voila_la_scorie Aerosmith's second album and one that started to see them get the attention they deserved. After their debut there was nothing. "Dream On" got a little attention but the band were wondering where all the promotion, the interviews, the radio spots, and the parties were. For "Get Your Wings" they wanted a decent producer and asked for Bob Ezrin. He offered them Jack Douglas, who would produce their string of successful albums in the seventies.

While the debut gave us a blues-based rock band with a very raw sound, "Get Your Wings" sees the band searching for a sound of their own. They were moving ahead and developing that classic Aerosmith sound, but they had not quite reached it yet. Both Jack Douglas and the band acknowledge this. When Douglas first heard the new material, he thought to himself, "What can I do to make them sound like themselves?" (Wikipedia article on Get Your Wings). Joe Perry says this:

"I knew the album, in spite of a few bright spots, still didn't capture the power of the band. We were better than the record we were making. And yet I didn't know how to get there. I didn't know how to get from good to great."

True, Aerosmith would really set the airwaves on fire with their next albums, "Toys in the Attic" and "Rocks", where the classic Aerosmith sound can finally be heard. But "Get Your Wings" is clearly a bold step toward that direction when compared with the debut album (good though I think the debut is). "Same Old Song and Dance" is clearly what the band were reaching for. A little unpolished compared to "Walk This Way" and "Back in the Saddle", there is still that roll in the rock that Aerosmith became so good at doing. The brass adds extra punch and makes future brass inclutions a natural move for the band. Songs like "Lord of the Thighs", "S.O.S. (Too Bad)", and "Pandora's Box" set the chosen standard for songs about sleeze which would inspire a whole generation of hairbands in the eighties, the S.O.S. standing for Same Old Shit while Pandora's lyrics cross "city slicker" with "slitty licker".

On the more serious side, "Spaced" is an interesting diversion into a story about a survivour of a twenty-year interstellar journey and features some guitar chords that conjure up images of Pete Townshend pinwheeling his arm. The sixties references don't get any more blatant than in the cover of the Yardbird's version of "Train Kept A Rollin'", this version first played at a slower, groovy pace, which according to drummer Joey Kramer was inspired by R&B and James Brown. Partway through, the song kicks into gear and gives a seventies version of what Jeff Beck and the Yardbirds did in 1965. And then there's a haunting ballad, "Seasons of Wither" with its sullen acoustic guitar, sorrowful lyrics, "Ooh, woe is me / I feel so badly for you", and powerful release when Tyler sings "Take the wind right out of your sails!" The song was never a single but remains a favourite of both Tyler and Perry's and in later years was performed at concerts and included on compilations.

This is an album that neatly falls into place between the preceding and succeeding albums. It still maintains some of the roughness that debut had and lacks the polish the third album would have. But it also captures the band striving for their own style that would come an album later. Not all the songs are an exciting hit but there are enough diamonds in the rough here to make the album worthwhile having for fans of seventies rock with a side note that this band is more about having groove and style and a cool sleeziness rather than going for high energy and ballsy hard rock.

Get you wings indeed. The band is this close to taking off!

voila_la_scorie Possibly one of the best comeback albums ever?

"Done With Mirrors" (i.e. done cutting lines with mirror and razor?) was more like Aerosmith's came back album. "Yo! We came back. Here's our album. Dig it." But "Permanent Vacation" sounds like a real comeback album, like a band who is ready to burst through your living room wall and out to the pool-side for an all night party of blues rock meets glam in a style that no other band could ever hope to imitate.

Whale song, air raid sirens, Indian war cries, DRUMS and BOOM! Joe Perry's guitar delivers a tricky riff that sounds like his fingers would be falling over themselves. Brad Whitford backs it with a chugging riff and we're off with one heckuvan opening track. Steve Tyler is fully on top of his game, howling with his trademark scratchy throat style.

