George Starostin's Reviews

AEROSMITH

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Introduction

<john.oliver9@btinternet.com> (21.04.2001)

I hear that you think the Rolling Stones are better than Aerosmith, well let me tell you something you've never been wrong so much in your life like you are now.
Mick Jagger is the worst signer ever to come out of England and has never sounded any good live.
So the next time that anyone tell's you that Aerosmith are the best listen to what they have to say and you'll find that they are the best.
Also that Uriah Heep are one of the best bands to, and as far as Queen is concerned they are the worlds best band ever to have graced the music world and that if you don't like Queen then you should not give your opinion on music as you have no idea what you are talking about.

<MrPetrol@aol.com> (10.07.2001)

I'd like to say that you may think Aerosmith sucks, but somehow they've managed to produce hits for 27 years now. I'd like to know where the Stones (are they the only band you listen to? Because if I listened to them constantly I'd probably go insane) are now. And I'd like to add that even though Steven Tyler Might not have the most pleasant voice he still is an amazing vocalist (unlike some of the new musicians, well not some, all of the new musicians) Could you hit some of the notes he hit on 'Ain't That A Bitch' (Nine Lives-which debuted at number one and yet somehow Aerosmith is a shitty band). I didn't think so. Also if Aerosmith is such a shitty band explain why they've sold 100 million records(I personally have 16), because I had no idea so many people liked "shitty" music so much.

Ratko Hribar (29.10.2001)

In their essence they were basically a mix of the Rolling Stones and the New York Dolls. They were also the American response to Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Nazareth and other such gentlemen. One of their biggest problems (Aside of Steven Tyler's vocals) was that they were just too inconsistent throughout their career, so their albums we're sometimes very solid, and sometimes downright unlistenable, with their latest album Just Push Play being a prime example of that. Their rockers were mostly hit-and-miss, but still enjoyable. Unfortunately, somehow they concluded that their real strength are power ballads, so they recorded an endless stream of them. The only problem is that their ballads are plain pitiful, and that's more like a rule and not an exception. Today, they are one of the most popular pop/rock bands in the world oriented pretty much on high school kids, but somehow that wasn't my cheerful perspective of their future.

Kiel Pidgeon (09.05.2003)

How you guys can even mention Aerosmith and The Stones together is beyond me. Mick Jagger the worst singer ever to come out of England? Excuse me? That has to be one of the three most rediculus things I have ever heard. Steven Tyler is the most annoying lead singer in the history of the world. Take every shitty, annoying and frustrating thing about Robert Plant and you get Steven Tyler with absolutely no redeeming value whatsoever. How have they sold so many records? Who knows and who cares! That argument holds no water at all. Record sales are meaning less. If we go by that logic then the Backstreet Boys would be the greatest American group ever. Aerosmith is lame derivative completely unmemorable garbage. After listening to them the only thing that comes to mind is how I just lost 45 minutes of my life that could have been better used by jamming pencils in my ears.

<barcelona@gongdiscos.com> (29.09.2003)

