Billion Dollar Babies
Alice Cooper
1973
Album Summary
Billion Dollar Babies is the sixth studio album by American rock band Alice Cooper, released on February 25, 1973 by Warner Bros. Records. The album became the best selling Alice Cooper record at the time of its release, hit number one on the album charts in both the United States and the United Kingdom, and went on to be certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. The album has been retrospectively praised by such critics as Robert Christgau, Greg Prato of AllMusic, and Jason Thompson of PopMatters, but The Rolling Stone Album Guide (2004) gave the album only two and a half stars. Songs were recorded in both the state of Connecticut and London, England. Lyrics cover topics and themes such as necrophilia, dental fear, horror, and sexual harassment. At 40 minutes and 51 seconds, it is the longest studio album the band has ever released; this does not count any of Cooper’s solo albums.
WikipediaKind of like a very competent Halloween gag. Also, weirdly, I don't think I knew what Alice Cooper sounded like until this.
This owns. I always thought Alice Cooper was just a gothy joke, like Elvira.
Alice Cooper just seems a bit lame by today's standards. Like if Disney did Cradle of Filth
Love the dark, gritty themes of this album over the loud, anthemic, hard rock guitars. Cooper's got a killer voice. Standout Tracks: Hello Hooray, Elected, Billion Dollar Babies, Mary Ann, I Love the Dead
Way better than I had expected. Should’ve listened to this a long time ago
5 star. Was going to give 4.5 but fuck it - A masterpiece by Alice and the band. One of my favorites when I was in high school, mostly for the shock rock value. But now now I see it has artistic value beyond that
Favs: Billion Dollar Babies, I Love the Dead, Hello Hooray, No More Mr. Nice Guy Mehs: I don't really think this one has "mehs." But Raped and Freezin' is my least favorite. Great stuff. Essential rock. Alice Cooper! \m/(>.<)\m/
-An absolutely fantastic album -"Hello Hooray" is a great anthemic-esque track -"Elected" is a fun take on politics, and a total jam -"Billion Dollar Babies" is an incredible track. Great guitar riffs throughout, some great bass slides, catchy lyrics, and basically anything else you could want -"No More Mr. Nice Guy" sits with "School's Out" as the 2 Alice Cooper tracks I expect literally anyone to have heard -"I Love The Dead" is classic macabre Alice Cooper. Great imagery, easy to sing along chorus, some crazy breathing sound effects, and lots of fancy instrumentation, as well as a nice bit of a jam in the middle
Alice Cooper’s magnus opus. An outstanding compilation of songs that does not disappoint the listener. The histrionic Hello Hurray starts the fantastic trip impeccably, several bangers follow, finally closing with the I Love The Dead (one of my favorite in the record) This is a seminal record that made history, not only in the glam rock, but in the 70s scene
I was very surprised at how much I actually enjoyed this. With the exception of a few of the last tracks I loved it. Gets a five because of how much I was taken back.
Alright, look. I'm a huge Alice Cooper fan, and so I am going to make a strong attempt to be as objective as possible in this review. And it is from the perspective of that objective lens that I am here to tell you that this album 100% deserves to be on this project. Alice Cooper brought shock rock out of its prototypal obscurity and perfected it. That didn’t happen without its fair bit of experimentation. But it was on this sixth studio album that Alice Cooper's efforts reached a point of stars aligning and coming together. Billion Dollar Babies brings together the best of the band's work thus far in the areas of glam, metal, horror, and shock. The album is consistent and cohesive throughout, with interesting lyrics and vocals, dark horror-inspired topics, excellent riffs, and hard hitting rock. The band went through a significant polishing phase during this album, even down to Alice Cooper himself honing in on his signature look, a look that he is still ultimately known for today. The success of this album was a culmination that led to the also incredibly successful Billion Dollar Babies Tour, a true shock rock theatrical spectacle that included drills, guillotines, body parts, blood, whips, and thousands of other pounds of miscellaneous horror paraphernalia. (Seriously, if you care about shock rock, watch the tour recording, "Good To See You Again, Mr. Cooper" and witness history in the making.) This album and its tour undeniably shaped and changed the course of shock rock, and was undoubtedly an inspiration for other shock rock legends such as Rob Zombie and Marilyn Manson. The impact just can’t be overstated. Honestly, this album just slays.
