Los Angeles / give me Norfolk, Virginia / dial one oh four ten oh nine / tell the folks back home th...
Los Angeles / give me Norfolk, Virginia / dial one oh four ten oh nine / tell the folks back home this is the promised land calling / and the poor boy is on / the line
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Killer was the fourth studio album, and second seriously heavy rock album, from Alice Cooper. It was released in November 1971, causing a real stir at the time with its subject matter and shock stage show, reaching #21 on the US charts and #27 in the UK. One of my all-time favourites this one, we have blistering yet subtle rock, some real creepy lyrics, cleverly interposed pieces that change the mood of songs in the blink of an eye........in all, a classic Alice Cooper record!
A small nut important point; this is an album by Alice Cooper the band with a singer of the same name, not the individual born as Vincent Furnier, because that change of name didn't come until the mid-70's when "Welcome To My Nightmare" came out and he effectively brought the name. The band: Alice Cooper AKA Vincent Furnier (vocals), Glen Buxton (guitar), Michael Bruce (rythym guitar), Dennis Dunaway (bass), Neal Smith (drums). A real classy band whose excellent musicianship is often overlooked. Alice himself did later say that musically this was one of his own favourite records.
Things are off to a great start with the old Detroit garage classic
Under My Wheels. All urgent guitars, that great Furnier snarl, "telephone is ringing, you got me on the run....I'm driving in my car now, anticipating fun..." then there's a surprise horn intro at the bridge. One to get you jumping all over the room and no mistake. It was released as a single and made #59 on the US charts.
The slower, sleazier Be My Lover, another single from the album (#49 on the US charts) tells the story of a meeting in a bar with a mystery lady. Listen out for a great snatched "oohh" as the Coop tells his lady why the band have a male singer called Alice. "It's a long long way to paradise, and I'm still on my own". So that's the singles out of the way and it's onto the main course of this fantastic set.
The eight minute Halo Of Flies is next. Utterly brilliant. One of those "song-suites". Fans of Rush will recognise the beginning to this as the Canadian band copied it note for note on their own "2112 Suite"! Musically quite simple, built around a descending scale. Lyrically rather difficult to understand, probably because the band were whacked out of their skulls when they wrote it. A galloping intro leads into a pyschadelicish first verse before speeding up. "I crossed the ocean, for the whole world to see, and I put a time bomb in your submarine". The obligatory drum solo leads into a furious guitar-drumming duel that jumps up a key for a great finish.
The slow burning menace that is Desperado sees Alice as a Wild West hired gun. "You're a target just by living, twenty dollars will see you die". Propelled along by military-style drumming, it builds to an epic finish. "Can you hear that ghost that's calling, as my Colt begins to rust, in the dust".
The big ballsy groove of You Drive Me Nervous might be a little bit of a disappointment after the numbers that came before it, but it's deliberately produced as a power rocker that doesn't try to be anything else. The charming Yeah Yeah Yeah, seemingly a 60's throwback with its simple guitar and basslines, lets the band limber up for the final two epic tracks on the album.
At first glance Dead Babies must seem to be just another piece of Coop shock-rock. The serious message here though is about parents neglecting their children. "Little Betty ate a pound of aspirin, she got them from the shelf upon the wall, Betty's mommy wasn't there to save her, she didn't hear her little baby call...." ugh. Enough to send a shiver down your spine. With a suitably menacing backing track, sliding up and down A major and B flat, ending with the chilling "well we didn't love you anyway...." straight into the title track, the seven minute Killer.
Strangely enough, musically the weakest track on the album, but for sheer melodramatics it is untouchable. Sang as if by a convicted murderer sat in Death Row awaiting the call. Done live, this had the memorable Alice Cooper head-in-a-noose scene. In the studio, we sadly have to make do with just wailing and screaming. The eerie ending, with marching drums and church organ, with a "priest" reciting a funeral cadence, is just totally perfect. The swirling vortex at the end brings this to a shuddering halt. Aah, fantastic stuff.
If I have one criticism of this album it's that live it must have been great to see, but the goings-on in the stage show cannot be envisaged just by listening to this. Unless you were fortunate enough to have seen this album toured. Ach, I'm nitpicking.
Any of Alice's early 70's recordings are great. Billion Dollar Babies, Love It To Death, School's Out, Muscle Of Love, this one....take your pick. If your only knowledge of Al comes from "Trash" onwards, hear these and discover why he really is deservedly such a rock legend. And a sound geezer too.
Oh, nearly forgot! The price. I got this for £3.55 from Amazon. Cheaper than a replacement E string for my bass. Well, you just gotta keep pumping out them eighths ain't ya. Later peeps......
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Great review. The "swirling vortex" you refer to at the end of the album, is, I'm informed,the sound of an electric chair doing what electric chairs do! Even more chilling when you listen to it now knowing that?
jerzed 20.10.2005 13:54
I LOVE this Album... Dead Babies especially. That one must really outrage the "child safety" fetishists. They'd probably try to ban it now.. There is not one bad track on this LP (Yep, still listening to the vinyl)
Advantages: Two demi-gods of the pop avant-garde flirt outrageously with accessibility Disadvantages: There's still probably too much excellence on display for the mass market. Dammit!
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