"Billion Dollar Babies" — Alice

Cooper — Reprise BS 2685

Reviewed by Gorden Campbell

I mean, what standards can you apply to this? So its crude and tasteless and moronic, but flagellation is what Alice is about. They reach for that same streak of masochism that the Mothers have mined so successfully, ("plastic people, you think we're singing about someone else," no Frank, about yourself). So what's the point of warning you? People buy Alice Cooper because they dig being ripped off.

Generally the group is the reincarnation of the Troggs in drag. You hear on every track that same punk sexuality that was so great on "Wild Thing". And on the last track you can even hear "Wild Thing" subtly disguised as "Sick Things". Elsewhere there are bits from the James Bond themes, "Here Comes My Baby" "Brown Sugar" and many more, in fact half the fun of listening to this was in tracking down what had been ripped off from where. But enough of generalities. Are those boys any good? Well, the big single from the album is "Hello Hooray" but even as a rock song it doesn't come off even half as well as the version by that well known heavy rocker, Judy Collins. And when you start getting cut by Judy Collins.....

I wish I could say that the up front tastelessness of this album was refreshing, charming, disarming etc. (you know, songs about necrophilia, what a gas) but its really not The definitive piece of slimy punk-rock is still "The Slider".