Killer

Sure, now he\'s a hard rock cartoon, but back in the early \'70s, preacher\'s son Vince Furnier and his underrated band were getting\' glammy and shaking up the rock world. As this record proves, they definitely had more going on than just a theatrical stage show filled with snakes, guillotines, and fake gore. Cooper\'s time at the top was short, but of his four essential albums, all recorded and released in three years, 1972\'s *Killer* may be best. Like David Bowie from the same era, Cooper\'s albums were not nearly as loud or heavy as the band was live. Here the crispness in the production is still a shock. Part of the success comes from his classic band: Guitarists Michael Bruce and Glen Buxton, bassist Dennis Dunaway and drummer Neal Smith gelled here in particularly gritty fashion. Thanks to producer Bob Ezrin who focused Cooper\'s run of hit albums, it contains the best album opening one-two punch of Cooper\'s career: the crashing cymbals and screaming guitars of \"Under My Wheels\" (whose opening line, \"The telephone is ringing/You got me on the run\" by the late Michael Bruce has become an unforgettable rock epigram) followed by the riff rock of \"Be My Lover\" which chronicles a band whose \"singer\'s name was Alice.\"

For the first time since 1992,Rolling Stone'sdefinitive classic returns to the scene, completely updated and revised to include the past decade's artists and sounds. When it comes to sorting the truly great from the merely mediocre, the enduring from the fleeting,The New Rolling Stone Album Guideprovides music buffs and amateurs alike with authoritative guidance from the best voices in the field. Filled with insightful commentary, it not only reviews the most influential albums of all time, but also features biographical overviews of key artists' careers, giving readers a look at the personalities behind the music.This fourth edition contains an impressive -- 70 percent -- amount of new material. Readers will find fresh updates to entries on established artists, hundreds of brand-new entries on the people and recordings that epitomize the '90s and the sounds of the 21st century -- from Beck to OutKast to the White Stripes and beyond -- along with a new introduction detailing changes in the music industry.Celebrating the diversity of popular music and its constant metamorphoses, with thousands of entries and reviews on every sound from blues to techno,The New Rolling Stone Album Guideis the only resource music lovers need to read.

Alice Cooper wasted little time following up the breakthrough success of Love It to Death with another album released the same year, Killer.