(Personal Vinyl Collection) Aerosmith - The Toxic Twins and Co.

It's funny that the time to visit my Aerosmith discography is happening upon me now in the wake of watching the weird beauty that was Oprah Winfrey's "Next Chapter" Show on Oprah's OWN cable network. Let me just say that it is evident to me that Ms. Winfrey and Mr. Tyler are alien lifeforms but that this blog is not about the world of Oprah and Aerosmith as prime time TV celebrity "American Idols" - it is about these musty cardboard squares that contain these enrapturing circles of spiraling blackness that contain the sounds that have shaped my very soul.


Aerosmith - Get Your Wings (1974)

Side 1:
SAME OLD SONG AND DANCE
LORD OF THE THIGHS
SPACED
WOMAN OF THE WORLD

Side 2:
S.O.S. (TOO BAD)
TRAIN KEPT A ROLLIN'
SEASONS OF WITHER
PANDORA'S BOX

Aersomith is one of those bands who were floating around my childhood world. Being born to teen parents in 1973 has it's privileges, though the band wasn't one of my folks faves so I'd hear many of the songs on the radio without knowing anything about who it was. I heard the name of the band on the lips of the kids who were a bit younger than Mom and Dad - Aunts and Uncles and their friends - my own young friend's older siblings. Thank the Gods of Rock for RUN DMC and Motley Crue. This is how I really came to know Aerosmith. Because the kings of glam and sleaze rock placed the Toxic Twins and Company in their pantheon of influences and because of the fine folks at Def Jam were keen to pump their particular brand of NY Hip Hop full of 70's classic rock beats and riffs, I was a fan of the resurgence or "second flight" of Aerosmith in the 1980's. Not to say that I enjoyed any of the music they put out at that time. Oh sure, I'd watch those videos (Brandy Brandt - "Second Floor, Ladies Lingerie. Going... down?) - but the slick era of Aerosmith was less than exciting for me. With the purchase of "Toys In The Attic" on cassette and "Aerosmith's Greatest Hits" on vinyl and some donations from fantastic Aunts and Uncles, I was a fully immersed fan of the dark beauty that was 1970's Aerosmith.

A bunch of good songs on here. My favorite version of the logo - BAT WINGS! My personal favorite song is "Seasons of Wither".



Aerosmith - Rocks (1976)

Side One:

BACK IN THE SADDLE
LAST CHILD
RATS IN THE CELLAR
COMBINATION

Side Two:

SICK AS A DOG
NOBODY'S FAULT
GET THE LEAD OUT
LICK AND A PROMISE
HOME TONIGHT

This is my favorite Aerosmith record of all time. On the right day, I will say that it is "Toys In the Attic". On those days, I'm wrong. All of my favorite hair bands, sleaze bands, glam bands, punk rock n' roll bands, etc. have taken an ember from this fire to fuel their own blaze. Best moment on the album - the sucking sound and cowbell that separates the intro and main song in "Last Child".



Aerosmith - Live Bootleg (Gatefold Double LP, 1978)

Side One:

BACK IN THE SADDLE
SWEET EMOTION
LORD OF THE THIGHS
TOYS IN THE ATTIC

Side Two:

LAST CHILD
COME TOGETHER
WALK THIS WAY
SICK AS A DOG

Side Three:

DREAM ON
CHIP AWAY THE STONE
SIGHT FOR SORE EYES
MAMA KIN
S.O.S.

Side Four:

I AIN'T GOT YOU
MOTHER POPCORN
TRAIN KEPT A ROLLIN'


Okay, that stuff I said about that last album being my favorite? Rocks? Yeah, I meant it was my favorite STUDIO album by the band. THIS is my favorite collection from these polluted purveyors of Rolling Stones on 'roids Rock N' Roll. There's not a bum cut on this live collection. Story has it that they were terrible live at this time and that the record is heavily... polished in the studio, a la KISS "ALIVE", Cheap Trick's "Live at Budokan", Frampton's "Comes Alive" and yes, The Jackalopes "...a real, LIVE! Fuck Machine" but since those are all of the best live recordings ever released anywhere by anyone ever, then WHO GIVES A FUCK!? Firstly, it sounds pretty rough. Secondly, I'm not at the show! I'm listening to a record, probably smoking a left handed cigarette with a scarf over the lamp and thinking about how long my hair is getting. I happen to also be privy to the fact that Bowie is not from outer space (or is he?).

Aerosmith - Greatest Hits (1980)

Side One:

DREAM ON
SAME OLD SONG AND DANCE
SWEET EMOTION
WALK THIS WAY
LAST CHILD

Side Two:

BACK IN THE SADDLE
DRAW THE LINE
KINGS AND QUEENS
COME TOGETHER
REMEMBER (WALKING IN THE SAND)



Great songs. Classic, wrap around Aerosmith logo on red cover art. Kind of generic. This was probably released to recoup some of the money that the Toxic Twins had snorted or injected or to cover a debt to the record company. This was a Columbia House purchase and my copy is flimsy and cheap and with all the songs on other records and nothing special about the liner notes or artwork, it's a record that just plain never gets played. Hasn't been out of the sleeve in probably 25 years. Hey, at least it doesn't have Dude Looks Like a Lady or that Diane Warner song from that end of the world movie, or that one from that other movie, or that one from that other movie or that one other...

Really not a lot in my Aerosmith collection. A couple cassettes, a couple mostly unwatchable live videos... But these black circles are gold.