I do not know of any other artist with as many concept albums to his name as Alice Cooper. There probably are others, but none that I am aware of — and here is yet another one. The story revolves around a series of bestial murders committed by a serial killer calling himself Spider, whose notes supposedly form the basis of the album’s songs — entirely fictional, of course.
Musically, the record lands somewhere between Raise Your Fist and Yell and The Last Temptation, or perhaps as a hybrid between the two. Certainly one can detect musical connections to several other albums as well, such as Brutal Planet, Flush the Fashion, and Special Forces, but those influences feel considerably less prominent than the first two — at least in my view.
This particular direction is not entirely to my taste, which should already be fairly evident from the ratings I have given those albums previously. That said, the music grows on you rather significantly after a few listens, and I am not entirely convinced that the album has finished growing on me yet. There are, in fact, a number of rather strong tracks here.
Both Ozzy Osbourne and Slash appear as guest artists, though I cannot say that their presence makes any substantial difference. I rather view it as a kind of homage to old Alice — a gesture of respect from these “subjects” toward the master.
More interesting is the return of Alice’s character Steven, originally introduced on Welcome to My Nightmare. He plays a fairly important role in the narrative here, even if the full extent of his involvement — or how everything truly connects — does not become clear until one has made it through the entire record.
And although this is a concept album, one should not expect everything to be served on a silver platter. Even though the prologue (the album contains both a prologue and an epilogue, with the main story unfolding in between) reveals quite a number of details early on, the resolution itself requires patience.
In fact, one could almost view this as a cinematic narrative just as much as a concept record. It is not difficult to imagine a future film adaptation in the form of a rock musical. The album follows a genuinely linear storyline rather than merely presenting a collection of songs revolving around a common theme, which is more often the case with concept albums.
So what is the final verdict? Does Alice have his best years behind him, or can the old man still deliver? I would not claim that this is the finest album of his career, but it is certainly interesting enough that I have no intention of repeating the mistake of stopping buying his records.
