Love It to Death

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Love It to Death
Love It to Death cover
Studio album by Alice Cooper
Released February, 1971
Recorded 1970-1971
Genre Rock, hard rock, heavy metal, garage rock, glam rock, shock rock
Length 37:21
Label Straight Records
Warner Brothers
Producer Bob Ezrin
Professional reviews
Alice Cooper chronology
Easy Action
(1970)
Love It to Death
(1971)
Killer
(1971)

Love It to Death is a 1971 album by Alice Cooper. Hits include "Ballad of Dwight Fry", "Is it My Body", and one of Cooper's trademark songs, "I'm Eighteen". This was the album that brought the Alice Cooper band to the mainstream. Much credit is generally given to producer Bob Ezrin, cleaning up the band's sound with fresh ideas and making it more accessible, most notably the track, 'I'm Eighteen'. It originally was a much longer song, and in more of a psychedelic vein like the band's first two albums, which contained several longer songs.

The album cover caused much controversy at the time of its release, leading Warner Brothers to censor it (four different versions of the front cover exist on LP). Alice Cooper's middle finger is clearly airbrushed out on censored versions. The CD release, which hasn't been remastered as of yet, uses the most common LP picture for the booklet cover (see photo). In 2003, the album was ranked number 460 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. Both "Second Coming" and "Ballad of Dwight Fry" were covered by alternative rock/heavy metal band The Melvins for their album Lysol.

The first issue of the album was on Straight Records, a company created by Frank Zappa and manager Herb Cohen. By the time the album became a success it had already been re-issued by Warner Bros. Records.

[edit] Track listing

  1. "Caught in a Dream" (Michael Bruce) – 3:10
  2. "I'm Eighteen" (Alice Cooper, Glen Buxton, Bruce, Dennis Dunaway, Neal Smith) – 3:00
  3. "Long Way to Go" (Bruce) – 3:04
  4. "Black Juju" (Dunaway) – 9:11
  5. "Is It My Body" (Cooper, Buxton, Bruce, Dunaway, Smith) – 2:39
  6. "Hallowed Be My Name" (Smith) – 2:29
  7. "Second Coming" (Cooper) – 3:04
  8. "Ballad of Dwight Fry" (Cooper, Bruce) – 6:33
  9. "Sun Arise" (Harry Butler, Rolf Harris) – 3:50

[edit] Personnel