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Greatest Hits (Alice Cooper album)

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Greatest Hits
Greatest hits album by
Alice Cooper
Released9 August 1974[1]
Recorded1970–73
GenreHard rock[2]
Length41:41
LabelWarner Bros.
ProducerJack Richardson, Jack Douglas, Bob Ezrin
Alice Cooper chronology
Muscle of Love
(1973) 		Greatest Hits
(1974) 		Welcome to My Nightmare
(1975)
Singles from Greatest Hits
  1. "I'm Eighteen"
    Released: August 1974[3]

Alice Cooper's Greatest Hits is the only greatest hits album by American rock band Alice Cooper, and their last release as a band. Released 9 August 1974[4], it features hit songs from five of the band's seven studio albums. It does not include any material from their first two albums, Pretties for You and Easy Action.

This compilation's song versions were remixed by Jack Richardson at the time, with the remix of "I'm Eighteen" being released as a single in the US. The reason behind remixing the songs was perhaps to boost its appeal as "new" versions because no new tracks were available for inclusion by the group as they were on hiatus at the time.

This compilation was expanded upon when, in 2001, Rhino released Mascara & Monsters: The Best of Alice Cooper, which includes the original single versions of the songs in addition to a number of Cooper's post-1974 hits as a solo artist, filling up the entire CD. The liner notes of this compilation also include a then-complete album discography spanning from 1969 to 2000.

Artwork

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The album's cover art was designed by Ernie Cefalu and features a sepia-toned Drew Struzan illustration of the band members in front of a 1930s garage, accompanied by such period movie stars as Humphrey Bogart, Clark Gable, Robert Taylor, Edward G. Robinson, Jean Harlow, Peter Lorre, and Groucho Marx. The inner sleeve features a similar illustration of the band surrounded by these and other stars of Hollywood's golden age such as Marilyn Monroe, Gary Cooper, Judy Garland, Errol Flynn, Clara Bow, Boris Karloff, Zasu Pitts, Tyrone Power, Bela Lugosi, Marlene Dietrich, Tallulah Bankhead, Betty Grable, Veronica Lake and Alan Ladd. A depiction of the St. Valentine's Day Massacre is in the upper middle. The album was released by Friday Music records on vinyl in 2013 with a Gatefold cover, mimicking the 1974 Australian release of the album,[5] which was the only territory where it was originally released with a Gatefold sleeve.

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[6]
Christgau's Record GuideA−[7]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[8]

Track listing

[edit]
Side one
  1. "I'm Eighteen" (Alice Cooper, Glen Buxton, Michael Bruce, Dennis Dunaway, Neal Smith) – 2:58
  2. "Is It My Body" (Cooper, Buxton, Bruce, Dunaway, Smith) – 2:41
    • Original version on Love It to Death
  3. "Desperado" (Cooper, Bruce) – 3:29
  4. "Under My Wheels" (Bruce, Dunaway, Bob Ezrin) – 2:46
    • *Original version on Killer
  5. "Be My Lover" (Bruce) – 3:22
    • *Original version on Killer
  6. "School's Out" (Cooper, Buxton, Bruce, Dunaway, Smith) – 3:30
Side two
  1. "Hello Hooray" (Rolf Kempf) – 4:18
  2. "Elected" (Cooper, Buxton, Bruce, Dunaway, Smith) – 4:08
    • Original version on Billion Dollar Babies
  3. "No More Mr. Nice Guy" (Cooper, Bruce) – 3:07
    • Original version on Billion Dollar Babies
  4. "Billion Dollar Babies" (Cooper, Bruce, Smith) – 3:43
    • Original version on Billion Dollar Babies
  5. "Teenage Lament '74" (Cooper, Smith) – 3:54
  6. "Muscle of Love" (Cooper, Bruce) – 3:45
    • Original version on Muscle of Love

Personnel

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Alice Cooper Band

with:

  • Steve Hunter – guitar solos on "Billion Dollar Babies" and "Hello Hooray"

Charts

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Chart (1974) Peak
position
Australian (Kent Music Report)[9] 71
US Billboard 200 8

Certifications

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Region Certification Certified units/sales
United States (RIAA)[10] Gold 500,000^
United States (RIAA)[10] Platinum 1,000,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

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  1. ^ Page 14 of the "Mascara & Monsters" (CD, Compilation, 2001) liner notes states: "Warner Bros. #BS-2803 (8/9/74)"
  2. ^ Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian, eds. (2004). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Fireside. p. 12. ISBN 0-394-72107-1.
  3. ^ "Alice Cooper singles".
  4. ^ "Mascara & Monsters" CD liner notes, page 14 states release date is "(8/9/74)"
  5. ^ "ALICE COOPER'S GREATEST HITS LP (180 GRAM AUDIOPHILE VINYL)". Friday Music. Retrieved 2017-11-04.
  6. ^ Prato, Greg. "Alice Cooper's Greatest Hits - Alice Cooper". AllMusic. Retrieved 2024-03-07.
  7. ^ Christgau, Robert (1981). "Consumer Guide '70s: C". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies. Ticknor & Fields. ISBN 089919026X. Retrieved February 23, 2019 – via robertchristgau.com.
  8. ^ Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian, eds. (2004). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). New York: Fireside Books. p. 11–13. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
  9. ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 92. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  10. ^ a b "American album certifications – Alice Cooper – Greatest Hits". Recording Industry Association of America.
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