Gems - Aerosmith (CD 1993)

Although their original Greatest Hits album is one of the best-selling 'best of' collections ever released, it was not really a fitting summary of their 'classic' 70's period. It was quite short, and left off a few singles as well as essential album tracks. For those on a tight budget or who just simply don't like to bother with large volumes of albums, a follow-up compilation was a very good idea. It took about eight years, but Columbia eventually did put together a second record documenting the band's golden years - and they did a very good job.

See, at one time, Aerosmith didn't put all their effort into creating hit singles and actually crafted consistantly enjoyable records. And the appropriately-titled "Gems" is free to roam about those albums and pick out the best tracks, not just the most well-known.

Heres what they came up with:

1. "Rats in the Cellar"
A sequel of sorts to the song 'Toys in the Attic'. Very nice rocker and a nice way to kick things off.

2. "Lick and a Promise"
Another selection from the band's best album, Rocks, and another great tune.

3. "Chip Away The Stone"
Probably one of my favorite Aerosmith songs. It's even better live, but the studio version is pretty damn good as well. I still don't understand why it was never a single.

4. "No Surprise"
From 'Night in the Ruts', a rather unpopular album from a period when the band was coming out of their glory days. Still, this song was pretty good and keeps the pace of the record nicely.

5. "Mama Kin"
This song gets a lot of radio play in New England, the band's home region, and they established a rock'n'roll bar in it's name. It's a very cool tune from their first record.

6. "Adam's Apple"
One of the best songs from 'Toys in the Attic'.

7. "Nobody's Fault"
This might be my favorite Aerosmith song. I think I wore out this part of the record when I was a kid...just very cool and it's nice to see it honored among their finest.

8. "Round and Round"
Decent hard rocker; not one of my favorites.

9. "Critical Mass"
Good tune from the rather lackluster 'Draw the Line' record.

10. "Lord of Thighs"
I think this is a great song, I've just never been able to get into the studio version. I like it on "Live! Bootleg" though.

11. "Jailbait"
Most people ignore their 1982 album, 'Rock in a Hard Place', and usually for good cause: it isn't very coherent and Joe Perry wasn't even in the band at that point. Still, there were a couple good tunes in the mix and Jailbait was one of them. You can enjoy it outside the awful record it was first released on!

12. "Train Kept a Rollin'"
This is of course a cover that has been passed around many a classic rock band, including the legendary Yardbirds, but Aerosmith's rendition is argueably one of the best. This starts off as the 1973 studio version and fades into a live performance about midway through. A great tune and a fitting finale.

As you can see much emphasis is put on their late-70's material, but that's good because it puts a lot of nice songs from their later, shoddier records in a better perspective. But there is also enough from "Get Your Wings", "Toys in the Attic" and "Rocks" to make this a decent retrospective of Aerosmith's best work.

Sure, one could squabble over the absense of songs like "Sick as a Dog" and "Toys in the Attic", but if you want the full experience, you have to get the actual albums.

If your cheap or don't have too much money to spend on CDs though, 'Gems' coupled with 'Greatest Hits' gives you a rather difinitive summary of the band's early career.