Deluxe Edition 180g Vinyl 3LP Reissue with Original Album Newly Remastered and Expanded with Rarities/Alternative Versions and Previously Unreleased 1972 Live Performance

Alice Cooper was unstoppable during the ’70s when the band released four consecutive platinum albums and five Top 40 hits like “I’m Eighteen,” “School’s Out,” “No More Mr. Nice Guy,” and “Elected.” Rhino offers up deluxe 180g vinyl 3LP reissues of two of those platinum albums – Killer (1971) and School’s Out (1972) – with newly remastered sound, rare recordings, and previously unreleased live performances. Both reissues also recreate the original sleeves down to the smallest detail. The cover of School’s Out looks like a wooden school desk and opens to reveal the LP wrapped in a pair of panties. The band stopped including the underwear following a controversy as to whether or not they were flammable. Thankfully, the lacy unmentionables in the new edition are not a fire hazard.

The legendary “School’s Out” single was released several weeks ahead of the full album to ensure it hit radio airwaves before the school year ended. It worked. By the time school was out, the song was a hit, reaching No. 7 in the U.S. and No. 1 in the U.K. The Deluxe Edition begins with a newly remastered version of the 1972 original, which peaked at No. 2 on the albums chart. Essential tracks like “Luney Tune” and “Alma Mater” are joined by “Gutter Cat vs. The Jets.” The latter is an homage to West Side Story, a significant influence on the band. The song incorporates lyrics from “Jet Song” from the 1957 musical, which led to an unlikely songwriting credit for Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim on an Alice Cooper track.

The Deluxe Edition also contains rarities like the single versions of “School’s Out” and “Gutter Cat vs. The Jets.” Two previously unreleased tracks are also included, an alternate version of “Alma Mater” and an early demo for “Elected,” a song that would appear in 1973 on the band’s first No. 1 album, Billion Dollar Babies. Alice Cooper’s concert in Miami on May 27, 1972, adds even more unreleased music to the collection. The show was recorded a few weeks before the band entered the studio to record School’s Out. The live performance features standout versions of “Halo Of Flies,” “School’s Out,” and “Yeah, Yeah, Yeah,” a song that gives Cooper a chance to show off his impressive harmonica skills.

Both sets come with booklets that include track-by-track commentary by band members and former Creem Magazine editor Jaan Uhelszki, plus liner notes by Bill Holdship, also a former Creem editor.