𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐌 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐑𝐘𝐏𝐓𝐒 - 𝐂𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐁𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐏𝐀𝐒𝐓 𝐀𝐋𝐁𝐔𝐌 𝐑𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐄𝐒 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐘 𝐨𝐟 𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐃 𝐑𝐎𝐂𝐊 & 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐕𝐘 𝐌𝐄𝐓𝐀𝐋…
July 29, 2008 — Alice Cooper released his eighteenth solo full-length studio album, Along Came a Spider via Steamhammer/SPV. (Apple Music or Spotify)
A Hard Rock/Heavy Metal concept album, it chronicles the activities of a psychopathic serial killer known as Spider and the eventual undoing of his plans. A commercial success, it ended up becoming Cooper's highest-charting studio effort in the United States since Hey Stoopid (1991).
Background & Release:
The story-line for the concept album was first revealed on Cooper's radio show Nights with Alice Cooper. The theme of the album revolves around a "𝚌𝚘𝚘𝚕, 𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚖 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚌𝚘𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚎𝚍" serial killer known as Spider. The police are baffled by the bodies of Spider's victims, which are cocooned in a silk web, and are each missing a leg. Spider's task is to collect eight legs to complete the construction of his own spider. However, things get complicated when he falls in love with his eighth victim. At the end of the album an internal voice is heard telling Spider that “𝚆𝚎‘𝚟𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚕𝚘𝚌𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚠𝚊𝚢 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚠𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚢 𝚎𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚢𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚜 𝚂𝚝𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗, 𝚠𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍𝚗’𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚍𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚜𝚎 𝚑𝚘𝚛𝚛𝚒𝚋𝚕𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜” thus revealing Spider as the character Steven from Welcome to My Nightmare.
Along Came a Spider was due for a 2007 release but problems with producer scheduling and tour commitments caused it to be pushed to mid-2008. Several demos and songs were prepared and short-listed during 2007 with further sessions for recording and writing taking place in February 2008. 75% of the album had been completed as of April 18, 2008. Cooper also planned to create a second part to the album, entitled The Night Shift, but decided to make Welcome 2 My Nightmare instead.
Album Promotion:
Unlike Dragontown, The Eyes of Alice Cooper, and Dirty Diamonds, a music video was created to promote Along Came a Spider. Released on October 2, 2008, and directed by Rob Zombie bassist, Piggy D. and Gabrielle Geiselman, the 10-minute-long music video stars Alice Cooper, Slash, Hazmat, Roxxi Dott, Howie Pyro, Dave Pino, Eric Singer and Peter Derek. Titled Along Came the Spider: The Movie, It features a medley of three songs from the album: Vengeance Is Mine, (In Touch With Your) Feminine Side, and Killed By Love. (Watch video)
Critical Reception:
The release has earned mixed to positive reviews from various publications. For example, music critic David Jeffries of AllMusic stated that, even though Cooper had produced better concept albums before, in Along Came a Spider the artist "𝚏𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚜 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚕𝚢𝚛𝚒𝚌𝚜 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚌𝚕𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚐𝚛𝚞𝚎𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚢".
A review from Blabbermouth.net praised the release as "𝚢𝚎𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚎𝚡𝚊𝚖𝚙𝚕𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚊𝚗 𝚊𝚕𝚋𝚞𝚖 𝚖𝚊𝚍𝚎 𝚋𝚢 𝚊𝚗 𝚎𝚕𝚍𝚎𝚛 𝚁𝚘𝚌𝚔 𝚒𝚌𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚊𝚐𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚏𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚑 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚛𝚎𝚕𝚎𝚟𝚊𝚗𝚝".
Notice: Any reviews shared here are for historical reference. The views and opinions expressed within are not always supported (in full or in part) by Into the Wells. — E.N. Wells
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