Here we have the case of fall and rise instead of rise and fall.
I consider all those Aerosmith records just a training for what came later. I mean: from Aerosmith to Done With Mirrors the boys didn't hit real high o real original at least. I can only remember (in the best of the cases) two good songs per record. "Lord of the thighs", "Dream on","Sweet sensation", "Walk this way" among them. But I think they got really original, fresh, powerful,creative and technically excellent on Permanent Vacation and Pump. Master pieces of the new hard rock, no doubt about it. They touched the sky with both records and it's clear to me that at that time no simil with the Rolling Stones was able to apply. Suddenly they began to compose "inside the song", taking care of arrangments, backing vocals, sound and inspiration like never before they attempt to. I don't forget neither the fact of the diversity among the songs: "Hangman Jury" (blues from the bayou), "Rag Doll" (swing-rock...can you imagine a faster cover featured by Brian Setzer?), "The movie" ( I don't enjoy particularlly instrumentals but this is one of those exceptions), "My girl" (up tempo rocking energy at their best), "Young lust" ( this is a day at the races, 'cos everybody seems to run wild like hell with a really gifted Joe Perry in comand, oh boy,what a song), "Love in an elevator" ( featuring the thundering technique of mr. Kramer and ending with an amazing and unforgettable acapella),and,and,and. It's no necesary going song after song, you gotta listen to all the tracks on these records. That is REAL Aerosmith for me: five strong personalities working in a very high level. What a pity that they never repeated the trick. Only "Eat the rich", "Livin' on the edge" and "Walk on down" out of Get a grip and all the moments of delicate psychedelia out of Just push play (underrated god only knows why) show that when they are inspirated they are really great,good musicians and clever rock composers, adding brass sections and different instruments that make sense. And about this kind of war between Jagger and Tyler, just say that Jagger emerged in a time when attitude was the more important thing, and Tyler emerged when attitude and musical skill was the more important thing. Tyler is technically miles ahead of Jagger, but Jagger was the first one of doing some things some way...the way that Tyler later followed.

<imsoflash@hotmail.com> (22.08.2004)

Aerosmith are in my personal top 5 best of the seventies, and of all time. Their cover of "come together" is better then the original. I wasn't too fond of them when they went mainstream (90's), but honkin' on bobo is awesome.
About the rolling stones comparison, you can't compare them. It's like comparing rice to pears. Two totally different things.
And that is what i think of Aerosmith. Good night.

Brian Dickson (06.12.2005)

Aerosmith still remain one of my favourite rock bands ever. To be honest I've heard the "Aerosmtih are sell outs!" cry so much in the past few years that I don't pay much attention to it anymore.I think it's more a tribute to the insatiable human appetite for complaining than anything else. Even when they do a blues album people complained that they were cashing in on Eric Clapton's success with his recent bluesy albums. Does the phrase "can't do anything right" spring to mind?
So Aerosmith the dirty sleazy rock and roll bad boys turn into shiny popsters? Er, that's a bit of an exaggeration, but we all love exaggerations don't we? I've never understood why people complain about the poppy Aerosmith so much. After all don't almost all their albums from Toys In The Attic onwards have a poppy flavour somewhere? from the "ooh it's a sunny day outside my window" to vocal harmonies on Rocks, even their bad boy classic period had pop elements. And what about 'Major Barbra' from 1974? Pure pop! And it's great!. I thought they were chosen for the Sergeant Pepper film because (a) they were big at the time and (b) they used Beatle-esque harmonies.
The trick to appreciate Aerosmtih I think is not to treat them as seriously as, say, Black Sabbath. Sure they have a "darker" side that you hear from time to time, even on their recent albums, but mostly Aerosmtih are about enthusiasm. How can an album like Permanent Vacation be anything other than simple fun to listen to? To my ears their recent albums have injected a touch more pop and ballads to their underlying hard rock sound, but musically I don't see what's so wrong with that. Nine Lives is a highly atmospheric album with some great melodies combined with the "ass kicking" (God I've grown tired of that phrase!) But I suppose many people prefer to complain"sellout" than actually enjoy a good album. And dammit as annoying as he can be sometimes, I still rate Tyler as the most dynamic male vocalist in rock. Behind the caterwauling lies a very powerful voice.


ALBUMS
AEROSMITH

Rich Bunnell (27.08.2000)

Actually, Aerosmith would release the song that defines the wretched genre of the power ballad about 25 years later in "I Don't Want To Miss A Thing." That song makes me cringe. "Dream On" does not-- to this day, I'm still surprised that that's even Steven Tyler singing! He sounds so non-obnoxious! What happened?

Ratko Hribar (29.10.2001)

A timid debut to be sure. Everything sounds crappy, from the uninspiring guitars to the screaming singer. Slow and dull. AC/DC would surely spit all over them if they only existed at that time. 'Dream On' is one of the nicest ballads they ever made, cause now I see that they actually can make a ballad that isn't necessarily cringe-inviting. But hey, did anyone hear the version of that song by Ronnie James Dio and Yngwie Malmsteen ? It's MUCH better. The rockers that can hit are 'Make It', 'Somebody' and 'Walking The Dog'. Everything else misses big time. Actually, at first I wasn't too sure if this deserves the two stars that it got, but after a few listens, I do think it deserves it.


