This is the 1973 debut album by one of my top ten favorite bands,
Aerosmith. I figured that, since I already kind of know what
Music From Another Dimension! will most likely be getting, Why not do a quickie that will help explain the review of that one. Go back about 4 years to a boy, 13, who was obsessed with the video game Guitar Hero. He had gotten each, since the "80's Edition", on the day they came out. Now imagine anticipating this new "Guitar Hero: Aerosmith" the first game in the series based off a band. I know my mom liked them, and I did kind of like them before I heard about the game. Well I anticipated that game. When I got it the day it came out I beat it in a day. I'm pretty sure it was in Expert too. Well anyway, I needed to get a copy of
Train Kept A-Rollin for my iPod, and the
Rockin' The Joint version wasn't doing it for me anymore. So I ordered the
Get Your Wings cd off their website. Soon after that I got
Rock in A Hard Place for the song
Lighting Strikes. Well those albums are both awesome. Since then I have all but like 3 or 4 compliation Cd's and I think 3 of the Live Albums and 3 box sets. I have, now, all the studio albums (minus
MFAD!). Well that was a lot. They were the first band I ever really go into. This was one of the last Cd's I got by them. I actually just the winter, got a vinyl copy of the 1975 reissue of the album. I like that version more then the CD. It has more of a "Blues" vibe to it. I'll explain that in the review though. I don't know if I mentioned this already, but these guys were my first real ''favorite'' band. This also was released the same day as
Bruce Springsteen's debut on the same label. I have that on vinyl and cassette.
- Make It: This songs starts the album. This is probably one of the most solid intros to an album I've heard. When the lead guitar comes in with the vocals, UH! It sounds beautiful, the Joe's tone for some reason is just so crunchy. This is a true crunch for guitar. The little guitar fill right before the solo. And the solo the tones of the guitars are amazing. The vinyl only makes the tone sounds about 100 times more crunchy. But that's a little beside the point. What I'm trying to say is in the intro you can hear someone clicking something. Now when you listen to this song it kind of sounds like they did one take. Look at it like this, "Hey were broke. We got a deal for an album. But we don't got enough money to do a million recordings of these songs. So it's a one take jam. What gets mixed in is mixed in. Fuck It".
- Somebody: This song more so than the last, the intro riff is playing to start the song off and you can heard a up strum on, I assume, Brad's guitar. There are also a couple of parts in this song where it kind of sounds like there are some ''mess ups''. Which are quintessential on a "true blues" album. If you want that blues feeling you need to just pump out the jam and make it work. I love the way Tyler sings along with the guitar solo in the song. It kind of reminds me of what he did in the solo for the title track off 1977's Draw the Line. That is probably my favorite Aerosmith album. I love the vocals at the end when they like ''double'' and the ending of the song where you can hear the feed back.
- Dream On: I don't think you can hate this song. This is the only song that I don't think they could have done in 1 take. At one point I could play this entire song on guitar. I like how the "All these line's on my face are getting clearer" is a, most likely, cocaine reference. I never would have realized that if some on didn't point it out to me. The bass on this song is super cool. The drums in the background are hard to hear during the verses, but they're there. The piano in this song super sick that it's playing along with the guitar solo in the song. This song is such a super uplifting song. This was one of my favorite songs, and it helped me get interested in the band. The song kind of sounds like it's messed up a little at the very end.
- One Way Street: The intro to this song is just pretty cool. If you listen I think you can hear a laugh. I'm not positive, but I think you can. This song is a very bluesy one. There is a harmonica solo in the song. There is also kind of commentary from Steven in this song. And that also adds to this being a ''true blues'' album. The guitar solo in this song, which I often forget about, is pretty damn solid. I love how in this song, along with most of this album, there are parts where it kind of sounds like Joey is beating the shit out of his drums. I like the like ''fade away'' then ''fade back in'', thought there isn't a volume change and the bass is pretty consistent with not stopping. That kind of reminds me again of Draw the Line. Not the part when it's just Steven and the drums, but like 3/4th of the way through. At the very end of this song, like probably at like 7:01.5 there is a little sound. I think that's someone who's about to talk.
- Mama Kin: There is sax in this song. There is actually kind of like ''hidden'' in the beginning. The way it sounds there is that it kind of reminds me of when me and one of my friends recorded a song, and since we weren't really paying attention, part of the song was in the background of a later part of the song. You can also hear like a hand clap while the guitar and the vocals are alone. This song is so sick. This song is super energetic. I love how this is a bluesy song, and they kind of add an element of Sax. They also did that with I Ain't Got You off the 1978 Live! Bootleg album. That song was recorded live around like 1973 so I could see that probably being like then.I almost think this was the last song recorded and it was in a big room where they were like, "Here's how you play it, GO!" I feel like they had fun with this one. This is an awesome way to start out side 2.
- Write Me A Letter: I like the way this song sounds. One thing is that it's better on the vinyl. I know I sound like I'm on the band wagon, but I'm telling the truth, from personal experience. I like the way that the guitar sounds right before the harmonica/guitar harmony. I don't know why, but I always forget about the like bridge of the song. That is probably the best part. Where it's like he's talking along with the guitar. I always forget, but it's funny because I love it each time I hear it.
- Movin' Out: This song is the quintessential ''true blues'' song what I think of when I think of the like ''production'' of this album. This song has like a cough and just, I can't really even explain it how much I wish I could. This type of production is what is like ''BLUES''. I'm not putting other blues down, but when I think of hard rock/blues/blues rock this is the song I think of. This is one of my favorite songs in... ever. I wish they'd write more songs like this together now, Tyler/Perry. The new album has the first solo joint Tyler/Perry credit a studio album since Fever off 1993's Get A Grip. That 19 fucking years Holmes. Damn song writing partners. I know that an unaccredited studio guitarist played the Last Child solo, but that's different from the co-writing the song. {10/10}.
- Walkin' the Dog: I think that this is my least favorite song. It's kind of funny a cover is my least favorite. The Rolling Stones did a cover of this song on either their debut or Rolling Stones 2 album. There a harmonica in the beginning, I think, that sounds like kind of jungle. This song is solid, but I don't really think it's my favorite song on the album. This is a song they didn't write and I think it's funny about how I'm talking about blues and this is a cover. I like the grunts Steven does and the kind of "do do do do dodo" harmonica sound during the ''solo''. I still like the guitar tone and the bass and drums on this song after the chorus, but it's kind of hard for me to say something negative really about this song.
Overall I have to give this album a 9/10. This is, in my opinion, a "true blues" album. 5 ''broke'' guys who only have enough money for one take of each song and we have to pay for this big open room. So there will be mistakes in there, but hey "Fuck It", it's good enough. That is what I'm getting from this album, and it is no doubt their bluesiest album, more so than the "Blues Cover Album" Honkin' On Bobo. Every song on this album, but 3, were written sole by Steven Tyler. That makes me question, what the hell happened since 1973. Well, beside the drugs and stuff. I'll explain better in the Music from Another Dimension! review. Movin' Out and Face 2 of my favorite song, along with some others, but those are like top 2. I also want to mention that I'm not putting other styles of blues down, but I just think that his is kind of like the nitty gritty sound blues should have. You know what I mean. Like classic blues at least.