I’ve always loved this album. It’s one of the “band” albums from Alice Cooper. That means one of the discs before Alice Cooper became just the man. In the days in which this was released Alice Cooper was the name of a band whose lead singer was named “Alice Cooper.” This album really showcases a lot of the things that made Alice Cooper the band so great. It had a lot of progressive rock and psychedelic music built into it. Yet, it was still able to rock out a lot and shock at the same time. The disc had quite a few hits, songs that are Cooper trademarks to this day.

The thing is, I’ve owned this on CD for a while, but I’ve never really heard it like I’ve heard it here. The sound on this version is so far superior to the earlier versions that it’s scary. You can hear things here that you couldn’t hear before. Add in the fact that the packaging includes a reproduction of the original Billion Dollar bill and that these are all numbered and it’s obvious this is the definitive version.

This review is available in book format (hardcover and paperback) in Music Street Journal: 2014  Volume 2 at lulu.com/strangesound.

I’ve always loved this rocker. It’s got such a great opening processional and the whole tune is the perfect introduction to the album. This has a lot of progressive rock in the mix.

Here’s another of Cooper’s better known cut. The riff driving this is classic and it’s a fun number. The bass line on this is particularly noteworthy. The backing vocals lend a bit of a doowop vibe at times. The melodic rock bridge is great.