Impact Albums: Aerosmith-Toys In The Attic(1975)

 

First of all thanks to Mr Books(Aaron) for sending Aerosmith’s Toys In The Attic to me this past Christmas on vinyl! When I thanked Aaron for the album he told me he checked out Mikey Ladano’s review of Toys and there I was spouting off in the comment section of Mike’s review!

I checked this site to see after 500 reviews if I had reviewed Toys and Nope I had not…

Well……

I was real late to the Toys In The Attic party. It was probably around  1983-84ish that I originally purchased  Toys on cassette tape and it came with zero packaging. No pullout sleeve/No songwriting credits/No where was Toys recorded. Absolutely squat! In this case though it’s definitely an album where you will Let The Music Do The Talking!

From the get go opener of the title track Toys In the Attic just takes off with the whole band firing on all 4 Cylinders! Vocal Guru Steven Tyler really starts finding his groove as a clever lyricist on many of these tracks that are featured on this album and many Aero albums beyond! Steve-o as well was finding his voice as well and the Toys track encompasses what I love about Aerostoned! Big Ass power riffs/Drums steaming along and Tyler taking it to the next level.

Producer Jack Douglas brought out the coolest of sonics in Aerosmith. When I listen to this album today in 2018 the production  of some of these albums you can just not replicate nowadays!

After the Aero Bar is set high with the opening number! Uncle Salty follows and Salty oozes rock cool especially the ending when Steven goes into that trippy dippy “Sunny day outside my window” verse at the end of the track. Love the Aerogroove!

Adams Apple is a friggin brilliant track with Steven writing and singing about Adam in Verse One and Eve in Verse Two with a guest appearance by Mr Snake!

even Eve in Eden
voices tried deceiving
with lies that showed the lady the way
at first she stopped turned and tried to walk away
man he was believer
lady was deceiver
so the story goes but you see
that snake was he
she just climbed right up his tree

Ha! Man this song reeks of AeroSex and I love the guitars of Joe Perry/Brad Whitford who keep the buzz rolling with the guitar work on this song and basically the whole damn album!

Ok! What am I going to say about Walk This Way that hasn’t been written about! Well for starters this must have been the High School  Anthem for anyone going to school back in 75! Still to this day at some point we can all relate to the lyrics and what about the groove laid at the start by drummer Joey Kramer. Joey sets the table and the rest of the fella’s take over and rocket this song to the top as “She Told Me To…”

Ha! Big 10 Inch Record is the lone cover tune on this album and for a good time has more good ol Sexual Innuendo  to please the mass of male testosterone running rampant nationwide back in 75.  Basically a big band swing like song done with loud guitars and a loud harmonica courtesy of Steven!

When you mention the name  Tom Hamilton in rock circles this opening Bass Riff that Tom slams down has to be associated with him. Sweet Emotion is pure brilliance that starts off Side 2 and don’t you just love how the chorus takes off into a huge wall of guitars  mixed with Tyler’s lyrics  of horniness  all spewed throughout  the place for the next Four Minutes and Thirty four Seconds!

No More No More is just a straight ahead  Aero track that just rocks out  with Tyler singing about life on the road that features a great verse/great chorus added for a treat is the wicked guitars courtesy of Perry/Whitford who at the end of the day make a real fantastic guitar duo don’t cha think?

Brad Whitford wrote Round and Round along with Tyler and its a huge ball of Sabbath like sludge riffs  that crawls and limps along and shows that these guys can shift musical gears quicker than my pal Tbone slamming back an drink called the Irish Car Bomb. Aero proves that they are going to stick their necks out in the musical forest and take a sniff around and see what they can conjure up!

What do Toys/Rocks/ Night In The Ruts/Rock In A  Hard Place/Done With Mirrors*/Pump/Get A Grip/Nine Lives all have in common?

Answer is on all these Aerosmith albums they end with a ballad! With Toys/Rocks/Rock In A Hard Place and Pump these are Aero albums done right as the all the tracks up till the last song of the album are rockers. This is the way I prefer albums. Don’t bore me man! Rock my socks off and place the big ballad track at the end. Lay down the Rock Law so to speak and on Toys the last song of the album You See Me Crying is a huge song complete with a strings and Tyler you can hear the torture or perhaps pain in his voice. Dude, dug dig on this track!

Toys is an all time Great Record which continued right into 1976’s Rocks which I also need to review….

How Many Times Did I Get Lost In The Attic?

Purchased on cassette(1983-84). Purchased on CD (1990). Received on vinyl as XMAS Gift from Mr Books(2017)

*-In regards to the last song being a ballad on the various Aero albums mentioned above. Done With Mirrors when I bought on vinyl (1985)ended with the slop like Aero Rocker called The Hop. Tbone purchased at the exact time as me Done With Mirrors on cassette which featured a bonus ballad track called Darkness.