Aerosmith "Toys in the Attic" 1975****

This is a cd that really sticks out in my shelf and the reason is that it's hosted in a metal box that looks like those old-fashioned cigar cases. The album cover is printed on the tin and the Aerosmith logo engraved on the front. Now, according to wikipedia, Aerosmith is considered by many to be "America's Greatest Rock and Roll Band". It sounds preposterous until you start wondering: The Rolling Stones? English. Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Deep Purple? English. Dylan and Springsteen are singers and not bands. I can think of better and more influential American rock bands, but no-one else has sold close to Aeromith's staggering 150 million albums. Not to mention their "rock'n'roll lifestyle" of non-stop parties, drugs, groupies and excess in all areas. Their 3rd album "Toys in the Attic" is widely considered their best, so how good do you expect "the best album of America's Greatest Rock and Roll Band" to be? It would have to be pretty fuckin' awesome! Hold your horses, that's no way to approach an album. Remember what Public Enemy said: "Don't believe the hype" and approach it like I did: These are the guys whose biggest hit was that horrible ballad from the movie Armageddon, "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing", so maybe the best thing about it is the cover... Well, in that context "Toys in the Attic" isn't half bad. The music is blues based hard rock, with guitarist Joe Perry referencing Jimmy Page and singer Steven Tyler being closer to Mick Jagger and Rod Stewart. It starts promising enough with the fast hard rocker "Toys in the Attic". "Uncle Salty" has more of a 60's British vibe and "Adam's Apple" reminds me Alice Cooper's heavy glam. "Walk This Way"'s funky riffs are instantly familiar but don't wait for RUN-DMC to start rapping, that hit version of the song is from ten years later. "Big Ten Inch Record" is a hilariously "naughty" blues with clanking boogie woogie piano and "Sweet Emotion" a monster of a rocker, Zeppelin-style. "No More No More" is a Stones-like rock'n'roller, "Round and Round" flirts with metal and "You See Me Crying" a power ballad of the kind they'd be serving us a lot in the future. With the exception of the latter, we're talking about an excellent down-and-dirty bluesy hard rock album, maybe even one worth of its frequent inclusion in those all time top-500 lists.

***** for Walk This Way, Sweet Emotion

**** for Toys in the Attic, Adam's Apple

*** for Uncle Salty, Big Ten Inch Record, No More No More, Round and Round

** for You See Me Crying