TRACK LISTING 1) Prologue/ I know where you live 2) Vengeance is mine 3) Wake the dead 4) Catch me if you can 5) (In touch with your) feminine side 6) Wrapped in silk 7) Killed by love 8) I'm hungry 9) The one that got away 10) Salvation 11) I am the spider/ Epilogue

ILet's face facts, shock rock began with Alice Cooper and while many bands have emulated his style, few have captured it quite so perfectly. His influence can be be seen and heard in the likes of Gwar, Marilyn Manson, KISS and the Misfits, all of whom owe a huge debt to the master. That said, I was still a bit scepticle when his 2008 release Along Came a Spider landed on my desk for review. I had not heard anything either from or about Alice Cooper in so long that I assumed he had retired from the music business to play golf full time. To coin a tired phrase, "my bad." Alice Cooper has made one of the coolest records of his career and it stands out like a sore thumb in the currently dismal music world because it's not just good, it's great.

Along Came a Spider is the musical telling of a Hanibal Lecter type of serial killer named Spider who removes and collects a leg from each of his victims in order to create his own 8-legged creepy crawly. The subject matter is pure delight for fans of this genre and with the proper level of "suspension of disbelief" the record plays out like any classic slasher flick, complete with a creepy sound bite that opens the record and a healthy dose of classic Cooper lyrics. What makes this album so good is that many of the songs are a return to the classic Alice Cooper sound heard on his early albums. The opening track "I Know Where You Live" sounds like text book garage rock in the style of "Billion Dollar Babies" or anything off of Welcome to My Nightmare, his 1975 concept album. Other stand out songs include "Wrapped in Silk," "Wake The Dead" and "I am the Spider," all of which have that early signature sound. However, by far, the strongest songs on the record are also the slowest. On "Killed by Love" and "Salvation" Alice trades the growl for his more melodic vocal stylings and he sounds as good now as he ever did. A few of the tracks are more akin to his 1980's sounds, not his better work, and get stale quickly including the track "(In Touch With Your) Femine Side." But all of the songs weave the twisted tale of Spider and are necessary to the story even if they fall a bit short musically. "Vengeance is Mine" also falls into this category, sort of, but with guitar help from Slash the song redeems itself. It should also be noted that rock god and fellow contemporary Ozzy, no last name needed, lends both vocals and harmonica to the song "Wake the Dead."

Along Came a Spider may not be considered a classic Alice Cooper disc and, sadly, won't see much if any radio play but thankfully the devoted fans will love this record and continue to support their hero. It would be nice to think that this record might reach a new generation of fans for Alice but that remains to be seen, although it worked for Motley Crue, right? It would be a shame for any classic rocker, shock rocker or fan of good music to miss this record as it deserves high marks and repeated listens. This disc is pure fun and sounds really, really good.

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Reviewed by P Nurple