Review: Alice Cooper: ‘Billion Dollar Babies’ 50th Trillion Dollar Deluxe Edition
By Hal Horowitz
There aren’t many rock bands from any decade who have strung together quite as extraordinary an album run as Alice Cooper did from 1971-1973.
In those four years, the once scrappy garage/psychedelic rockers created five classic albums that not only defined the era, but have influenced dozens of other acts and, better still, remain as fresh, vibrant and darkly humorous today as when they were first unleashed to an unsuspecting public.
Many accurately credit producer Bob Ezrin whose notable career pretty much began with his superb co-production work on the Cooper band’s third disc, 1971 Love It to Death, featuring the still relevant single “I’m Eighteen.” He followed with exceptional efforts on Killer (1971), School’s Out (1972) and finally Billion Dollar Babies. Although Ezrin didn’t appear on the same year’s follow-up, Muscle of Love, which wasn’t quite up to the five star standards of the previous four, his input into the band’s sound and approach was crucial. Still, most conclude that his most impressive collaboration with Alice Cooper was on 1973s Billion Dollar Babies, the act’s only top charting album.
A cursory calendar glance reveals that in 2024 we are a touch late for a 50th anniversary celebration of BDB. Faithful Cooper fans might remember a “deluxe” double disc appearing in 2001 that included the majority of what’s here. But it’s worth reassessing as it passes its fifth decade with an updated remastering and newly available notes.
Although Cooper had notched a few prominent radio appearances previous to Billion Dollar Babies (“School’s Out” famously climbed into the Top 10 on the charts, it’s album notching at #2), the release spawned such perennial classics as “Elected,” “No More Mister Nice Guy,” “Hello Hooray,” “Generation Landslide” and the title track which remain standards in Cooper’s live repertoire. Those five selections are featured in 2001s single disc overview of Cooper’s career, the most from any catalog entry, confirming how essential BDB is to the frontman’s extensive history.
“Elected”
As with other Cooper records, this one was written with the stage presentation in mind. Opening 1973s supporting tour, “Hello Hooray” (one of the band’s few covers which Ezrin initially heard on a Judy Collins album), kicked off each gig as a perfect introduction (“Hello hooray, let the show begin…I’ve been waiting so long to sing my song”) before winding into the majority of Billion Dollar Babies’ tracks. Cooper’s highly theatrical– at the time many considered it over-the-top– prop-heavy (guillotine, snake, oversized toothbrush, whips, flamboyant costumes and 300 baby dolls) presentation is easy to imagine. It’s exemplified by “Unfinished Sweet”’s masochistic dentist tale complete with dreamlike spy images caused by general anesthesia, done in almost prog-styled “suite” format, and “Sick Things” with its creepy/ominous litany of some of Cooper’s most unsavory characteristics. “I Love the Dead,” which followed the legendary “Dead Babies” in concert, is self-explanatory although he more than “loves” the deceased (“I have other uses for you darling,” he snarls with that lascivious voice). These are visually evocative even in their studio versions.
The thumping title track boasting a thunderous drum pattern connects with a surprisingly fearless Donovan, playing ying to Cooper’s yang. The unusual association happened accidentally as the folk singer was recording at the same location and was asked to guest on a whim. Bang! Instant classic.
While no one ever considered Cooper a blues musician, he acquits himself remarkably well blowing tough, credible blues harmonica on “Generation Landslide,” a talent inspired by his love of the Yardbirds. Jimi Hendrix gets nicked for the opening guitar lick of “Elected” (grabbed from “Dolly Dagger”), but the song, reworking an earlier Cooper track “Reflected,” is a politically charged response to the 1972 presidential election. It has since been revived almost annually for Election Day and is one of the group’s most recognizable compositions.
With “No More Mr. Nice Guy,” the album’s most streamed and resilient hit, Cooper’s dry wit and murkier qualities dovetail into a concise, propulsive and crackling single. It codifies his excesses and hard rocking power into one succinct three and a half minute classic with a chorus so undeniable you can sing it after a single spin.
This expanded package presents the initial ten tracks on the first disc, adding a second with 13 excerpts from 1973s BDB tour (two more than 2001s edition), along with four edited singles that also absent from that reissue. The occasionally ragged concert recordings display rawer interpretations of the slicker Ezrin enhanced material, spotlighting just how tight and talented Cooper’s outfit was.
A major attraction to this set is a lengthy book with voluminous and detailed quotes from all the living band members (guitarist Glen Buxton passed in 1997) and Ezrin about each studio and live inclusion. It’s a captivating behind the scenes peek at how, when, and why the music took its final shape with previously little known and fascinating details about the making of a 70s classic that has retained its charm, underlying humor and musical moxie.
Pre-order the album HERE
Leave A Comment