Monday, February 04, 2008

Nostalgic Review - Killer by Alice Cooper

"Killer" by Alice Cooper was the second album I ever bought. I remember hearing it at a friends house and being totally blown away by "Halo of Flies" and "Desperado". The entire album is great but those two songs stand out for me even 36 years after its release. Progressive rock and "heavy" rock were the genres I liked in those days and "Killer" definitely fell into the "progressive rock" category. Most people think of Alice Cooper as "shock rock" but that was his stage act and a way to get attention. The music itself and the lyrics were of a very high quality - clever and insightful.

I lost my LP of Killer many years ago during a move and a month ago I was feeling nostalgic so I decided to get Killer on CD and I was not disappointed: great songs and a theatrical climax with the song "Killer" itself - the one Alice used to hand himself to. A little melodramatic, but the song is about a gunman in the old west, lamenting his life and his impending death: "someone handed me this gun and I ... I gave it everything."

As I said my two favorites are "Halo of Flies" (a humorous song about spies, with great instrumental sections) and "Desperado" (a quiet, reflective song about a gun for hire in the old west - not to be confused with the Eagle's song of the same name).

Anyway, this is a five star album and well worth getting.

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