GET YOUR WINGS

Nick Karn (30.08.2000)

Definitely a major disagreement here. I guess my definition of melody or hooks is somewhat different than yours is, because most of these tunes sound quite catchy and entertaining to my ears. "Same Old Song And Dance" is one of the huge highlights here, with that groovy riff and melody, but almost everything else is quite impressive. "Lord Of The Thighs" and "Spaced" are two of the darkest songs they ever attempted, with the former's dramatic piano line and awesome groove that carries the rest of the song, and the tense melody and intro. I'm attracted to the "Train Kept A Rollin'" cover on account of the great soloing and energy, and "Seasons Of Wither" sounds wonderfully bleak and has that 'underground' atmosphere going for it - I'm kind of baffled what exactly you think is so offensive about that song and "Dream On". To me, they're very well crafted pieces, and heads above most of their other efforts in that department (God knows how badly you'd bash stuff like "Angel" or "Don't Wanna Miss A Thing"!). The rest of the album is basically a more minor pleasure, with "Woman Of The World" being a catchy rocker with neat acoustic guitar backing, "S.O.S." a snappy little filler, and "Pandora's Box" in my opinion the only weak song - too pedestrian and not very memorable. I probably should change this album's rating from a 9 to an 8 on my site, since my standards have gotten a little higher since then, but it's still a fine mid 70s hard rock album, and their second best after Toys In The Attic (unless their 77-82 albums are criminally underrated minor masterpieces, which I really doubt).

<Dan804935628@aol.com> (30.03.2001)

Browsing your Aerosmith reviews, it's clear that you don't care much for the bands music. I think the early music was the best stuff they ever did, and Get your wings, their best album ever. I disagree with most of your review of this album.First of all, 'Seasons Of Wither' sounds nothing like 'Dream On', and is one of the best songs they've ever done. 'Train Kept A-Rollin' is way better than the original, and you didn't even mention 'Pandora's Box'. Have you even listened to this album? What about Llord of the thighs', man?

Ratko Hribar (29.10.2001)

Jeez. Again? Slightly better, but.... again? Okay, so the good songs are 'Same Old Song And Dance', 'Spaced', 'Lord Of The Things' and 'Train Kept A-Rollin'. Some other tracks are also solid, but I do however despise 'Seasons Of Winter', which is just a schlock ballad to me (I don't like their ballads, is that clear enough?). Actually, they did mature quite a lot with this release, so this is considerable better than the debut. I would even give it three stars. Now, I know that I'm too generous this time, but I just can't help myself.

Patrick Hooper (09.09.2002)

I like the record in general. I just wanted to mention that I strongly believe it was the guitar master Steve Hunter of "Rock & Roll Animal/Lou Reed/Alice Cooper" fame that did all that soloing on "Train". Neither Joe Perry or Brad Whitford could have done that kind of solo work.

Glenn J. Wiener (12.10.2003)

Aerosmith has not found their full voice on this CD. A few decent tracks ('Lord of the Thighs', 'Same Old Song and Dance', 'Train Kept A Rollin') but nothing earth shaking like some of the gritty tracks on Toys In The Attic, Rocks, or their later material. Still you could see the potential.


