| Killer | |||||
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| Studio album by Alice Cooper | |||||
| Released | December, 1971 | ||||
| Recorded | 1971 | ||||
| Genre | Hard rock Heavy metal Garage rock Glam rock Rock and roll |
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| Length | 37:08 | ||||
| Label | Warner Bros. Records | ||||
| Producer | Bob Ezrin | ||||
| Professional reviews | |||||
| Alice Cooper chronology | |||||
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Killer is the 1971 album by Alice Cooper. Cooper said in the liner notes of Fistful of Alice and also on In the Studio with Redbeard, which spotlighted the Killer and Love it to Death albums, that the song "Desperado" was written about his friend Jim Morrison who died the same year this album was released. According to an NPR radio interview with Alice Cooper, "Desperado" was written about Robert Vaughn's character from the movie The Magnificent Seven. Halo of Flies 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 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. Johnny Rotten of the Sex Pistols and Public Image Ltd. called Killer the greatest rock album of all time. It was listed at #18 in Joe S. Harrington's Top 100 Albums written between 2001 and 2003. Punk band Jello Biafra & the Melvins covered the song "Halo of Flies" on their 2005 release Sieg Howdy!.
Track listing
- "Under My Wheels" (Michael Bruce, Dennis Dunaway, Bob Ezrin) - 2:51
- "Be My Lover" (Bruce) - 3:21
- "Halo of Flies" (Alice Cooper, Glen Buxton, Bruce, Dunaway, Neal Smith) - 8:22
- "Desperado" (Cooper, Bruce) - 3:30
- "You Drive Me Nervous" (Cooper, Bruce, Ezrin) - 2:28
- "Yeah, Yeah, Yeah" (Cooper, Bruce) - 3:39
- "Dead Babies" (Cooper, Buxton, Bruce, Dunaway, Smith) - 5:44
- "Killer" (Bruce, Dunaway) - 6:57
Personnel
- Alice Cooper - vocals
- Glen Buxton - lead guitar
- Michael Bruce - rhythm guitar, keyboards
- Dennis Dunaway - bass guitar
- Neal Smith - drums
- Rick Derringer - additional guitar
