55 years ago today (3/9/71), Alice Cooper released the loud, brash breakthrough album Love It to Death. At the time, Alice Cooper was very much a true band rather than just the persona of its frontman. Alongside singer Alice Cooper, the group’s lineup—Glen Buxton, Neil Smith, Michael Bruce, and Dennis Dunaway—all played key roles as songwriters and musical contributors.
Their third LP delivered the band’s first major hit with “I’m Eighteen,” a snarling anthem of teenage alienation that helped push the group into the mainstream. But Love It to Death is far more than a one-song record. Across its nine tracks, the band blends raw hard rock with theatrical flair, laying down a no-filler set of proto–glam metal that would influence generations of shock rock and heavy music to come.
Watch the band tear through “Is It My Body” from Love It to Death in this vintage live performance.