i must preface this review with saying alice cooper is my favorite artist. i cannot manage to be unbiased in my review and i'm glad to use this as an excuse to listen to a fantastic album. billion dollar babies is AMAZING. it showcases the alice cooper band's shock rock sound. the band definitely hit their stride in this album--i think it's their best (band-wise). a lot of what the band does here they were already doing: they were writing witty lyrics like what's in "elected," creating creepy songs like "unfinished sweet" dating back a few years, and writing amazing guitar, bass, and drum melodies (that drum intro on "billion dollar babies"? WOW). but there's something amazing about this album that makes it different from their previous albums. not every song was released as a single, but every song is so *good* and so unique. the lyrics are top notch. the group balances well between clever and scary. and if the lyrics aren't enough for you, listening to the piano solo in "mary ann" will cause actual chills to go up your spine! "i love the dead" is horror-esque by its title alone, but the guitar takes the listener on such a journey that you viscerally feel it. i couldn't say enough wonderful things about this album. well deserved on this list. i wouldn't dare change a single lyric or note.
An absolute joy from start to finish. Great tunes, fab musicianship and a sense of humour. Brilliant. I played this album constantly when I was 13-14 but had forgotten how good it was. It's better than I remembdr it because now I understand and appreciate the humour as well as the music.
Wait....am I really into Alice Cooper????????? Loved "Elected" (maybe I'm too into GOTV right now) and "Hello Hooray." Generation Landslide stood out too. Mary Ann -- LOVE the pianoooo. Unexpected after some of the more shout-y songs. I loooooove the transition from Sick Things into Mary Ann. The piano at the beginning. Really made me appreciate the art of an album and listening to songs in the intended order and with the intended context an artist wants you to listen to them. Did not like I Love the Dead. Liked this enough that I kept listening to the live versions and the live version of Billionaire dollar Babies SLAPPPPS. The guitar riffs!!! And how the drums intermingles with them. Am I really gonna give him five stars???? Honestly overall the live versions are super worth listening to for the extra passion in the delivery of the lyrics & the musicianship of all the extra riffs. And the original album version of raped & freezin (don't love the title or the lyrics?) didn't do anything for me but the live version made me take notice in a good way. No More Mr. Nice Guy was great live too. Not that shocked now that I like his sound - I love Ace Frehley's "Back in the New York Groove" and Twisted Sister's "We're Not Gonna Take it" and his sound reminds me of it. VERYYY different sound (kinda Elvis?) but was into Model-T too. Damn this guy has range. Edit: I listened to this full album 3x through in 24 hours after never hearing any of the songs before. Big fan.
Obra maestra absoluta. Alice es uno de los grandes y este es su mejor trabajo. De ellos me gustan hasta sus andares, y es que disfruto mucho de sus discos más heavys, pero no hay nada como su rock más clásico cuando eran una banda.
I'm surprised that there are two Alice Cooper albums on this list. I didn't think he was that influential, and I didn't realize this work was early 70s. I would have thought it was late 70s or early 80s.
One of the high water marks for the classic lineup - excellent songs, great arrangements. Elected is particularly stellar - the rolling buildup of the bass at the start, the horns ....
I love Alice Cooper & this entire album. I would argue that Unfinished Sweet is the best dentist song of all time & they absolutely ARE aching to get me.
ovo san čekala!! top album al moran izdvojit basista, wow wow wow! vrhunski
Another one from my youth, Alice Cooper was an innovator and the start of shock rock
Only knew Elected and had never actually heard the album before. Loved it. How much did i love this album ! Track 1, i think, is my new fav Alice Cooper tune. Really enjoyed...
Oh wow. I remember buying this at a car boot sale and I still absolutely adore it. It's pure over the top silly spectacle, a prototype for shock rock - Marilyn Manson did nothing that Alice Cooper hadn't already set in motion. Still put this on and rock out from time to time. It's interesting when you read about Alice Cooper's sound basically changed later on so that they could be more commercially successful - mind you, that doesn't mean that Trash and Hey Stoopid aren't also awesome.
Sometimes a little disjointed but always interesting and jarring. Mostly great music and creepy without being pastiche.
