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Aerosmith was one of the most popular hard rock bands of the '70s, setting
the style and sound of hard rock and heavy metal for the next two decades
with their raunchy, bluesy swagger. The Boston-based quintet found the
middle ground between the menace of the
Rolling Stones and the campy, sleazy flamboyance of the
New York Dolls, developing a lean, dirty riff-oriented boogie that was
loose and swinging and as hard as a diamond.
In the meantime, they developed a prototype for power ballads with
"Dream On," a piano ballad that was orchestrated with strings
and distorted guitars. Aerosmith's ability to pull off both ballads and
rock & roll made them extremely popular during the mid-'70s, when they
had a string of gold and platinum albums. By the early '80s, the group's
audience had declined as the band fell prey to drug and alcohol abuse.
However, their career was far from over — in the late '80s, Aerosmith
pulled off one of the most remarkable comebacks in rock history, returning
to the top of the charts with a group of albums that equalled, if not
surpassed, the popularity of their '70s albums.
In 1970, the first incarnation of Aerosmith formed when vocalist Steven
Tyler met guitarist Joe
Perry while working at a Sunapee, NH, ice cream parlor. Tyler,
who originally was a drummer, and Perry
decided to form a power trio with bassist Tom
Hamilton. The group soon expanded to a quartet, adding a second
guitarist called Ray
Tabano; he was quickly replaced by Brad
Whitford, a former member of Earth
Inc. With the addition of drummer Joey
Kramer, Tyler
became the full-time lead singer by the end of year. Aerosmith relocated
to Boston at the end of 1970.
After playing clubs in the Massachusetts and New York areas for two years,
the group landed a record contract with Columbia Records in 1972.
Aerosmith's self-titled debut album was released in the fall of 1973,
climbing to number 166. "Dream On" was released as the first
single and it was a minor hit, reaching number 59. For the next year, the
band built a fan base by touring America, supporting groups as diverse as the
Kinks, Mahavishnu
Orchestra, Sha
Na Na, and Mott
the Hoople. The performance of Get
Your Wings (1974), the group's second album and the first produced
by Jack
Douglas, benefited from their constant touring, spending a total of 86
weeks on the chart.
Aerosmith's third record, 1975's Toys
in the Attic, was their breakthrough album both commercially and
artistically. By the time it was recorded, the band's sound had developed
into a sleek, hard-driving hard rock powered by simple, almost brutal,
blues-based riffs. Many critics at the time labeled the group as punk
rockers, and it's easy to see why — instead of adhering to the
world-music pretentions of Led
Zeppelin or the prolonged gloomy mysticism of Black
Sabbath, Aerosmith stripped heavy metal to its basic core, spitting
out spare riffs that not only rocked, but rolled. Steven
Tyler's lyrics were filled with double entendres and clever jokes, and
the entire band had a streetwise charisma that separated them from the
heavy, lumbering arena rockers of the era. Toys
in the Attic captured the essence of the newly invigorated
Aerosmith. "Sweet Emotion," the first single from Toys
in the Attic, broke into the Top 40 in the summer of 1975, with
the album reaching number 11 shortly afterward. Its success prompted the
re-release of the power ballad "Dream On," which shot into the
Top Ten in early 1976. Both Aerosmith
and Get
Your Wings climbed back up the charts in the wake of Toys
in the Attic. "Walk This Way," the final single from Toys
in the Attic, was released around the time of the group's new 1976
album, Rocks.
Although it didn't feature a Top Ten hit like "Walk This Way," Rocks
went platinum quickly, peaking at number three.
In early 1977, Aerosmith took a break and prepared material for their
fifth album. Released late in 1977, Draw
the Line was another hit, climbing to number 11 on the U.S.
charts, but it showed signs of exhaustion. In addition to another tour in
1978, the band appeared in the movie Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club
Band, performing "Come Together," which eventually became a
number 23 hit. Live!
Bootleg appeared late in 1978 and became another success, reaching
number 13. Aerosmith recorded Night
in the Ruts in 1979, releasing the record at the end of the year.
