Aerosmith - Aerosmith (CD 1993)

For whatever reason, Aerosmith have long been a personal favorite band of mine. This has not been kind to me, as, whenever I cite them among my favorites, the band's abundant power-ballad repertoire comes to mind, and ridicule ensues.

Of course, I'm one of a smattering of Aerosmith fans that happens to actually LIKE the stuff they did post-'85 (the year of the colossally substandard Done With Mirrors), but they had a substantial output of 70s-era rock during that drug-addled decade. Most of the 'classics'---"Walk This Way," "Sweet Emotion," "Back In The Saddle" and the like---were from mid-70's albums, but their self-titled debut, released in 1973, contains a couple of radio staples, as well as some plain ol' good songs.

First of all, radio hits.

The most instantly recognizable song here is, of course, "Dream On." Something about "Dream On"---it sounds a lot better now than it did in 1973. Lead singer/lyricist Steven Tyler wrote the introspective lighter-raiser at age fifteen, and he wasn't a whole heck of a lot older when he laid down the vocals for this song. His voice on this song---this whole album, really, but especially this song---hasn't developed into the trademark recognizable Steve Tyler hoot n' holler that we're used to nowadays. My mother, acquainted with Aerosmith merely through the strength of radio singles---"Jaded," "Amazing," "I Don't Want To Miss A Thing," and the like---asked me if that was actually Tyler singing on "Dream On."

But back to the song. "Dream On" is a very good song, and it's not like this recording is bad or anything---it's just that Tyler's vocals have come a long way since 1973, and live recordings of this song from the past decade or so have sounded phenomenally better. Check out 1998's live collection A Little South of Sanity. Either way, you get to hear Steven hit those awesome screams near the end.

The other recognizable song on the album is "Mama Kin," a fan/band favorite which, like "Dream On," is sounding remarkably better nowadays. Again I cite the stellar South of Sanity. This studio recording lacks a lot of the gusto they perform the song with nowadays, but it's still a great riff-rocker, with some classic Tyler lines: "the way I see it/ you got to say shee-it/ don't forget to drop me a line."

That's about where the radio hits ended. Aerosmith, surprisingly enough, wasn't always a commercially viable band, and in the 70's, when everybody wanted synthesizers and sequined suits, a band that was dubbed the poor man's Stones wasn't really a radio-ready outfit. But there are other good songs to be found on Aerosmith.

There's the opening riff-rocker "Make It," which would open Aerosmith's live show for years to follow. The opening lines are appropriate enough for this slot in an Aero concert: "Good evening people, welcome to the show/ there's something here I want you all to know." "Somebody" was a good Aerosmith love song long before Diane Warren raped the band's career with that godawful Armageddon song. And their cover of Rufus Thomas' "Walkin' the Dog" is an Aerosmith classic---as it goes with the best of covers, Aerosmith made it their own, showcasing their considerable ability at blues-rockers.

And then, of course, there's "One Way Street," arguably the best song here. Seven minutes of pure blues bliss---Steven waxing poetic about his lady and contributing some great harmonica here and there. There's actually a Brad Whitford guitar solo here, too. Whitford being the rhythm guitarist and all, he doesn't usually get a lot of solos---they're usually left to lead guitarist Joe Perry, who can always be counted on to fire off a great one. But Whitford is a formidable, often under-utilized guitarist, and though he provides unshakable rhythm guitar, it's nice to see him flex his chops as a lead guitarist every now and again. (See "Jaded.")

The two remaining tracks, "Write Me A Letter" and "Movin' Out," are fairly okay, but nothing to write home about. I mean, they're not standoutishly bad, they're just kind of... there.

At eight songs, Aerosmith is too short---barely EP-length---but at least six of them are really strong tunes. It's not as good as Rocks, but it'll do.