School's Out for Summer, and We've Got Just the Soundtrack
Album Description:
I still think of "Alice Cooper's Greatest Hits" (August 1974) as the moment the original band froze itself in amber and dared you to touch it. :contentReference[oaicite:6]{index=6} This German 12" compilation doesn’t “introduce” anything. It just kicks the door in, then stands there grinning while your speakers deal with the mess.
The sleeve is half the crime scene: Ernie Cefalu’s design fronting a sepia Drew Struzan illustration, the band parked in front of a 1930s garage with old Hollywood faces hanging around like suspicious witnesses. :contentReference[oaicite:7]{index=7} Every time I pull it from the shelf, I catch myself staring first, needle second. Bad habit. Absolutely correct.
The Shock Rock Symphony
Here’s the part people miss: this isn’t one neat “recording booth” moment. It’s 1970–73 Alice, repackaged in ’74, with Jack Richardson remixing the tracks to make them feel a little more “now” (including that remixed "I'm Eighteen" pushed as a single). :contentReference[oaicite:8]{index=8} And yes, you can hear the fingerprints—Bob Ezrin’s sense of theatre, Richardson’s control, Jack Douglas showing up in the credits too. :contentReference[oaicite:9]{index=9}
Drop the needle and the set moves like a highlight reel shot with a switchblade: "School's Out" still sounds like detention being set on fire; "Under My Wheels" lunges forward; "No More Mr. Nice Guy" smirks while it swings; "Billion Dollar Babies" does that rich-kid sneer without breaking a sweat. :contentReference[oaicite:10]{index=10} Even the later ones—"Teenage Lament '74" and "Muscle of Love"—feel like the band waving from the end of the hallway, already halfway gone. :contentReference[oaicite:11]{index=11}
Controversy's Kiss
The “controversy” wasn’t a press release. It was the atmosphere around the band back then—the fake executions, the snakes, the parents clutching pearls like they were life preservers. This compilation doesn’t need to shout about it. It just lets the songs do their smudged mascara grin and reminds you that rock used to enjoy upsetting the furniture.
My quiet anchor is boring on paper: late evening, small room, volume a little too high, and that moment when "Hello Hooray" opens side two like a curtain going up. :contentReference[oaicite:12]{index=12} If you don’t feel a little watched by the record after that, you’re not listening properly.
References
- Wikipedia: "Greatest Hits" (Alice Cooper album) — release date, artwork notes, producers, remixes, track list
- MusicMeter: track list for "Greatest Hits" (1974)
- Popmaster: Germany LP listing (WB 56 043) with track list
- RareVinyl: Germany catalogue reference (WB56043) — release year/country
- AllMusic: "Alice Cooper's Greatest Hits" overview page
- Vinyl Records Gallery: high-resolution album cover photos
