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Rating:
Rough, ungraceful, rebellious, sadistic, monstrous, and at times horrifying, often bordering on bad taste: this is the portrait of the grandiose Alice Cooper in the eyes of a layperson during the glory days of rock music.
It should be remembered that this is actually the character Alice has always wanted to create, in contrast to the usual two-faced America, a blatant example of everyday life's contradictions. With the help of astounding stage performances, spiders and snakes, guillotines, hangings at the end of concerts, and that touch of the macabre that bloodied makeup around the eyes can add to an eternally angry face, Alice Cooper managed to be hated by the "respectable America" almost as much as he was loved by the youth, especially in the early '70s. The idea of using a woman's name as a moniker is also entirely revolutionary: Alice Cooper was the name of a witch who lived during the 17th century, whom Vincent Damon Furnier believes he is the reincarnation of, after receiving spiritual messages during a Ouija session. In 1974, he even had his name legally changed.
After two albums that were little appreciated by the audience and critics of the time, a window of success opened with "Love It To Death" and especially with the single "I'm Eighteen." "Killer," dated 1971 and produced by the omnipresent Bob Ezrin, is the act immediately preceding the album that would mark Alice Cooper's consecration, that is "School's Out" in 1972. "Killer" is an album today considered a classic, in which Alice Cooper continues his exploration of the dark side of life, combining solid rock with a sharp touch of satire.
The attack is entrusted to Under My Wheels, a rather mean track, with a very rock'n'roll riff featured along with horns that, starting from the solo, fill the riffs and verse. Be My Lover is a track whose guitar part has now become a cliché in the rock field. The ending and the slowed reprise are beautiful. The great masterpiece of this album is undoubtedly Halo Of Flies: the hypnotic intro, which develops into themes with different rhythms, and then the chilling guitar that marks the true beginning of the piece, on which the great Alice sings in splendid form. The part dominated by bassist Dennis Dunaway is frightening, with a backdrop of strings soon replaced by Neal Smith's relentless drumming, up to the dazzling finale. Desperado is another classic, where Alice croaks like a raven, dedicated to Jim Morrison, who died in that same year. Again, strings are arranged by Bob Ezrin.
You Drive Me Nervous is another typical Alice Cooper style track, on the wave of Under My Wheels. The riff of Yeah Yeah Yeah is stunning, a very cheerful song in which the harmonica stands out, giving an American touch to the piece. The song Dead Babies caused great controversy at the time, obviously misunderstood by the American public who cried scandal, even though it's actually a song against child abuse. The progression is slow, the atmosphere is dark, but the message is still positive and fully agreeable. Finally, another great masterpiece is Killer, the title-track, with obsessively dark guitar riffs, Alice Cooper's voice raging in every corner, and then heartbreaking screams over cadenced rhythms, a sort of funeral march made of keyboards and drums with Alice Cooper reciting a sort of sermon, leaving us with a strange and unpleasant final sound.
"Killer" is therefore an album very evocative, mixing macabre humor with teenage fears, a rock approach that tends towards the hard with orchestral touches scattered here and there, more melodic vocals with the powerful yet never unpleasant croaking of the artist. An already very mature album, the result of a good musical blend, the child of a cohesive formation and whose leader was soon destined to become a legend.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Under My Wheels (02:51)
The telephone is ringing
You got me on the run
I'm driving in my car now
Anticipating fun
I'm driving right up to you, babe
I guess that you couldn't see, yeah yeah
But you were under my wheels honey
Why don't you let me be
'Cause when you call me on the telephone
Saying take me to the show
And then I say, honey, I just can't go
Old lady's sick and I can't leave her home
The telephone is ringing
You got me on the run
I'm driving in my car now
I got you under my wheels
I got you under my wheels
I got you under my wheels
Yeah yeah
I got you under my wheels
Yeah yeah
I got you under my wheels
The telephone is ringing
You got me on the run
I'm driving in my car now
Anticipating fun
I'm driving right up to you, babe
I guess you that couldn't see, yeah yeah
But you was under my wheels, honey
Why don't you let me be, yeah yeah
I got you under my wheels
I got you under my wheels
I got you under my wheels
Yeah yeah
02 Be My Lover (03:21)
She struts into the room
Well I don't know her
But with a magnifying glance
