Customer Reviews

Love It To Death (US Release)

5 star:		(93)
4 star:		(20)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

"Love it to Death" is just a great rock album. You have the major label debut of a truly unique band, with songs that still sound new and original today. You have heard "Eighteen" hundreds of times by now, but if you haven't heard the entire album, then you are denying yourself a true musical treat. Most of the elements that made the Alice Cooper band such a popular 70's act are in place here. Alice is in top form vocally, Glen Buxton and Michael Bruce layer each song with such distinctive guitar work, every track becomes memorable. Neal Smith's drum work is, as always, the driving force behind these classic songs, and thanks to Dennis Dunaway's fantastic bass work, you have an album that is a must have for your rock collection. Every song on this disk is great. But the two songs that standout to me on this CD are "Black Juju" and "Ballad of Dwight Fry". These are the two longest cuts on the disk, and both are so original that only the Alice Cooper band could perform them. If you only discovered Alice later in his solo career, do yourself a favor, and be sure to go back and check out the original bands releases, and be sure to pick "Love it to Death" up right away, you won't be disappointed. I recommend this album to all Alice Cooper fans, classic rock fans, in fact if you have ears...buy this disk.

LOVE IT TO DEATH was the first ALICE COOPER Lp I ever bought. And from there, I bought them all. But LOVE IT TO DEATH still remains my favorite. Captivating from the start and not a bit of filler. Alice and Company had the talent and the vision...not to mention a lot of balls. I listen to copycats of today like Marilyn Manson and right away I miss the versatility that the original ALICE COOPER band had in the early days before ALICE went solo. They incorporated blues, jazz, even songs styled after Broadway showtunes...and it was all rock and roll to us. In contrast, Manson's flair for the industrial side of rock and roll seems pale in comparison. ALICE knew what he was doing. Manson can bash on Christianity all he likes...but he'll never have the shock value of ALICE COOPER no matter how scary he makes himself up. Here's to a real rock and roll pioneer! The copycats only get louder and uglier...but ALICE had real talent. And LOVE IT TO DEATH was only the beginning of what was to come. Two previous efforts, PRETTIES FOR YOU and EASY ACTION were ok, but LOVE IT TO DEATH was the first time the masses stood up and took notice. And for all the talk about his stage show, his records were every bit as good as his live performances. Which is something you can't always say about KISS. Click "buy it now"...you won't be sorry.

I bought this LP in early 1971 soon after it was released, after hearing selections from it played on the radio. The improvement in musicianship and composition was dramatic from the previous releases. EVERY song on this LP is well-written and well-performed, and highly memorable. You hear it and just want to sit and listen to it time and time again, and it still sounds fresh 28 years after it was was released. Of the two albums that followed, "Killer" is OK and "School's Out" is also a pretty good album, both with a lot of good tracks, but "Love It to Death" is the real gem. Now, why hasn't the record company looked in their vaults & upgraded this album by remastering it & including some alternate takes and live versions of the songs thrown in as bonus cuts?

Contary to popular belief,Love It To Death is the third Alice Cooper Group's album. After the first wo albums went belly up commercially,Pretties For You and Easy Action, the group led by lead singer Cooper got signed to Warner Brothers and exploded. This album is a classic. It contains Cooper's most famous song Eighteen, but also classics like Black JuJu and the haunting Ballad of Dwight Frye. This album is phenomonal and still sounds awesome today. This is one of those Cooper albums that is an essential for any collection.

A very welcome addition to the vast Alice Cooper collection, but you can't help feeling an album of this stature deserves a real proper reissue, along the lines of the Billion Dollar Babies deluxe edition.
The sound is fine, though not a big leap from the standard release it has to be said. I welcome any upgrade of this classic album from the original band. Booklet is pretty basic, but all original artwork is there.
All in all, a good buy, but for Alice collectors only, as i it's not significantly better than the standard release in my opinion.

