I'm always looking for albums that have been seemingly forgotten by the world at large. Some of them are recent and some of them are not so recent.
This volume kicks off with Aerosmith:
Aerosmith have released quite a few albums in their forty year history. Some of them are classics and some of them are not. The majority of albums which don't qualify as classics are basically all of their post-Pump albums. Their recent Music from Another Dimension and less than recent Just Push Play make one wonder if all those drugs did indeed fracture their brains. They keep channeling I Don't Want to Miss a Thing and Angel over and over again so much that it gets ridiculous.
But Aerosmith used to be good. In fact, they used to be badass. So here are a few of the diamonds in the rough by the former badasses from Boston:
Done With Mirrors (1985) - You could argue that this is the weakest album they've released, but only if you've been in a coma for the past twenty years. Containing the cover of Joe Perry's Let the Music Do the Talking and My Fist Your Face, this album actually does rock. It's far from great, but it's worth a listen or two every now and then.
Get Your Wings (1974) - We've all heard Same Old Song and Dance and Train Kept A-Rollin' but do you know the album they are from? Well, now you do.
Aerosmith (1973) - This is my third favorite album by Aerosmith next to Rocks and Toys in the Attic. Quickly name a song other than Dream On from this album. Did you guess Mama Kin? There are other songs on this album and they are all worth listening to. I could listen to Movin' Out all day.
Night in the Ruts (1979) - My dad still has this on vinyl. There are no breakout hits on this album. The closest might be Remember (Walking in the Sand), but calling that song a hit would be a bit of a stretch. It's just a good album. Of course, it's easy to see that they were on their last legs. They sound more weary than hungry. Joe Perry is only partially on the album.
Rock in a Hard Place (1982) - Continuing the trend of becoming a weary and strung out rock band, Aerosmith released their penultimate album before their '80's ballad band makeover. This album kind of reminds me of Never Say Die by Black Sabbath in that it is fairly bad, but bad Aerosmith (or Sabbath) isn't that bad compared to today's Aerosmith and it will grow on you. I should mention that this album doesn't feature Joe Perry at all.
The decline of Aerosmith since "Pump" has been pretty sad. The only post Pump album I like is the blues cover album, "Honkin' On Bobo."
ReplyDelete"Done With Mirrors" was the biggest pleasant surprise for me. I ignored it when it was released and didn't hear it until a few years later, when I was listening to them again because of "Pump". I didn't expect much and was surprised at how good it was.