Alice Cooper – Killer (Expanded & Remastered) (2023) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Alice Cooper – Killer (Expanded & Remastered) (2023)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:53:25 minutes | 2,46 GB | Genre: Hard Rock
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Rhino – Warner Records

Released in 1971, KILLER was the fourth studio album recorded by the founding quintet of singer Alice Cooper, lead guitarist Glen Buxton, rhythm guitarist/keyboardist Michael Bruce, bassist Dennis Dunaway, and drummer Neal Smith. Bob Ezrin produced all four of Alice Cooper’s platinum albums from the 1970s, including KILLER and SCHOOL’S OUT.

KILLER (DELUXE EDITION) introduces a newly remastered version of the original release, which peaked at #21 on the Billboard albums chart. Along with the singles “Under My Wheels” and “Be My Lover,” the record also includes “Yeah, Yeah, Yeah,” “Desperado,” and the prog-rock-inspired epic “Halo Of Flies.” The bonus material features alternate takes for “You Drive Me Nervous,” “Under My Wheels,” and “Dead Babies.”

The collection also gives fans an unreleased live recording of the band’s performance at Mar Y Sol Pop Festival in Puerto Rico on April 2, 1972. Recorded a few months before the band returned to the studio to make SCHOOL’S OUT, the show previews “Public Animal #9” from the upcoming album. The band played most of Killer during the concert, including “You Drive Me Nervous,” “Under My Wheels,” and “Halo Of Flies.” They also tapped the group’s 1971 album, Love It to Death, for live versions of “Is It My Body?,” “Long Way To Go,” and the smash hit “I’m Eighteen.”

After the success on their Love It to Death album and its hit single “I’m Eighteen,” Alice Cooper seemed poised to make a giant leap to the head of the hard rock class. Killer delivers on the promise and then some as it offers moments of sweaty rock & roll brilliance, oddball horror ballads, and garage rock freak outs, all wrapped up in a glammy, sleazy package. Working again with producer Bob Ezrin, the band craft a sound that’s powerful and lithe with guitars that slash and snake around each other, drums and bass that provide a solid foundation but also aren’t short on melody and hooks, and of course Alice Cooper’s one of a kind vocals. Whether he’s strutting, crooning, or going slowly insane, his voice is like the character in a movie you can’t take your eyes off for a second because you might miss a small gesture or look that will shock and surprise. The one-two punch of “Under My Wheels” and “Be My Lover” is one of the great album operners of all time, both songs taking classic rock & roll tropes and giving them a evil twist with romping horns, doo wop background vocals and the kind of libertine lyrics that are guaranteed to drive parents crazy. After this, the album takes off in a variety of directions including the horror prog ballad “Dead Babies,” the raucous rockers “You Drive Me Nervous” and “Yeah Yeah Yeah” that come across like Steppenwolf tracks made by real bikers, the Western gunfighter ballad “Desperado” — which juxtaposes some lovely orchestrated strings against Cooper’s croaking vocals — and the oddly rollicking title track where Cooper does a convincing carnival barker imitation while guitarists Mike Bruce and Glen Buxton get a chance to unwind and kick up some dust. Each and every track is handled with the same kind of unbridled glee that lets the listener know the band is having a blast; it’s hard not to be swept along for the ride. The album’s centerpiece “Halo of Flies” is a stunning work of rock & roll that encompasses the gutter freak psych of the band’s earliest work, the expansive scope of prog rock, bits of the Sound of Music, martial drum solos, very stoned blues riffing, and Cooper’s alternately pleading and withering vocals. It’s the work of a band who can barely control all the ideas flowing out of them, yet somehow manage to corral their energy and creativity into something epic and unique. Indeed, there was no other group quite like Alice Cooper operating in 1971 and Killer is the moment where they put all the pieces together and began to soar. – Tim Sendra

Tracklist:
1-01. Alice Cooper – Under My Wheels (2023 Remaster) (02:54)
1-02. Alice Cooper – Be My Lover (2023 Remaster) (03:21)
1-03. Alice Cooper – Halo of Flies (2023 Remaster) (08:25)
1-04. Alice Cooper – Desperado (2023 Remaster) (03:32)
1-05. Alice Cooper – You Drive Me Nervous (2023 Remaster) (02:28)
1-06. Alice Cooper – Yeah, Yeah, Yeah (2023 Remaster) (03:41)
1-07. Alice Cooper – Dead Babies (2023 Remaster) (05:45)
1-08. Alice Cooper – Killer (2023 Remaster) (07:03)
2-01. Alice Cooper – Be My Lover (Live at Mar Y Sol Pop Festival, Puerto Rico, April 2, 1972) (05:23)
2-02. Alice Cooper – You Drive Me Nervous (Live at Mar Y Sol Pop Festival, Puerto Rico, April 2, 1972) (02:25)
2-03. Alice Cooper – Yeah, Yeah, Yeah (Live at Mar Y Sol Pop Festival, Puerto Rico, April 2, 1972) (04:16)
2-04. Alice Cooper – I’m Eighteen (Live at Mar Y Sol Pop Festival, Puerto Rico, April 2, 1972) (05:27)
2-05. Alice Cooper – Halo of Flies (Live at Mar Y Sol Pop Festival, Puerto Rico, April 2, 1972) (09:55)
2-06. Alice Cooper – Is It My Body (Live at Mar Y Sol Pop Festival, Puerto Rico, April 2, 1972) (07:40)
2-07. Alice Cooper – Dead Babies (Live at Mar Y Sol Pop Festival, Puerto Rico, April 2, 1972) (05:51)
2-08. Alice Cooper – Killer (Live at Mar Y Sol Pop Festival, Puerto Rico, April 2, 1972) (08:57)
2-09. Alice Cooper – Long Way to Go (Live at Mar Y Sol Pop Festival, Puerto Rico, April 2, 1972) (09:50)
2-10. Alice Cooper – Under My Wheels (Live at Mar Y Sol Pop Festival, Puerto Rico, April 2, 1972) (05:57)
2-11. Alice Cooper – You Drive Me Nervous (Alternate Version) (02:20)
2-12. Alice Cooper – Under My Wheels (Alternate Version) (02:36)
2-13. Alice Cooper – Dead Babies (Alternate Version) (05:39)

Download: