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All rights reserved.Toys in the Attic - Aerosmith (CD 1993)
Great Work, Albeit not a Masterpiece.Review created: 09/14/03
by: stretch_nutz69 -- a member of Epinions
Pros:
This is Classic Aerosmith, so you know it won't disappoint.
This is Classic Aerosmith, so you know it won't disappoint.
Cons:
"Uncle Salty", "You see me crying" is only good but not great.
"Uncle Salty", "You see me crying" is only good but not great.
To enjoys 70's and 80'S Aerosmith you must cleanse your mind of all preconceived notions of what this once mighty band has now become.
Yeah I know that's probably easier said than done. Especially coming from me as a Native Bostonian. I used to idolize these guys, I had the poster on the wall, and wore my headband and used to prance around the room pretending I was Steven Tyler.
There were other Ballsy, Thuggish bands in the 70's but none of them were doing Blues Rock the way Aerosmith were.
The cover Art is nice. Probably the best the band put out up to that point. The illustration of toys coming to life makes your imagination "Jog" so to speak, I love the Froggy Doll, being assisted by the Elephant figurine, and up top you got the Teddy Bear keeping watch, possibly guarding the locked treasure chest from the Baby orchestrating a plan via passing the keys up.
I'm reviewing my Vinyl LP Copy of "Toys in the Attic". Back then there weren't CD'S and Pull-Out liner notes so I can't say how good those would look, on the back of my LP Jacket theres neccesary Track Listing and who played what, plus a Good Photo of the band posing in the attack.
The opening title track is a mean and fast-paced rocker. The Chorus has a nice echoing effect.
"Uncle Salty" has always been my least favorite track on the album, though to my benefit it's right near the beginning to see the glass half full. To sum it up, I always found "Uncle Salty to be rather boring and is not up to par with the other 8 tracks.
"Adam's Apple" clearly shows these guys were influenced by the Stones. Though Aerosmith one uped them on this song by incorporating a Catchy Groove into the mix.
Next up is the Classic Rock Staple "Walk this Way", Over a decade later it was re-recorded with the Rap Group Run DMC. At the time the prospect didn't seem revolutionary, but in hindsight many historians look back on it as a keypoint of Rap's acceptance.
Anyways, yeah the song has been chopped up into more versions, including a God-Awful Super Bowl Stageshow with Britney Spears and N Sync. Again, check that notion at the door, cuz you'll be hearing the original, which tops em all ibn my book.
The Basic Guitar Lick is too-Funky-for-it's own-good. Steven Tylers verses cleverly rhyme. Yet strangely enough, the band initially had trouble writing appropriate Lyrics for it way back when, until Steven Tyler caught a Late Showing of The Mel Brooks' Film "Young Frankenstein", a character, the Lazy Eyed HunchBack played by Marty Feldman, chanted the words "Walk this way, Walk this way". The band had finally found a proper title for the song and the rest, as they say, is Rock N' Roll history.
Aerosmith always had a knack for cover tunes and "Big Ten Inch Record" is no exception. Written by J. Weismantel, the lyrics are humorous fare, with the line "I whipped out my Big Ten Inch...Record". I live in Boston and I never hear this song played on the Classic Rock Stations, but it somehow wound up on the bands most recent Greatest Hits Compilation. Surely there more well known cuts that shouldve got consideration, but then again this band has released quitE a few compilations and live albums, but none of which truly capture their essence IMO.
"Sweet Emotion" still gets plenty of Airtime on Classic Rock Radio, and not without merit. The Full 4:30 + version you'll hear on "Toys in the Attic" is superior to the edited one (The running length is cut in half) Available on "Aerosmith's Greatest Hits". The opening Tom Hamilton Bass Line recalls elemEnts of Eastern Mysticism, A Talk Box shows up right before the chorus, followed by a Two Guitar Corroboration by Joe Perry and Brad Whitford. What's unique is there is no Solo, but this track doesn't need one, it would sound out of place. The Song's best moment is in the final two minutes, Joey Kramer gives the snare a good pounding, And the Guitars combine with the Talk Box to carry it away.
