ALICE COOPER — Killer (review)

ALICE COOPER — Killer album cover Album · 1971 · Hard Rock Buy this album from MMA partners
3/5 ·
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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