Killer | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | November 27, 1971 | |||
Recorded | 1971 | |||
Studio | RCA, Chicago | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 37:08 | |||
Label | Warner Bros. | |||
Producer | Bob Ezrin | |||
Alice Cooper chronology | ||||
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Singles from Killer | ||||
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Killer is the fourth studio album by American rock band Alice Cooper, released in November 1971 by Warner Bros. Records. The album peaked at No. 21 on the Billboard 200 album chart, and the two singles "Under My Wheels" and "Be My Lover" made the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
Cooper said in the liner notes of A Fistful of Alice (1997) and In the Studio with Redbeard , which spotlighted the Killer and Love It to Death (1971) albums, that the song "Desperado" was written about his friend Jim Morrison, who died the year this album was released. [5] According to an NPR radio interview with Alice Cooper, "Desperado" was written about Robert Vaughn's character from the movie The Magnificent Seven (1960). "Halo of Flies" was, according to Cooper's liner notes in the compilation The Definitive Alice Cooper (2001), an attempt by the band to prove that they could perform King Crimson-like progressive rock suites, and was supposedly about a SMERSH-like organisation. "Desperado", along with "Under My Wheels" and "Be My Lover" have appeared on different compilation albums by Cooper. The song "Dead Babies" stirred up some controversy following the album's release, despite the fact that its lyrics conveyed an "anti-child abuse" message.
Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Christgau's Record Guide | B− [6] |
Rolling Stone | (favorable) [7] |
Rolling Stone's Lester Bangs gave it a favorable review. He explained that "it brings all the elements of the band's approach to sound and texture to a totally integrated pinnacle that fulfills all the promise of their erratic first two albums" and that "each song on [the] album finds him in a different role in the endless movie he is projecting on them." He concluded by calling Alice Cooper "a strong band, a vital band, and they are going to be around for a long, long time." [7] Robert Christgau rated the album a B−, stating that "a taste for the base usages of hard rock rarely comes with a hit attached these days, much less 'surreal', 'theatrical', and let us not forget 'transvestite' trappings". However, he said that "[the album] falters after 'Under My Wheels' and 'Be My Lover', neither of them an 'I'm Eighteen' in the human outreach department." [6] AllMusic's Tim Sendra rated "Killer" five out of five stars. He stated that "it offers moments of sweaty rock & roll brilliance, oddball horror ballads, and garage rock freak outs, all wrapped up in a glammy, sleazy package" and that "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." He concluded by claiming that "Killer is the moment where they put all the pieces together and began to soar" [3]
The album reached No. 21 on the Billboard album chart and two singles made the Hot 100 chart. "Be My Lover" reached No. 49 on the Billboard chart and "Under My Wheels" reached No. 59.
Chart (1971–1972) | Peak position |
---|---|
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista) [8] | 22 |
US Billboard 200 [9] | 21 |
Chart (2023) | Peak position |
---|---|
Hungarian Albums (MAHASZ) [10] | 27 |
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade) [11] | 82 |
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
United States (RIAA) [12] | Gold | 500,000^ |
United States (RIAA) [12] | Platinum | 1,000,000^ |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. |
Killer is the third-most-represented album in Alice Cooper's concert setlists behind Welcome to My Nightmare (1975) and Billion Dollar Babies (1973), accounting for 13.3 percent of the songs he has played live. Alongside Welcome to My Nightmare, it is one of only two Alice Cooper albums where every song has been played live, although "Yeah, Yeah, Yeah" has never been played since the end of the supporting Killer Tour, while "You Drive Me Nervous" was not played subsequent to the Killer Tour until 1999, and has never been performed since 2006. "Desperado" was performed only once prior to the Trash Tour in 1989, but has been frequently played live since.
