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Best Aerosmith album?

Blind MelonBlind Melon Posts: 911
edited April 2008 in Other Music
I need some help... I really really enjoy Janie's Got a Gun, and really started to enjoy Train Kept On a Rollin' (because of Rockband), but I want to know which album of theirs is the best, so I can spend some money on it and know I'll like it... I'm pretty sure it's going to be one of their albums from the 70s... since, Dream On, Sweet Emotion, all that stuff is on the earlier albums... but which one should I get? I think I was leaning towards "Toys in the Attic".


(And is the CD with Janie's Got a Gun any good?)
If I could, think I would give in.
Post edited by Unknown User on

Comments

  • keeponrockinkeeponrockin Posts: 7,446
    Toys In The Attic and Get Your Wings kick all kinds of ass.

    S/T is pretty awesome too (there is no song that kicks more ass than Mama Kin, fact)

    Honestly, just buy those three.

    Honkin' On Bobo is a good straight up rock record as well.
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  • jimed14jimed14 Posts: 9,488
    keeponrockin wrote:
    S/T is pretty awesome too (there is no song that kicks more ass than Mama Kin, fact)

    Well, One Way Street, the song just before Mama Kin, kicks major ass ... I actually posted these two as my fave #4 and 5 tracks on an album in that thread that's going on in here.

    The first three albums are rock, blues and soul ... and are just flat out amazing.

    Rocks (their 4th) has it's moments too ...

    After that .... each album has a song or two that are great but ... are so weak overall compared to what this band once was.

    Note, Pump was the last album I bought form these guys ... wooof.
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  • Blind MelonBlind Melon Posts: 911
    Yeah, kind of figured it'd be between their first 3... I think I'll be looking into Toys in the Attic. Funny how their vinyls are cheaper than the CDs... but I suspect the vinyls are not in good shape.. (this is taken from looking on ebay) Thanks guys!
    If I could, think I would give in.
  • SVRDhand13SVRDhand13 Posts: 26,152
    IMO Rocks is the best.

    but toys in the attic and get your wings are great too.
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  • Lukin66Lukin66 Posts: 3,063
    just to be different, I say Honkin' on the Bobo
    deep, deep blue of the morning
    gets to me every time
  • The VacantThe Vacant Posts: 271
    How can someone say Rocks is spotty? Look at this: Back In The Saddle, Last Child, Rats In The Cellar, Combination, Sick As A Dog, Nobody's Fault, Get The Lead Out, Lick And A Promise, and Home Tonight. That there is badass all the way around. Not as instantly accessable as Toys, but easily their high water mark.

    Toys In The Attic may be the way to go if you are only getting one disc. As I said above, it is pretty much instantly accessable. You get Sweet Emotion, Walk This Way, Toys In The Attic, and Big Ten Inch. Plus some killer non-singles like Adam's Apple and No More No More.

    Toys and Rocks is the way to go. The pick up the first two (s/t and Get Your Wings). Live Bootleg is a great overview of the early days as well.

    Draw The Line and Night In The Ruts are spotty, but high points on each are killer. Songs like Kings And Queens, Milk Cow Blues, Draw The Line, No Surprize, Bone To Bone, Reefer Headed Woman, and Think About It a really high. The lows are really low though (Critical Mass, Get It Up, Mia, Chiquita, and Remember). The rest is middle of the road. The dope was beginning to pull them down in a big way.

    Stay the hell away from Rock In A Hard Place. A steaming pile of poo. It's more like a Steven Tyler heroin dream influenced solo album. A lot of people give this one a bad rap because Perry and Whitford don't play on it. Perry and Whitford couldn't even save this one as the live versions of Lightning Strikes show from the Back In The Saddle - Pump tours.

    Done With Mirrors is like a demo album. Some good ideas that never seemed to get finished. The production sucks too. Let The Music Do The Talking does kick ass, but the Joe Perry Project version is much better musically (if not lyrically).

    Permanent Vacation is the sound of a band selling it's creative soul to be comercially successful. Never cared for the big singles, and most of the album cuts seem so dated. This one did not age well at all. Hangman Jury is cool, but that's it.

    Pump is all around solid, for super slick, commercial appeal era Aerosmith. The opening run of Young Lust, FINE, Elevator, Monkey On My Back, and Janie is solid. What It Takes is a great closer. It's fun, but it doesn't have that raw, dirty swagger of Toys and Rocks.

    Get A Grip is incredably dirivitive of the prior two album (and at times itself). This album was an A&R man's dream: coolkie cutter songs that became massive hits. That being said, I still like Cryin' and Eat The Rich. Fever may have no substance, but for some reason I like it too. The occasional Livin' On The Edge is nice to hear. The rest I never need to hear again. A bloated album, that should have been a decent EP.

    Nine Lives continues the trend of too many songs bringing an album down. Lots of duds here, and the non-duds are good, not stellar. Nine Lives, Taste of India, and Pink are nice. Falling In Love is fun or obnoxious depending on the mood. The rest is fluff at best or crap.