I just sort of looked her over, hmm
We have a drink or two
Well, maybe three
And then suddenly she starts telling me
Her life story
She says
Baby, if you wanna be my lover
You better take me home
'Cause it's a long long way to paradise
And I'm still on my own
Told her that I came
From Detroit City
And I played guitar
In a long-haired rock and roll band
She asked me why
The singer's name was Alice
I said listen, baby
You really wouldn't understand
And I said
Oh baby, if you wanna
Be my lover
You better take me home
'Cause it's a long long way to paradise
And I'm still on my own
Oh baby, if you wanna
Be my lover
You better take me hoooooome
'Cause it's a long long way to paradise
And I'm still on my oooooown
Ooooooh
03 Halo of Flies (08:22)
I've got the answers
To all of your questions
If you've got the money
To pay me in gold
I will be living
In old Monte Carlo
And you will be reading
The secrets I sold
Daggers and contacts
And bright shiny limos
I've got a watch
That turns into a lifeboat
Glimmering nightgowns
And poisonous cobras
Silencer under the heel of my shoe
The elegance of China
They sent her to lie here on her back
But as she deeply moves me
She'd rather shoot me in my tracks
And while a Middle Asian lady
She really came as no surprise
But I still did destroy her
And I will smash
Halo of flies
I crossed the ocean
Where no one could see
And I put a time-bomb
In your submarine
Goodbye to old friends
The secret's in hand
With phony papers
And kentucky flats
You never will understand
04 Desperado (03:30)
I'm a gambler
And I'm a runner
But you knew that
When you lay down
I'm a picture
Of ugly stories
I'm a killer
And I'm a clown
Step into the street by sundown
Step into your last goodbye
You're a target just by living
Twenty dollars will make you die
I wear lace
And I wear black leather
My hands are lightning upon my gun
My shots are clean
And my, my shots are final
My shots are deadly
And when it's done
You're as stiff as my smoking barrel
You're as dead as a desert night
You're a notch
And I'm a legend
You're at peace
And I must hide
Tell me where the hell I'm going
'Let my bones fall in the dust
Can't you hear that ghost that's calling
As my Colt begins to rust
In the dust
I'm a killer
I'm a clown
I'm a priest
That's gone to town
05 You Drive Me Nervous (02:28)
Yeah, you
Seem so civilized
Your mama's tryin
To run your life
Your daddy's tryin
To pick your wife
Oh no
Yeah, you run around
With all that hair
They just don't like
Those rags you wear
You say
I'm gonna pack up my stuff
I'm gonna run away
And then you say
You drive me nervous, nervous
And then I said
You drive me nervous, nervous, nervous, oh
Nervous, nervous, nervous, nervous, whoa-oh-oh
Aaah
You're out of state
You're thrown in jail
You ain't got the bread
To pay the bail
Your mom and papa come up and said
"Honey, where did we fail?"
And then you scream
You drive me nervous, nervous
And then I screamed
You drive me nervous, nervous, nervous, oh
Nervous, nervous, nervous, nervous, whoa-oh-oh
You drive me ne-ne-ne-nervous
Ne-ne-ne-nervous
You drive me nervous
Whoa
06 Yeah, Yeah, Yeah (03:39)
You can be my slave and I'll be your stranger
We could be in passion, we could be in danger
Take you off the streets, put you under my wings, yeah,
You could pull my leg or anything
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Oh yeah
You could be the devil, you could be the saviour
Well I really can't tell by the way that your behavior
I'll take you off the boat put you under my wing
Yeah, you could pull my leg or anything
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Oh yeah
I don't know what you're playin'
Don't even know what you're sayin'
You gotta leave me alone
I'm gonna go on home
Aaoh, the things are gettin' tougher
Yeah, the things are gettin' rougher
This is Alice speakin'
(Suffer!)
Yeah
Yeah, yeah, yeah
You could be the devil, you could be the saviour
Well I really can't tell by the way that your behavior
Take you off the streets, put you under my wings, yeah
Yyou could pull my leg or anything
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
08 Killer (06:57)
What did I do to deserve such a fate
I didn't really want to get
Involved in this thing
Someone handed me this gun and I
I gave it everything
Yeah, I gave it everything
I came into this life
Looked all around
I saw just what I liked
And took what I found
Nothing came easy
Nothing came free
Nothing came all until they
Came after me
Yeah-hey, yeah
(What did I do to deserve such a fate?)
(I gave it everything)
(Now I need to escape)
(Someone near me, calling my name)
(I gave it everything)
(I gave it everything - sigh)
Miles and miles...
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Other reviews
By JeffChow
"Killer," one of the most fascinating albums by Alice Cooper and, consequently, one of the classic rock albums of the ’70s.
"Dead Babies," the story of a girl who died after accidentally ingesting aspirin, ignored by her own parents.
