Killer
The fourth album, with Under My Wheels and Be My Lover and a John Lydon vote for the greatest rock album ever.
Alice Cooper, 1971
- Released
- 9 November 1971
- Label
- Warner Bros.
- Producer
- Bob Ezrin
Killer reached 21 on the US albums chart. Under My Wheels, with Rick Derringer on additional guitar, reached 49 as a single and Be My Lover reached 59. Cooper wrote in the liner notes of A Fistful of Alice that Desperado was about his friend Jim Morrison, and he described Halo of Flies as an attempt to show the band could play a King Crimson-style progressive suite. Dead Babies caused controversy, although its lyric carries an anti-child-abuse message.
Lester Bangs in Rolling Stone called Alice Cooper a strong, vital band that would be around for a long time. AllMusic's Tim Sendra gave it five stars. John Lydon, in the foreword to a Cooper box set, named it the greatest rock album of all time. Every song on it has been played live.
Track listing
- Under My Wheels2:50
- Be My Lover3:15
- Halo of Flies8:21
- Desperado3:25
- You Drive Me Nervous2:24
- Yeah, Yeah, Yeah3:33
- Dead Babies5:40
- Killer7:07
Personnel
- Alice Cooper vocals, harmonica
- Glen Buxton lead guitar
- Michael Bruce rhythm guitar, keyboards, backing vocals
- Dennis Dunaway bass guitar, backing vocals
- Neal Smith drums, backing vocals
- Bob Ezrin producer, keyboards
- Rick Derringer additional guitar on Under My Wheels and Yeah, Yeah, Yeah
More from Alice Cooper
Love It to Death (1971), School's Out (1972), Billion Dollar Babies (1973), Welcome to My Nightmare (1975), Trash (1989)
Sources
- Killer (Alice Cooper album), Wikipedia
- Alice Cooper, Wikipedia