The story of Aerosmith is a story of success and excess. After they took the time honored nosedive into drug abuse, failed marriages and financial ruin, this dog-eared bunch of rockers evolved into an all-American mythic archetype.
The five skinny guys who looked were designed by Versace and MTV (and their silly hats) currently rank among the top grossing musical enterprises on the planet.
Joe Perry, alongside vocalist Steven Tyler, the two nicknamed ‘Toxic twins’, provide the bands public image. No doubt, they make a good double act.
While Perry was famous for his greasy rhythms and pig-iron guitar, Tyler wrote raunchy lyrics that bragged innuendos high and sung in the slang of adolescent America.
The BIGONES is a great hits soundtrack to the comeback portion of their story which illustrates that the Aerosmith that came to define current mainstream rock is not the Aerosmith of old.
The BIGONES CD has 16 tracks with a mix of lascivious arena – metal and emotional power-ballads.
‘Walk on water’ is a previously unreleased song. A song that would have been just as easy on the ears were it sung by any pop band. Aerosmith adds the necessary licks to make it all theirs.
‘Love in An Elevator’ is up tempo track but it’s not overdone with all the screeches and yowels we are used to.
‘ Ray doll’ and ‘Dude’ are deliciously sleazy blues – rockers.
‘Janie’ s got a Gun’ has Hamilton in front of the mic and its one of the songs I enjoy most. The song addresses the subject on child abuse, the bands best stab at social commentary.
‘Cry’in’ and ‘What it takes’ are their best ballads.
Both ‘Amazing’ and ‘Blind man’ mark the downside of the album. ‘Amazing’ sounds like the rise and fall of his drug addiction…. You will be glad when it is over…
‘Blind man’ is another previously unreleased track and is quite listenable.
‘Deuces Are Wild’ is a sublime slinky throaway and serves only as a filler in the otherwise’ nothing but hits’ album.
And which Aerosmith album would be complete without power ballads? “Angel” and “Crazy” are overwrought power ballads.
‘Eat the rich’ is the only track that really brings back the Aerosmith of old with its signature riffs .
And that brings to one of my all time favorites ‘Living on the edge’ – Even if all sixteen tracks like this one are given to me, I would have been salivating all over this CD.
Just note the lyrics
“There’s something wrong with the world today
I don’t know what it is
Something’s wrong with our eyes
We’re seeing things in a different way
And God knows it ain’t his
It sure ain’t no surprise….ya
(Chorus)
We’re livin’ on the edge
Livin’ on the edge”…….
Pick up your air guitar and sing along…….
We all love a happy ending, and Aerosmith look set to give us one :new children, new sound-this is the story of a band who fell to Earth and lived merrily after.
Pick up this CD AND ‘PUSH AND PLAY’