| Billion Dollar Babies | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Studio album by Alice Cooper | ||||
| Released | February 25, 1973 | |||
| Recorded | The Galecie Estate, Greenwich, CT, The Record Plant, NY, and Morgan Studios in London, August 1972 - January 1973 |
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| Genre | Hard rock, heavy metal | |||
| Length | 40:51 | |||
| Label | Warner Bros. | |||
| Producer | Bob Ezrin | |||
| Alice Cooper chronology | ||||
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Billion Dollar Babies is the sixth studio album by American hard rock band Alice Cooper, released in 1973.[1][2] 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 was heavily praised by such critics as Robert Christgau, Greg Prato of allmusic, and Jason Thompson of popmatters, but Rolling Stone 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, the fear of dentists, horror, and a comedic take on sexual harassment.
Contents |
Drummer Neal Smith has said that the album can be traced back to the song "Caught in a Dream" from the album Love It to Death. The first recording sessions for the album took place in Greenwich, Connecticut in a mansion called the Galecie Estate. To achieve certain vocal sounds and echos, microphones were run through rooms of various sizes and a greenhouse. Others sessions were held at Morgan Studios in London, where singer Donovan contributed to the album by singing on its title track. The album was produced by Bob Ezrin.[3]
Guitarists, Glen Buxton and Michael Bruce, both used Gibson SGs for the album.[3] Two more guitarists, Dick Wagner and Steve Hunter, were also featured on the album to help cover for Buxton who at the time was suffering from substance abuse.[4]
The album's title comes from the fact that Alice Cooper and the band were surprised about their success. Cooper related: "How could we, this band that two years ago was living in the Chambers Brothers' basement in Watts, be the Number one band in world, with people throwing money at us."[5] The title was also later used as the name of the group Neal Smith, Dennis Dunaway, and Michael Bruce formed after they left the band.[6] Cooper says "The whole idea behind the Billion Dollar Babies album was exploiting the idea that people do have sick perversions."[7] Chris Cornell of Soundgarden later commented: “When I in junior high, every Friday the teachers would let the kids play their favorite records. I brought in Billion Dollar Babies [Alice Cooper, 1973] and they wouldn’t let me play it. They never vetoed anyone’s choice before. It was then I knew that rock’n’roll could scare the fuck out of certain people.”[8]
Alice Cooper, who wrote the majority of the album's lyrics, cited Chuck Berry as a key influence on his writing.[3] "Hello Hooray", the album's opening track, was written by Canadian singer/songwriter Rolf Kempf and was previously recorded by Judy Collins. The band wanted their version of the song to sound like "Alice Cooper meets Cabaret."[9] The album's third track, "Elected", is a rewrite of an earlier song by the band entitled "Reflected".[1] "Raped and Freezin'" has been called a "hilarious and gorgeously catchy" take on the idea of sexual harassment by PopMatters's Jason Thompson[10] "Unfinished Sweet" is about visiting a dentist.[10] The title track was co-written by Reggie Vinson, who had played guitar on and performed vocals for School's Out.[11] Donovan described the song as a "horror story song".[12] The album's closing track, "I Love the Dead", is a tongue-in-cheek song about necrophilia.[13]
After the album was released, the band embarked on a tour which broke the United States box office records previously held by the Rolling Stones and included a scheduled 64 concerts in 59 cities in 90 days. The gross revenue of the tour was anticipated to be close to $20 million,[14] but only about $4 million was achieved.[3]
The live performances featured Cooper wearing a dress with fake blood stains at the crotch, tearing apart baby dolls and attacking mannequins.[15] Cooper has said that the mutilation of the dolls symbolize child neglect.[16] Between 40 and 50 people were employed and 26,000 pounds of equipment were used.[17] In preparation for the tour, two semi-trailer truck carried a wide variety of props including a dentists drill, four whips, a surgical table, six hatchets, 33,000 program books, 300 baby dolls, 22,000 sparklers, 58 mannequins, 280 spare light bulbs, 1,000 patches, 6,000 mirror parts, 14 bubble machines, 28 gallons of bubble juice, and 250,000 packages of bubble bath.[6]