Warming up in the Bullpen is one of Aerosmith's overlooked songs, "No More No More". A winding Guitar Lick gets the ball rolling, and Steven Tyler combines with the past and his bands present day in two lines: "Blood stains the ivories on my daddy's baby grand/I ain't seen no daylight since we started this band.". Plus the hook is easy to remember cuz it's simply the words "No more, No more.
No more, No more". And the refrain goes "Baby I'm a Dreamer, Found my horse and carriage". The overall mood is very sentimental minus the sappy element that would plague their post-1992 Music. A high-note keyboard can also be heard, which in my opinion improves things.
There's only one more "Rocking" track on the album, "Round And Round" and what a finale it is. Not to be confused with the Megahit by Ratt of the same name, (which for the record is also stellar).
The Atmosphere intensifies with each minute. Steven Tyler sings with a Brash Attitude and the Guitars re-inforce him.
The ending verse "climbs" alongside a whiny keyboard. Great Stuff.
Sensibly, the Boys chose to finish off the album with a ballad. "You See me Crying" is Good, but not excellent like their follow-up album "Rocks" ballad, "Home Tonight".
My Gripe with "You See me Crying" is that it runs a minute too long, whereas "Home Tonight' is short, sweet, and to the point.
Regardless, the lyrics to "You See Me Crying" are extremely heartfelt: "You see me Crying, but don't let that get you down". As it builds up an Orchestra is present, I'm not sure if it's genuine, or just keyboards but either way I like it. Steven Tyler performs with a Scream style singing that is absent on the Bans 1980's Recordings, could that be due to age/Drugs (Both?) I dunno.
There fall from Grace has been very painful for me to watch. Last Week My Aunt told me the reviews for their NFL Kickoff concert at the National Mall in Washington, D.C.
Well if you can stomach (Gulp) the mere thought of this band who recorded songs like "Sweet Emotion" and "Walk this way" sharing the stage with Pre-Fab Teen Pop acts, yeah I guess their concert wouldn't be half bad.
TRACK LIST:
1.Toys in the attic
2.Uncle Salty
3.Adam's apple
4.Walk this way
5.Big ten inch record
6.Sweet Emotion
7.No more no more
8.Round and round
9.You see me crying
Yeah I know that's probably easier said than done. Especially coming from me as a Native Bostonian. I used to idolize these guys, I had the poster on the wall, and wore my headband and used to prance around the room pretending I was Steven Tyler.
There were other Ballsy, Thuggish bands in the 70's but none of them were doing Blues Rock the way Aerosmith were.
The cover Art is nice. Probably the best the band put out up to that point. The illustration of toys coming to life makes your imagination "Jog" so to speak, I love the Froggy Doll, being assisted by the Elephant figurine, and up top you got the Teddy Bear keeping watch, possibly guarding the locked treasure chest from the Baby orchestrating a plan via passing the keys up.
I'm reviewing my Vinyl LP Copy of "Toys in the Attic". Back then there weren't CD'S and Pull-Out liner notes so I can't say how good those would look, on the back of my LP Jacket theres neccesary Track Listing and who played what, plus a Good Photo of the band posing in the attack.
The opening title track is a mean and fast-paced rocker. The Chorus has a nice echoing effect.
"Uncle Salty" has always been my least favorite track on the album, though to my benefit it's right near the beginning to see the glass half full. To sum it up, I always found "Uncle Salty to be rather boring and is not up to par with the other 8 tracks.
"Adam's Apple" clearly shows these guys were influenced by the Stones. Though Aerosmith one uped them on this song by incorporating a Catchy Groove into the mix.
Next up is the Classic Rock Staple "Walk this Way", Over a decade later it was re-recorded with the Rap Group Run DMC. At the time the prospect didn't seem revolutionary, but in hindsight many historians look back on it as a keypoint of Rap's acceptance.
