bit artificial. It has its moments, some songs are ok imo, but I prefer his most recent cd's by far.

[revinkevin]

First warning sign was more than one producer involved. Second warning sign when producers decide to play instruments. The best songs on the album have band members playing and not studio musicians. Should have stuck to that format.