If you are reading this you are probably already aware that Love It To Death, along with Killer, Schools Out and Billion Dollar Babies are all excellent albums which changed the course of rock and by themselves provided Alice Cooper with a 40 plus year career. I remember hearing I'm Eighteen on the local radio station in Chicago shortly after its release and going to the corner record store to purchase the LP ($2.49) the following day. I was in high school and a die hard Beatles, Grand Funk Railroad, Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath fan at the time and this album simply "blew my mind". When it and the other Alice Cooper Band albums were released on CD in the eighties, I purchased them all on the day of release only to be somewhat disappointed at the sub par clarity of the mastering. From that point on I waited patiently for remasters and when Rhino finally released the remastered Billion Dollar Babies, I was sure the rest would follow shortly but nothing ever happened. The box set had four songs and Eighteen and Is It My Body appeared on various compilations but the album itself never appeared. I often wondered why so many one hit wonder bands would have their entire career remastered while an iconic band like Alice Cooper gets virtually nothing. Then I saw the Audio Fidelity issues at Amazon and could not wait to hear them. I could picture Black Ju Ju and Second Coming the way they should sound, the way they could sound. Unfortunately the disc is still somewhat lifeless and the clarity I hoped for is just not there. The disc does sound better than the Warner Bros. release and I am glad I have it but had I never heard the original issue, I would not believe this disc was remastered at all. Is the disc worth buying? Yes! The album should be in every rock fan's collection and if you are going to purchase Love It To Death, this is the version to buy. On the other hand, I will continue to look forward to the day someone takes the time to truly remaster the Alice Coooper Band releases and they sound the way I know they can.

Is there a better twisted hard rock album in existence? I doubt it. In addition to the instantly memorable melodies performed by the classic Alice Cooper line-up, we get Alice's uniquely weird lyrics to go with them. The songs humorously address such topics as teenage confusion/angst in the Top Forty hit "I'm Eighteen"; the occult in "Black Juju"; Christianity in "Hallowed By My Name" and "Second Coming"; and teen restlessness in the opening track "Caught In A Dream" and "Long Way To Go". This disc had way too much influence on me as a teen. Mental illness ("Ballad of Dwight Fry") seemed so fantastically exotic when Alice was singing about it. Alas, though I'm not as nutty as poor Dwight, I'm not quite right in the head either these days. Long rock songs tend to bore me but "Ballad" and "Black Juju" are perfectly justified in their length. There's not a wasted note in either song. This was the first Alice Cooper album produced by Bob Ezrin. Under his guidance the band really flowered. He would go on to produce the remaining classic Alice Cooper albums "Killer" through "Billion Dollar Babies". Check these out as well- they're almost as good as "Death".

The first two Alice Cooper albums captured the sounds of goofy kids doing their [best] to annoy...anyone listening, but weren't much musically. By the time they were ready to record "Love It To Death," all that time on the road, the dingey clubs and the close chemistry finally had the desired effect. They'd learned how to write.

And write they did. There are three stone dead classics here...starting with the fierce roar of "Caught In A Dream." It served notice that these practical jokers had grown up fast, and by the time you hit the end of "I'm Eighteen" (one of the all-time prime coming of age songs ever) you couldn't help but acknowledge that the Alice Cooper Band had hit their stride.

The other half of the growth spurt the "Love It To Death" album signified was in that the band's legendary stage show had melded into their music, and it was making for actual songs instead of the general chaos of the first two LP's. "Second Coming/The Ballad Of Dwight Frye" took the gothic weirdness of the stage show and captured it to vinyl for the first time. (You can also credit Bob Ezrin, who was skilled enough a producer to organize the anarchy.) What ever their detractors had been saying pre-"Love It To Death," there was no way to deny it. Alice Cooper had the power and "Love It To Death" was the album that opened the portals of genius that would be unleash the next three brilliant albums.

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!!

This is one of my all time favorite albums.There isn't a bad song on the whole thing.I've been waiting for years for a proper remaster.My gripe is with the sound.This is 24 bit map remaster?It doesn't sound any better than the original cd release that Warners put out in the 80's.Only more expensive.The volume is low and the clarity sounds the same as the original.This is the best they could do?Save your money.