"Aerosmith" - 1972 (Columbia)
The first, and certainly not the best. This doesn't mean that the album is bad, merely that it is heavilly influenced by others. Most tracks are blues-style. 2 hits stand out. The masterful Dream On and the ever-popular Mama Kin. Whitford does most of the solo work while Joe Perry seems to be playing himself in quietly...
HITS - "Dream On", "Mama Kin"
Crawf's Good 'un - "One Way Street" - A complicated song that typifies the feel of the album and the band when they started. Good lyrics, too!
"Get Your Wings" - 1974 (Columbia)
This is the one where Aerosmith discover their style, and become more creative with their instruments. As a result, many of these tracks were popular live. Songs such as Same Old Song And Dance and Train Kept A Rollin' set the tone for, in my estimation, Aerosmith's first 'written' album, using their own brains rather than applying blues routines to Tyler's lyrics.
HITS - "Same Old Song And Dance", "Seasons Of Wither"
Crawf's Good 'un - "Spaced" - Another meaningful track, with an intersting mid-section riff, and hook-laden verse.
"Toys In The Attic" - 1975 (Columbia)
They hit the nail on the head with this one! Virtually every track is played live to this day and all are worth a mention. I would call it the 'Pump' of the '70's. Hook-heaven and just on a different level to those before! Songs such as title track Toys In The Attic and No More No More show the quality of the album.
HITS - "Walk This Way", "Sweet Emotion"
Crawf's Good 'un - All of them and I mean it! However, "Adam's Apple" is cool and the orchestrated, monster finale "You See Me Crying" is more reminiscent of Queen's "Innuendo" than a Boston Rock combo's 3rd album. Pure Class.
"Rocks" - 1976 (Columbia)
A logical evolution of 'Toys', and the peak of '70's Aerosmith. The album is creative, yet still raw. Confident without being pretensious. Pure Aerosmith. Pure Class. Not as much of a 'hit' record, but one of the 'must listen to' rock records. By their own admission, Aerosmith were using drugs heavily by 1976, but as Joe Perry says "you can hear that whatever we were doing, it was still working for us". Rocks - the album to inspire the next generation of U.S rock and roll.
HITS - "Back In The Saddle", "Last Child"
Crawf's Good 'un - "Lick and a Promise" - Cheeky lyrics, dynamic guitar. A nice, fast, upbeat track to play loud. Typifies all is good about "Rocks".
"Draw The Line" - 1977 (Columbia)
This album was the beginning of the decline. Drugs were having their effect, and Aerosmith was no longer progressing with each new album. With tracks like "Kings and Queens" and the masterful "I Wanna Know Why", the album, which cost over $1,000,000 to make, was not the disaster it could have been. The trouble was, the world was expecting more. Aerosmith were too drugged up to respond.
HITS - "Draw The Line", "I Wanna Know Why"
Crawf's Good 'un - "Get It Up" - Not the best on the album but a truly inventive main riff, just something a bit different!
"Night In The Ruts" - 1979 (Columbia)
This is actually a good album, suprising considering the state of the band at the time. The album is very 'dark', but a musical masterpiece of expression and creativity. Tracks like "No Suprize" and "Cheese Cake", which was recorded in ONE take, with Perry moving from Les Paul to Lap Steel live in the studio, show the band was still making great music. Its a shame that the band was not able to support it, as it was a creditable successor to "Rocks", although not totally original - covers feature heavily. Joe Perry left during the recording, forcing stand-in Jimmy Crespo to do some of the guitar work. Costing a cool $1,500,000, the band was sent on the road to recoup costs. Tyler collapsed on stage and the tour cancelled. That was the sad end of Aerosmith in the '70's. Brad Whitford would leave soon after. It would be 1984 before Aerosmith regrouped...
HITS - "No Suprize", "Remember (walking in the sand)"
Crawf's Good 'un - "Chiquita" - The maddest riff and chord work i've ever heard, but the song keeps its beat. Dark and demonic. Bloody drug-crazed brilliance! Just wished they played it live...