Aerosmith - Memorable Music Hall of Fame

Formed: Sunapee, New Hampshire, USA . . . summer 1970, by JOE PERRY and STEVEN TYLER, who, with others (BRAD WHITFORD, TOM HAMILTON and JOEY KRAMER) moved to Boston, Massachusetts. By 1972, through a Max's Kansas City gig, they were signed to 'Columbia' by Clive Davis for a six figure sum. The band released their eponymous debut album the following year and the ROLLING STONES comparisons were inevitable from the off. While The 'Stones had taken American music, translated it and shipped it back across the water, AEROSMITH took the 'Stones interpretation of the Blues and customized it for a younger generation. Comparisons with LED ZEPPELIN were somewhat off the mark, the PERRY/TYLER partnership closely mimicking that of JAGGER and RICHARDS and while the latter two proclaimed themselves the 'Glimmer
Twins', so it came to pass that Perry and Tyler were duly christened the 'Toxic Twins' in recognition of their legendary mid-70's decadence. 'MAMA KIN' and the Rufus Thomas cover, 'WALKIN' THE DOG' were fine examples of AEROSMITH's early revved-up R&B strut while the ballad, 'DREAM ON', scraped the lower regions of the US singles chart. The follow-up album,
'GET YOUR WINGS' (1974), consolidated the band's rock'n'raunch but it wasn't until the release of 'TOYS IN THE ATTIC' the following year that the band staked their claim as one of America's biggest and sexiest rock acts. Featuring the swaggering 'SWEET EMOTION' and the supple funk-rock of 'WALK THIS WAY', the record made AEROSMITH a household name, Stateside at least, going on to sell millions. Quintessentially American,
the band cut little ice in Britain where punk was the order of the day. While Britain was pogoing to the strains of 'Anarchy in the UK', American heavy metal kids were skinning up to Aerosmith's 'ROCKS' (1976), a seminal record that saw the band at the peak of their powers. Dirty sinuous riffs gyrated provocatively against diamond melodies, TYLER's pout almost audible as he casually reeled off his lurid tales of life on the road. While the band continued to pack out stadiums across America, their fabled penchant for nose candy was beginning to take its toll on their creative output. 'DRAW THE LINE' (1978) and 'NIGHT IN THE RUTS' (1980) fell woefully short of the band's capabilities, tension between TYLER and PERRY eventually leading to the latter leaving and forming The JOE PERRY PROJECT. Despite a near-fatal road accident, TYLER soldiered on with a revamped line-up for the equally uninspired 'ROCK IN A HARD PLACE' (1982). The all-important chemistry was gone while the chemicals seemingly continued to take their toll. Just as it looked like the end for the band, PERRY and TYLER settled their differences
and the original AEROSMITH line-up signed to 'Geffen', getting it together for the 'DONE WITH MIRRORS' (1985) album, their best effort since the 70's heyday. AEROSMITH always had the funk and it seemed fitting that their miraculous commercial and creative rebirth was kickstarted by black hip hop crew RUN DMC. Their reworking of 'WALK THIS WAY' was released at the height of the rock/rap crossover in 1986 when 'Def Jam' was a force to be reckoned with and VW badges were in short supply, duly exposing
AEROSMITH to a generation of kids who had never even heard of the band. Bang on cue, the band released 'PERMANENT VACATION' (1987), a masterful return to form which spawned a classic slice of AEROSMITH sleaze in 'DUDE (LOOKS LIKE A LADY)'. Moreover, the band had almost singlehandedly inspired a whole scene; almost every band in the late 80's glam-metal movement modelled themselves on prime 70's AEROSMITH (i.e.
GUNS N' ROSES, FASTER PUSSYCAT, JUNKYARD, L.A. GUNS etc.). While the majority of these bands quickly faded into obscurity, AEROSMITH left the young pretenders for dust, releasing the adventurous and critically acclaimed 'PUMP' (1989). The single 'LOVE IN AN ELEVATOR', TYLER's tongue planted, as ever, firmly in cheek (probably not his own though), gave the
band their first Top 20 hit in the UK. With the album reaching No.3, it finally seemed Britain had cottoned on, albeit fifteen years later. If 1993's 'GET A GRIP' sounded somewhat formulaic, it was another massive hit nevertheless.
After just more than three years away, they returned to 'Columbia', releasing the wittily titled Top 50 hit, 'FALLING IN LOVE (IS HARD ON THE KNEES)', previewing yet another massive selling opus, 'NINE LIVES' (1997). Having scored a modest hit with 'PINK' (an ever bigger UK hit in '99), AEROSMITH unplugged their amps to power-ballad to the top of the Hot 100 with 'I DON'T WANT TO MISS A THING'. Almost as sentimental as the film it was lifted from ('Armageddon'), TYLER and his cohorts crooned through
every filled up wrinkle whilst leaving a few mascara stains on their female fans. While The ROLLING STONES continue to roll (bankroll, that is), there's no reason to suggest that AEROSMITH won't continue in a creakily similar fashion. Come the new millennium, the veteran campaigners were back to the hard stuff (music, that is) with 'JUST PUSH PLAY' (2001), the BONEYARD
BOYS (aka producers Mark Hudson and Marti Frederiksen) helping tease out a set which many believed AEROSMITH's best since 'PUMP' more than a decade earlier.