Over the past decade, Aerosmith have been more soap-opera than rock band, with appearances on American Idol, inconsistent albums and public inter-group bitching leaving some fans baffled. Those shenanigans aside, they remain a kick-ass live outfit and as they prepare to headline this weekend's Calling Festival on Clapham Common, shortly after rocking the main stage at Download, it's again time to let their music do the talking.
The 'bad boys from Boston' - frontman Steven Tyler, guitarists Joe Perry and Brad Whitford, bassist Tom Hamilton and drummer Joey Kramer - came together in 1971 and over the next decade released some thrillingly influential records that earned them the title of 'America's greatest rock ‘n' roll band'
By the end of the ‘70s a combination of narcotic overload and internal friction saw Perry and Whitford jump ship, with Rick Dufay and Jimmy Crespo taking their place for one album that bombed. The original gang reunited in 1984 and eventually re-established themselves at the top of the charts with a string of hit releases that dominated MTV and turned them into global icons.
Although their recent work is patchy, the ability to play material from some of the finest rock albums ever made is what makes their live shows a must see. With that in mind, here are six of their best.
Get Your Wings (1974)
Although their debut featured future classics - Mama Kin and Dream On - it showed promise but little originality. A year later, following the introduction of producer Jack Douglas and boosted by the band's growing chemistry, Aerosmith's identity started taking shape.
Same Old Song And Dance starts proceedings with an arrogant strut, its horn-fuelled R&B bounce smoking up the joint, while Lord of Thighs, driven by Hamilton's tommy gun bass line, follows with mean, subtly shifting atmospheric dynamics.
Woman Of The World and SOS (Too Bad) sound like a feistier Rolling Stones, while an uncompromising cover of the Yardbirds’ Train Kept A Rollin' features blistering fretwork and pounding riffs. The epic Seasons Of Wither also highlights their musical prowess, creating moody drama through consistently evolving textures in a manner they've since excelled at. Finally, Tyler's love of singing from the groin is evident on Pandora's Box. He has a girl called Pandora, and it's fair to say the song isn't about domestic containers.
Toys In The Attic (1975)
In their early days, Aerosmith were unfavourably compared to the Stones, but they blew those lazy accusations away and established themselves as international superstars with this stunning third album. If 'Get Your Wings' marked the first time they captured their signature sound, 'Toys...' was when they perfected it.
By now everyone knows Walk This Way and its kinky riff, but the album is packed with greatness from start to finish. Charging out of the traps with the title track's barrage of mental meltdown imagery, they dive through proto-metal monster Round And Round, Chuck Berry double entendre ditty Big Ten Inch Record and a blast of temptation, Adam's Apple, without any dip in quality.
Sweet Emotion is the undoubted star though, with its soulful bass moves, talk box weirdness and howling riffs striking with destructive force. In contrast, You See Me Crying is a perfect finale, as an emotive Tyler is backed by a huge orchestra that swells to an epic, lighter waving climax.
Rocks (1976)
Buoyed by the success of 'Toys...' this fourth album epitomises the raw sweat and spark of Aerosmith at their pulsating best, striking a perfect balance between narcotic indulgence and creative quality before it swung sharply towards the former.
The energy coursing through these tracks is unstoppable, from the screaming declaration of Back In The Saddle to the greasy funk of Last Child and rock ‘n' roll roasters Lick And A Promise, Sick As A Dog and Get The Lead Out. 'Rocks' is a hard hitting, tight-but-loose master class.
Rats In The Cellar's almighty riff strides forward with so much aggression it's like the Yardbirds gone punk, while Nobody's Fault is possibly the band's greatest achievement, with Whitford bludgeoning out snarling chords punctuated by headbanging drum blasts, melodic arpeggios and a little honkytonk boogie.
It's often debated whether 'Toys...' or 'Rocks' represents Aerosmith's pinnacle, but although the former is more diverse, the latter is a faultless ballbuster that encouraged a young man named Slash to learn the guitar. Whatever happened to him?
