A Little South of Sanity [PA] - Aerosmith (CD 1998)

After being in the business for over twenty five years, selling out stadiums and arenas, going platinum with just about every album, and in 1998, finally getting a number one single, it is perhaps a little bit sketchy that Aerosmith had never released a true live album. Yeah, so they had the two Classics Live albums, and that Live:Bootleg deal, but those sounded like studio recordings with audience noise added in as an effect. So finally, hot on the heels of said number one single, Aerosmith released their first true definitive live album in the fall of 98, a two disc set entitled A Little South of Sanity.

This disc plays as a "live greatest hits", and for the most part, the two discs span the two eras of Aerosmith. Disc one (except for two songs) spans the late 80s and 90s comeback era, while disc two is more heavy on the older stuff of the 70s. Now to steal a concept from the King of Epinions himself, ChrisBickel, there are "disc one fans" and there are "disc two fans." And while I enjoy some of the stuff on disc one, you would call me more of a disc two fan.

Disc one, as I mentioned earlier, is basically all the stuff from Permanent Vacation and on. There is a gem of a Same Old Song and Dance though, and it is highly recommended you check it out.

The disc opens with the absolutely wretched Eat the Rich, a song I feel is one of the worst songs written by any band ever, nevermind Aerosmith. And while the energy being exchanged between the crowd and the band is almost tangible, it cannot save this song from itself. But the band immediately redeems itself with hot renditions of Love in An Elevator and Falling In Love(Is Hard on the Knees).

From there, though, the band falls into the trap of ballad country, as out of the nine remaining songs on the disc, four are ballads. Now, granted, I don't mind the occasional ballad, in fact, I love Angel, but Aerosmith has gone overboard the last couple records with them. And it wouldn't be that bad if they extended a solo or something with these, but they all are played pretty much by the record, which makes them even more boring to someone who already can't stand them.

Luckily, an amazing version of Janie's Got A Gun, complete with an extended intro, is here to save the day. I absolutely love this song, and experiencing it live is something to behold, and I feel nothing else needs to be said on disc one.

As soon as you throw in disc two, you feel like this is the Aerosmith that should live on in infamy. As soon as Back in the Saddle hits, you can't help but smile. This is rock and roll at it's finest. The epic like Dream On is here as well, and when I say epic, I *mean* epic.

There are some latter era songs on here as well, most notably a wonderful rendition of What It Takes? that is stripped way down to it's bare bones. And the disc closing take of Sweet Emotion, featuring a ripping solo by Joe Perry, is something that is almost worth the price of the disc in and of itself.

Perhaps the only disappointment in the tracklisting for me was the lack of a live Taste of India, which would have been really cool.

THE BOTTOM LINE:

Buy this disc if you like old, new, or any Aerosmith. You won't be disappointed. It's like buying two greatest hits albums in one package.