John Lydon of the Sex Pistols and Public Image Ltd called Killer the greatest rock album of all time. [13] Punk icons Jello Biafra and the Melvins covered the song "Halo of Flies" on their 2005 release Sieg Howdy! . Minneapolis rock band Halo of Flies took their name from this song as well. [14] Rockabilly musicians Mojo Nixon and Skid Roper covered the song "Be My Lover" on their 1986 release Frenzy . Heavy metal band Iced Earth covered the song "Dead Babies" for their 2002 release Tribute to the Gods . Guns N' Roses (featuring Alice Cooper) covered the song "Under My Wheels" on the soundtrack of The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years (1988).
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Under My Wheels" | 2:51 | |
2. | "Be My Lover" | Bruce | 3:21 |
3. | "Halo of Flies" |
| 8:22 |
4. | "Desperado" |
| 3:30 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
5. | "You Drive Me Nervous" |
| 2:28 |
6. | "Yeah, Yeah, Yeah" |
| 3:39 |
7. | "Dead Babies" |
| 5:44 |
8. | "Killer" |
| 6:57 |
Total length: | 37:08 |
Credits are adapted from the Killer liner notes. [15]
Alice Cooper
with:
Chart (1971-1972) | Peak position |
---|---|
Canada Top Albums/CDs ( RPM ) [16] | 11 |
Finnish Albums (The Official Finnish Charts) [17] | 22 |
US Billboard 200 [18] | 21 |
UK Albums (OCC) [19] | 27 |
Chart (2023) | Peak position |
---|---|
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia) [20] | 113 |
Scottish Albums (OCC) [21] | 22 |
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade) [22] | 82 |
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
United States (RIAA) [12] | Platinum | 1,000,000^ |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. |
Billion Dollar Babies is the sixth studio album by American rock band Alice Cooper, released in March 1973 by Warner Bros. Records. The album became the best selling Alice Cooper record at the time of its release, hitting number one on the album charts in the United States and the United Kingdom, and was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America.
Don't Look Back is the second studio album by American rock band Boston, released in 1978 by Epic Records. The album reached No. 1 in both the US and Canada, and No. 9 in the UK. The title track helped with the album's success, reaching No. 4 in 1978 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and remains one of the band's biggest hits. The album sold over one million copies in the ten days following its release and was certified 7× platinum by the RIAA in the US on April 11, 1996.
Desperado is the second studio album by the American band the Eagles. It was released on April 17, 1973, by Asylum Records. The album was produced by Glyn Johns and was recorded at Island Studios in London, England. The songs on Desperado are based on the themes of the Old West. The band members are featured on the album's cover dressed like an outlaw gang; Desperado remains the only Eagles album where the band members appear on the front cover.
On the Border is the third studio album by American rock band the Eagles, released on March 22, 1974. Apart from two songs produced by Glyn Johns, it was produced by Bill Szymczyk because the group wanted a more rock‑oriented sound instead of the country-rock feel of the first two albums. It is the first Eagles album to feature guitarist Don Felder. On the Border reached number 17 on the Billboard album chart and has sold two million copies.
Eagles Live is the first live album by the American rock band Eagles, a two-LP set released on November 7, 1980. Although the Eagles were already in the process of breaking up, the band owed Elektra/Asylum Records one more album and fulfilled that contractual obligation with a release of performances from the Hotel California and The Long Run tours.
Panorama is the third studio album by American new wave band the Cars, released on August 15, 1980, by Elektra Records. Like its predecessors, it was produced by Roy Thomas Baker and released on Elektra Records.
Rock of the Westies is the tenth studio album by English musician Elton John, released on 24 October 1975. The title is a spoonerism on the phrase "West of the Rockies", the album having been recorded at Caribou Ranch in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado.
Alice Cooper's Greatest Hits is the only greatest hits album by American rock band Alice Cooper, and their last release as a band. Released in 1974, it features hit songs from five of the band's seven studio albums. It does not include any material from their first two albums, Pretties for You and Easy Action.
Welcome to My Nightmare is the debut solo studio album by American rock musician Alice Cooper, released on February 28, 1975. It is his only album for the Atlantic Records label in North America; in the rest of the world, it was released on the ABC subsidiary Anchor Records. Welcome to My Nightmare is a concept album. Played in sequence, the songs form a journey through the nightmares of a child named Steven. The album inspired the Alice Cooper: The Nightmare TV special, a worldwide concert tour in 1975, and his Welcome to My Nightmare concert film in 1976. The ensuing tour was one of the most over-the-top excursions of that era. Most of Lou Reed's band joined Cooper for this record.
