58 Comments
Aug 6Liked by Dan Epstein

Great list!

For me?

Uncle Salty

You See Me Crying

Lick and a Promise

Chip Away the Stone

One Way Street

Combination

Make It

Dream On

Home Tonight

Rats in the Cellar

(Could have probably mustered a baker's dozen, but...we've all got places to be)

It's an oversimplification, perhaps, but...the congealing of Tyler's sweet Beatles/Beach Boys damaged pop sensibility (irresistible melodies), with the band's overall hard rock grind is one of the most winning combinations in pop/rock music. And while I have no personal attachment to their version of 'Remember (Walkin' in the Sand)", it WAS the first version I ever heard, and...I applaud their impeccable taste.

More fool me that I didn't muster some effort to see them at some point (specifically ca. 87-99, when the wheels were fully operational)

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Oh yeah - Tyler hung with the Left Banke and toured with the Shangri-La’s, and definitely picked up some important lessons in pop craft along the way! And the only reason their “Remember” wasn’t the first version I heard was because I’d gotten heavy into “oldies” a couple of years earlier.

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I'm guessing, John, you might appreciate the 'Smith concert experience I had in Houston (1977...I was 22, The Summit; this, likely, was their "Rocks" tour...I notice there are videos aplenty of this show, but depending on when they start filming, what I'm about to describe may not have made the cut!). I had only gotten their first 4 albums, particularly liking "Toys" and "Rocks". Overall, of course, an awesome show.

To give context, my first show was Led Zep in '70, and I had seen Sabbath, Deep Purple, Jethro Tull, The Who, Alice Cooper, and many other shows (a few of these, several times) from early- to mid-'70s.

Here's my biggest memory from the Aerosmith show (and, I have no idea if they did this every show/no other tours, or what): About 15 minutes before coming on, we could see the scarves hanging from Steven's mic start to move ever so slightly. Some pre-show music must've been piped in and was playing during this time, but no way to recall just what!

Every coupla minutes, the scarves would move a little more and a little more still. We suddenly realized there must've been a large fan just off-stage that was prompting this movement! By the time the lights dimmed for opening, the scarves were as close to being parallel to the floor as the laws of physics made possible!

Lights out, they come on, and rock the place! I always thought that was the most low-key, but dramatic lead-up to a show, and have always been impressed with that little touch of "theatrics" by whomever thought of it...sort of subtly pre-saging the fury that was to come!

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Aug 6Liked by Dan Epstein

I am beyond envious.

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My work here is done.😄Seriously, John, that's another reason I'm on here doing this, FRONT ROW & BACKSTAGE! I know my age, past access (thru radio and retail records experiences), and pure interest in a wide range of musical styles and artists, gave me opportunities I love sharing, and I enjoy hearing others are digging my long-term memories (while I still have them)!!

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Aug 6Liked by Dan Epstein

My sister saw Queen on the Jazz tour, and...similarly, it has always made me happy to know that even if I was too young to see it (or even know what I was missing), I can at least verify that someone I know DID experience it and confirms every one of my wildest hopes and dreams for what it might have been like.

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Gotta’ go with Uncle Salty. Growing up, I never knew EXACTLY what the song was about, but I still guessed it wasn’t a “feel good story”. The Songfacts website confirmed that all these years later, but I still enjoy it today as it hasn’t been overplayed.

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Aug 6Liked by Dan Epstein

Even when I hear the rather brazen and cynical Mutt/Shania interpretation of it, I'm like "Yeah! LOVE that melody!".

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Wow! I never put that together. Just watched a YouTube vid. on it. Did anything ever become from their “lifting” on that one?

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No More No More

Back in the Saddle

Draw the Line

Sweet Emotion

Toys in the Attic

Walk This Way

Uncle Salty

Same Old Song Song and Dance

Dream On

Sick as a Dog

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Aug 6Liked by Dan Epstein

You found most of the great “deep tracks” but I would add Mama Kin from the first album.

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That would have made my Top 15!

