Alright, ladies and gents. Pack up your guillotines, your electric chairs and of course your fake blood and get your self ready for another Alice Cooper album. The man that became a major influence for bands like KISS, is releasing his 25th studio album in his 40-year-old career.

Along Came A Spider is a concept album. Everybody knows that Alice is an amazing horror storyteller and here he is telling the story of the serial killer Spider. His victims are cocooned in a silk web, and are each missing a leg. Spider's task is to collect eight legs in order to complete the construction of his own spider, however, things get complicated when he falls in love with his eighth victim. Obviously, not the kind of story that an arachnophobic person like me should listen. Before you laugh at my face, you should know that there are 30 different species of poisonous spiders out there, you should look out and kill 'em all.

From the first chords of I Know Where You Live, I could distinguish Cooper's return to the old sound. The production is really dry and rough and I really enjoy the amazing tambourine addition on the choruses that is the trademark of the old Alice Cooper tone. Vengeance Is Mine brings the 60-year-old Alice to our present sleazy sound that only Slash could contribute in the album with his unique wah-wah plus Les Paul style. Wake The Dead is a song that Alice Cooper co-wrote with Ozzy Osbourne, who also sings and plays harmonica in this particular track. Every song of the album has the old edgy attitude and horrifying mood of Cooper's classic albums like Billion Dollar Babies and Schools Out. Co-produced by Danny Saber, Greg Hampton and Alice himself, Along Came A Spider follows the specific path of the Classic Rock road. If you expect to hear a thousand compressed guitars and millions of background harmonies you are mistaken. This is an album that can easily serve the purpose of the on-stage theatrical horror plot and Alice Cooper's characters can come to life.   

Killed By Love is an amazing acoustic ballad that reminds me of the early David Bowie ballads, that could attract the faithful old school Cooper followers. Salvation is a different kind of ballad. Here is the moment where our psychopath hero and serial killer, realizes that he is saved from the love for his last victim.  Which leads us to the last and ultimate confession from Alice Cooper, I Am The Spider. This is a totally different song from all the others, with keyboards in the front of the mix, something that is giving a little bit more atmospheric mood to the end of Spider's story. With an epilogue that is creeping me out right this second, Alice Cooper (or Spider) talks to the infamous Steven (remember the song from the Welcome To My Nightmare album?): We've been in this cell for 28 years, Steven. We couldn't have done all these horrible things.

Alice Cooper does it again; it's in his blood to create magnificent horror stories that will keep his audience awake and focused. With a great team of musicians like Eric Singer (KISS), Keri Kelli (SKID ROW, RATT, WARRANT, L.A. GUNS) and Chuck Garric (L.A. GUNS, DIO),  Along Came A Spider is due for release on July 29. The loyal fans of the amazing Alice have already pre-ordered their copies. The rest of you should taste the authentic Shock Rock experience only Alice Cooper can offer. Trust me.