Permanent Vacation (1987)
'Done With Mirrors' may have flopped, but a duet with Run DMC on Walk This Way two years later reminded the masses Tyler and co were still alive. Keen to capitalise on that momentum, the band kicked their collective habits, making this the first album they did sober.
Hooking up with producer Bruce Fairbairn and outside songwriters like Desmond Child, both of whom had recently worked on Bon Jovi's hugely successful 'Slippery When Wet', was a masterstroke. The slick production on 'Permanent Vacation' is certainly of its time, but the tunes are vintage Aerosmith as the sturdy, swinging thrust of Heart’s Done Time, the heavy footed clang of Rag Doll and mega-hit Dude Looks Like A Lady magically transpose their gritty blues-rock to the commercial stylings of the day.
Smash hit power ballad Angel, meanwhile, expanded their audience and paved the way for future mega-selling love songs like the late ‘90sArmageddon theme tune I Don't Want To Miss A Thing.
They still grind out bluesy stompers too, with St John and Hangman Jury bubbling with Delta fired brimstone, while Simoriah's moody glaze and The Movie's bleak, sci-fi beauty are experimental winners. All in all, this was a stunning rebirth that kickstarted one of the most unlikely second acts in music history.
Pump (1989)
Following the triumphant reception for 'Permanent Vacation', the band reunited with Fairbairn to produce a sleaze-soaked record that's bigger, ballsier and better than its predecessor.
Young Lust finds Tyler jacked up on pheromones as the band batter away propelled by Hamilton's juiced bass, while F.I.N.E couldn't be filthier if it dressed as a plumber and offered to give your pipes a bloody good unblocking. Likewise, Love In An Elevator blends lascivious grooves with Bon Jovi-esque commercial clobber, unleashing a prolonged Perry solo that eschews the formulaic notion of lasting four to eight bars.
Monkey On My Back and Janie's Got A Gun are darker affairs, with the former featuring a booming motif from Hamilton and sickly slide work as Tyler gets autobiographical about drug dependency. As for the latter, from its unsettling intro to its tale of a young girl blowing her abusive father's brains out, via Tyler's soaring cracked rasp and a fizzing guitar solo, it's pure brilliance.
Elsewhere, the Stonesy swing of The Other Side and spunky My Girl bring brassy rolling fizz, while Don't Get Mad Get Even and Voodoo Medicine Man are delightfully menacing slabs of primal power. Over two decades later, 'Pump' remains the band's finest post-’70s record.
Get A Grip (1992)
Aerosmith's first album of the ‘90s is the most commercial record they've released, and it just about - and we do mean just - falls on the right side of hollow bombast. Opener Eat The Rich is angriness personified as Perry unfurls a string of galloping notes and Tyler spits venom at the upper classes, while their grooves duck and dive on the title track's attitudinal, fuck you funk-strut.
There's plenty more libidinous poetry, with Fever claiming “the buzz you've been getting from the crack don't last, I'd rather be OD'ing on the crack of her ass”. Shut Up And Dance shows the band’s romantic side, meanwhile: “Sex is like a gun, you aim, you shoot, you run.”
The album's glossy balladry placed the band at the forefront of pop culture. The soulful rock of Cryin' and banjo-inflected Crazy deliver passionate, crossover melodies that made them MTV staples thanks to videos featuring Alicia Silverstone and Tyler’s daughter, Liv.
Such success was surprising, given how rock music was undergoing a radical changing of the guard. Even though Kurt Cobain's angst ridden anthems remoulded the landscape, Aerosmith proved immune to shifting trends. Mindful of the altering climate, Livin' On The Edge showed they could deliver depth when required, painting a picture of a world in crisis to woozy Beatles-esque vocals, melancholy ambience and nasty middle eight surges of distortion.
Calling Festival Upcoming Tour Dates are as follows:
Sat June 28 2014 - LONDON Clapham Common (Aerosmith)
Sun June 29 2014 - LONDON Clapham Common (Stevie Wonder)
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