Aerosmith's Greatest Hits

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Aerosmith

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You gotta look at this CD as more of a "primer" to test the waters to see if you want more early Aerosmith CD's than as the end-all CD to replace all their other 70's albums. It only has ten songs, true, but bear in mind this is a 1980 release. 10 songs was pretty much the industry standard for any album back then. It contains severely edited versions of several songs, the most horrible example being "Sweet Emotion", which deletes the cool talk-box guitar intro and the coda section where it really kicks back in (this version just fades out). Once again, like it or not, this is typical of "greatest hits" albums (hey, the "hit" radio versions of songs typically ARE shortened versions of what you get on the albums). But for those of you only familiar with "Walk This Way", "Sweet Emotion", and "Dream On" from their 70's heyday, you'll find some nice surprises here. "Back In The Saddle", with its galloping rhythm and cool 12-string bass lines, is one of the best things they've ever done, and "Last Child" is a catchy funky number featuring some great Steven Tyler yelps at the end. "Same Old Song And Dance" is another riff-driven rocker with horns (Aerosmith had to be one of the pioneers of combining hard rock with horns). "Draw The Line" is a good noise-rocker that features a great slide guitar riff. People have griped about the inclusion of "Come Together" here, but keep it mind it's not available on any other Aerosmith albums other than the pricey "Pandora's Box" (and it WAS a Top 40 hit - therefore a GREATEST HIT). "Kings & Queens" and "Remember (Walking In The Sand)" don't do much for me, but they at least show a softer side of the band, leaning more towards art rock and 60's R&B respectively. Get this, let it grow on you, then pick up "Toys In The Attic" and "Rocks". And then ROCK!

AEROSMITH'S GREATEST HITS is a 10 track collection of songs originally released in 1980, remastered in 1993, that included their biggest hits from 1973's AEROSMITH, 1974's GET YOUR WINGS, 1975's TOYS IN THE ATTIC, 1976's ROCKS, 1977's DRAW THE LINE, 1978's SEARGEANT PEPPER'S SOUNDTRACK, and 1979's NIGHT IN THE RUTS albums. PERMANENT VACATION, PUMP, etc. hadn't even been concieved yet. That having been said, let's focus on the material that is included here.

Track 1, DREAM ON, is really the only true worthy track from the AEROSMITH debut album. This is a classic that was re-released as a single in 1976 after the success of TOYS IN THE ATTIC. FM classic rock stations still play this one today.

Track 2, SAME OLD SONG AND DANCE, is the only track from the GET YOUR WINGS album. While this is a great song, TRAIN KEPT' A ROLLIN' would have been a better choice if they were only going to pick one for this album.

Track 3, SWEET EMOTION, from the TOYS IN THE ATTIC album has been butchered here. The track starts out already in progress. It's like switching the radio dial and finding an AEROSMITH song that had already started before you switched the dial. This track clocks in at 3:12, whereas the TOYS IN THE ATTIC version clocks in at 4:34.

Track 4, WALK THIS WAY, also from the TOYS IN THE ATTIC album, is essential on any AEROSMITH greatest hits collection. But just like SWEET EMOTION, it has been cut from it's original 3:40 to 3:12.

Track 5, LAST CHILD, from the ROCKS album is essential and is intact.

Track 6, BACK IN THE SADDLE, also from the ROCKS album is essential and is intact.

Track 7, DRAW THE LINE, from the DRAW THE LINE album, is one of two essential tracks from that album.

Track 8, KINGS AND QUEENS, also from the DRAW THE LINE album, is the other essential track. Like SWEET EMOTION, they've butchered it badly here - starting already in progress, and cut way short. Disappointing!

Track 9, COME TOGETHER, is essential from the band's participation in the SEARGEANT PEPPER'S LONELY HEARTS CLUB BAND movie soundtrack. This was a very popular single that Aerosmith released in 1978.

Track 10, REMEMBER (WALKING IN THE SAND), from the NIGHT IN THE RUTS album was a popular single in 1979.

All in all, AEROSMITH'S GREATEST HITS is a very good representation of Aerosmith's work in the 70's. My biggest complaint is about the butchering of SWEET EMOTION, WALK THIS WAY, and KINGS AND QUEENS.

Start with TOYS IN THE ATTIC and ROCKS, and then build your collection from there. It'll cost more than the AEROSMITH'S GREATEST HITS CD, but it'll be worth it.