TOYS IN THE ATTIC

Jeff Melchior (02.01.2001)

While Toys In The Attic will never take the place of Rocks as my favorite Aerosmith hunk of cocaine-fuelled vinyl, in many ways it's a funner - and funnier - record, certainly a breather after the surprisingly dark Get Your Wings. If you want to know Aerosmith's true appeal, it's the fact that they had a sense of humor. Yes, they were  a far cry from their British counterparts in terms of being in any way revolutionary, but lighthearted lyrics combined with kick-ass riffs were these guys' claim to fame. Maybe it represented the less-pressing concerns of American youth in comparison to their European cousins, or maybe it was a post-Vietnam hunger for good times after so many years of musical "statements". Who knows?
Anyway, back to the record at hand. 'Toys In The Attic' (the song) is a great boogie number with a dumb but catchy refrain. 'Uncle Salty' is a darkish tune, probably the most Get Your Wings-like of the lot, with an interesting arrangement. 'Adam's Apple' - despite its popularity - gets kinda annoying for me, although I enjoy its misogynistic lyrics that not even Aerosmith could get away with today. 'No More No More' is actually quite a beautiful song - almost Aerosmith's 'Memory Motel' (albeit faster) with similiar subject material. 'Big Ten Inch' is a lark - not one of the best songs on the record but certainly a hoot lyric-wise. We all know that 'Sweet Emotion' and 'Walk This Way' kick ass, so I won't go into great detail here. 'Round and Round' tries to be Sabbath and only serves to bore - 'Nobody's Fault', a similar attempt, was far more effective on Rocks. I forget the name of the ballad, but it's certainly a good display of Aerosmith's balladeering - I wish they would have considered the effectiveness of this stuff while they were writing crap like 'Angel' - which IMHO is the most execrable piece of garbage recorded by a poppish-hard rock band, and by '80s standards that's no small statement.
Anyway, Toys In The Attic is one of those albums even a casual hard rock fan will want to add to one's collection.

Philip Maddox (22.01.2001)

I've always actually liked Aerosmith. It's basic hard rock, and it's certainly not revolutionary, but they do what they do pretty damn well, and this record is no exception. Aerosmith only wanted to do one thing on this record - kick ass. And they succeeded quite well, if you ask me. "Walk This Way" and "Sweet Emotion" completely rule, with fanastically shouted vocals and killer riffs. "Toys In The Attic" is even better - man, that song RULES! What a riff, what a solo, and, of course, what an ending! R.E.M. covered it later, but it doesn't come close to the excellence that the Smith pulled out here. I like most of the rest of this album about as much, from the awesome rocker "Adam's Apple" (what a chorus - "She ate it - oh, and it was love at first bite!", followed by that riff - Joe Perry could RIFF), the menacing "Uncle Salty", the absolutely hilarious "Big Ten Inch Record" (I even heard that on the radio once! And you're right, it certainly sounds like Steven is saying "Suck on my big ten inch... record"), and even the closing "You See Me Crying" (I don't mind Aerosmith power ballads at all as long as we're not talking their later stuff like "I Don't Want To Miss A Thing", and hey, I love "Dream On"). This is an awesome record, and if we're talking MP3 scale, I'd give it a full 5 stars.

Rich Bunnell (27.04.2001)

Like Philip, I personally think that Aerosmith is a very entertaining band - certainly not as original or consistent as the Stones at their peak (from what I've heard), but always capable of putting together a solid and enjoyable album. Actually, I've only heard this one so far, but I like most of their radio hits (at least, up to the absymal ones that started with Get A Grip and haven't ceased yet), so I'll pretend that this gives me some sort of authority on the band. The album is mostly killer; "No More No More" is perfect pop with a glossy shiny riff, "Big Ten Inch Record" is one of the most cleverly-performed joke songs ever (they played it as their second song when they guested on SNL in March, it was a breath of fresh air considering that the first song they played was "Jaded"), "Uncle Salty" is an overlooked, semi-bluesy gem, and the two hits and the title track need no introduction. The last two songs are really weak, though - "Round And Round" is really nothing but a bunch of aimless power chords, and "You See Me Crying" would be okay (but not great) if not for that part in the middle where Tyler starts singing like Donald Duck for whatever reason (drugs). I still say the album is worth a high 8/10.

