Alice Cooper

Everyone — even Alice — seems to have been struggling to get back to the early days of the Coop, an era when classic albums such as Love It To Death and Killer were definitive, progressive and somewhat unsettling. With his last few efforts, the Coop clawed to recapture such glory, producing forgettable, confused schlock on par with his sub-standard (yet highly successful) early ’90s efforts. However, with Along Came A Spider, Cooper sheds the loose rock’n’roll and revisits some of his most interesting work, uniting the conceptual creepiness of Welcome To My Nightmare with the aggressive metallic thrust of Constrictor and Raise Your Fist And Yell. The end results are crystal clear, catchy tunes with an incredibly odd twist: Along Came A Spider tells the tale of Spider, an "arachnophobia psychopath.” Cryptic, creepy and catchy, the coupling of hook-laden choruses with a sinister subtext makes these 11 tracks powerfully groove-laden. Drawing on darkness yet maintaining the crisp production sheen and radio-friendliness that have defined him for ages, Along Came A Spider’s mid-tempo rock, occasional forthright groove and inherent ballads are refreshingly tight, haunting and captivating.