The Singles Collection 1976-1986

As of 2011, 25 years had passed since the final recordings of Spider were released and the band broke up, making it an appropriate time to reassess the group on this two-CD compilation containing the A- and B-sides of all of its singles. Spider, the Liverpool quartet of brothers Brian (bass) and Rob E. Burrows (drums), singer/guitarist Colin Harkness, and guitarist/singer Dave "Sniffa" Bryce (replaced toward the end of the band's existence by Stu Harwood) has been included as part of the British New Wave of Heavy Metal and frequently described as a clone of Status Quo. Neither of those associations seems entirely accurate on the basis of the 31 tracks (including remakes and live versions of some of the same songs) they released on singles between 1976 and 1986. In fact, if Spider had been defined by its sound at the start on tracks like its first release, "Back to the Wall," in 1977, the group might have been included as part of the punk movement, given the speedy tempo and aggressive playing. True, punk's rage is missing, making early Spider a bit Ramones-like, but also a bit like the Bay City Rollers. Inevitably, the musicians begin to play their instruments better as the singles and the years go on, but Spider remains in a familiar British tradition of fundamental hard rock groups like Slade and the Sweet. Sniffa just keeps turning out those Chuck Berry guitar riffs, and the group vocals rarely stray far from celebrating rock & roll and musing about the desire for sex. "Death Row," a B-side of Spider's biggest hit, "Here We Go Rock & Roll" (number 57 in the U.K.) comes from the band's second album, Rough Justice, a concept disc in which the bandmembers are sentenced to death for playing heavy metal, which seems like a wrongful conviction. And the two-part "Amazin' Grace Medley" is 11-and-half minutes of instrumental rambling that incorporates everything from "Smoke on the Water" to "Hava Nagilah." But the basic Spider sound is good old rock & roll, whether the musicians are covering "Born to Be Wild" or declaring "Rock & Roll Forever Will Last." Spider did not last forever, but this album shows that during the ten years that it did, it rocked some fans and had some fun. ~ William Ruhlmann|