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Daily Iowan
July 29, 2008

Author: Cole Cheney

Album Review: Along Came A Spider

Alice Cooper
Along Came a Spider
*** out of ***** stars

From the man who brought 1970's rock 'n' roll with School's Out (For Summer) and "No More Mr. Nice Guy," comes Alice Cooper's 25th and newest album, Along Came A Spider . Dark, cool, and featuring the tale of a serial killer, the old rocker's newest effort doesn't outdo the classic tracks that he has laid down, yet takes a moderately progessive step forward from his last CD release.

Does "weird" do justice to the lyrics, which elaborate on a film-noir story of a murderer who collects one leg from every person he kills? Hardly. The songs are great stand-alone singles for the weak-of-stomach and excellent as an album for those infatuated with such films as Chucky and Nightmare on Elm Steet .

The realm of strange, however, is nothing foreign to the man formerly known as Vincent Furnier. After playing with the 1968 band Alice Cooper for two years, Furnier changed his name to Alice Cooper, a career choice as hard-core as his use of chain saws onstage.

Teaming up with other artists known for dark stage habits, tracks "I am the Spider" and "Wrapped in Silk" feature Ozzy Osbourne and former Guns 'n' Roses guitarist Slash.

With a slew of hollow and bone-chilling sounds accompanied by the electric essence of guitar that made Cooper renowned today, this latest album is just creepy, in a good way.

Cole's picks: "Wrapped in Silk" and "I'm Hungry"