Muscle of Love is the seventh and final studio album by American rock band Alice Cooper. It was released in late 1973, the band played its last concert a few months later.
Lace and Whiskey is the third solo and tenth overall studio album by American rock singer Alice Cooper, released on April 29, 1977, by Warner Bros. Records.
From the Inside is the fourth solo studio album by American rock singer Alice Cooper, released in December 1978 by Warner Bros. Records. It is a concept album about Cooper's stay in a New York asylum due to his alcoholism. Each of the characters in the songs were based on actual people Cooper met in the asylum. Among other collaborators, the album features three longtime Elton John associates: lyricist Bernie Taupin, guitarist Davey Johnstone and bassist Dee Murray.
Love It to Death is the third studio album by American rock band Alice Cooper, released on March 9, 1971. It was the band's first commercially successful album and the first album that consolidated the band's aggressive hard-rocking sound, instead of the psychedelic and experimental rock style of their first two albums. The album's best-known track, "I'm Eighteen", was released as a single to test the band's commercial viability before the album was recorded.
School's Out is the fifth studio album by American rock band Alice Cooper, released in June 1972. Following on from the success of Killer, School's Out reached No. 2 on the US Billboard 200 chart and No. 1 on the Canadian RPM 100 Top Albums chart, holding the top position for four weeks. The single "School's Out" reached No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100, No. 3 on the Canadian RPM Top Singles Chart and went to No. 1 in the UK Singles Chart.
The Eyes of Alice Cooper, released in 2003, is the sixteenth solo album by American rock musician Alice Cooper. With this album, Cooper returned to his earlier hard rock sound, in the vein of The Last Temptation, and left the heavy industrial metal sound found in his last two studio albums. Of note is the album cover, which was released in four different versions, featuring alternate colours in Cooper's eyes and the crescent around the 'A' in the title. It was available in blue, green, purple and red.
Trash is the eleventh solo studio album by American rock musician Alice Cooper. It was released on July 25, 1989, by Epic Records. The album features the single "Poison", Cooper's first top ten hit since his single "You and Me" in 1977 and marked a great success in Cooper's musical career, reaching the Top 20 of various album charts and selling more than two million copies. Trash features John McCurry on guitar, Hugh McDonald of Bon Jovi on bass as well as Bobby Chouinard and Alan St. Jon, both from Billy Squier's solo band on drums and keyboards, respectively. The album was the "biggest hit among his hair metal albums", peaking at number two in the UK and number 20 in the US.
Along Came a Spider is the eighteenth solo studio album by American rock musician Alice Cooper, released in July 2008 by Steamhammer/SPV. A hard rock/heavy metal concept album, it chronicles the activities of a psychopathic serial killer known as 'Spider' and the eventual undoing of his plans. A commercial success, it ended up becoming Cooper's highest-charting studio effort in the United States since Hey Stoopid (1991).
"Halo of Flies" is a 1973 single by rock band Alice Cooper taken from their 1971 album Killer. The single was only released in the Netherlands, two years after the song appeared on the album. The song was, according to Cooper's liner notes in the compilation The Definitive Alice Cooper, an attempt by the band to prove that they could perform King Crimson-like progressive rock suites, and was supposedly about a spy organization.
Welcome 2 My Nightmare is the nineteenth solo album by American rock musician Alice Cooper, released in September 2011. Peaking at No. 22 in the Billboard 200 it is Cooper's highest-charting album in the US since 1989's Trash. The album is a sequel to his 1975 album Welcome to My Nightmare.
"Be My Lover" is a song by rock band Alice Cooper. It originally appeared on the group's Killer album in 1971 and was released as a single in early 1972. The song was written by guitarist Michael Bruce and was produced by Bob Ezrin.
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