Alice Cooper - Billion Dollar Babies

The original Alice Cooper band was one of the finest hard-rock units of the early '70s, which is why the second disc of this remastered version of Billion Dollar Babies is such a treat. Eleven bonus tracks from the band's 1973 tour display the Cooper band's taste for pop-culture--and a sense of humor, as Alice quotes from Don McLean's "American Pie" on a wonderful version of "I'm Eighteen," while the band delivers a ripping "Theme from Perry Mason" during an extended workout of "Unfinished Sweet." Rounded out with session outtakes, the second disc will have fans praying that Rhino unearths more live material. As for Billion Dollar Babies itself, it may not be the Cooper band's best album, but it was the final release of a quartet of extraordinary Bob Ezrin-produced hard-rock records (rounded out by Love It to Death, Killer, and School's Out), and it captures the moment when the band was at their peak. Including three hit singles in "Hello Hooray," "Elected," and "No More Mr. Nice Guy," the album--from Donovan's exciting cameo on the title track to the closing "I Love the Dead" (probably the prettiest ode to necrophilia ever recorded)--still sounds terrific. And the packaging, production, music, and imagery has inspired followers as diverse as the Sex Pistols, Marilyn Manson, and Hole. --Bill Holdship