Ratko Hribar (29.10.2001)

Wow, they're getting smarter all the time. Not pretentious, groovy, melodic, sometimes fast as hell. Yeah, it's also raw and gritty, and it is their best record, but it's still not a masterpiece. Ya know, they weren't exactly one of the three grandfathers of hard rock, but they did rip-off quite a few things from them. For instance, here, Aerosmith is stealing from Black Sabbath in order to make 'Round And Round' which is a meaningless track to start with. 'Big Ten Inch' is sleazy and funny and offensively stupid. And it RAWKS!!! 'Walk This Way' is great, and 'You See Me Crying' is corny, and, although I hate Robert Plant, I would rather listen to him wailing instead of Steven Tyler. Everything else is also highly passable, with 'Uncle Salty', 'Sweet Emotion' and the catchy 'No More No More' as the prime examples. Let it be four and a half stars.

Glenn Wiener (12.02.2002)

Probably Aerosmith's best from the early days. Lots of good bouncy rockers like 'Big Ten Inch Record', 'Walk This Way', 'Sweet Emotion', and 'No More No More'. 'You See Me Cryin' is a pretty good ballad. Consistency has been a problem for Aerosmith on other releases, but certainly not here.

David Dickson (31.07.2006)

Oh my GOD. I just read that bad baddy McBADalot comment I put in Leftoverture ten million years ago. What the SHIT was I thinking?? Look, I stick by my like of the Eagles (Hotel California just gets better and better with each passing year, believe it or not), and my cordial dislike of Captain Beefheart and Joni Mitchell, but Aerosmith??? Bad COMPANY??? The worst mainstream band of ALL TIME?????! A "GREAT"??!%$^#@@? What the fuck, Dave. What the fuck.
I DO enjoy parts of this album, though. "Toys in the Atiic," "[Screw] This Way," and "Sweet Emotion" are all good singles, as one might expect, "Uncle Salty" and "Adam's Apple" are surprisingly decent album tracks, and damn it all, I like "You See Me Crying." Pathetic Donald Duck singing and all. Everything else sucks, of course, but perhaps Rocks is better. Ah hell, just avoid all American '70's arena rock altogether except for Boston. They may be calculated, but that's better than being outright dumb.


ROCKS

Bryan Jackson Jr. (17.12.2000)

Okay, I thought Rocks by Aerosmith was one of there best 70's efforts. Every song is catchy in some way. "Back In The Saddle" is clearly my favorite, but every song is good. It's not perfect, however, since the version of "Last Child" is shorter then the version on Pandora's Box, it's still a great album though. Same song, just with an ending on Pandora's Box. This album is still addicting, and should be in every Aerosmith fan's collection.

Jeff Melchior (21.12.2000)

Toys In The Attic was so good they decided to record it again, but no complaints from me. Rocks is one of my favorite records of all time. It shows Aerosmith doing what they do best - slightly funky riff-based hard rock with a keen ear for melody ('Sick As A Dog' is still my favorite 'Smith song ever). 'Last Child' has got some of the most hilariously nonsensical lyrics ever (who else could marry a few lines about poontang with J. Paul Getty's ear other than our man Lil' Stevie Tyler?). Absolutely breathtakng hard rock - there didn't need to be a million lame-ass '80s hair metal bands trying to emulate it when the original was there for mass consumption.
Personally, unlike many people, I don't think they went downhill from Rocks - just more or less sideways. Draw The Line and Night In The Ruts have tunes on them that rank right up there with Rock's best moments. Any of their '70s albums kick hiney all over the power-baladeering tripe they've been putting out since 1987 (although I admit I really liked Nine Lives, ballads and all).

Ratko Hribar (29.10.2001)

The same record again. Certainly, the highlights are solid songs like 'Back In The Saddle' and 'Nobody's Fault', both of which present some of Tyler's most annoying screams. But they're still good. We also have some mid-tempo funk rockers like 'Last Child', 'Rats In Cellar' & Co. In general, the rockers came out okay, with intriguing riffs and nice guitar interplay. And, well, I wont deny that a bunch of songs here do sound energetic, loud and even catchy (a rare case with Aerosmith, at least from MY standpoint), but I will deny that they sound fresh. Cuz they don't. Oh, yeah, the ballad 'Home Tonight' isn't bad, and maybe it is one of their best. Who knows? Who cares? I for one certainly don't listen to their 70's stuff because of the ballads. Basically, the band wanted more money so they recorded this. Four stars.


