'School's Out' Has Been Out For 50 Years- How Do You Rank It Among The Alice Cooper Group Albums?

I like it, but nowhere near as much as the other Ezrin-produced albums by the original band. I also like Muscle of Love a bit more, and would rank Welcome to My Nightmare above it as well.

 

Below "Love It To Death", "Killer" and "Billion Dollar Babies".

 

Killer and Love It To Death get the most play at my house. Billion Dollar Babies now and then as well.

 

Easy Action. By a mile.
Killer second, tie with
Love It To Death

 

I'm not good at ranking, but I'm pretty sure I'd put it at #3, with LITD and Killer in front, but maybe not in that order.

My entry point to Alice was the 80s metal comeback.

 

I like it. Title track apart, the material doesn’t seem to be that well-known. It’s certainly not much anthologised.

Blue Turk, My Stars, Public Animal No.9, Looney Tune - all great stuff.

One thing about it that’s obvious, though: the band has pulled back from being sinister and disturbing in favour of being playful and ‘naughty’. They took this up a gear on BDB which, with the passing years, I don’t much like at all.

 

But you have 'Killer', right?
Please tell us you have 'Killer'!

 

Probably the best overlooked track on SO is "Street Fight"...especially cranked

 

The only Alice Cooper album I ever bought was Billion Dollar Babies. I wore it out and had to buy a second copy. I really loved that album. I had just graduated from high school the year before it came out and had built my Dynaco 400 by the time I bought the album. I liked to play it LOUD.

 

I really like and School’s Out.
The sax on Blue Turk (wild lyrics) his voice on Public Animal# 9.
Gutter Cat and Street Fight are great theatrical pieces.
All these before you get to the title track.
My ranking for Alice Cooper is,

Love it to Death
Killer
School’s Out
Billion Dollar Babies
Goes to Hell
Welcome to my Nightmare
Muscle of Love
Easy Action
Pretties for You
From the Inside along with Lace and Whiskey get a nod as well as decent albums from the Coop

 

Just missing
The Eyes of AC and Constrictor.

have original vinyl of Killer, cd copy and another copy in the 15 cd box.

 

I had the same type set up in my VW Bug in the back......I had 3 different Bugs through the Seventies all with some sort of setup in the back cubby while my last Bug ( 1973 model) had an FM converter that stuck in the 8-track player....... which was a big upgrade at the time.

 

For me "Goes to Hell" #1, everything else #2

 

I consider Love It To Death, Killer, School's Out, and Billion Dollar Babies to be equal in quality and stature. Muscle Of Love is a slight dip. I loved the School's Out album from the moment I heard it; it's dark, it's surreal, it's snarky, it's fun, and it reflects the sort of Vaudeville/West Side Story/old movies aesthetic that is at the heart of the whole Cooper concept. like it or not.

 

I heard the title track at a local restaurant today in addition to 21st Century Schizoid Man, and Friend of the Devil. Not bad!

 

A bit of a letdown and kind of a weird album. 'School's Out' - the gritty title track - was up to that point arguably Alice Cooper's hardest rockin' track in their catalog. But the rest of the LP in contrast sounds like a broadway version of AC, with some parts bordering on campy cabaret. Alice Cooper was always very theatrical, but on this album the tongue was stuck too far in cheek.

 

Killer, Love it and then Schools Out for me. You need to play it from start to finish IMHO. To me it is a concept album that tells a story. One that I can kind of relate to.

 

I’d rank School’s Out leagues above ultra-forgettable Exile On Main St. Worst ACB record? Hardly. Maybe a very close third behind Killer and Love It To Death. They begin to sound like a different band with Billion Dollar Babies, which only makes sense once you learn a little bit about its production.

 

Love It To Death and Killer are essential. Both 10/10 albums. I can't split them for which one I like best

School's Out IMO is where they targeted a younger, larger & more commercial audience. Yet at the same time the album contains music that in ways is less direct & more complex

My rankings

Love It To Death / Killer

Billion Dollar Babies



Schools Out
Muscle Of Love

Alice Cooper solo doesn't really do it for me & the I find the first 2 group albums an unrewarding listen.

I agree with most of the points that the OP has raised

 

I would highlight though that Alma Mater (along with Under My Wheels) is amongst my favourite songs

 

Like pretty much everybody else has said here, I think Love it to Death, Killer and Billion Dollar Babies are all incredible records. For me, School's Out is also prime Alice Cooper but I'd have it a couple of notches below those three albums. It does have some stunning moments on it, the title track is an Alice Cooper classic for a reason with it's great iconic riff and anthemic chorus, but also there's the thundering "My Stars" and some amazing Dennis Dunaway bass playing throughout the album - I mean, "Gutter Cat vs. The Jets" feels to me like a potential influence (as well as the earlier "Dead Babies") on many a goth/new wave bass player. I rate it higher than Muscle of Love, if only because I feel that Alice Cooper lost a little something on record when they attempted to dial down the theatrical musicality and focus more on a straight-ahead sound. Y'see, as theatrical as they are, I actually like things like "Grande Finale" ... and I definitely rate School's Out higher than the fried-sounding (in the worst way, I think) Pretties for You and Easy Action. I love music that leans towards the psychedelic and freaky, but I don't think those two early Cooper albums are anywhere near great examples of either.

 

Luney Tune is probably my favorite Alice Cooper Group song:

 

My ranking:
Billion Dollar Babies
Killer
Trash
School's Out

 

I have never been able to get enough of this song!

 

For the past couple of years there's been talk that Warners have 'special' editions of three out of the four band-Ezrin albums in the can. Apparently, the School's Out one was due to be put out on its 50th anniversary, but has now been pushed back to 2023 (along with the others?). Lots of 'ifs', but a few months ago Michael Bruce let the cat out of the bag by saying that there'd be a full-scale original group album released next year - and Alice has confirmed he's working on two albums; one he terms 'something different' - so maybe Warners are waiting to tie everything in with the undoubted extra publicity a reunion album (and tour?) would bring. Then again, that could all be speculative nonsense; as it often turns out to be where the Cooper catalogue is concerned.