ALICE COOPER — Killer

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ALICE COOPER - Killer cover
4.23 | 53 ratings | 3 reviews
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Album · 1971

Filed under Hard Rock
By ALICE COOPER

Tracklist

1. Under My Wheels (2:51)
2. Be My Lover (3:21)
3. Halo Of Flies (8:22)
4. Desperado (3:30)
5. You Drive Me Nervous (2:28)
6. Yeah, Yeah, Yeah (3:39)
7. Dead Babies (5:44)
8. Killer (6:57)

Total Time 36:54

Line-up/Musicians

- Alice Cooper / vocals, harmonica
- Glen Buxton / lead guitar
- Michael Bruce / rhythm guitar, keyboards
- Dennis Dunaway / bass guitar
- Neal Smith / drums

- Bob Ezrin / keyboards
- Rick Derringer / additional guitar (track 1)

About this release

November 1971
Warner Bros

Thanks to Pekka, Time Signature, Lynx33, adg211288 for the updates

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ALICE COOPER KILLER reviews

Specialists/collaborators reviews

Warthur
Mostly a refinement of the approach adopted on Love It To Death, Killer includes Western-styled tributes to Jim Morrison in Desperado (and check out Alice's Morrison-inspired croon on there), an attempt at a prog rock epic in the form of Halo of Flies which doesn't really approach the technical complexity of most prog rock from the era but is still a hell of a song - and still provides the excuse for the obligatory drum solo during Alice's concerts to this day - and a whole bunch of other highlights besides. Turning up the gruesomeness a notch with songs like Dead Babies helps keep the band in controversial territory - and even if it sounds tame today, just remember that no other group of the time would even *THINK* about including a song about such a subject on an album. Groundbreaking in its subject matter, lean and dirty musically, Killer is a filth-spattered glam rock classic.
Balthamel
Alice Cooper (the band)- Killer

Yeah the title says it all...KILLER, this album is a Killer album from the first track to the last noise part on the title track. Let me say this, not one song here seems out of focus, lack of creativity or lack of context. They all say something to you, speaks to you.

I will not go track by track; I will instead try to explain some songs, where to place this album stylistically and its metal credibility. First you will notice is that this is a band effort not a solo project. It is also a mirror of the adult American home/reality/pop culture portrayed satirically through biting thought provoking lyrics.

Some of the highlight songs here are the song that starts the show, Under My Wheels - which is a great rocker, full speeded guitar with twang approach - you surely will dance to this song it really aches in the dance foot.

The second highlight is the EPIC Halo of Flies - WOW this track is 8:00 minutes long prog rock with heavy guitar, a song which goes through different awesome passages, some LoonyToon parts, mellotron's, vaudeville like parts. This song is HUGE in every aspect, the more you hear it the brilliant it gets IMO.

The third and fourth highlights are Dead Babies and Killer both caries some sort of DOOM metal flavour, dark menacing songs, with some art rock moments. Both songs gives this an haunting, epic and grandiose end to this record, And for safety reasons be careful if you have the volume loud and are relaxing to this album the title track ends in a loud noise. BE AWEAR!

What styles are presented on this album, well first thing that may cross some minds is, "is this Alice Cooper" because it’s pretty artsy. Second it is not 100% metal or glam metal (more glam rock since I can hear some similarities to early Bowie, Lou Reed and Slade here) but the guitar and song topics are heavier and darker, thus gives it a metal edge, like I said a bow some Doom metal like atmosphere. Other songs like Desperado and Halo of Flies is not what I would call metal.

but the album as a hole, yeah totaly uniq piece of proto metal with glam overtones.

Enjoy Chris

Members reviews

vmagistr
Lots of people, lots of tastes. Some people won´t hear a bad word against "their" single favourite genre, others are "omnivores" and like to switch between different styles. The second approach has, in my opinion, one big advantage - when I want to take a break from all that progression and fusion (which I'm in those days listening to and discovering something new in every attempt), I can go back to something easier to digest, but almost as fun for me - like good old hard rock, more specifically (for today) a certain Cooper's Witch.

I've neglected Alice Cooper's work in particular for quite a few years now, but with his work from the 70s I still remember what to look forward to most on which record. In the case of the Killer album, in which my ear found favour today, it's clearly the Halo of Flies suite - an eight+ minute near-instrumental (Alice's vocals are actually only heard in the middle section) with a cool hard rock drive and a plethora of musical motifs used. Another cool kick is offered at the very end of the album, when Alice comes out with the sepulchral melodica of Dead Babies and then throws in a bunch of rock riffs, called (eponymously) Killer. I'd definitely consider putting this three-piece on any Cooper best-of list, because I just love it.

But the Killer album doesn't consist just of these three tracks, so what's next? In short - although it's unfortunately not such a hit parade anymore, satisfaction remains on my side. Under My Wheels is a kind of slightly polished rock'n'roll, Be My Lover again equals the intersection of Alice's vocal narration shredded with some chopped guitar kilos, and the quite funny backing vocals in the chorus. Desperado stumbles somewhere between a melancholic guitar pick with string arrangements and a hard rock banger. Cool wailing guitars and venomous vocals bring together the shortest track on the record, the less than two and a half minute You Drive Me Nervous and the hilariously titled Yeah, Yeah, Yeah offers some space for bass and harmonica.

So how does Alice Cooper's Killer album actually affect me? Good rock with a few standout moments, the rest better average. Between three and four stars, the lesser five tracks pull it down more, so we'll stay at an odd number. The best of late 60s/early 70s hard rock must, be sought on the other side of the Atlantic, Alice Cooper remaining merely "good" on Killer.

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