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Related: Culture Forums, Support ForumsDU Album of the Day: "Billion Dollar Babies" Alice Cooper
No, really! Alice Cooper (né Vincent Furnier) was once considered cutting-edge shock rock. And "Billion Dollar Babies" is perhaps his best album, top to bottom. There are the singles, "Elected" and "No More Mr. Nice Guy," and the stuff that made your parents cringe ("Sick Things" and "I Love the Dead" - so you didn't play those tracks when they were around), but behind the sometimes uneven lyrics, there's some pretty good music here.
The album leads off with "Hello Hooray," a stately rock anthem that sometimes growls and prowls, before moving into more standard fare. It all hangs together quite well, by turns showing off the various members of the band, and more than one song finishes off with an unexpected coda ("Raped and Freezin'" and "Mary Ann" . You might also notice that Alice Cooper has some pretty good vocal chops.
Things that shocked in the 1970s are pretty tame by today's standards. Now may be the era to enjoy the sound of a band that, then and now, is pretty tight.
1 Hello Hooray
2 Raped and Freezin'
3 Elected
4 Billion Dollar Babies
5 Unfinished Sweet
6 No More Mr. Nice Guy
7 Generation Landslide
8 Sick Things
9 Mary Ann
10 I Love the Dead
Populist_Prole
(5,364 posts)Odd lyrics aside, it's good straight ahead hard rock, 70's style.
leftyohiolib
(5,917 posts)muscle of love was a good one too - it has "hard hearted alice" and "crazy little child"
"love it to death" has the song "ballad of dwight frye" great stuff
"school's out" album with "my stars" "blue turk" and "luney toon" "public animal #9"
man i could go on and on i loved alice and the group
OriginalGeek
(12,132 posts)if you like hard rock at all you should try to see him live. He puts on a helluvva show.
Queuing up BDB right now..
CBGLuthier
(12,723 posts)hifiguy
(33,688 posts)is a great tune and a great riff. Played that sucker in a lot of basement bands back in the halcyon daze of yore (the 1970s).
bluesbassman
(19,374 posts)"you're going to hell for listening to that filth"
Was at my buddy's house listening to it right after it came out. I guess he'd been listening to it A LOT because his fundie mom came pounding on the door with her dire warning.
Oh well, at least we're enjoying the ride.
Side note, I saw Alice a year or so back. Took my 18yr old son. I think he enjoyed it more than I did. Great showman is Mr. Cooper.
OriginalGeek
(12,132 posts)It was the early 70s and her mom took her and dropped her off at the Alice Cooper show
but only because she thought Alice was a girl....
We've seen him a few times since then and had great fun every time.
mokawanis
(4,442 posts)My dad drove me and a friend to see Alice when I was a sophmore in high-school. It was my first concert and I loved it. Alice brought Santa Claus out on the stage and punched and kicked him.