It don't matter how you look at it, Aerosmith RULES!

[El Chuxter]

I've always loved Aerosmith. I got ridiculed in college because I thought they were better than Nirvana. (Hey, I can't help it if some of my classmates were idjits! )

The reason I bring this up, since I'm sure everyone already knows this fact, is that I was listening to O Yeah! Ultimate Aerosmith Hits today. I got this one for the two new songs and a couple of remixes I didn't have already, and I normally don't listen to it. I have almost everything they've ever released, and usually it's tough for me to listen to, for example, "Seasons of Wither" without hearing the entire Get Your Wings album.

But dayum! This is as incomplete as any 2-disc career* retrospective must be, but a worthy effort. It's been said that they're the greatest American rock band, and this is a definite argument in favor of that claim.

Even the tracks from Get a Grip that were in serious danger of being played out for a few years ("Crazy" and "Amazing") are pure gold.

Who's with me in proclaiming Aerosmith to be the bomb-diggity shizzy? (I know Caesar is! )

*--Prior to the awe-inspiring Honkin' on Bobo, of course.

[Rocketboy]

They were really good years ago, decent in the mid 90's, and total crap since "I Don't Want To Miss A Thing" and their last few albums.

[2-1B]

Rocketboy, those last few albums since IDWTMAT are Just Push Play which IMO has a few crappy songs but mostly cool tunes and the other album is Honkin on Bobo which is gold to my ears.

Chux, the Oh Yeah! compilation is a decent collection but I'm with you in that I need the meat of those entire albums. Specifically. Get Your Wings which is tied with Pump as my 2 favorite Aerosmith albums and ergo my favorite records of all time.
I love them even more than Springsteen's "The River."

Yeah, I've been to 16 Aerosmith shows in the last decade and all I can say is that each time I see them, they get better.

And for as many times as I hear the "radio hits" in concert, they always manage to slip in a few gems so I love them for that as well.

"It's the same old story never get a second chance for a dance to the top of the hilllllllllll"
-No More No More-

[El Chuxter]

Yeah, Honkin' on Bobo is a masterpiece, and I'd say that even if I wasn't a blues fan. It's a shame they didn't release any singles from that album. I could easily see The Grind, Baby Please Don't Go, or Never Loved a Girl making the top ten, even in this age of Britney Aguilera.

JPP is a pretty weak album overall, comparatively speaking, methinks. I'd actually rank it second only to Done With Mirrors as far as the worst Aerosmith album ever. (I don't even think of Rock in a Hard Place as a true Aerosmith album, but if you include it, then JPP's the third weakest.) I don't care for the production on most of the album. Night in the Ruts was missing some core members on some tracks, but except for Remember (Walking in the Sand), it's got some awesome tunes.

I don't know why O Yeah includes Just Push Play (the song) instead of Hole in My Soul. It's a better song, I believe it was a bigger hit, and any song that includes a reference to a Flannery O'Connor short story has to be awesome. Jaded should be the only track from JPP (the album) on that compilation.

I believe A Little South of Sanity also came out after IDWTMAT, and I think it's Aerosmith's best (commercially released) live album by a long shot. Just pure perfection from start to end.

And let us not forget that the Armageddon soundtrack also included What Kind of Love Are You On, which is one of the band's most rocking tunes and easily compensates for IDWTMAT (if you don't like that one, which I actually do).

[2-1B]

Chux:

Wasn't Baby Please Don't Go released as a single ? I know they cut a video for it . . .
I fully expected The Grind to be released as a single, in fact some fans decried it as the probable single to kill the album since it's the only original tune and in the vein of "Cryin." Myself, I think it's a cool song and while not a single, they are using it in that camera commercial where Steven walks through the diner.

JPP, I still really enjoy this album. My favorite song is the opener, Beyond Beautiful, so I guess that strong track lets me get to the end with Face, an EXCELLENT tune found only on the Best Buy versions. Why it's a bonus track is beyond me because it's a great tune . . . hmmm, but you my saying that doesn't speak well of the rest of the album, eh ? I still like many of the songs on there. Fly Away from Here is NOT very pleasant so I skip that one and I'm not big on Light Inside or Sunshine. But the title track is just awesome IMO (NOT that crappy radio edit found on the Oh Yeah comp).

Done with Mirrors - I'll always enjoy this album, very raw but it's got some treats on it. She's on Fire, The Reason a Dog, My Fist Your Face, and Let the Music Do the Talking all come to mind. It's kind of like a debut album in that it was their first for Geffen when they regrouped so it's interesting to see how they "restarted" with that record.

Rock in a Hard Place - yeah, I don't listen to it too much but when I put in the Gems comp. I ALWAYS listen through Jailbait because it's just a rockin' tune which gets me going. And nomatter how terrible / goofy the video was for Lightning Strikes, I get a kick out of the song.

Night in the Ruts - I agree, Remember is not a very good one but I still LOVE No Surprize and Cheesecake.

Hole in My Soul - I don't like it and it has not grown on me over time. I love the Nine Lives albums but I skip this song 99% of the time. It's not that I dislike ballads, because I enjoy a good number of Aero-ballads, this song just doesn't do it for me.

A Little South of Sanity - yep, it came out after the Armageddon soundtrack and while I do enjoy it, I was disappointed when it was released because they had to open it with an older recording of Eat the Rich when EVERY show on the Nine Lives tour (up to that point) was opened with the title song Nine Lives (before being replaced later on with Toys in the Attic). My personal choice for top live record would have to be Live Bootleg because there is just something about those cuts of Dream On ("all the things you do MOTHER******") and Sick as a Dog . . . and I love the presence of Chip Away the Stone which was a first timer (later appearing as a studio cut on the Gems comp.)

What Kind of Love are you On - awesome song and underrated IMO. Heh, I remember a show I saw in Nov 1998 when Steven said "it's soundtrack time" so of course I thought, here comes I Don't Want to Miss a Thing but NOPE, they burst into What Kind of Love. I was so surprised and delighted to hear it. And I have a bootleg video of that show, too !

[El Chuxter]

While we await the long-rumored Steven Tyler solo album, howsabout a new Joe Perry solo album dropping on May 3?

I know what I'll be blasting that day. . . after I blast the ROTS score a few times, of course.

[Darth Jax]

i thought Baby, please don't go had been released as a single. i've heard it get some airplay. and what's wrong with walking in the sand?

you can see them live on the big screen in be cool. steven tyler has much more than just a cameo in the movie.

[El Chuxter]

Wow, looks like another sneak-attack CD release. Aerosmith has another live album coming out on Tuesday!

The track lineup doesn't look like the greatest, but there are a few obscurities ("No More No More"!! YESSSSS!!!!), and it'll be nice to get live versions of a few of these recent songs, especially IDWTMAT. I have a feeling that track could be a truly great rock ballad with the orchestration out of the picture.

[Rocketboy]

Chux, have you heard Velvet Revolver's cover of No More No More?
It was released on a Best Buy bonus cd with VR's album.

[El Chuxter]

Really? Man, to have been in existence no longer than they have, Velvet Revolver has a bunch of "rarities" out there.