This is Aerosmith like you've never heard them before, and that's partly because they worked with a whole slough of, a whole slew of other musicians and song-writers, and partly because they were in the Little Mountain Studios with Bruce Fairbairn. To make the album a full-on performance, the band's hard rocking blues style was augmented with clarinet, trombone, trumpet, muted trumpet, saxophone, cello, mellotron, steel drums, and organ. And to what a result! The band sound like they've been injected with a mother load of MOJO!

After the stunning opener, the band hits us again with the catchy, sing-a-long chorus of "Magic Touch", a great upbeat, hard rocker. Then we go all bluesy and swinging with the brass and slide guitar of "Rag Doll". This song has less punch and more groove than the other two. Tyler gives us some scat near the end as a clarinet and muted trumpet carry us out.

Is it ballad time now? Not yet. "Simoriah" may not be the best track on the album but it slams down another powerful pop hard rock tune.

Then comes one of the big classic singles, "Dude Looks Like a Lady". What can you say? Full swing with brass, fat sound, rocking bluesy lead guitar. Instant hit!

Side one wraps up with the blues track, "Saint John", and man, Aerosmith simply mop the floor with all those hair bands that tried to go blues in the mid-eighties. Aerosmith are just proving the cool. Full sound. Awesome!

We got croaking frogs and a creaking rocking chair. We got a steel pedal guitar and harmonica. "And if I could / I surely would / Stand on the rock that Moses stood / I say whoa boy / Dontcha lie on the track-a-la-cka". Aerosmith just come up with a style that pays tribute to the blues of yesteryear and marries it with eighties hard rock.

"Girl Keeps Coming Apart" takes us back to the big sound of brass and rock with another loud, partying song. Highlights are the spoken parts at the beginning and near the end ("There she was / buns up and kneeling / I was a-wheeling and a-dealing / My ace-in-the-hole, so to speak") and that kick ass brass. How about that guitar solo? And the instrumental close out? Great loud-in-the-car song!

And at last the ballad. And what a power ballad it is. Powerful intro and then all sweet and wow! Tyler is awesome. One of the best power ballads of the eighties. The chorus has almost an early sixties love song feel to it but buffed up for the big sound of the eighties. Love the clean guitar solo, too. When I saw Aerosmith in Vancouver in '87, this song has not yet been released as a single and they didn't play it. Wow, eh? I remember Steven Tyler doing splits off the amp stacks and cartwheels while holding on to the mic stand. What a showman!

The title track now has us on the beach with steel drums and colourful banana shirts. Break out the margaritas, the pina coladas, and the tequila!

Someone had a request? Here's a cover of the Beatles' "I'm Down" done in rocking Aerosmith style. Great job!

The album closer is a puzzling one. "The Movie" is lead by a simple guitar melody and backed by a simple heavy beat. In one part, a voice speaks in a foreign language and then the music changes to remind me of the city scenes in "Blade Runner". Thumping drums and scratching records, the production team left no instrument unturned for this album and it worked wonders.

Agreed that this is not a metal album, but there's just so much going for this one with each song crafted carefully and just stellar playing. It's a freaking awesome party rock album!

If you like that sort of thing.

Unitron Before Aerosmith gained lots of success in the 70's with Toys in the Attic and Arena Rock hits in the late 80's hair days, the band had somewhat humble beginnings with their first two records. Rooted in an almost pure hard blues rock sound, these first two albums really showcase that kind of rough garage-y sound of a band just starting out, the debut especially.

The album is mainly known for the hit single "Dream On", which has since became a staple of classic rock radio. Strangely enough, the album wasn't very well received upon first release in January 1973. The band was compared in an unfavorable light to bands such as The Rolling Stones (Who did influence the band). However, the album has since been better received, perhaps due to "Dream On" bringing in more popularity when the single was re-released in 1976.

This album is a gold mine for deep cuts, as the aforementioned "Dream On" and "Mama Kin" were the only singles released from this album. The band sounds quite a bit different on many of the songs than from what they would be known for later on. There is much less sleazy swagger here, it rather has that raw and immature charm of a band just getting started and finding their sound. Even on this debut, Aerosmith knew how to deliver catchy riffs and hooks with tight rhythm, and it's really easy to get caught. "Make It", "Somebody", "Mama Kin", and the cover of Rufus Thomas's "Walkin' the Dog" will all get you stompin' to their bluesy swing.

