Live! Bootleg - Aerosmith (CD 1993)

Aerosmith Live Bootleg was originally released as a double LP in late 1979. Contained here are 16 live performances mostly dating from their 1977 and 1978 US tours. By this point in time, Smith had climbed to the top of the rock tree (in America at least), on the strength of a string of superb, straight ahead heavy rock albums and their relentless touring schedule. Sadly, success gave the boys the facility to indulge in their other great love apart from music that s right, rock n roll excess. This resulted in heightened inter band tensions, and even worse, a rapid downturn in the quality of their work. This would eventually result in the near fatal implosion of the band in the early 80 s (but as we know, the story has a happy ending). Despite all this, it would appear that the bands various strife s and sad studio decline were not mirrored in their live performances. Indeed, this disc is one of those rarities a live album that is actually considered to be good!

The whole bootleg concept as intended as a reaction to the over polished live albums being put out by other bands at the time. The recordings capture the very atmosphere of being at the gig, with all the energy, all the noise, and all the mistakes. The actual track listing covers a variety of Aerosmith s work up to that point in time. Performances of their hits , such as Walk this Way sit alongside renditions of key album tracks, like the awesome Mama Kin . Also included are recordings of Come Together and Train kept a rollin songs which Aerosmith almost made their own through both their brilliantly executed studio and live versions. Indeed, superbly executed live performances are very much the order of the day here. Stripped of the studio gloss, the band was capable of rocking extremely loud, extremely fast and extremely well. The rhythm section is as tight as ever, providing a solid backdrop for Joe Perry s fantastic, thunderous leads and Tyler s trademark melodic screech. Recording quality is pretty rough but that s the entire point (hence the bootleg title). It captures Aero at their loud, raw, ratty, and appropriately sleazy best. This sheds a whole new light on tracks such as Sweet emotion and Back in the saddle. Particular high lights include Toys in the Attic and Lord of the thighs , on which the guys sound almost unstoppable. There are even a few surprises contained here (enhancing the whole bootleg thing), such as performances of I ain t got you and James Brown s Mother Popcorn , taken from a gig in a Boston jazz club in 1973, nestled amongst all the stadium madness.

However, there are a few downers. A couple of the performances sound a bit too ragged, especially Last child and 'dream on', in which the delicate beauty of the original is totally crushed by lacklustre playing and an overwrought vocal. The inclusion of songs such as Sight for sore eyes and SOS , which have never been particular favourites on record, ahead of, say some of the better tracks from the classic Rocks LP, is also a disappointment. The sound quality is also slightly iffy, with some songs sounding like they were recorded from miles back in the crowd (hmm, taking the whole bootleg gimmick a bit too far there).

As a live album that isn t either totally inept or totally dull, Live bootleg , is certainly a worthwhile purchase, and overall is a superb snapshot of Aerosmith at their best (y know, before they became MTV sluts).