Alice Cooper is one of those artists you might overlook because you don't think there is any substance behind that massive persona. I know I did for years. But, man, is this guy brilliant. What a big, elegantly crafted sound, so much better than it has any right or expectation to be. But it's also incredibly catchy and engaging, music that's really easy to just play endlessly on repeat. Cooper consistently surrounds himself with stellar musicians. His musical sensibilities cover everything from the prog to glam to pure pop and early rock and roll. And he makes it all work so effortlessly. His lyrics are smart, darkly funny, whimsically creepy, even surprisingly heartfelt. And they're probably all written with a big, wry smile. On top of all that, Cooper just rocks. He's so much fun to listen to. Not only is Billion Dollar Babies Alice Cooper's greatest album, it's one of the best albums of the 1970s. Fave Songs (All songs, from most to least favorite): No More Mr. Nice Guy, Billion Dollar Babies, Mary Ann, I Love the Dead, Hello Hooray, Raped and Freezin', Elected, Generation Landslide, Unfinished Sweet, Sick Things
'No More Mr. Nice Guy', 'Hello Hooray', 'Elected', 'Generation Landslide', 'I Love the Dead', 'Billion Dollar Babies'... This record is like a 'greatest hits' album of best hard rock in the 70s. All in one record. By just one artist
One of my favourite albums, full stop. Grew up with this being played in the house and know every word. Although Coop himself is (rightfully) seen as a godfather of shock rock, the original Alice Cooper band were so much more. For a start, their songwriting eschewed the usual themes and consequently the albums always had a peculiar, left-field feel to them. This impression is only heightened by the music. How to describe it? A kind of progressive garage rock I suppose. The ACB took rock 'n' roll to some odd places, untroubled as they were with traditional song structures. It's all here on Billion Dollar Babies, either their best or second-best album depending on my mood. Great instrumentalists, too. Dennis Dunaway might be my favourite bassist.
Wow… that was a surprise. I exhaled a little bit when this landed, and shame on me. What a belter of an album, and it’s exactly why I was excited to do this challenge. Ordinarily I would never have looked out for an Alice Cooper album and more fool me. As I was listening I was thinking… this is a three… actually maybe it’s a four. Then I asked myself, “what’s stopping me giving this a five?!” The answer: Nothing. Superb album. I especially love the title track, Unfinished Sweet and Generation Landslide.
Elected is a banger. The horns. Forgot I wanna be sedated is basically a rip off. No More Mr Nice Guy is a banger. Everything else is good. Not sure what Unfinished Sweet is meant to be.
Lots of cool stuff going on here. Very pioneering and influential for 73. First listen was a 3, second listen a 4 and found the time to bump it up to 5 with a 3rd spin. I bet the visual was pretty intense back then too.
Prolly my fav Alice Cooper album. The drums are just so good, especially on the eponymous track, that opening fill is too catchy. This time around I was impressed by the amount of piano too.
I don't know what I expected from this album, honestly. Not this, though. Half of the album felt like a Stones ripp-off band. The other half was more metal ... but not by much. I know it was early days for metal but, still. I don't know. It's not bad but it's also not special. Except for "No More Mr. Nice Guy" - one whole star for that track alone.
How has Alice Cooper impressed me... I would probably put a 3.5 but 4 seems fair. It's a good album
I was expecting a little bit heavier than this. I did like it, but would have rather had a bit more power behind it.
Ikke så stor kjennskap til den gigantiske katalogen til Alice Cooper. Veldig allright album - høydare i form av No more Mr Nice Guy, Hello Hooray og Unfinished sweets.
Me gustaron las cuerdas, tienen esa vibrita que suena al pasado: a Kiss con menos adornos. Billion Dolar Babies fue mi track favorito (a pesar de las intermisiones de voz aguda tan característica en el glam). aunque disfrute mucho los primeros 5 canciones, me perdió la segunda parte del disco Mood: esta vez no estoy muy seguro, tal vez rompiendo la guitarra al acabar la canción de la hoguera (referencia de Bob Esponja)
So this is definitely like the album that made Alice Cooper an icon. It’s very good. Should revisit for the tracks that are really really good.
A perfect encapsulation of Alice Cooper and the "darkness" he threatened, but never really brought. This album offers the catchy riffs and lyrics while offering greater depth throughout the listen.
Pretty solid classic rock album. Pretty great tracks with my absolute fav track being “No More Mr. Nice Guy”, which I have known before this listen. Was pleasantly surprised by many elements as well, like the piano in “Mary Ann”. Final track “I Love the Dead” was super fun too. Overall, I really enjoyed this!
it was pretty good, i thought the opener and closer were good especially
Some of Alice's biggest songs are on this classic album. Always fun to revisit old shock rock.
I love Alice Cooper. He is great, I listened to him on 6Music recently and he's just a really nice guy who loves the performance and campness of glam rock. This album was pretty good, not as good as Trash.
I could go my entire life without hearing Unfinished Sweet again and I would be perfectly fine with that. Other than that...solid album.
Made me feel like I was in a 70s high school movie or a backyard bbq. Except the last song sounds like Halloween. Pretty fun
Love me some Alice Cooper. I prefer some darker stuff, but this is still classic, especially the title track and No More Mr. Nice Guy.
