Killer

Alice Cooper

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 25, 1990)
• Original Release Date: November 1971
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Warner Bros / Wea
• ASIN: B000002KDS
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (92 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #10,604 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

The fact that Alice Cooper's fourth release housed the gritty "Halo of Flies" would be reason enough to buy the CD, even if the rest of it were garbage. An essential piece of the rock canon, it may not have served up the hits that his other releases did, but it still stands as a classic. Loud, brash, sloppy, and hard, it's the kind of listen that makes you check for grime under your nails. Cooper's rock/shock aesthetic was coming into full bloom here and "Dead Babies" shows he was satisfied with his formula of hard rock, bad taste, and images outside the realm of Middle America. The title track hints at the shape of things to come, laying the ground work for works as seemingly disparate as "Only Women Bleed," and "No More Mr. Nice Guy." Briefly ostracized by the "hipper than thou" sect, Killer is one of the reasons Cooper is now fully appreciated as the pioneer that he was. - -Steve Gdula

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wanna be a Bass Player? This is a must hear album then!, August 6, 2004

By	Graboidz (Westminster, Maryland) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

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.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Shame on Warner Brothers......, October 23, 2008

By	Tuco (Phoenix, Az USA) - See all my reviews

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!!

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars ... a rock and roll masterpiece ..., August 14, 2005

By	Robert (USA) - See all my reviews

"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!!!