Along Came A Spider "Fan edit"

[TeresofBlood]

I don't think it would be presumptuous to say that we love Alice Cooper. It might also be a safe assumption to say that for all of us, Alice Cooper is our favorite. When your favorite artist has 26 albums, you can't help but have favorites, but for me, there is great pleasure in going back to a lesser album in search of some new appreciation or perspective. If you agree with that sentiment, and this post is for you.

I'm in the midst of editing a feature film and I often like to take break to work on creative endeavors that are purely for fun. In the past I've done fan-edits of movies, so now I've decided to create an album fan-edit of Alice's flawed Along Came A Spider.

I've always taken issue with the production of the ACAS - the simplistic song structures, the flat instrumentation, the clapping, etc. There's also a notable lack of variation in Alice's vocals. I remember listening to it when it first came out made me yearn for Bob Ezrin production. Luckily, Welcome 2 My Nightmare swung the pendulum completely the other way and might even be called "overproduced." At 14 songs, it's a bit of an unwieldy listen and could use some editing itself.

Track order is critical on an album. Every song should flow into the next, but the album as a whole must also feel like a cohesive journey, with peaks and valleys and a real catharsis. Here are my major gripes:

- I Know Where you Live sets the tone for the album, but not in a good way. It doesn't set us up for the "dark, heavy, Brutal Planet-esque" album we were expecting.
- The transition from Wake the Dead into Catch me if You Can is jarring. I think the songs must be close in BPM or have the same time signature, as it also feels like a heavier continuation of Wake the Dead.
- Wrapped in Silk covers a lot of the same lyrical themes as I Know Where You Live. Also, it's placement is just a bit overwhelming after Feminine Side. My ears need a break.
- I'm Hungry has to go. I don't mind listening to it on its own, I do not want to hear it on this album.
- The One that Got Away undermines the darkness of the album and the menace of Spider the serial killer. Not to mention that my ears are literally bleeding between this and "I'm Hungry." I just can't take it.
- Both bonus tracks - Shadow of Yourself and I'll Still Be There are better than at least 2-3 songs that made it onto the album.

I felt that a fan-edit could really improve this album. My goals were to:

- Shorten the album to a more tolerable 40 minutes.
- Delete the 3 worst songs and replace them with the two bonus tracks.
- Rearrange the track order to put some of the heavier songs up front to set the tone more appropriately and maintain a more menacing vibe through to the end of to the album.
- Preserve the Spider story while cutting down on some of the superfluous songs that don't move the Spider concept forward.

Firstly I replaced I Know Where you Live with Wrapped in Silk. The Prologue transitions into the opening riff so well and the tone of the song perfectly sets your expectations for the style of the album. Plus, it establishes the Spider concept, which IKWYL does not. Plus I'll Still Be There covers similar territory as IKWYL and the former is a better song, in my opinion.

Secondly, I replaced Catch me if you can with I'll Still Be There and moved Catch Me to after Killed by Love. I'll Still Be There fits the new heavy tone established by Wrapped in Silk and Vengeance. Catch Me's distorted intro really transitions well out of the lull that is Killed By Love. It perfectly kicks the album back into high gear as we move toward the end.

Finally, I cut I'm Hungry and the One that Got Away and replaced them with Shadow of Yourself. I always felt TOTGA, while funny, kind of cripples the idea of Spider being a menacing serial killer. Shadow is a much darker song, and is the perfect follow-up to terrors hinted at by Catch Me If You Can. Shadow of Yourself feels like a killer staring at the corpse of his victim and feeling empty inside; the same way she is a shell of her former self. The taste that this song leaves in your mouth makes Salvation that much more powerful.

Track Listing:
Prologue
Wrapped in Silk
Vengeance is Mine
Wake the Dead
I'll Still Be There
(In touch with) Your Feminine Side
Killed By Love
Catch Me if You Can
Shadow of yourself
Salvation
I Am the Spider
Epilogue

I know a lot of you have already made up your mind about this album, but I urge you to listen to it this way. It's a whole new experience. The songs in this order build toward a powerful catharsis in which Spider presumably completes his masterpiece.

If anybody tries it out, I'd like to hear your reactions. I'm curious to know if I'm crazy or if I'm onto something.

[mestreech]

I really don't like this album and I think your effort has made it a little better but I wouldn't listen much to it.

It's really a shame as the promotional video's /pictures etc were excellent but it couldn't backed up musically.

[guttertrash]

I think if the songs had been rehearsed and played live in the studio that it would have made them better to start, because the first major problem with the album is that it is noticeably pieced together. The songs all needed to be played faster which would have been noticed with rehearsing live, because as they are, they have no groove or swing. The second major issue is that the producers have no idea how to get good tones, and they had no idea how to make the songs sound natural. The drums sound god awful, and I would not be surprised if most were programmed. That being said, I have edited the tracks by speeding them up, and it does show that the album could have been fun if there was some time and actual professional production put into it.

As for W2MN, I would not call it overproduced. I would just refer to it as a polished turd. Here's hoping the next album is better than either of these two.

[pitkin88]

I really don't like this album and I think your effort has made it a little better but I wouldn't listen much to it.

It's really a shame as the promotional video's /pictures etc were excellent but it couldn't backed up musically.

Maybe if you edited in some snippets of the spoken word stuff from the promo videos it might make it more interesting. It just looks like you have resequenced the album and dropped and added songs.

[TeresofBlood]

Maybe if you edited in some snippets of the spoken word stuff from the promo videos it might make it more interesting. It just looks like you have resequenced the album and dropped and added songs.

This version removes 3 of the (arguably worst) songs, which account for 25% of the original running time. The two bonus tracks account for 20% of the new running time. That alone makes the album 20-25% different, if not better. The new sequence improves the flow and pacing and the album is 10% shorter. The listener is given some moments to re-calibrate between certain songs and it helps. This might sound crazy, but I apply the same mathematical logic to editing movies.

I considered doing some edits to the songs, but the above changes are enough to satisfy me. I did have to break the prologue into it's own track. Now I'm experimenting with a new ending for Salvation (reminiscent of the coughing intro on Black Sabbath Sweet Leaf), that slams into the drum intro of I Am the Spider - only because I think it will be cool; not because it's necessary.

[Dannorama]

Love your concept, TeresofBlood. I sequenced your running order into iTunes, and let 'er rip. Sadly, I still can't make it very far into this album before leaping at the controls. This record just plain sucks. I wanted so much to like it 9 years ago, but I still feel my original disappointment in the execution of the sound. That's the best way to describe it, too.
By the way, I remember that the CRITICS LOVED IT. Just another reason to disregard professional critics.

[Lucius Morthem]

I'm Hungry is an awful song, I know. But still, I love ACAS. It's not my favorite Alice Cooper album but I think it's still great. I love the concept too, different production... maybe if it were a little heavier, the album may have been one of his best.

[While Heaven Wept]

I remember that the CRITICS LOVED IT. [/color]

Did they? I remember reading some pretty scathing reviews!

[pitkin88]

This thread should be retitled Fan Re-sequence.

[pitkin88]

I remember that the CRITICS LOVED IT. [/color]

Did they? I remember reading some pretty scathing reviews!

Most Alice reviews are very glowing even the live shows.

[Dannorama]

I remember that the CRITICS LOVED IT. [/color]

Did they? I remember reading some pretty scathing reviews!

Rolling Stone (3 Stars)

Blabbermouth

Metal Storm (8 of 10)

Those are the top 3 responses that I just found while Googling ACAS reviews. In advance response to a certain particular member's easily imagined retort, it seems that Rolling Stone coughing up 60% for Alice FOR ANYTHING is a wild stretch. Google it and see who else loved it.

What's real fun is searching for the subject right here in this forum. 33 pages of anticipation and letdown.

[RealEyes]

In anticipation of giving the re-sequenced version a try, I gave the album a listen in one go on Saturday night. I enjoyed it more than I thought I would and I can't help but think that this is one of the (relatively) recent releases to which I didn't give enough time the first time around. If memory serves, I got two or three albums all in one go a few years back (Along Came A Spider, Dirty Diamonds and The Eyes Of Alice Cooper). I really didn't give any of them enough time - one listen each is really not enough when listening to brand new material. I'm going to spend a little more time with this album now I've got some time on my hands of an evening. I'm hopeful that I'm going to enjoy this even more on the next listen.

As it stands, Vengeance Is Mine, Killed By Love, Salvation and Wake The Dead are - to my ears - classic Coop.