Nick Young:Listened to: MP3
As the seismic opening riff of Aerosmith’s lead off home run “Back in the Saddle” built itself up to stadium-rock proportions, I was surprised to briefly find myself thinking of Liars’ What Would They Know from their 2007 self-titled release. It was very strange- a moment of thrilling dread that kept me in a heightened state of suspense for about twenty-five seconds before Steven Tyler could steal the reigns of my imagination out from under me. “I’m back in the saddle again,” he screeched in a shrill voice that could dominate any saloon south of the south. “I’m calling the shots tonight, I’m like a loaded gun,” he asserted with coked up southern-rock conviction.
Surprisingly (for me at least), in the four minutes it took for Aerosmith’s shamelessly unrefined 1976 album’s opening track to shoot it’s wad all over my ears, I was provided with an extensive moment of clarity. So this is why people like Aerosmith, I thought to myself.
I could almost hear the snake Tyler compares himself to rattle it’s night piercing machinery as it eyed up a deceptively innocent little sex-pot-by-moonlight named Sukie Jones. When he finally called it a night and galloped drunkenly into the darkness, I feared the album might begin its inevitable decline toward a musical comedown. For a split second on the succeeding track, “Last Child,” Steven Tyler sounded like a broken man hanging on the edge of a hung-over night.
Defeat was surely imminent. “I’m dreaming tonight, I’m leaving back home…” Then suddenly he lifted his head and I swore I could almost see a soulless grin cut across his charmingly insincere face as he sneered:
“RIGHT!”
Steven Tyler shouted “right” as in yeah right, I’ll be putting out this fire with gasoline tonight!”. Immediately after fake-out, guitarist Joe Perry kicks his Hellhound bravado into high gear- never letting Steven Tyler’s vocals quite steal the show from him. Perry is not a musician to be overlooked. Aerosmith’s distinct brand of tumultuous southern-rock, still in existence today only a lot weaker, owes much of its caustic power to the maddening, balls to the wall motorcycle fury of the now fifty-nine year old Perry. As with Keith Richards and Mick Jagger, two other world-renowned musicians who share near-equal fame within their band, it’s impossible to imagine one member of the legendary duo without the other; Perry without Tyler or the other way around (no Tyler Perry jokes please).
Without each other’s analeptic energy and talent, I doubt they’d be able to sustain the maelstrom of “Rocks” longer than two songs without copping out and slipping into some throwaway ballad. Luckily for us the closest thing “Rocks” has to a ballad is the first twenty-five seconds of track six, “Nobody’s Fault,” consisting of a few stray notes of surprisingly pretty organ-like wah’s. It’s the universe before the Big Bang, quiet yet anticipating. After experiencing contemplative near-silence, the valiant jukebox boogie that recalls the Stones’ “Exile on Main Street” explodes back into full swing. “We really can’t miss,” Tyler assures his listeners on “Get the Lead Out,”. Regarding “Rocks,” he was absolutely right.
-Nick
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Mike Natale:
Listened to: Cassette (Yeah, fucking cassette)
So, it’s 1976. One year ago, Aerosmith released their highly-revered Toys In The Attic, and now they’re looking to make a follow-up record. Trading it the lighter fare of Walk This Way and the playful innuendos of Big Ten Inch Record for distorted, heavy rock guitars, and Robert Plant-esque vocal wailing, and Aerosmith created another classic album.
Fast forward about 25 years. I am 11 years old. My uncle moves to Florida, and leaves behind all his cassette tapes. One of these is Rocks by Aerosmith.
I say this because of all the albums we’ve reviewed thus far, Rocks is my favorite. Yet I’ve been listening to it for so many years, I was shocked that, an hour before the posting deadline, I had nothing to write. It’s just that I’ve heard this album so often, the tracks all blend together in their natural order, and it’s basically white-noise. I mean, tracks like Rats In The Cellar and Back in the Saddle still manage to excite me, but I’m used to it all. I grew up viewing Steven Tyler as one of the three consummate front men (the other two being Roger Daltrey and the great Mick Jagger).
So, forgive me, readers, if my analysis is brief: Rocks is one of the truly great rock and roll albums, and probably Aerosmith’s best. Toys In The Attic may have better singles, Walk This Way and Sweet Emotion, but as a whole album, Rocks is more consistent, heavier, and more what we all hoped Aerosmith would be as time went by.
Kurt Cobain called Rocks one of his top 50 favorite albums, and a track like Nobody’s Fault makes it clear why. It sounds more like an early Nirvana demo. Everything on this album, from the guitar riffs, to the bass lines, to the drum beats, to Tyler’s vocal wails, work magic on this album. And maybe that’s why I’m having trouble critiquing it. I grew up listening to a great album. Unlike Sgt. Pepper’s (which I first heard at 14) or Tommy (16), Rocks is a classic, brilliant album I’ve become so accustomed to that I believe it’s formed my basis for great hard rock albums. I judge all other albums against Rocks, subconsciously.
So, in conclusion, go out and buy Rocks. Don’t download it, don’t borrow it, buy it. Earlier today, when speaking to Nick, I said the album was ok. And these days, to me, it is, because I’m so used to that mind-blowing experience of hearing Tyler rip through every track like a rabid dog. So, maybe I can get some of that spark back by helping others reach the hard-rock enlightenment. Just call me an Aerosmith Bodhisattva.
Oh, and for those of you who feel let down that this is more personal anecdote than review, what in the fuck are you reading my pieces for? Nick’s here for the professional, responsible writing. I’m here for the funny links and emotional connections.
-Mike
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