Billion Dollar Babies

After the conceptual and not particularly great School's Out the year previous, Alice Coooper returned with a career best effort. This is a classic of the highest order. It's one of those albums that just works. It's studded with classic songs and feels cohesive in tone as a whole piece of music. 'Hello Hooray' is actually a cover but it fits the band like a glove and is a stunning opening, making the song their classic. 'Raped and Freezin' is not well known but is catchy as hell and a great throwback to their earlier albums, such as Love It To Death and Killer. 'Elected' is one of those songs that defy critique, like 'School's Out', as they have been so over-used in our culture from anything like adverts through actual political campaigns to film soundtracks. And the uninitiated may like to know that it is in fact a reworking of the track 'Reflected' (see what they did there?) from their first album, Pretties For You (another very worthy record). The title track is another classic of the highest order and has also become timeless. 'Unfinished Sweet' is the alternative track, there's always one or 2 on an album, but it is more coherent than most and is a great fun song. 'No More Mr Nice Guy' is yet another timeless classic that is ripe for covering by other bands. The Megadeth version is one such example of how different it can sound in another sub-genre without changing the song structure at all. 'Generation Landslide' is quite a side-step. It does fit with the rest but only just as it is almost a folk song. 'Sick Things' is a lesser known classic, very Alice. Dirty but with tongue firmly in cheek. 'Mary Anne' represents the kind of songs that would emerge after the band split up and Alice continued on his own and it does sound like a song played on a pianee in a western film. 'I Love the Dead' finishes it all off in true classic style, as anthemic as the opener. Possibly their (and his) finest album as a whole. There have been other great albums and classic tracks but none quite so good as what is on offer here. With the possible exception of Welcome to My Nightmare.

Had this album in 1973 and has long been a favourite album with memorable songs, especially the singles. I still have the original album cover but alas not the album due to an unfortunate brain fart when I was 16. I decided it would be a good idea to cut out ther perforated pictures on the inner gatefold, so far so good, then with stanely knife in hand started to cut out the pictures. Catastrophie! I'd forgotten the vinyl was still insitu and yes I'd cut a square into the grooves on one side. So now 50 years later I now have it back in my vinyl collection, a bit pricey to be sure but I just had to get it to soothe my conscience. The remaster is as expected, more detail and the sleeve is a fantstic facsimili albut with triple gatefold, love the faux snakeskin feel. Overall worth the money with a vinyl release of the concert from the CD version.

I still have the original but had been looking forward to this release since the remasters of Killer and School's Out in similar format. Not much to say except I consider it an essential purchase for fans. The quality of the pressing and packaging are worth the relatively high price, and the music makes it the best ever Cooper album in my opinion. The extras make the whole thing worth having even if you have the original album. For new fans, perhaps an ordinary CD would be a better choice, and certainly cheaper, but I would expect the superfans like myself to have bought it by now.

I had this album on cassette, which I am now unable to play, so I thought that I would get it on CD. OK, so its now 46 years old, and sounds much softer than I remember. That said, I still love this album. I would have bought it just for Elected and No More Mr Nice Guy, but I don't think that there are any weak tracks on it. Additional versions would have been nice, but we can't have everything. This is still an album that I enjoy listening to. Sound quality is certainly so much better than the cassette was. Would recommend.

Classic Alice , my favourite, had the original record back in seventies. Bought early 2000 reissue on cd but decided to invest in the new vinyl addition. The sound is a definite improvement and the attention to detail with package is faultless. My most expensive vinyl investment but for sheer nostalgia this is actually worth it. Takes me back !

This is the only Alice Cooper album I've heard, courtesy of a friend who owned a copy in the 1970s. Musically, it's easy to place in the right era, similar in style to what the likes of Bowie, The Stones and Mott were doing at the time. Cooper has a great band and adds a few touches aside, such as the horns on 'Elected.' The difficulty is pulling off a great rock album that goes all theatrical. There are moments when I think Cooper goes too much for the latter, but they are few. Lyrically, of course, he's way ahead of everyone. What seemed, and probably was, shock for effect at the time, now seems prophetic. The hitch-hiker of 'Raped And Freezin'' meets his match at the hands of the opposite sex, an unlikely story at the time, but not so now. 'I Love The Dead' doesn't feel like such a rare tale these days either. We were more cosseted from the truth then; these days the media bring us weirder news. As for personal favourites, 'Unfinished Sweet' is macabre and hilarious, especially the tooth-pulling in the middle. 'Elected' is gloriously riotous. 'No More Mr Nice Guy' is obvious hit material. The first two tracks are great rockers. The last few tracks tend more toward Cooper's penchant for the dramatic, but you can't help but grin awkwardly at them. For all Cooper's shock tactics, this is a great rock album.

Alice Cooper is one of the most original and innovative artists ever seen. A handful of albums stood out with influence and impact on music history beyond imagination. School's Out, Billion Dollars Babies, Killer and Special Forces were not mere collections of songs but coherent suites of unique statements. The power, musical mastery and lyrics provocative as none before cannot be ignored. The new issue is not merely a remastering but a remix and for me not to the better. The vocals are downsized and lacks the presence and intimacy of the original mix. Many of the original unique growls, grunts and other vocal spices have been saniticed away. You need Alice's voice in your face to feel the tenseness and danger. When I listen to the aforementioned albums for the umpteenth time I get shivers down the spine from exactly the small vocal antics. The remix is a victory of technical perfection over guts. It's still a darn good piece of red meat but who took away the salt and pebber? Buy both the original issue and the 2 cd reissue, please!