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'Rocks' is one of the all-time greatest '70s American hard rock albums ever recorded. In my 3rd & 4th grade class photos, I am proudly wearing a Kiss t-shirt. By 5th grade, I had moved from the Kiss Army to wearing a t-shirt with the 'Rocks' album cover art. Did they ever rock harder than they do on "Nobody's Fault?" Or the straight-up bluesy punk of "Rats In The Cellar" where Tyler's vocals are sung at breakneck speed?

I remember being fascinated that my 5th grade music teacher saw them at their peak, and I was obsessed with hearing the story of what Aerosmith was like back then (although this was 1979, so it was merely just a few years before when he saw them). But, even by '79, I knew they were past their peak. I did end up seeing them a few years later on their 'Rock In A Hard Place' tour, and it wasn't quite as mind-blowing as I had hoped. But, I was soon jumping off their runaway train anyway. 

Favorite 12 tracks (in no specific order):

Last Child

Nobody's Fault

Combination

Seasons of Wither

Combination

Sick As a Dog

No More No More

Mama Kin

Uncle Salty

Rats In The Cellar

Lick And A Promise

Sweet Emotion (although I have heard it far too many times, but when I was a kid the deep groove of the intro and Perry saying "Sweet Emotion" through his guitar was just so damn cool!)

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Aug 7Liked by Dan Epstein

I’m here for you listing Combination twice on your faves!

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🤣 Whoops! I like it that much that I wanted to be heard in the back!

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Aug 7Liked by Dan Epstein

It is quite possibly my favorite song by any artist, all time.

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Because I've never been a big Aerosmith fan I go for the classics which are quite stellar tracks:

Dream On

Walk This Way

Sweet Emotion

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Aug 6Liked by Dan Epstein

I've totally been on a 'Draw the Line' kick after rediscovering it a few months ago. Sometimes you need a long time for the wax to properly flush from your ears and start hearing better.

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I mainly will remember them for teaming with Run DMC on the remake of "Walk This Way", showing how closely rock and rap are actually related.

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A major cultural moment!

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Great list Dan - my two fun Aerosmith facts...I saw them only once at a rodeo arena, the Draw the Line tour, and they were TERRIBLE. Deep into the drug sludge. Fucking up their own songs, missing notes and lyrics. The opening band Blew Them Away: AC/DC with Bon Scott. The second fun fact, I consulted with one of their side musicians during the late 90s-mid-2000s, a vocalist/keyboardist/guitarist, he'd just been fired from the band and wanted to write a memoir. He was quite bitter, and told me that Tyler could no longer hit the high notes, so this person would climb into a black box at the rear of the stage, with a microphone, look through a window and sing all of those parts, i.e. "Dream On" while Tyler mimed it. That said, "Mama Kin" and "Nobody's Fault" still do it for me.

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Wow! That’s the first I’ve heard about Tyler using a vocal double (though I don’t doubt it) — but I’ve heard numerous similar tales about AC/DC mopping the floor with them on that same tour. Still, to have seen “drug sludge” Aerosmith is still pretty special in its own way, and I am officially jealous!

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Great stuff! I'll go with:

Lord of the Thighs

Back in the Saddle

Toys in the Attic

Sick as a Dog

Sight for Sore Eyes

Train Kept 'a Rollin'

I just noticed the sentence structure there - Aerosmith apparently likes prepositional phrases

Anyway:

Mama Kin

Draw the Line

Last Child

Mother Popcorn - for when you are really intent on blowing out your larynx

I only saw them once as well - in Tinley Park. They did indeed rock.

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Aug 6Liked by Dan Epstein

awesome list Dan. a couple more I enjoy.

Rats in the Cellar

Uncle Salty

lightning Strikes

let the music do the talking

the big 3. rocks toys draw the line

love your writing as always. thank you! xo

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Thank you, brother!

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Aug 6Liked by Dan Epstein

Mama Kin. First heard it when I paid 75¢ to walk into Frolics at Salisbury Beach, near the MA/NH line, on a mid-summer Wednesday night and found a great local bar band. Their name was Aerosmith. Like the Beatles, Aerosmith got their act together over several years, playing night after night, before they cut their first record. North of Boston venues like Frolics and Canobie Lake Park were Aerosmith's Hamburg. Maybe that's why nearly everyone has something on their favorites list from the first Aerosmith album, whether it's Dream On or your choice, Movin' Out, or mine, Mama Kin. Good post, Dan.

