Alice Cooper - Billion Dollar Babies - (1973) - Vinyl - {First US Pressing} 24-Bit/96kHz + 16-Bit/44kHz *NEW RIP*

Billion Dollar Babies is the sixth studio album by Alice Cooper, released in 1973. 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.

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." 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. Cooper says "The whole idea behind the Billion Dollar Babies album was exploiting the idea that people do have sick perversions."

Chris Cornell of Soundgarden later commented: “When I was in junior high, every Friday the teachers would let the kids play their favorite records. I brought in Billion Dollar Babies 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.”

Alice Cooper, who wrote the majority of the album's lyrics, cited Chuck Berry as a key influence on his writing. "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." The album's third track, "Elected", is a rewrite of an earlier song by the band entitled "Reflected". "Raped and Freezin'" has been called a "hilarious and gorgeously catchy" take on the idea of sexual harassment by PopMatters's Jason Thompson. "Unfinished Sweet" is about visiting a dentist. The title track was co-written by Reggie Vinson, who had played guitar on and performed vocals for School's Out. Donovan described the song as a "horror story song". The album's closing track, "I Love the Dead", is a tongue-in-cheek song about necrophilia.

I have included full scans. The version heard here is from the original white label promotional copy.