Alice Cooper releases Killer

Killer is the fourth studio album by Alice Cooper, released in 1971.

Cooper said in the liner notes of Fistful of Alice and In the Studio with Redbeard, which spotlighted the Killer and Love it to Death albums, that the song "Desperado" was written about his friend Jim Morrison, who died the year this album was released. According to an NPR radio interview with Alice Cooper, "Desperado" was written about Robert Vaughn's character from the movie The Magnificent Seven. "Halo of Flies" was, according to Cooper's liner notes in the compilation The Definitive Alice Cooper, an attempt by the band to prove that they could perform King Crimson-like progressive rock suites, and was supposedly about a SMERSH-like organisation. "Desperado" , along with "Under My Wheels" and "Be My Lover" have appeared on different compilation albums by Cooper. The song "Dead Babies" stirred up some controversy following the album's release, despite the fact that its lyrics conveyed an "anti-child abuse" message.

Johnny Rotten of the Sex Pistols and Public Image Ltd. called Killer the greatest rock album of all time. Punk icon Jello Biafra & The Melvins covered the song "Halo of Flies" on their 2005 release Sieg Howdy!. Power Metal band, Iced Earth, covered the song "Dead Babies" for their 2002 release, Tribute to the Gods. The album was remastered in 2009 for Audio Fidelity by Steve Hoffman in HDCD.

The album reached #21 on the Billboard Album chart and two singles made the Hot 100 chart. "Under My Wheels" reached #59, and "Be My Lover" reached #49 on the Billboard chart.

This album also caused controversy from the attached calendar, which shows Alice Cooper hanging from a noose with a stab wound in his torso.