DRAW THE LINE

Jeff Melchior <Jeffmoncheri@aol.com> (22.01.2001)

I don't think I've ever heard of Draw The Line being considered Aerosmith's Exile On Main St. If anything, I'd think either Rocks (best album) or Toys In The Attic (most diverse album) would be more accurate comparisons. If comparisons to the Stones need be made at all (I've never really seen the comparison musically, aside from the occasional "Honky Tonk Woman"-groove thing; I think it's usually based on presentation and the two bands' similiar debauchery), it would be to Goat's Head Soup, because this is where drugs start to get the better of the band right after the band's peak. But like that Stones album, it still doesn't affect their playing that much, and it's not nearly as bad as everyone thinks it is.
Personally, I like the majority of this album a lot. 'I Wanna Know Why' actually is one of the band's rare Stonesy tunes, 'Critical Mass' is decent and 'Bright Light Fright' is a great rave-up (personally, I think the 'White Light/White Heat' comparisons are negligible, but then again I haven't heard that song in a while). But you're right - 'Kings and Queens' really does suck booty in no small way (were these guys trying to be Uriah Heep or something and if so why in 1977?). In fact, I find the whole second half somewhat inferior, including the 'Milk Cow Blues' cover which is barely recognizable as Robert Johnson's song.
As for this album being excessively loud, well, that argument falls on (perhaps literally) deaf ears, as this IS supposed to be a hard rock/sub-metal album, after all. The musicianship is still there below the noise, which is more than can be said for today's noise merchants such as Limp... ah, dammit, I don't even wanna sully this site by mentioning that name.

Glenn Wiener (11.06.2001)

A few really good songs start this puppy off. However, as the record goes on you feel that the ideas just crash to a screetching halt. 'The Hand That Feeds' and 'Sight For Sore Eyes' just sound like a bunch of over amplified rubish. 'Kings And Queens' at least adds to the usual heavy sound with the Dulcimer effect. However, I rate this disc as a spotty one.

Ratko Hribar (29.10.2001)

Major disappointment. A good thing that I'm not an Aerosmith fan, so I can say what I want about this album. Of course, it's damn overrated, and it loses me even before I get to the second song. Well, if the band didn't go downhill from Rocks and recorded this, they certainly did go about 10.000 miles sideways. Some of the songs like 'Get It Up' do rank up with their previous stuff, but please, 'Kings And Queens'? What's that all about? In my humble opinion, that's just sleazy, corny, silly, stupid, Heep-like crap. Vomit-inviting? For sure. And George, how do you even dear to mention the name of Rainbow in the same context? Unlike Aerosmith, Rainbow actually did manage to pull off similar songs. So, since Perry isn't Blackmore, and Tyler isn't Dio, I don't have any use for that abomination at all. The rest of the album is slightly better than that song, I'll admit that. Three stars.


LIVE! BOOTLEG

David K. Monroe (07.09.2001)

This album is Exhibit A for Aerosmith's drug problem. In their patchy "autobiography", Joe Perry says they wanted "cassette-corder quality", and that's what they got. The very fact they wanted to spend thousands of dollars making their own crappy bootleg reveals their smacked-out state of mind. This is one of the most miserable live albums ever. Now, I don't share George's disdain for Aerosmith - I see them as being exceptional hard rock stylists who never failed to inject creativity into their composing - but this offering almost turned me off of live albums forever back in 1979. "Back in the Saddle" is headache inducing, "Walk This Way" is spoiled by vulgar voice-box, and "Toys..." is ruined by bad vocals. "Lord of the Thighs" is just abysmal. I think the best tracks are the 1973 club tracks, because it appears as though the band were still interested in tight performances back then.


NIGHT IN THE RUTS

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