The Alice Cooper Band put out some of the best rock of the 70's and 'Killer' is one of the best albums of the decade. I won't bother going thru the individual songs, there are other reviews that do that very well, but suffice it to say Alice is in top form vocally, and the individual songs on 'Killer' are so strong and memorable, excellent guitar and keyboard work by Michael Bruce and Glen Buxton give each song a personality. But it's the backbone of the band, the bass by Dennis Dunaway and drums by Neal Smith that are worth the price of the disk. Dunaway's bass lines on songs like 'Halo of Flies' and 'Dead Babies' are so crisp and really drive the songs. This is Dunaway's best album outside of 'Love it to Death'. Neal Smith's drumming on the entire album is just amazing. I just don't see how Dunaway and Smith were not able to land a higher profile gig after the Alice Cooper band broke up?? 'Killer' is the perfect showcase for Smith and Dunaway's mastery of thier respective instruments. If you are interested in playing the bass or drums, then pick up 'Killer' to hear how to do it right.

First off, all of the original Alice Cooper band albums are more than worthwhile. Get them all....on vinyl that is.

These low priced CD's that Warner Brothers is peddeling are the original transfers from back when the CD was first introduced. Terrible hiss and poor sound quality make these unlistenable in my opinion. I have MP3's and cassettes of these albums that sound much better than these factory WB CD releases do.

I also own all of them on vinyl and can firmly attest that the AC Band catalouge is in DIRE need of a remaster. Save your bucks until that happens or listen on vinyl/cassette until then. Don't encourage these guys. Shame on you Warner Brothers for continuing to sell such outdated/poor quality transfers here in the new millenium!!

"KILLER"

REVIEW:

What can one say about "Killer" other than to say it is a rock and roll masterpiece. Truly. All eight tracks are just flat out excellent. The album achieves tremendous lyrical content, flawless drumming by Neal Smith and great vocals by Alice. For the uninitiated, start here.

MUSICIANS:

Alice Cooper... Vocals and Harmonica
Neal Smith ... Drums and Vocals
Dennis Dunaway ... Bass and Vocals
Glen Buxton ... Lead Guitar
Michael Bruce ... Rhythm Guitar, Vocals, Piano and Organ
Bob Ezrin ... Keyboards, Mini-Moog
Rick Derringer ... Guitar on 'Under My Wheels' and 'Yeah Yeah Yeah'
Reggie Vincent ... Backing Vocals

INTERESTING FACTS:

1. An early working title for the track "Desperado" was "Desert Nights".

2. The click sound at the end of 'Be My Lover' is Neal Smith dropping his drumsticks.

3. 'Halo of Flies' was a mixture of three different songs that Alice would eventually "arrange".

4. The album was released in November of 1971 and would peak at #21 on the Billboard Top 200. The album would be certified a Platinum seller.

5. The singles "Be My Lover" peaked at #49 and "Under My Wheels" peaked at #59.

PACKAGING:

The words "Killer" were written by the right-handed Dennis Dunaway left-handed while Neal Smith's snake, Kachina, is photographed on the simplistic but effective album cover. Booklet features song credits, musician credits and a "NOTES" page.

APPROX. RUNNING TIME:

35 min. and 15 sec.

FINAL ANALYSIS:

Another definitve Alice Cooper album under the production of the great Bob Ezrin. ***** out of 5. A MUST HAVE!!!

Many fans believe this to be Alice Cooper's greatest album, and it is hard to argue. This is a hard rocking raucous foot stomping romp from beginning to end. Under My Wheels gets things off to a screaming start with the most slickly produced garage band song ever. Even though Alice Cooper always used tight flawless production their songs seemed somehow to be coming from the garage next door. It was just the irreverent attitude that permeated everything the band did. Be My Lover is a solid groove about hooking up with a chick in a bar. Halo of Flies is a masterpiece of riffs and lyrics and theatrical studio jam. It's like a James Bond movie in your ears after a fifth of Seagrams. You Drive Me Nervous and Yeah Yeah Yeah are two more screaming guitar twanging trips into the garage. It's easy to feel you could pick up a guitar and play this yourself until you try it. Dead Babies is an sick classic with an infectious bass line that will get into your nodding head for weeks to come. Nice dark tongue-in-cheek lyrics complement the heavy musical riff. Killer is a foray into rock theatre that is a real treat. It follows a killer's walk up to the gallows, and subsequent hanging with a staple of operatic rock hooks that would be pirated by everyone from David Bowie to Kiss.

It's all over before you're ready and you'll likely get right up and put it right back on to hear again. Every song is a gem and still sound fresh and innovative while sounding almost spontaneous and very edgy.

Killer is the ultimate Alice Cooper album. Alice Cooper was the original shock rock artist. His stage antics were unlike anything before him. Killer perfectly captures this feeling. Each of the eight songs on the album is classic Alice Cooper. Under My Wheels is one of the best songs on the album. It has that grating sound that Cooper is known for. Be My Lover is one of the lightest songs on the album, but is still a great song. Halo Of Flies is my personal favorite song on the album. It is an epic song that completely blew me away the first time I listened to it, and still does today. Desparado is another great song and possibly one of the best representations of what Cooper's style was all about in the early 70s. You Drive Me Nervous and Yeah, Yeah, Yeah are also great songs. Dead Babies is one of the scariest songs on the album, just listen to it. The song Killer ends the album perfectly. Killer is one of the most shocking, loudest, harshest albums of it's time. Any fan of Rock should like this alum. A True Klassic.