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic | [1] |
| PopMatters | (Favorable)[10] |
| Rolling Stone | [18] |
| Robert Christgau | (B+)[19] |
Billion Dollar Babies was more successful than Cooper's previous albums; it went to No. 1 in both the United Kingdom and United States.[14] The album's singles "Elected", "Hello Hooray", "Billion Dollar Babies", and "No More Mr. Nice Guy", all became hits on the Billboard Hot 100.[20] In March 1973 the album was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America and in 1986, it went platinum.[21]
Allmusic's Greg Prato gave the album four and a half out of five stars and called it "one of Cooper's very best; it remains one of rock's all-time, quintessential classics."[1] Jason Thompson of popmatters praised the album, saying it was "arguably the original Alice Cooper Group's best album."[10] Rolling Stone only gave the album two and a half stars and criticized songs like "I Love the Dead" for being "predictable".[18] Robert Christgau awarded a B+ grade and called it Cooper's most consistent work.[19] Daniel Bukszpan, the author of The Encyclopedia of Heavy Metal, called it a "classic" and "arguably the original band's finest offering."[22]
Chris Cornell stated that it was one of his favorite records.[23] The Norwegian group Turbonegro made a song called "Zillion Dollar Sadist" as a tribute to Billion Dollar Babies.[24] David Byrne of the Talking Heads has said that the album inspired him to write the song, "Psycho Killer".[25]
| Side one | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Music | Length | ||||||
| 1. | "Hello Hooray" | Kempf | 4:15 | ||||||
| 2. | "Raped and Freezin'" | Cooper, Michael Bruce | 3:19 | ||||||
| 3. | "Elected" | Cooper, Glen Buxton, Bruce, Dennis Dunaway, Neal Smith | 4:05 | ||||||
| 4. | "Billion Dollar Babies" | Cooper, Bruce, Smith, Vinson | 3:43 | ||||||
| 5. | "Unfinished Sweet" | Cooper, Bruce, Smith | 6:18 | ||||||
| Side two | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Music | Length | ||||||
| 6. | "No More Mr. Nice Guy" | Cooper, Bruce | 3:06 | ||||||
| 7. | "Generation Landslide" | Cooper, Buxton, Bruce, Dunaway, Smith | 4:31 | ||||||
| 8. | "Sick Things" | Cooper, Bruce, Bob Ezrin | 4:18 | ||||||
| 9. | "Mary Ann" | Cooper, Bruce | 2:21 | ||||||
| 10. | "I Love the Dead" | Cooper, Ezrin | 5:09 | ||||||
The 2001 CD reissue includes these additional tracks[26]:
| No. | Title | Music | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11. | "Hello Hooray" | Kempf | |
| 12. | "Billion Dollar Babies" | Bruce, Cooper, Smith, Vinson | |
| 13. | "Elected" | Bruce, Buxton, Cooper, Dunaway, Smith | |
| 14. | "I'm Eighteen" | Bruce, Buxton, Cooper, Dunaway, Smith | |
| 15. | "Raped and Freezin'" | Bruce, Cooper | |
| 16. | "No More Mr. Nice Guy" | Bruce, Cooper | |
| 17. | "My Stars" | Cooper, Ezrin | |
| 18. | "Unfinished Sweet" | Bruce, Cooper, Smith | |
| 19. | "Sick Things" | Bruce, Cooper, Ezrin | |
| 20. | "Dead Babies" | Bruce, Buxton, Cooper, Dunaway, Smith | |
| 21. | "I Love The Dead" | Cooper, Ezrin | |
| 22. | "Coal Black Model T" | ||
| 23. | "Son Of Billion Dollar Babies (Generation Landslide)" | ||
| 24. | "Slick Black Limousine" | Cooper, Dunaway |
|
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| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1973 | US Billboard 200[14] | 1 |
| 1973 | UK Albums Chart[14] | 1 |
| Year | Chart | Position | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1972 | "Elected" | Billboard Hot 100[20] | 26 |
| 1973 | "Hello Hooray" | Billboard Hot 100[20] | 35 |
| 1973 | "No More Mr. Nice Guy" | Billboard Hot 100[20] | 25 |
| 1973 | "Billion Dollar Babies" | Billboard Hot 100[20] | 57 |
| Preceded by Don't Shoot Me I'm Only the Piano Player by Elton John |
UK number-one albums 24 March 1973 |
Succeeded by 20 Flashback Greats of the 60s by Various Artists |
| Preceded by Lady Sings the Blues (soundtrack) by Diana Ross |
Billboard 200 number-one album April 21–27, 1973 |
Succeeded by The Dark Side of the Moon by Pink Floyd |