By the time of its release, Joe
Perry had left the band to form the
Joe Perry Project. Night
in the Ruts performed respectably, climbing to number 14 and going
gold, yet it was the least successful Aerosmith record to date. Brad
Whitford left the group in early 1980, forming the Whitsford-St. Holmes Band with former
Ted
Nugent guitarist Derek
St. Holmes.
As Aerosmith regrouped with new guitarists Jimmy
Crespo and Rick
Dufay, the band released Aerosmith's
Greatest Hits in late 1980; the record would eventually sell over
six million copies. The new lineup of Aerosmith released Rock
in a Hard Place in 1982. Peaking at number 32, it failed to match
the performance of Night
in the Ruts. Perry
and Whitford
returned to the band in 1984 and the group began a reunion tour dubbed
Back in the Saddle. Early in the tour, Tyler
collapsed on-stage, offering proof that the band hadn't conquered their
notorious drug and alcohol addictions. The following year, Aerosmith
released Done
with Mirrors, the original lineup's first record since 1979 and
their first for Geffen Records. Although it didn't perform as well as Rock
in a Hard Place, the album showed that the band was revitalized.
After the release of Done
with Mirrors, Tyler
and Perry
completed rehabilitation programs. In 1986, the pair appeared on Run-D.M.C.'s
cover of "Walk This Way," along with appearing in the video.
"Walk This Way" became a hit, reaching number four and receiving
saturation airplay on MTV. "Walk This Way" set the stage for the
band's full-scale comeback effort, the Bruce
Fairburn-produced Permanent
Vacation (1987). Tyler
and Perry
collaborated with professional hard rock songwriters like Holly
Knight and Desmond
Child, resulting in the hits "Dude (Looks Like a Lady),"
"Rag Doll," and "Angel." Permanent
Vacation peaked at number 11 and sold over three million copies.
Pump,
released in 1989, continued the band's winning streak, reaching number
five, selling over four million copies, and spawning the Top Ten singles
"Love in an Elevator," "Janie's Got a Gun," and
"What It Takes." Aerosmith released Get
a Grip in 1993. Like Permanent
Vacation and Pump, Get
a Grip was produced by Bruce
Fairburn and featured significant contributions by professional
songwriters. The album was as successful as the band's previous two
records, featuring the hit singles "Livin' on the Edge," "Cryin',"
and "Amazing." In 1994, Aerosmith released Big
Ones, a compilation of hits from their Geffen years that fulfilled
their contract with the label; it went double platinum shortly after its
release.
While Aerosmith was at the height of their revitalized popularity in the
early '90s, the group signed a lucrative multi-million dollar contract
with Columbia Records, even though they still owed Geffen two albums. It
wasn't until 1995 that the band was able to begin working on their first
record under the new contract — nearly five years after the contract was
signed. The making of Aerosmith albums usually had been difficult affairs,
but the recording of Nine
Lives was plagued with bad luck. The band went through a number of
producers and songwriters before settling on Kevin
Shirley in 1996. More damaging, however, was the dismissal of the
band's manager, Tim Collins, who'd been responsible for bringing the band
back from the brink of addiction. Upon his firing, Collins insinuated that
Steven
Tyler was using hard drugs again, an allegation that Aerosmith
adamantly denied.
Under such circumstances, recording became quite difficult, and when Nine
Lives finally appeared in the spring of 1997, it was greeted with
great anticipation, yet the initial reviews were mixed and even though
album debuted at number one, it quickly fell down the charts. The live A
Little South of Sanity followed in 1998. Three years later,
Aerosmith strutted their stuff on the halftime special on CBS with the
likes of Mary
J. Blige, Nelly, *N
Sync, and Britney
Spears, just prior to issuing their heart-stomping Just
Push Play in March 2001. Next up for the band was a blues album, Honkin'
on Bobo, released in 2004, along with two live album/DVDs, You
Gotta Move and Rockin'
the Joint. Another greatest-hits collection, Devil's
Got a New Disguise: The Very Best of Aerosmith arrived in 2006.
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