02. Aerosmith Toys in the Attic 1975 (Columbia)
Hard Rock
It’s a sunny day outside my window.
Overview
Aerosmith’s previous album
Get Your Wings should have been the band’s big commercial breakthrough, but with only moderate worldwide sales the band would have to wait another year for another stab at ‘El Dorado’ and all its gleaming delights!
Get Your Wings as an album though, had definitely demonstrated the quality of the band and showed that they were aiming for the giddy heights of Led Zeppelin, but with a Rolling Stone’s type swagger. Aerosmith neither had the mystique of Led Zeppelin or the menace of the Rolling Stones, but what they did have by the bucket load, was a load of dirty riffs and a sleazy sounding vocalist to pull the whole thing off. Musically the band were very adept and in Steven Tyler and Joe Perry they had their very own charismatic type Robert Plant/Jimmy Page or Mick Jagger/Keith Richards frontman team, and as a band they fell somewhere in-between those two titans in terms of sound, image and style! Aerosmith had already shown that they were fully capable of producing both quality material either as singles or as just album material and so you could say that the band had no obvious defects in their overall armoury. So what was missing and why hadn’t
Get Your Wings landed them as America’s biggest new act? Firstly, their vital relationship with producer Jack Douglas was still learning to flourish and these things take time. Secondly, it was always harder to break the American charts than say the UK ones. Thirdly, the band were out there having a good time with booze, blooze and bimbos!
Toys in the Attic like most classic albums of its time, just came about because the band were at the height of their creative powers and according to Steven Tyler, the name of the album came from a teddy bear that he’d seen in an attic with its wrist slashed and all its stuffing was spread out on the floor.
Toys in the Attic would be another one of the great guitar albums of the year and whereas most featured on here had been focused guitar playing, Aerosmith showed us that exaggerated guitar riffing works just as well. For good measure, the album is ranked on Rolling Stone’s somewhat well known “The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time” list at 228 and the band also achieved their huge commercial breakthrough with 8 million copies sold in the US and position 11 on the Billboard 200….. the band were now famous!
Steven Tyler-Vocals
Joe Perry-Guitar
Brad Whitford-Rhythm
Tom Hamilton-Bass
Joey Kramer- Drums
Production- Jack Douglas
Album
Toy’s in the Attic- With its pummelling start, the title track would quickly become a popular staple of the band and the song is often regarded as one of the songs that shaped rock ‘n’ roll.
Uncle Salty- A great second track after the opening title track and its laid back feel features some great vocals by Steven Tyler and some real depth by the rest of the band as well. The song would be the b-side of “Sweet Emotion”
Adam’s Apple- One of the great rock ‘n’ roll tracks put out by the band and the band don’t miss a beat anywhere here.
Walk This Way- One of the most famous songs in the band’s discography and with a main riff to die for! This song would also garner greater fame in the 1980s, where it helped to re-establish the band as a major force again.
Big Ten Inch Record- A cover of the Bull Moose Jackson 1952 single, as the band give us another aspect of their humour to finish the first side of the album.
Sweet Emotion- With its opening bass riff and guitar talk box, Steven Tyler and Tom Hamilton ushered in one of the band’s best and most accomplished songs ever. Also it’s regarded as one of the band’s timeless classics and not unsurprisingly it’s ranked on Rolling Stone’s “The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time” list and the song has been used on countless soundtracks.
No More No More- One of the great pick-me-up tracks by the band and follows on perfectly from the previous “Sweet Emotion”
Round and Round- The heaviest mother on the album and a style that the band would do more on the following rear’s
Rocks.
You See Me Crying- The classic closing track, which is both powerful and subdued at the same time and has a great husky whine courtesy of Steven Tyler.
Verdict
Aerosmith were a druggy band and most bands featured on here have been druggy as well, but Aerosmith just did the whole druggy thing better than most and were basically out there to have a good time and become famous at the same time, it was almost like they could play like a druggy band whilst being asleep! These characteristics were the beauty of the Aerosmith sound, as it was a sound that just seemed to swagger all over the place whilst being gritty at the same time. The band though, always just kept enough composure to keep the whole thing afloat (well at least until
Draw the Line) and this composure was largely down to the guitar team of Joe Perry and Brad Whitford who must’ve been one of the coolest guitar acts around, and the whole thing was then nailed tight by the rhythm section of Tom Hamilton and Joey Kramer, along with Steven Tyler’s raunchy voice just keeping the whole thing on an even keel.
Toys in the Attic kicks out from the word go, with the opening tracks like “Toys in the Attic” and “Adam’s Apple” which are prime examples of their style of playing. The band also had that amazing knack of combining both humorous and rhyming lyrics to perfection, and again it’s right on the opening tracks of “Uncle Salty” and “Adam’s Apple” that these can be heard. The b-side of the album is not to be outdone though and on “No More No More” we can hear more of the Aerosmith trademark sound. Now
Toys in the Attic is very much an album of two different sides. Side-A is an energetic, feel good and humorous effort, but with enough great playing to be taken seriously! The b-side with the exception of “No More No More” presents a more serious side to the band and the compositions lean towards a more mature nature overall. Despite all the delights on offer, the album is best known for the driving and funky “Walk This Way” with its unforgettable Joe Perry riff and the accomplished “Sweet Emotion” where both bass and guitar riffs by Tom Hamilton and Joe Perry really highlight the song. Along with its follow-up album
Rocks,
Toys in the Attic is possibly one of the most influential hard rock albums ever recorded and its mixture of raunch and humour went on to influence a multitude of hair metal bands in the 1980s, but it’s a shame that none of them could hold a candle to prime-vintage Aerosmith circa mid-1970s! Aerosmith are often regarded as the ‘greatest rock ‘n’ roll band’ out of the US and that moniker surely starts right here.