Rhino Records have announced new deluxe editions of both ‘Killer’ and ‘School’s Out’ to be released on June 9th and have posted a live version of ‘Be My Lover‘ to promote them. Both albums will come on double CDs or 3LP vinyl sets and feature newly remastered versions of the original albums plus a live show recording, although strangely ‘School’s Out’ includes a show that is also from the ‘Killer’ tour.
AmazonUK has pre-order pages up now for ‘School’s Out’ (CD and Vinyl) and ‘Killer’ (CD and Vinyl).
While the AmazonUS pages are ‘School’s Out’ (CD and Vinyl) and Killer (CD and Vinyl). Below is the official blurb:
KILLER (DELUXE EDITION) introduces a newly remastered version of the original release, which peaked at #21 on the Billboard albums chart. Along with the singles “Under My Wheels” and “Be My Lover,” the record also includes “Yeah, Yeah, Yeah,” “Desperado,” and the prog-rock-inspired epic “Halo Of Flies.” The bonus material features alternate takes for “You Drive Me Nervous,” “Under My Wheels,” and “Dead Babies.”
The collection also gives fans an [officially] unreleased live recording of the band’s performance at Mar Y Sol Pop Festival in Puerto Rico on April 2, 1972. Recorded a few months before the band returned to the studio to make School’s Out, the show previews “Public Animal #9” from the upcoming album. The band played most of Killer during the concert, including “You Drive Me Nervous,” “Under My Wheels,” and “Halo Of Flies.” They also tapped the group’s 1971 album, Love It to Death, for live versions of “Is It My Body?,” “Long Way To Go,” and the smash hit “I’m Eighteen.”
SCHOOL’S OUT (DELUXE EDITION) begins with a newly remastered version of the 1972 original, which peaked at #2 on the albums chart. Essential tracks like “Luney Tune” and “Alma Mater” are joined by “Gutter Cat vs. The Jets.” The latter is an homage to West Side Story, a significant influence on the band. The song incorporates lyrics from “Jet Song” from the 1957 musical, which led to an unlikely songwriting credit for Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim on an Alice Cooper track.
The Deluxe Edition contains rarities like the single versions of “School’s Out” and “Gutter Cat vs. The Jets.” Two previously unreleased tracks are also included, an alternate version of “Alma Mater” and an early demo for “Elected,” a song that would appear in 1973 on the band’s first #1 album, Billion Dollar Babies.
Alice Cooper’s concert in Miami on May 27, 1972, adds even more unreleased music to the collection. The show was recorded a few weeks before the band entered the studio to record School’s Out. The live performance features standout versions of “Halo Of Flies,” “School’s Out,” and “Yeah, Yeah, Yeah,” a song that gives Cooper a chance to show off his impressive harmonica skills.
The vinyl versions for both Deluxe Edition recreate the original album sleeves down to the smallest detail. For Killer, that means a gatefold sleeve that opens to reveal a detachable 1972 calendar with a photo of Cooper in the gallows. The cover of School’s Out looks like a wooden school desk and opens to reveal the LP wrapped in a pair of panties. The band stopped including the underwear following a controversy as to whether or not they were flammable. Thankfully, the lacy unmentionables in the new Deluxe Edition are not a fire hazard.
Both sets come with booklets that include track-by-track commentary by band members and former Creem Magazine editor Jaan Uhelszki, plus liner notes by Bill Holdship, also a former Creem Magazine editor.
Alice was on SiriusXM’s ‘Hair Nation’ a few days ago and spoke about the new album which is due later this year. According to Blabbermouth it’s still going under the working title of ‘Road’ and he confirmed it’s still an album designed to show off the talents of the current live band – “I said, ‘I wanna show this band off.’ So we did an album in the studio, and very, very, very few overdubs in it, because the band’s so tight. And I wanted them to all do the writing with me. I said, ‘Everybody, bring in songs, ‘cause I want everything in-house.’ And Bob Ezrin produced it. I mean, it’s a great guitar-driven rock and roll album. I’m very, very proud of this album. And it’s coming… It’ll be out this year.”
Alice has also taking ‘Road’ and the new show to Ultimate Classic Rock which you can check out here.
