Track Listing

1. Under My Wheels
2. Be My Lover
3. Halo of Flies
4. Desperado
5. You Drive Me Nervous
6. Yeah, Yeah, Yeah
7. Dead Babies
8. Killer

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3430 in Music
• Released on: 1990-10-25
• Number of discs: 1

Amazon.com
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

Customer Reviews

Wanna be a Bass Player? This is a must hear album then!
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.

Killer is a KILLER!!!
In case you just returned from Mars and don't know who Alice Cooper is here's a little background. Alice Cooper was originally the name of the band from Phoenix, Arizona whose leader was Vincent Damon Furnier, who later became Alice Cooper.

Furnier/Cooper may be the most prolific artist, of modern times logging some 40 albums to date and still counting. Furnier formed his first group, Earwigs, in the earley 60s, then changed to the Spiders in 1965 and later to Nazz. In 1968, after finding out that another Nazz existed, Furnier once again changed the bands name, to Alice Cooper. Rumour has it, the name came to Furnier during a ouija board session, where he was told he was the reincarnation of a 17th-century witch of the same name. After Alice Cooper signed their first record contract, four releases were made before Killer was released in 1971. Killer was a moderate seller going gold but what really started to make the band popular today was the theatrics and wild stage shows. Under Furnier's direction, Alice Cooper initiated a impressively theatrical and forceful brand of heavy metal that was designed to shock, drawing equally from horror movies and vaudeville. This probably preceded Ozzie Osbourne by at least a few years so audiences became enthralled with Alice Cooper's antics.

Furniers on stage persona was Alice Cooper which became his alter ego. A few years later Furnier officially change his name to Alice Cooper. Furnier only made three more albums as a member of a band. In 1975 he went solo.

Here is an AMG review of this very good album. My FIXATION will be discussed thereafter.

"Alice Cooper wasted little time following up the breakthrough success of 1971's Love It to Death with another album released the same year, Killer. Again, producer Bob Ezrin was on board, and helps the group solidify their heavy rock (yet wide-ranging) style even further. The band's stage show dealt with the macabre, and such disturbing tracks as "Dead Babies" and the title track fit in perfectly. Other songs were even more exceptional, such as the perennial-barnstorming concert standard "Under My Wheels," the melodic yet gritty "Be My Lover," and the tribute to their fallen friend Jim Morrison, "Desperado." The long and winding "Halo of Flies" correctly hinted that the band would be tackling more complex song structures on future albums, while "You Drive Me Nervous" and "Yeah, Yeah, Yeah" showed that Alice Cooper hadn't completely abandoned their early garage-rock direction. With Killer, they became one of the world's top rock bands and concert attractions; it rewarded them as being among the most notorious and misunderstood entertainers, thoroughly despised by grown-ups." - Greg Prato

MY FAVORITE SONG, "Halo of Flies"

At eight minutes and twenty-two seconds "Halo of Flies" may be the longest piece Alice Cooper ever did. All my favorite songs tend to be long, the shortest being five + minutes. I guess it's because the longer songs have more variety and instrumentation, which is what I like. I tend to think of vocals as another instrument, augmenting the other instruments, rather than being the center of the music. There are exceptions to this thinking when the vocals are so astounding that they almost take over the music. The emotive ramblings of Tom Eklund on In search of Truth is such an effort.

"Halo of Flies" is both a complex but simple straight Rock and roll piece and actually manages to create the feeling of a bunch of flies buzzing around. Starting out with first one then two twanging guitars and cymbals for thirty seconds, when the music changes slightly with the addition of distorted guitar with a fluttery sound. This sound also backs and almost mimics Furnier when he sings, starting at the 1:50 mark. The underlying beat for the song is what I would call a giddyap beat. Furniers voice is sort of a raspy yell, not smooth but serving the music very well. There is a catchy, Near East type, guitar hook used effectively throughout the number and a nice drum solo at the six minute mark. Overall it's a fast 8:22. The musicianship, while primitive, is solid, the production is average and the song is captivating.

It should be mentioned that, unlike many of my other review picks, this is an outstanding, old rock and roll, album, with numerous great songs. My other favorites are: "Desparado", "Killer", "Dead Babies" and "Under my Wheels"

Hard Rocking Raucous Foot Stomping Romp
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.