Bad album review in last nights London Evening Standard

steven_crayn · Post by **steven_crayn** » Sat Jul 26, 2008 1:16 pm

Did anyone else see it?

My email response has already gone out, hopefully it will make the letters page, I did once get a pro Alice letter printed in their pretentious rag.

AlongCameASpider27 · Post by **AlongCameASpider27** » Sat Jul 26, 2008 1:21 pm

ALICE COOPER
Along Came a Spider (SPV)
Dedicated golfer Vincent Furnier has an unusual take on the 19th hole: instead of repairing to the bar, he puts on tons of make-up and becomes Alice Cooper. On this outing, he has become spider, a serial killer. All of which could be quite unpleasant were it not so ludicrous. The old metal riffs are efficiently recycled and alice does his pantomime villain vocals which aspire to be grand guignol but only summon a weary shrug of resignation. If this was the soundtrack to some comedy slasher movie, there might be some point it. That appears not to be the case.

steven_crayn · Post by **steven_crayn** » Sat Jul 26, 2008 1:48 pm

I've just scanned the "review" so you can actually see the blasphemy in print

London Evening Standard "review"

If you want to vent your spleen email letters@standard.co.uk
Include your address and phone number or you have no chance of getting printed

ElectedPlus · Post by **ElectedPlus** » Sat Jul 26, 2008 2:11 pm

It's a bad review ... does that make it any less valid or worthy than a pro - Spider one? :-/

steven_crayn · Post by **steven_crayn** » Sat Jul 26, 2008 2:23 pm

ElectedPlus wrote:It's a bad review ... does that make it any less valid or worthy than a pro - Spider one? :-/

Depends if you are an Alice fan who thinks as I do that the album is probably his best for 30 years.

"The old metal riffs etc.. " suggest a certain amount of musical snobbery from Pete Clark , also saying Alice's vocals aspire to be some character in a French puppet show (Guignol) is another example of a pseudo-intellectual journalist disappearing right up his own pretentious rear.

hywel · Post by **hywel** » Sat Jul 26, 2008 3:00 pm

steven_crayn wrote:
ElectedPlus wrote:It's a bad review ... does that make it any less valid or worthy than a pro - Spider one? :-/
Depends if you are an Alice fan who thinks as I do that the album is probably his best for 30 years.

"The old metal riffs etc.. " suggest a certain amount of musical snobbery from Pete Clark , also saying Alice's vocals aspire to be some character in a French puppet show (Guignol) is another example of a pseudo-intellectual journalist disappearing right up his own pretentious rear.

best in thirty years?

Shoesalesman · Post by **Shoesalesman** » Sat Jul 26, 2008 3:33 pm

A review is only one person's opinion. You can debate until the cows come home... but at the end of the day it comes down to personal preferences. No one's more right than the other.

nimsowner · Post by **nimsowner** » Sat Jul 26, 2008 4:30 pm

Except for the fact that a lot of the reviewers make blatant errors. For instance it seems this guy still thinks Alice's name is Vincent.

kevinuk81 · Post by **kevinuk81** » Sat Jul 26, 2008 5:06 pm

I agree with Shoey, one review is one persons view, i cannot stand a lot of music but the "Music Press" seem to think they are brilliant, so all we can do is listen and decide for ourselves.

scotty · Post by **scotty** » Sat Jul 26, 2008 7:17 pm

I just have a gut feeling this person didn't listen to the whole album.very vague review,and so far,a rare negative one.where's those spiders shoey was talking about? I'm throwing them at this bugger!

While Heaven Wept · Post by **While Heaven Wept** » Sun Jul 27, 2008 2:31 pm

Who cares what the review says? It's just a bloody review!

hywel · Post by **hywel** » Sun Jul 27, 2008 3:10 pm

scotty wrote:I just have a gut feeling this person didn't listen to the whole album.very vague review,and so far,a rare negative one.where's those spiders shoey was talking about? I'm throwing them at this bugger!

hang on, there are many fans who dont like this album. its the reviewers opinion that it aint good, and i have to agree with him.

Feezle-Nuts · Post by **Feezle-Nuts** » Sun Jul 27, 2008 3:23 pm

As do I.

steven_crayn · Post by **steven_crayn** » Wed Jul 30, 2008 1:23 am

Well done Dustin McDaniel who had a response to the review printed in Tuesdays London Evening Standard

"Like many performers, Alice Cooper has played golf for years - does that have anything to do with the music he makes? As for Pete Clark's dismissal of his new album as "ludicrous", it's funny how when Cooper sang about scary themes in the Seventies on Welcome To My Nightmare it was deemed a masterpiece, but when he does it in 2008, it's suddenly as joke"

Feezle-Nuts · Post by **Feezle-Nuts** » Wed Jul 30, 2008 1:31 am

Probably because WTMN was a masterpiece and this album is indeed a joke.

WickedYoungMan · Post by **WickedYoungMan** » Wed Jul 30, 2008 3:28 am

Funnily enough, Dustin didn't necessarily defend the album itself. Just the points of Alice playing golf and the difference between doing a scary album in 1975 and 2008, which I'm not sure the reviewer was necessarily attacking the idea of, just the execution (no pun intended).

steven_crayn · Post by **steven_crayn** » Wed Jul 30, 2008 8:11 pm

Feezle-Nuts wrote:Probably because WTMN was a masterpiece and this album is indeed a joke.

How can you say that?

The album is not in the same league as Welcome To My Nightmare granted, but to call the album a joke is disrespecting Alice.

Alice has never made an album that was a joke!

Feezle-Nuts · Post by **Feezle-Nuts** » Wed Jul 30, 2008 8:13 pm

steven_crayn wrote:
Feezle-Nuts wrote:Probably because WTMN was a masterpiece and this album is indeed a joke.
How can you say that?

The album is not in the same league as Welcome To My Nightmare granted, but to call the album a joke is disrespecting Alice.

Alice has never made an album that was a joke!

It isn't disrespecting Alice. It is disrespecting the album. It is a caricature of an Alice album in my opinion.

steven_crayn · Post by **steven_crayn** » Wed Jul 30, 2008 8:30 pm

Feezle-Nuts wrote:
steven_crayn wrote:
Feezle-Nuts wrote:Probably because WTMN was a masterpiece and this album is indeed a joke.
How can you say that?

The album is not in the same league as Welcome To My Nightmare granted, but to call the album a joke is disrespecting Alice.

Alice has never made an album that was a joke!
It isn't disrespecting Alice. It is disrespecting the album. It is a caricature of an Alice album in my opinion.

What you have to remember is that Alice set the bar so high in the 1970's (as Parish correctly pointed out) that it is almost impossible to match works like Killer, Billion Dollar Babies, Welcome To My Nightmare etc.. every band has their peak I mean have Floyd ever matched Dark Side, Wish You Were Here, Animals and The Wall ? Bowie Hunky Dory,Ziggy Stardust, Aladdin Sane ?

I think we expect too much from Alice, personally I think this is a great album, sure not as great as the 70's masterworks but still a great effort and I wish some of you on here would take Greg Hamptons' advice and play it 20 times before you comment, give it a chance surley Alice deserves that much?

Remember concept albums can take longer to get into, I never liked Welcome To My Nightmare at first, but after I played it several times I realised it was a great album and it turned out to be probably my favourite Alice album of all time.

kevinuk81 · Post by **kevinuk81** » Wed Jul 30, 2008 8:35 pm

I never liked From The Inside first play but individually, (Apart from Billie and Millie), i now realise how good they are.