Along with Killer, Billion Dollar Babies is one of the Alice Cooper Band's best known(and probably best selling) releases of all time. All of the elements of their ambience and style of shock rock are fully intact here and utilized within the most polished and finely crafted production. Hello Hooray begins the proceedings and is a cover that was written by Rolf Kempf and originally done by folk singer Judy Collins(Alice alters the lyrics just a bit!!); the band of course, give it there own special treatment and would prove to be a great show opener for the supporting tour. Raped and Freezin' is an upbeat rocker that follows "Hooray" and is a fun number that falls into the same category as Yeah, Yeah, Yeah from Killer or Public Animal #9 from School's Out. The next few songs would become instant classics for the group in the form of Elected and the title track. These numbers are well arranged and played by the band, even though lead guitarist, Glen Buxton is virtually absent from the proceedings, session guitarists  Dick Wagner and Mick Mashbir were brought in by producer, Bob Ezrin to help Michael Bruce with some of the guitar parts to fill the void of Glen. In fact, Mashbir went on the road with the group, along with keyboardist Bob Dolin to help flesh out the sound of the band; and in Mashbir's case, aiding to pick up the slack of a strong lead guitar presence for the Babies' tour.

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The title track has a propelling bass line and a dynamic drumming style from Neal Smith that gives this number a lot of power and dexterity within its undertones. Donovan(Hurdy Gurdy Man, Atlantis) guests as a back-up singer on this number with Alice and it is quite a treat to hear him trading off vocals with him. Unfinished Sweet is a bit labored and has a touch of psychedelia that recalls some of the band's more experimental moments from their early releases, Pretties for You and Easy Action.  No More Mr Nice Guy would become another classic number that contains a biting riff and features all of the elements of a great Alice Cooper anthem. Generation Landslide is sort of a folk-rock anthem that follows and is an often overlooked gem among the wealth of the original group's recorded output. Sick Things has an eerie atmosphere, recalling  past songs suchas Black Juju and Dead Babies and is a another excellent shock-rock number that, once again, provides the group with a great showpiece number within the live performances. Mary Ann is sort of a cabaret-ballad that has a sense of irony in its lyrics towards the end of the track, seemingly meant as an ode to a lost girlfriend only to discover that it's really a man(!!??). I love the black humor within the early years of the band, and when Alice went solo, he would continue to use this style within his lyrics on into the present day. People whom took it seriously didn't get the joke and its unfortunate, because after all, it's rock and roll and meant as a form of entertainment. Which brings me to the closing number, I Love the Dead. This track toys with the idea of a necrophiliac and would be a theme that "Coop" would return to on latter day cuts like Cold Ethyl(Welcome to My Nightmare) and Fresh Blood(Dada). It's quite a dramatic number and in the live shows, the band would end their set with a simulation of Alice being decapitated by a guillotine; not a bad way to end a show!!

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All in all, Billion Dollar Babies would be the apex of the original Alice Cooper Band and is a definite classic when one thinks of archetypal Alice Cooper. The remastered version courtesy of Rhino, offers a second disc taken from the Babies tour in '73 and is a nice addition to the original release; for the serious Cooper fan, I recommend the remastered addition. For anyone who's interested in a more casual fashion, this one and Killer will likely satisfy and please those whom want to know what the early stages of the band were like, well before Alice decided to continue as a solo artist. 

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Rating Grade- A+