ALICE COOPER To Release 'Billion Dollar Babies' Trillion Dollar Deluxe Edition For 50th Anniversary

January 23, 2024

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.

An instant smash when it was released in March 1973, "Billion Dollar Babies" delivered a theatrical mix of hard rock and glam laced with macabre lyrics that explored wealth, decadence, and fame's darker side. Newly remastered, the platinum-certified album sounds better than ever. The set also features outtakes ("Coal Black Model T"),single mixes ("Mary Ann"),and "Slick Black Limousine", which originally came out on flexi-disc within an issue of the British rock paper New Musical Express.

The "Trillion Dollar Deluxe Edition" also features a live show recorded in Texas in April of 1973, during the "Billion Dollar Babies" tour. The powerful performance includes live versions of many of the album's tracks, highlights including "Elected" and "Hello Hooray", along with several of the band's earlier hits, including "I'm Eighteen" and "School's Out".

The LP and CD versions both come with an oral history of the album and the bonus tracks by the surviving band members — Alice Cooper, Dennis Dunaway, Michael Bruce and Neal Smith — and Bob Ezrin, who produced the album. (Sadly, guitarist Glen Buxton died 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."

"Billion Dollar Babies: Trillion Dollar Deluxe Edition" LP track listing:

LP One

Side One

01. Hello Hooray
02. Raped And Freezin'
03. Elected
04. Billion Dollar Babies
05. Unfinished Sweet

Side Two

01. No More Mr. Nice Guy
02. Generation Landslide
03. Sick Things
04. Mary Ann
05. I Love The Dead

LP Two

Side One

Side Two

01. My Stars - Live, 1973
02. Unfinished Sweet - Live, 1973
03. Sick Things - Live, 1973
04. Dead Babies - Live, 1973
05. I Love The Dead - Live, 1973

LP Three

Side One

01. School's Out - Live, 1973
02. Under My Wheels - Live, 1973
03. Coal Black Model T - Outtake
04. Son Of Billion Dollar Babies (Generation Landslide) - Outtake

Side Two

01. Hello Hooray - Single Version
02. Billion Dollar Babies - Single Version
03. Elected - Single Version
04. Mary Ann - Single Version
05. Slick Black Limousine

CD Track Listing

CD One

01. Hello Hooray
02. Raped And Freezin'
03. Elected
04. Billion Dollar Babies
05. Unfinished Sweet
06. No More Mr. Nice Guy
07. Generation Landslide
08. Sick Things
09. Mary Ann
10. I Love The Dead

CD Two

01. Hello Hooray - Live, 1973
02. Billion Dollar Babies - Live, 1973
03. Elected - Live, 1973
04. I'm Eighteen - Live, 1973
05. Raped And Freezin' - Live, 1973
06. No More Mr. Nice Guy - Live, 1973
07. My Stars - Live, 1973
08. Unfinished Sweet - Live, 1973
09. Sick Things - Live, 1973
10. Dead Babies - Live, 1973
11. I Love The Dead - Live, 1973
12. School's Out - Live, 1973
13. Under My Wheels - Live, 1973
14. Coal Black Model T - Outtake
15. Son Of Billion Dollar Babies (Generation Landslide) - Outtake
16. Hello Hooray - Single Version
17. Billion Dollar Babies - Single Version
18. Elected - Single Version
19. Mary Ann - Single Version
20. Slick Black Limousine

Photo credit: Jenny Risher

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