REISSUES
When it came to the application of a preferred gender pronoun, it made things a lot easier for the broadly baffled early 70s zeitgeist, when faced by early (largely inconclusive) press shots that Alice Cooper were a ‘they’. Kohl-caked Coop singular, staggering about on heels and wearing that most gender-neutral of all garments, the straitjacket, made for a confusing spectacle, and audiences were more than ready to dismiss both singer and collective entity as a hype-driven gimmick with way more hair than strictly necessary. Until, that is, they heard Killer.
The Coopers’ second album of ’71 was their fourth in all, and second with producer Bob Ezrin. Learning on the job, getting to know and capitalise on the band’s strengths, Ezrin distilled the essence of their Love It To Death breakthrough to deliver Killer (10/10), one of the finest hard rock albums of all time.
Kicking off with the searing clarion riff of (still the most seamlessly effective use of brass in rock), showcases key elements that mark the Coopers out as one of history’s greatest bands: a Beatle-esque features astoundingly assured BVs, while prog-attuned epic highlights secret weapon Dennis Dunaway’s imaginative bass which – along with Glen
