Alice Cooper Killer Genres:Pop, Rock, Metal 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 h... more »its 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« less
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
Wanna be a Bass Player? This is a must hear album then!
Graboidz | Westminster, Maryland | 08/06/2004
(5 out of 5 stars)
"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."
Shame on Warner Brothers......
Tuco | Phoenix, Az USA | 10/23/2008
(4 out of 5 stars)
"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!!
"
It's about time !
Sherry Bufka | Detroit MI | 09/04/2009
(5 out of 5 stars)
"'Killer' has always been one of the big cannons in Alice Cooper's catalog (Alice Cooper the GROUP that is). This remaster on the Audio Fidelity label by Steve Hoffman doesn't disappoint! I am not going to go into all the great songs and riffs on this CD, just read all the other reviews if you need to know how great this album is, but as others have said before, this CD was long over due for a proper remastering and now it has one. Audio Fidelity and Steve Hoffman have done an excellent job on this CD (and also the 'School's Out' CD if you're interested in that title as well). The low end (thank you Dennis Dunaway) and the drums (thank you Neal Smith) sound clear and robust, the guitars just rock out like no tomorrow, and Alice, well, is just Alice in his prime, 'nuff said. Because they used NO compression or limiting during the remastering process it might not sound as 'loud' as most CD's in your collection but it will blow your socks off if you give it a little volume boost to make up for it. Alice Cooper fans can start to to rejoice, we now have 'Killer', 'School's Out' and 'Billion Dollar Babies' on remaster CD. I am hoping that Audio Fidelity (or Warner's or Rhino or somebody) will soon remaster their classic 'Love It To Death' album as well (and 'Muscle Of Love' too please while you're at it). Money well spent!"
... a rock and roll masterpiece ...
Robert | USA | 08/15/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)
""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!!!
"
Hard Rocking Raucous Foot Stomping Romp
Psychedelic Cowboy | Burbank, CA United States | 06/15/2002
(5 out of 5 stars)
"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."