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Mama Kin would’ve made my Top 15, for sure!

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Aug 6Liked by Dan Epstein

Nice lead photo with the 45s, Dan. Where did it come from?

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Those are mine!

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Aug 7Liked by Dan Epstein

I saw them four times between Rock in a Hard Place and Permanent Vacation. The no-album-to-promote reunion “Back in the Saddle” tour was simply amazing.

This won’t be ten;

Movin’ Out

One Way Street

Spaced/Seasons of Wither

Lord of the Thighs

Toys in the Attic

Sweet Emotion

No More No More

Rats in the Cellar

Last Child

Combination

Nobody’s Fault

Draw the Line

Kings and Queens

Critical Mass

Bright Light Fright

Milk Cow Blues

No Surprise

Think About It

Coney Island Whitefish Boy

Jailbait

Let The Music Do The Talking

That’s not all….

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Wonderful post Dan, ". . . their own deliciously fucked-up flavor. . ." love it! I wouldn't argue with any of your picks, and would add "Hangman Jury" to my list.

I only saw them twice but got to witness both sides of the Toxic Twins - first at Seattle's Kingdome in 1976 from the nosebleed seats - awful sound, sloppy Aerosmith (from what I could make out) - then at the Seattle Coliseum on the "Permanent Vacation" tour from about the 5th row and it was *awesome*. Couldn't have been a bigger contrast between the two shows!

One reason I love "Hangman" so much is at the Coliseum show the boys sat down at the front of the stage and knocked out a semi-acoustic, foot-stompin' version that was a high point of a show with many.

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Wow, that must have been one of the first shows at the Kingdome, right? Awful sound aside, I’m kinda jealous just from a time/place angle.

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Aerosmith show was the 3rd Kingdome concert - McCartney/Wings & The Eagles preceded it. It was an awful venue! Openers for Aerosmith were Derringer & Jeff Beck, and Beck made an on-mic comment about the “Kingdome echo chamber.” Hope it’s OK to paste an image -

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Sorry, paste didn't work - I have a cool ticket stub from the show.

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Aww damn, I’d love to see it - thanks for trying!

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Oh my god — the Toys/Rocks Aerosmith logo AND the Bicentennial logo? That is a thing of rare beauty!

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Right — I knew Wings were the first (I shoehorned that factoid into my book Stars and Strikes), but had no idea the Eagles and Aerosmith also played there in ‘76!

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Aug 7Liked by Dan Epstein

Rock and Roll was born from the blues. Aerosmith's music is firmly planted in the blues and that is what powers their early albums. I would stack their first four albums (Aerosmith, Get Your Wings, Rocks, and Toys In The Attic) up against the first four albums of any other rock band. It would be impossible for me to pick a top ten from that catalog.

And Dan, I try to read every Jagged Time Lapse article and I enjoy most of them. One thousand thanks for giving Aerosmith some props. But if any of your top ten tracks is from any album after Toys, then we can't be friends :)

Oh, and where is the love for "Big Ten Inch Record"? I understand that the concept is a bit childish, but the execution is righteous.

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Hahaha - I love “Big Ten Inch Record,” and I did call it out in this piece for being one of the many great songs by other artists that Aerosmith had the good taste to turn me on to!

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(And Rocks IS after Toys, so…)

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Aug 7Liked by Dan Epstein

Gaahhh!!! I could have sworn Toys was after Rocks. Should have checked Wikipedia before hitting Submit. The first four albums all kind of blend together in my mind. My simple, aging mind............

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Well, they were all coming out in rapid succession at a time when the air was more than a little hazy…

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Aug 8·edited Aug 8Liked by Dan Epstein

I think Matt Nathanson, metal fan and Bostonian(?), once said that Aerosmith is the best American rock band, and it's hard to argue with that run of 70s albums. The Run-DMC crossover was also legendary. My top 10 would be some combo of the ones on here, but it seems like there's no love for "Round and Round" on Toys. To get nerdier: the OUTRO of Round and Round, at 3:46. What is that? Day in the Life meets Zeppelin? I don't know, but that outro is probably the first drug I ever took.

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Hahaha — well said on that outro!

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