A new version of “Billion Dollar Babies” is on the way as Alice Cooper‘s delightfully subversive sixth album returns in all its snakeskin glory for an extended 50th-anniversary celebration. After hitting No. 1 on the album charts in America and the U.K. in 1973, the record remains a highwater mark for the original lineup, featuring hits like “No More Mr. Nice Guy” and “Elected”.
“Billion Dollar Babies: Trillion Dollar Deluxe Edition” will be available from Rhino on March 8 on 3-LP and 2-CD. Both feature a newly remastered version of the original album, along with bonus material, including studio outtakes, single mixes, and an electrifying 1973 concert recording. In the vinyl edition, the gatefold cover faithfully replicates the original’s textured snakeskin wallet design and comes complete with a $1 billion dollar bill tucked inside.
The single version of “Elected” from the upcoming set is available today digitally.
Upon its March 1973 release, “Billion Dollar Babies” swiftly became a sensational hit. This platinum-certified album delivered a captivating blend of hard rock and glam, adorned with macabre lyrics delving into the darker facets of wealth, decadence, and fame. Now newly remastered, the iconic album sounds more vibrant than ever.
The “Trillion Dollar Deluxe Edition” is a treasure trove, incorporating outtakes like “Coal Black Model T,” single mixes such as “Mary Ann,” and the elusive “Slick Black Limousine,” originally released on a flexi-disc within New Musical Express. Additionally, this deluxe edition treats fans to a live performance recorded during the “Billion Dollar Babies” tour in Texas, April 1973. The electrifying show features live renditions of album tracks like “Elected” and “Hello Hooray,” alongside earlier hits like “I’m Eighteen” and “School’s Out.”
Both the LP and CD versions include an oral history of the album and bonus tracks narrated by surviving band members Alice Cooper, Dennis Dunaway, Michael Bruce, and Neal Smith, along with insights from Bob Ezrin, the album’s producer. Sadly, guitarist Glen Buxton passed away in 1997.
In the notes, Cooper recalls writing “I Love The Dead” and “Sick Things”. He says: “We were writing those songs looking at each other, and every time we’d write a line I’d say, ‘Oh, this is gonna kill them. Oh, they’re gonna hate us on this one.’ But at the same time, it was almost like an Edgar Allan Poe short story when you listen to ‘I Love The Dead’. I tried to write that the way Vincent Price would sing it.”