This is a tight band, writing fringe rock, and Alice is singing lyrics for the horror fans of the world. In short, it rocks hard. This really feels like malice fully leaning into the persona he performs with to this day, and the results are spectacular.
I really like this last hurrah of the bluesy-hard-Rock version of Alice Cooper before he goes full spooky Halloween man. There are definite signs of what's coming next throughout, but the majority of the tracks are still more straightforward rock tunes. AC had a pretty solid streak of great records from School's Out through Go to Hell (with plenty of good shit before and after, but that's streak is unimpeachable). Biggest takeaway from this listen was Sick Things. The noisy cacophany is really great and a real teaser of a lit of what would be on Nightmare.
Overduidelijke Glam Rock. Kan het wel smaken maar geen 'wauwgevoel' bij dit album
Great album. I always through Alice Cooper was much harder… I guess this was hard for the time? Excellent album, though.
I think most Alice Cooper is 3-star territory for me. I typically like the lyrics and the music well enough. Cooper's singing is hit or miss for me though. This album happens to have a couple of tunes I really like, such as "No More Mr. Nice Guy." That pushes it into 4 stars for me!
Fun Album. A little theatrical, spooky and catchy. As Alice cooper (7/10) FT: No More Mr. Nice Guy, I Love The Dead
The edgy-for-edgy's-sake shtick is something I could take or leave, but there's a moment that makes this album for me. It happens during the refrain of No More Mr. Nice Guy, a flourish on "obscene". That gives the game away, Mr. Cooper, but I appreciate it. I learned after finishing the song that it was used in Ash vs Evil Dead, which is entirely unsurprising. And the rest of the music is technically great, easy to listen to, easy glammy fun.
I’d listened to this album before but something about it clicked this time. Fun stuff
I’ve listened to No More Mr. Nice Guy so many times but the first time I’ve heard the whole album. Solid stuff.
I have only passing familiarity with Alice, I know the hits, thought he was great in Wayne's World, etc. I did see him in concert opening for Mötley Crüe in 2015 or so. He was still 100% rock star and much more fun then poor old Vince Neil. Oof, that was a sad spectacle. Anyway, I'm perfectly happy to listen to this album. The album cover is the same ridiculous mashup of images and ideas as his music evokes. It makes me chuckle. I'm such a sucker for loud strutting rock stars that can really belt out a rock anthem but don't take themselves too seriously. So here we go. Although I'm not familiar with most of these songs, except Billion Dollar Babies and No More Mr Nice Guy, it sure starts out sounding like classic Alice Cooper, which is a good thing. I normally would object to a song called Raped and Freezin' but it is a pretty good rocker. Elected is also solid. The title track is so good, and I just read that Donovan does the falsetto which is hilarious. Oh and I'm enjoying Unfinished Sweet (great title). Obviously No More Mr Nice Guy is a high water mark. Generation Landslide strikes me as an objectively good song and valid social commentary. Sick Things is the weakest track in my opinion and for whatever reason I Love the Dead leaves me cold. (ha!) Overall my rating is: turn it up!
This album contributed to half of the Alice coopers greatest hits that I listened to as a child. Some of the songs were kinda shitty but no more mr nice guy and elected make up for it
This was so much better than I expected. I had a perception of Alice Cooper as a hacky, shock act and this felt much more genuine than I anticipated.
Kamalt El Hadra 10 Mel Rbo3 Etheni Men 3l Bouheli Mte3 Dostoevsky, Still Sick As Mofo. Sedry Bech Yo5rej Men Blastou
No More Mr. Nice Guy is great as I already knew. This is an album that could grow on me if I listened to it a few more times.
I don't think this is all that bad actually. "No More Mr. Nice Guy" was the best song on the album, IMO. 7/10.
This album list has really taught me that my idea of what Alice Cooper is, was totally flawed. Between School's Out and this album, you really see the flair he has for theatrics and kind of a "burlesque show" vibe to his albums. It's Rock and Roll but has that stage show feel, less so on this album than it did with School's Out, but still there. I enjoyed this one, some more of his classics were on the list with Hello Hooray, Elected, Billion Dollar Babies, and No More Mister Nice Guy. Solid album all around.
A surprising amalgam of styles from two different eras, this album has elements of both 60s psychadaelia and 70s prog rock. Also, this album showcases the oft-overlooked fact that Vincent Furnier was and is a hell of a singer.
Enjoyed this quite a lot. Cheesy but fun. Lost its way a bit towards the end but go on have a 4th star why not
Rock clásico con buenas guitarras y acordes. Temas muy conocidos para una buena voz carismática
There are some great songs and then some good songs. Just good a good theatrical rock album.