Alice Cooper: Along Came A Spider

This was requested by a friend of mine. Noods, this is for you buddy!

Artist: Alice Cooper
Album: Along Came A Spider
Label: Steamhammer/SPV(German) Records
Genre: Shock Rock


The Master of Shock Rock himself, Mr. Vincent Furnier, AKA Alice Cooper.

Originally planned to be a band name, Alice Cooper turned out to be the designer of what is known now simply as Shock Rock, with other artist being labeled as such with names like Marylin Manson (don't get me started), Dir En Grey, Mushroomhead, Twisted Sister and so on. The song I heard from Cooper is the same as many, all thanks to Guitar Hero 1, School's Out. Later, once I was introduced to metal, my friend DarkFireDragoon got me hooked on his album Welcome To My Nightmare, and from that point on I began looking more into him. My favorite album thus far is pictured above, Along Came A Spider. "But why this one?" some may ask. "Why not Trash? Or Billion Dollar Babies? What about Welcome to My Nightmare, the one that got you hooked in the first place?"

I can't really describe why I like this album more the others. Trash is by far one of his best in my opinion, Nightmare is an amazing story and I can't wait for Nightmare II, but this album just speaks to the inner psychopath the most. The title track is one of my favorites off the album, but the second track, Vengeance is Mine, is my personal favorite.

The man is just the essence of creepy. The first time I saw this guy it scared the tar out of me. He has perfected the super-villain look and everything that is tied into it. Moreover, Alice Cooper is a completely different person from Vincent. Once Vince get's on stage, he becomes the sick and sadistic Alice Cooper.

And Vince is a Christian! I love that! Most people think that Christian's are good people that don't do anything creepy. And for the most part, that is true, but what a lot of people don't know is that most Christian's come from a bad background. I love what Vince does with Cooper: "I try to keep him out of my personal life. He can't imagine having a family, and the thought makes him sick to his stomach. But once I go onstage, that's when Alice has his time to shine." Paraphrased of course.

All around, Cooper sticks to his guns. He knows what he's good at and works with it, which is something that a lot of new bands coming out don't know yet. Which is fine, their new, they don't know what works for them yet. But for bands that aren't so new and know what doesn't work for them but instead do whatever they like and it sounds horrible, those are the one's I don't really care much for.

Cooper gets a 9 for this album. There are some things I don't like, as there is every album, but overall the whole thing is pretty good, expect when he switches gears from insane killer to a love song, which doesn't bother me that much, I would just like to see a better transition then just all of a sudden.


As always, I'm your host Wattako. Stay Shockey.