Classic Rock Album of the Day- Alice Cooper- Killer- (1971) *** 1/2
Sometimes the randomness of You Tube peaks my re-interest into some of the music of my youth. This gem popped up a few days ago, and I will have to admit that this was first deep listen I had of the LP for decades. I think it was pretty ground breaking for a few reasons, one.... it proved AC was not just schtick. Yeah, the shock rock, glam, and productions got them a lot of attention, but this particular album showed that this band (pre-drugged out) has some damned good musical chops, and songwriting prowess. Secondly, this is the one that this one unleashed the genius and power of prodcuer Bob Ezrin. If you haven't heard of him, you might have of a few bands he produced including Peter Gabriel, Kiss, Pink Floyd, Aerosmith, Lou Reed, and even as diverse as Taylor Swift.
By the time Killer was released, AC had pretty much become a media phenom mostly for scaring our parents thinking this was evil incarnate. And who could blame them... This guy sang to snakes on stage, staged an guillotine executions, and was killing chickens, and slinging them into the audience . It was all genius. And many of us at the time realized the strategy. Bands like Alice Cooper, Black Sabbath, and Deep Purple were my generation's signal to the previous ones that the hippy flower power era was over. And this album perfecty incapsulated it with dark themes and crunching 4/4 rock and roll, that was played over and over and over in our youth. I don't think many songs were sung about Dead Babies in the 1960's.
This one very much did prove that AC was not a one hit wonder. All of his stuff from Love it to Death to Billion Dollar Babies are all classics, and excelelnt on their own merit. It's only afterward that AC as Vincent Furnier put more into the stage show than the music. Don't get me wrong, he made many great songs after 1973, but it is these four albums 1971-1973 (Love it To Death, Killer, Schools Out and Billion Dollar Babies) that among other events perfectly define and offically announce the death of the flower power era of rock. This band's persona is also integral to future shockers like Kiss, NIN, Gwar, Slipknot... and on and on.
Parsing the merits of "great" 4 is fun. In each case you could argue that there is pure randomness in their madness. But listening closely there are some underlying themeing that if listen closely can be discerned out. But in each, you can count on some level of macrabe, humour, sickness, and allogorical social commentary. And last, this 3rd discographic installment would not be comeplete, without a full double middle fingered salute to sham of a hall of fame that pollutes Cleveland. Induction of this band did not take place until 2011. What a joke. Just think... Rush didn't get there until 2013. If there ever was a wish for where the one place on earth that a tornado would hit?..... You get the point.
Fun Fact: John Lyndon of the Sex Pistols called this the greatest rock album ever made. (Killer)
Side 1-
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Under My Wheels- What a rollicking rock and roll ride. Complete with sax, this all out jam session. Every band member contributes at a high level. There was good reason this was one of the bigger hits on the LP. AC often used this one or Hello Hooray to open shows. A good choice indeed.
1Be My Lover- The actual biggest hit on the LP. Singulary written by Bruce. Very simple chordal hooked add, that really got the band a hell of a lot of radio play. Fresh and humourous..... Works to this day.
2Halo of Flies- Audacious and complex compostion that was nothing like the band had done to this point. I can see Ezrin having a huge hand in its creation. Old western rolling rthym that would be also be re-evidenced later in LP. An interesting ode to the "espinoge fad" that was being seen more and more in the James Bond time of day.
6Desperado- Fabulous foray into the life of a gunslnger in the form of a rock song. Song niclely alternates from balladry and rock like a glove. Alice's voice is tonally lowered more than maybe any other tune he had ever done. Strings included, this was really the outlier stylistically , but what. a classic if you are into this band-
4Side 2-
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You Drive Me Nervous- In more of the tradional rocking Alice that you saw in earlier work. A loved teen agnst has themes, and there was at least one installment of the theme on each album.
7Yeah Yeah Yeah- More of a bluezy feeling tradional sounding rocker that was what music sounded like at the time. As good as the song is, it just adds to the fact that the best music is on side 1. Sans, some interesting Buxton/Bruce guitar/ AC harmonica interplay which makes the song interesting
8Dead Babies- Yeah, the shocking ballad that in the stage show littered the floor with bloody babies. Disgusting, yeah? Rocking? Oh hell yeah. But honestly, if you listen closely if could be made out to be a macrabe PSA for keeping poisons out of reach from children. That's at least the way I read it.
5Killer- The signature song the band used in the Hanging part of their stage show. From a stage production the song works fantastically, and augments well with the executioner's drop. Fascinatiing how they morph the song from a spiralling despair into an execution. Complete with drum roll, narrative, screaming, and finally the gallows drop. All with a haunting organ accompaniment and prayer. And even a a couple moments of the whirling of death. Yes, AC was maybe the greatest rock showman of them all
3http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4htr2RJ_EA0
