Of all the people you would have predicted to write teenage
\nanthems in the early- to mid-’70s, who would have put their money
\non Alice Cooper?<\/p>\n
The father of shock-rock first caught the eardrums of teenage
\nAmerica with “I’m Eighteen,” then followed it up with the ultimate
\nsummer vacation anthem, “School’s Out”. In 1973, Cooper looked to
\nkeep that streak alive with
\nBillion Dollar Babies<\/i>, and while there are some rather tasty
\ntracks on this album, it also was a sign that the machine might
\nhave been running out of gas.<\/p>\n
Packaged in a sleeve that was designed to look like a snakeskin
\nwallet,
\nBillion Dollar Babies<\/i> is best remembered for “No More Mr.
\nNice Guy,” a song that still ranks as one of Cooper’s best works
\never, and the title track which features the work of the
\nhurdy-gurdy man himself, Donovan (though I can’t tell where the
\nhell he came in on that song).<\/p>\n
The songs on
\nBillion Dollar Babies<\/i> showed that Cooper could still turn
\nsurprising tricks in stories (such as the subject matter of “Raped
\nAnd Freezin’, which dares to make a woman the aggressor), surprise
\npeople with stories that have morals (“Unfinished Sweet,” a song
\nwhich shows why I refuse to visit the dentist) and even make the
\nstomach of your mind turn a bit (“Sick Things,” “I Love The Dead”).
\nFor that matter, am I the only person in the world who thinks it
\nwould be the perfect matchup to have Cooper and Marilyn Manson
\nco-headline a tour together?<\/p>\n
But for all of the strengths on
\nBillion Dollar Babies<\/i>, there are equal amounts of weakness.
\nThe album’s opener, “Hello Hooray” is not the strongest way to kick
\noff an album, while “Elected,” a song which could have been a
\nkiller track (and could have even been a theme had Cooper decided
\nto run for office), just doesn’t live up to the expectations I had
\nfor it. It’s not a bad song, it’s just nothing special.<\/p>\n
The second side has some of the weaker material, such as
\n“Generation Landslide” and “Mary-Ann”. Even “I Love The Dead” is a
\nbit too macabre for me – if I wanted detail that graphic, I’d go
\nrent
\nFaces Of Death<\/i> and lose my lunch all over the couch. (For
\nthat matter, the dust sleeve photo of the baby made up to look like
\nAlice – well, I thought it was kind of sick, to tell the truth. The
\nkid didn’t look too happy, and the makeup looked like Tammy Faye
\nBakker’s runny mascara while her slimebag husband was busy lying to
\npeople.)<\/p>\n
The overall sound of the album, despite production work from Bob
\nEzrin, is a bit muddy, though I’m willing to concede this to my old
\nvinyl copy that’s been in the Pierce Archives for some two years
\nnow, waiting for me to listen to it. The CD could sound better, I
\ndon’t know.<\/p>\n
\nBillion Dollar Babies<\/i> most likely will be a welcome addition
\nto the collection of any diehard Alice Cooper fan, but for someone
\nwho’s just dabbling in his music, you might be best off picking up
\nthe greatest hits album, then coming back to this one if only for
\n“Unfinished Sweet”.<\/p>\n
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