However, my two favorite tracks are "One Way Street" and "Movin' Out", with the latter being one of my all-time favorites from the band. Both of these songs standout in the band's discography, "One Way Street" is the band's longest song as well as being pretty close to pure blues. "Movin' Out" is both heavy and beautiful, having a perfect balance between heavy blues licks and touching vocal and guitar melodies. Speaking of vocal melodies, Steven Tyler's vocals are much more raspy here, fitting in really well with the more rough sound of the guitar.

While not my absolute favorite from the band, it is an easy second best as well as one of their most consistent albums. If you're looking for a more pure blues rock album with great hooks and a garage-y charm, give this gem a listen. Hope you found this review helpful, feel free to comment!

aglasshouse Enter the 90's. Aerosmith's still on a roll after their numerous smash hits from the 1970's and 80's, but are slowly starting to exhaust their creative processes. This is where their first hit of the decade comes, Get A Grip, in 1993. During this time glam metal was practically dying out with the new explosion of grunge performing a hostile takeover of the music industry. Regardless, Aerosmith held onto their strings and cranked out their last glam album to this day...

...and what we get it moderately good. The album starts with the hard rocking 'Eat The Rich', which is very reminiscent of the good old days that people remember from albums like Permanent Vacation and Rock and a Hard Place. A problem that becomes evidently obvious very quickly is that Aerosmith has depleted much of their variation. Many of the songs utilize the same chord structure and general composition, sometimes differentiating from slow to fast depending on the song. This factor doesn't make it much worse, but it does dampen the listening experience if you're going through the whole 14 set tracklist. Nevertheless several tracks make it through the creative barrier, such as the very arena-rock inspired 'Livin' On The Edge', with it's thundering sound and seemingly suspenseful nature, 'Shut Up and Dance', with it's frenzied dance-style groove, among others.

Away from my run on sentences- this album is a perfectly average release. Sure, it's not what you would exactly expect from these guys if you're experiencing it as the first album from the 90's with the 80's in mind, but as a look at the band as a whole, Get A Grip could easily fit among the others as a pretty good rocker.

aglasshouse "She's a long lost love at first bite."

I've never been someone who has particularly fancied the boys from Aerosmith. Granted their content has been relatively enjoyable during the 70's and 80's, and I really have no personal dislike towards them. The main reason for my disinterest is mostly based from them being a little bland in their musical variety as a whole. However because I collect music, I still buy anything of theirs when I see it. I picked up their '87 release Permanent Vacation for a few bucks and decided 'hell, I haven't heard them for awhile', and gave it a spin. What I head not only surprised me but also had me in a state of awe.

Permanent Vacation is doubtlessly one of the best albums from Aerosmith, and perhaps their best from the 1980's. This was the band's first venture into the colorful world of glam metal, which in retrospective is a genre which fit them rather well. While most bands failed after joining the glam craze, Aerosmith soared in both sales and quality. What I would call Permanent as a personal genre however? Fun rock. I mean, if you listen to the ever popular 'Dude (Looks Like a Lady)'and 'Girl Keeps Coming Apart' you not only get some great musicianship but also an air of enjoyment coming from the band. Tyler especially, conveying with his spectacularly crazy voice emits subtle vibes of pleasantness. My favorite however has to be 'St. John', with it's great bass work from Hamilton and Tyler's vocal cohesion with himself. Not only that, but we get a partly indecipherable religious message which I'm sure means something, but with Aerosmith's lyrics you never get past much more than sex and lust so it's hard to figure out anything other than that. Other tracks that I enjoy are 'Heart's Done Time', and 'I'm Down'.

Although Aerosmith may not being so well to this day, with releases that lower in quality every new album, it's still great to look back at these glam golden boys in their magnificent heyday.