Anyways, yeah the song has been chopped up into more versions, including a God-Awful Super Bowl Stageshow with Britney Spears and N Sync. Again, check that notion at the door, cuz you'll be hearing the original, which tops em all ibn my book.
The Basic Guitar Lick is too-Funky-for-it's own-good. Steven Tylers verses cleverly rhyme. Yet strangely enough, the band initially had trouble writing appropriate Lyrics for it way back when, until Steven Tyler caught a Late Showing of The Mel Brooks' Film "Young Frankenstein", a character, the Lazy Eyed HunchBack played by Marty Feldman, chanted the words "Walk this way, Walk this way". The band had finally found a proper title for the song and the rest, as they say, is Rock N' Roll history.
Aerosmith always had a knack for cover tunes and "Big Ten Inch Record" is no exception. Written by J. Weismantel, the lyrics are humorous fare, with the line "I whipped out my Big Ten Inch...Record". I live in Boston and I never hear this song played on the Classic Rock Stations, but it somehow wound up on the bands most recent Greatest Hits Compilation. Surely there more well known cuts that shouldve got consideration, but then again this band has released quitE a few compilations and live albums, but none of which truly capture their essence IMO.
"Sweet Emotion" still gets plenty of Airtime on Classic Rock Radio, and not without merit. The Full 4:30 + version you'll hear on "Toys in the Attic" is superior to the edited one (The running length is cut in half) Available on "Aerosmith's Greatest Hits". The opening Tom Hamilton Bass Line recalls elemEnts of Eastern Mysticism, A Talk Box shows up right before the chorus, followed by a Two Guitar Corroboration by Joe Perry and Brad Whitford. What's unique is there is no Solo, but this track doesn't need one, it would sound out of place. The Song's best moment is in the final two minutes, Joey Kramer gives the snare a good pounding, And the Guitars combine with the Talk Box to carry it away.
Warming up in the Bullpen is one of Aerosmith's overlooked songs, "No More No More". A winding Guitar Lick gets the ball rolling, and Steven Tyler combines with the past and his bands present day in two lines: "Blood stains the ivories on my daddy's baby grand/I ain't seen no daylight since we started this band.". Plus the hook is easy to remember cuz it's simply the words "No more, No more.
No more, No more". And the refrain goes "Baby I'm a Dreamer, Found my horse and carriage". The overall mood is very sentimental minus the sappy element that would plague their post-1992 Music. A high-note keyboard can also be heard, which in my opinion improves things.
There's only one more "Rocking" track on the album, "Round And Round" and what a finale it is. Not to be confused with the Megahit by Ratt of the same name, (which for the record is also stellar).
The Atmosphere intensifies with each minute. Steven Tyler sings with a Brash Attitude and the Guitars re-inforce him.
The ending verse "climbs" alongside a whiny keyboard. Great Stuff.
Sensibly, the Boys chose to finish off the album with a ballad. "You See me Crying" is Good, but not excellent like their follow-up album "Rocks" ballad, "Home Tonight".
My Gripe with "You See me Crying" is that it runs a minute too long, whereas "Home Tonight' is short, sweet, and to the point.
Regardless, the lyrics to "You See Me Crying" are extremely heartfelt: "You see me Crying, but don't let that get you down". As it builds up an Orchestra is present, I'm not sure if it's genuine, or just keyboards but either way I like it. Steven Tyler performs with a Scream style singing that is absent on the Bans 1980's Recordings, could that be due to age/Drugs (Both?) I dunno.
There fall from Grace has been very painful for me to watch. Last Week My Aunt told me the reviews for their NFL Kickoff concert at the National Mall in Washington, D.C.
Well if you can stomach (Gulp) the mere thought of this band who recorded songs like "Sweet Emotion" and "Walk this way" sharing the stage with Pre-Fab Teen Pop acts, yeah I guess their concert wouldn't be half bad.
TRACK LIST:
1.Toys in the attic
2.Uncle Salty
3.Adam's apple
4.Walk this way
5.Big ten inch record
6.Sweet Emotion
7.No more no more
8.Round and round
9.You see me crying
Review ID: 10000000000210701
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