Published on Jan 29, 1999
(Editor’s Note: The reference that Al makes in the
first paragraph was to Bob Pierce, the alias I wrote under for two
years; I had just reverted to writing under my real name, and Al
decided to have some fun with me. – CT)
Checking the Daily Vault Reviews Archives (copyright and
trademark owned by Mr. Bob Pie….oops) I was very amazed to see
that no one had tackled this album. After all, not only is it
considered one of Aerosmith’s best (many think it IS their best),
but it’s one of those albums that looks back and still sounds
fresh. The problem was, after coming into the limelight thanks to
Toys In The Attic, the band didn’t come out with more
radio-ready singles. You know, more stuff like “Walk This Way” and
“Sweet Emotion.” Taking that aside, this album, I would say, IS
better than its predecesor. I’ll tell you why.
1) Tighter focus: After
Toys‘ success, the band could have gone on and released a
big piece of dung. It’s not unusual for bands to let up after
hitting it big. It happens. Instead, the band went back and cranked
out more and better material. Stuff like “Back In The Saddle” and
“Rats In The Cellar”.
2) Total effort by band: I know that from Day One, Aerosmith has
never exclusively written their material within itself. Yet here,
every member of the band contributes to, at least, one song. (Note
to Aerosmith: Get together in a closed room and YOU write the
songs. Let everyone into it.) From Steven Tyler and Tom Hamilton’s
“Sick As A Dog” to Joe Perry’s “Combination” to the multi-written
“Home Tonight.” Sure, they had some outside help, but you can sense
this was the band’s album.
3) Leaner: This goes on with that tighter focus. There are no
throwaways here. Every song comes in, rocks its deeds, and then is
off. I know that many would like to have more than the nine songs
present here, but I think that would have slowed down this rock
train. You don’t even have the time to breathe. As soon as one song
is done, here comes the next one. It’s amazing and a testament to
their ethic.
4) Funkier: I know I have to eat crow for at first disliking the
classic “Last Child.” But I have come around – thanks in part to
that
uber-cool live version in
A Little South Of Sanity. (BTW,
People is out of their minds to think this album was one of
the worst! Get me my shotguns!) Then, there’s “Get The Lead Out”
which is just as funky and will have you shaking your groove thang.
(OK, really bad cliche there, but it fits.)
I could go on and on, but I’ll stop. The truth is that with this
album, Aerosmith comes to fulfill their Manifest Destiny and
forever remove the idea that they are the “poor man’s Rolling
Stones.” After
Toys In The Attic, who could have expected them to top
themselves? Well, they did.