After the success of their
Love It to Death
album and its hit single "I'm Eighteen,"
Alice Cooper
seemed poised to make a giant leap to the head of the hard rock class.
Killer
delivers on the promise and then some, as it offers moments of sweaty rock & roll brilliance, oddball horror ballads, and garage rock freakouts, all wrapped up in a glammy, sleazy package. Working again with producer
Bob Ezrin
, the band craft a sound that's powerful and lithe with guitars that slash and snake around each other, drums and bass that provide a solid foundation but aren't short on melody and hooks, and of course
's one-of-a-kind vocals. Whether he's strutting, crooning, or slowly going insane, his voice is like the character in a movie you can't take your eyes off for a second because you might miss a small gesture or look that will shock and surprise. The one-two punch of "Under My Wheels" and "Be My Lover" is one of the great album openers of all time, both songs taking classic rock & roll tropes and giving them an evil twist with romping horns, doo wop background vocals, and the kind of libertine lyrics that are guaranteed to drive parents crazy. After this, the album takes off in a variety of directions including the horror prog ballad "Dead Babies," the raucous rockers "You Drive Me Nervous" and "Yeah Yeah Yeah" that come across like
Steppenwolf
tracks made by real bikers, the Western gunfighter ballad "Desperado" -- which juxtaposes some lovely orchestrated strings against
Cooper
's croaking vocals -- and the oddly rollicking title track where
does a convincing carnival barker imitation while guitarists
Mike Bruce
and
Glen Buxton
get a chance to unwind and kick up some dust. 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. The album's centerpiece "Halo of Flies" is a stunning work of rock & roll that encompasses the gutter freak psych of the band's earliest work, the expansive scope of prog rock, bits of The Sound of Music, martial drum solos, very stoned blues riffing, and
's alternately pleading and withering vocals. It's the work of a band who can barely control all the ideas flowing out of them, yet somehow manage to corral their energy and creativity into something epic and unique. Indeed, there was no other group quite like
operating in 1971 and
is the moment where they put all the pieces together and began to soar. ~ Tim Sendra