Maybe one day I will listen to this album and "love it to death," but right now I am not ready to make that kind of commitment. I find Alice Cooper's third album to be a good time, but nothing I can take too seriously. With its cover shot of the band looking like scrawny nightcrawlers, Love it to Death might have been original and/or shocking back in 1971, but so much has come and gone since then that it has lost whatever edge it once had. (I say this because the first time I heard the CD was about 10 years ago.) As such, the more experimental numbers ("Black Juju," and "Hallowed Be My Name") sound the most dated.

Love it to Death is a decent rock album by the band that was known as Alice Cooper. Their first two albums were under the guidance of Frank Zappa. He marketed them as an androgynous act as a wry commentary on the late 1960s' sexual revolution. However, the band never found its niche and, perhaps tired of being seen as a Zappa novelty, they relocated to Detroit, the birthplace of lead singer Vincent Furnier, who appropriated the name of the band as his stage name.

Love it to Death starts out well with three rockers which all have great riffs. "Caught in a Dream" and "Long Way to Go" are uptempo numbers that showcase a tight rhythm section of Dennis Dunaway on bass and Neal Smith on drums. They back up guitarist Glen Buxton and rhythm guitarist/keyboardist Michael Bruce. Layered atop them all, courtesy of first-time producer Bob Ezrin, are Cooper's thin but effective vocals.

"I'm Eighteen" is more of a blooze number, and while I don't think it's the best song on the album, it does pack a punch. Cooper's lyrics capture the mood of angst and uncertainty that a young man sometimes feels ("I'm eighteen/And I don't know what I want"). It also became the group's first hit, sitting just outside the Billboard Top 20.

Most of the remaining album struggles to match such a strong opening. I would put "Is it My Body" up there with the opening trio. This hook-laden rocker deftly turns the groupie fandom world on its head by questioning its motives for casual sex.

What have I got
That makes you want to love me
Is it my body
Or someone I might be
Or somethin' inside me

"Is it My Body" also does a nice job of deflating the overlong and overblown "Black Juju" (with its "bodies need rest" mantra) that proceeds it. Perhaps when performed live the theatrics of "Black Juju" worked, but in the studio the band should have spent more time listening to fellow Detroit act The Stooges and less time trying to copy The Doors.

The final three numbers, "Second Coming," "The Ballad of Dwight Fry," and "Sun Arise," play like a mini-suite to close out the album. The religious overtones in "Second Coming" contrast sharply with the military drumroll at the end. I'd say it was an anti-war song except that these guys were in favour of the Vietnam War then being fought. Whether the character has a messiah complex or is a returned vet suffering from battle fatigue is not made clear, but an acoustic guitar merges "Second Coming" with "The Ballad of Dwight Fry," about a guy who has lost his mind, which leads me to believe the two songs are connected in some way.

"The Ballad of Dwight Fry" is an interesting set-up played with enough tension to engage the average listener, but it doesn't come off as fully realized. Cooper opts for the sensationalism of describing the character's lockdown instead of examining the reason why he cracked. Still, as an attempt at an epic, it's not bad. The song segues into a cover version of Australian Rolf Harris' "Sun Arise," where the character, perhaps loopy beyond the point of return, enjoys his second coming with each new dawn.

I have read numerous reviews, not just this site but in books and other on-line sources, which claim Love it to Death is Alice Cooper's best album. If that is the case, I don't need to hear the others--they can only sound more spotty. I have their Greatest Hits, which I like, and which I recommend first to the casual fan.

Recommended: Yes