    Stay the hell away from Just Push Play. Complete and utter crap that had more emphasis on studio trickery than song writing. It shows in how few of that albums songs ever saw the stage. At least you could hear the guitars on Rock In A Hard Place. All you hear on this is vocals, drum loops, and keyboards.

    Honkin' On Bobo is a nice about face from Just Push Play. It's a fun collection of covers. Some folks call it a blues album, but if that's the case, then Zeppelin's first two albums are blues albums. The best the band has sounded since Pump, if not earlier. Baby Please Don't Go and Stop Messin' Around are live staples for them. Road Runner smokes too.
  • s.k.es.k.e Posts: 17
    the first four albums are must haves.
    but i love the 'doped out' sound of draw the line even if it is patchy in places
  • TowsertunesTowsertunes Posts: 187
    I love "rocks".
    Saw Aerosmith in the late 70's in Detroit.
    Although they were pretty hammered it was still a treat.
    Grab the first few but do not omit "rocks".
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    is that exactly what I thought I read?"


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  • mookeywrenchmookeywrench Posts: 5,870
    I own Pandora's Box. It's a 3-disc box set (each disc is 80 min.) that catalogues the majority/best of their music from the 70's.

    If you're not interested in albums, that's a good way to go.

    I've owned it since i was 10, now I'm 24 and still haven't had the desire to get another aerosmith album as Pandora's Box has satisfied my Aerosmith appetite.

    Movin out is one of my favorite songs of all time!
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  • Blind3Blind3 Posts: 1,149
    S/T and Get Your Wings for me.
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  • restlesssoulrestlesssoul Posts: 6,951
    the best aerosmith album is one that is in the garbage can. :D
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  • Jeremy1012Jeremy1012 Posts: 7,170
    Whichever is the early one with Dream On on it. The only Aerosmith song I like.
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  • transplanttransplant Posts: 1,088
    mookeywrench wrote:
    I own Pandora's Box. It's a 3-disc box set (each disc is 80 min.) that catalogues the majority/best of their music from the 70's.
    The live version of Kings and Queens on there is heavenly. Chip Away at the Stone defines the 70's music for me. That riff is sexy as hell. I think it is one of the greater Box sets out. very well done. I'll just agree with most that the first 4 are the way to go, despite the fact I enjoy quite a few selections off Permanent Vacation and Pump. The latter is a very good top 40 guilty pleasure-type album.
  • DocChicagoDocChicago Posts: 653
    restlesssoul wrote:
    the best aerosmith album is one that is in the garbage can. :D
    * shakes fist
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  • butterfly1butterfly1 Posts: 372
    The first 4 may be the strongest 4 records put out by any band. It was rockin hit after hit. If you have some of the later more polished stuff, do yourself a favor and go deep. Get all four.
  • Blind MelonBlind Melon Posts: 911
    Wow, thanks for all the feedback and kudos to the Vacant for giving a run down of each album, nice. I think I'm going to get Toys right now, maybe I'll get the one that has Train Kept On a Rollin' as well, I really enjoy that song..
    If I could, think I would give in.
  • The VacantThe Vacant Posts: 271
    Blind Melon wrote:
    Wow, thanks for all the feedback and kudos to the Vacant for giving a run down of each album, nice. I think I'm going to get Toys right now, maybe I'll get the one that has Train Kept On a Rollin' as well, I really enjoy that song..

    No problem. Train was originally released on Get Your Wings, and is also available on Gems (a compilation). Go with Get Your Wings. Same Old Song And Dance, SOS, and Seasons of Wither are also highlights on that one. Lord of The Thighs kills live, but the studio version just can't touch it. Way too short.
  • Evacuation RulesEvacuation Rules Posts: 2,162
    I personally like Draw The Line and Night In The Ruts best. Those two albums kick all kinds of ass. It's kind of like No Code and Yield. Regular people dismiss them as over the hill at that point, but those two albums are very highly regarded by real fans. I think they really were at their best when they were totally fucked up on smack.
  • gabersgabers Posts: 2,787
    Sweet Emotion is one of the greatest straight up Rock N Roll songs, IMO. But Aerosmith are very hit and miss. I remember really really liking Permanent Vacation and buying it and a few more albums after, but none I would consider great albums now. Still, they're a fun band to see live, and, for better or worse, considered America's greatest active rock band, so they've got that going for them. I really don't have any input on their pre-Permanent Vacation albums as I've never heard them as a whole.
  • jaboodeyjaboodey Posts: 90
    Hands down from a long time Aerosmith fan.

    Get Rocks now....then Toys in the Attic....In that order, you won't be disappointed.

    Now going to listen to above albums on vinyl and figure out which song should be PJ covered. Hmmmmm.
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  • Evacuation RulesEvacuation Rules Posts: 2,162
    The early Aerosmith albums also sound *awesome* on CD. They're one of the few hard rock bands whose catalog hasn't been "destroyed" digitally.
  • JulienJulien Posts: 2,457
    my favorite is PUMP !
    great album IMO.
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