An amazing nostalgia trip but probably not for everyone. The classic album remastered along with a live set from Houston Texas, some outtakes and several alternate/singles versions as well as a beautifully embossed "snakeskin" cover, a reproduction of the Billion Dollar bill from the original and an 8 page "Story Of" booklet make this 50th Anniversary triple album the definitive version to date. A bit on the overly expensive side but a must-have for Vinyl loving Alice fans. The sound quality is very good too with no pressing issues.

Great early CD by Alice Cooper, CD sounds and plays great

Item simplesmente maravilhoso e incrível! Reedição extremamente caprichada e pensada nos fãs. Capa tripla com textura de pele de cobra, todos os encartes originais (envelope com letras pro disco original e nota de “1 Bilhão de Dólares), imitando uma carteira assim como a original! Fora o disco clássico ainda vem mais 2 discos contendo um show ao vivo da turnê do álbum com som incrível!! O motivo de tirar uma estrela é porque um dos cantos da capa do disco veio levemente amassada, creio eu que devido ao transporte e a caixa da Amazon ter chegado beeem amassada. Fora isso entrega chegou antes do previsto e o item é incrível e maravilhoso, um dos itens mais especiais da minha coleção! Valeu o preço bem caro. Discos em 180g e com excelente sonoridade e som bem limpo

Así es. El tema Elected confundió a la gente, sobre todo por su videoclip. Muchos pensaron que Alice se había metido en la política. Nada más lejos de la realidad. Seguía siendo políticamente incorrecto y macabro. La producción del gran Bob Ezrin (este hombre participó también en The Wall y Berlin, entre otros muchos álbumes) le dá el punto de sofisticación que le hace dar el salto hacia la inmortalidad. Porque así debe ser considerado Billion Dollar Babies, como uno de los mejores álbumes de la historia del Rock. Como curiosidad, decir que el tema homónimo hizo creer a mucha gente que el dueto de Alice era con Robert Plant. En realidad era el cantautor inglés Donovan, y su falsete le dá el contrapunto genial a ese tema. Junto con Ezrin siempre suele venir la pareja de super guitarristas Hunter-Wagner. En este álbum también hacen sus aportes, aunque todos los miembros del Alice Cooper Group están sobresalientes. Esta edición es preciosa en todos los sentidos, e incluye un magnífico 2º. CD con un concierto en directo. No se puede pedir más.

J'avais le single en 45 tours et je suis ravi d'avoir l'album avec cette qualité de son. Un grand classique.

I grew up on my older brother's copy of "Alice Cooper Goes To Hell" and later picked up "The Alice Cooper Show" and "Greatest Hits" on my own, but found much of his earlier material a little raw and not as diverse as my favorite "Goes To Hell" LP, so I just never explored his older albums. But after taking in my first Cooper concert recently, I had to explore and decided to start here, with the Deluxe Edition of BDB, which was definitely a wise choice! Disc 1 contains the original album (10 tracks) and is a solid listen. The opening "Hello, Hooray" sets the tone here as it did for live shows on the ensuing tour. "Raped And Freezing" is plenty catchy and showcases a little diversity with a fiesta-flavored ending to highlight the lyrics. The next 5 songs are my favorites: the classic "Elected" is all satire as only Alice Cooper can deliver it; the title track follows and delivers another classic that stands the test of time decades later, both on record and in concert; "Unfinished Sweet" is classic Cooper for about 90 seconds before launching into an extended musical interlude that showcases the strength of Alice Cooper as an actual BAND and is not to be missed. "No More Mr Nice Guy" is the Who-inspired riff (See: "Substitute") with lyrics only Cooper can deliver, firmly announcing to all that he was perfectly willing to go deeper into the world he had already created, much to the dismay and disgust of his critics. As far as "hit single potential", this might be the best Cooper ever did. Next up is the highly under-rated "Generation Landslide" that absolutely should have been a hit. I like the closing songs too: "Sick Things" is Cooper's ode to his fanbase, followed by the short and sweet "Mary Ann", and then the album's closer, Cooper's tongue-in-cheek ode to necrophelia, "I Love The Dead". All in all, this is a solid album classic I can listen to in its entirety over and over. Bob Ezrin's master-touches are evident and without doubt helped Cooper reach this plateau, but managed to do so without sacrificing the essence of Alice Cooper from earlier efforts. And the bonus disc is an unexpected surprise: the 11 live cuts recorded during two Texas performances early in the BDB tour are strong and include most of the cuts from the BDB album (plus a couple of older classics). I wish they'd released more of what they captured, but what we get is more than worthwhile as a 1973 live document. And even the 3 studio bonus tracks are worthwhile: "Son of Billion Dollar Babies" is actually an early take of "Generation Landslide" but is worth hearing. "Slick Black Limousine" is a great track that was recorded during the BDB sessions but doesn't quite "fit" on the album, so I can see why it wasn't included. But it's great to have here. Also included is an early draft of "Slick Black Limousine" ("Coal Black Model T"), which is a bit redundant, but even that is worthwhile listening, making this entire set -- both the album and bonus disc -- great listening. Bottom line: if you're a fan and don't have this, GET IT. Totally worth it. If you're not quite yet a fan but interested in exploring, this is quite possibly Cooper's best studio album and this version is most definitely the one to get.