Artist: Aerosmith
Label: Columbia Records
Release: 1973
The success story of one of the greatest rock bands of all time starts off in a fairly cautious, maybe even too bashful tone. Aerosmith, the debut from the legendary American collective, shamelessly reveals all the traits of a young, up-and-coming band that has a vision but still hasn’t learned to handle more concrete, more firmly structured musical forms, though at its core it still overflows with intensely mischievous, youthful revelry. Nobody can deny the incredible enthusiasm that a quintet of razor-sharp cowboys pours into this set of eight charmingly scattered, yet contextually surprisingly well-put-together creations. They don’t let the listener slip away for even a moment. And while Aerosmith still sounds fresh-raw, or simply fitting for a debut, on the other hand you can already admire the first seeds of a sharply recognizable sound that, in an understandably upgraded version, ruthlessly haunted the biggest concert venues across the pond for the rest of the decade.
Although Aerosmith have always been seen as a strong musical collective, where, as opposed to stressing individual qualities, a healthy, ego-free team spirit always counted most, here you can’t yet overlook Tyler’s enormous influence, with which Steven, as chief conductor and mastermind, fully controls the course of events. Maybe that’s even right, since the other four obviously weren’t yet mature enough for any more tangible involvement in terms of creative input. Steven, as the head of the family of flying blacksmiths, thus fatherly looks after the proper making, processing and delivery of practically all the songs on the album. The only exception is Walkin’ The Dog, an old, countless-times-covered Rufus Thomas r & b/soul stomper that still wins you over with its fire and energetic simplicity. Even so, the real highlights of the album are to be found elsewhere. I’m thinking mainly of the swaggering parade of the opener Make It and the lively boogie woogie blues Somebody, both evidently Tyler’s brainchildren, adorned with a joyful interplay. With its tireless activity, it creates fertile soil on which the other four graze obediently like little lambs, as the epic One Way street proves, otherwise a unique record of Tyler’s baptism by fire as a great songwriter and musician. Both elements reach their eruptive peak of expression with the cult Dream On, a gorgeous, almost classically schooled composition that already in 1973 in many ways lays down the fundamentals of the power ballad.
Back to heavy blues rock! Remember the great Mama Kin, the one we wrecked many a mattress to in our youth with nonstop “air guitar” jumping (not to mention our moms’ long-since-frazzled nerves)? Even though most young headbangers in the second half of the eighties considered the Guns ‘n’ Roses version the cult one, to taste the power of the original you have to go back to ’73, where you’ll quickly kneel before the rawness of Tyler’s darling. The same goes for the bluesy Movin’ Out, which irrevocably kicks off the long, fruitful relationship of the Tyler/Perry duo, one that the pair, though in two widely separated time spans, has nurtured to this day. It’s a simple bluesy guitar riff, typical of the reckless nature of Perry’s self-taught hand, that quickly grazes past your ears. Hidden deep inside its sincerity, Tyler finally finds his kindred spirit, who, in impatient anticipation of their future triumphs, is for now slyly waiting for his big moment.
Aerosmith is a charmingly simple musical document that admittedly doesn’t offer any revolutionary shake-ups in terms of the evolutionary development of rock music. But in its small, simply woven rocker’s basket it certainly hides plenty of exciting sniffing around the roots of r & b and blues music, which, if nothing else, already quietly gives away the great potential of this heavily electrified quintet of young Boston lads.
Lineup
Steven Tyler: vocals, piano
Joe Perry: guitar
Brad Whitford: guitar
Tom Hamilton: bass
Joey Kramer: drums
Production
Adrian Barber
Track List
1.Make It
2.Somebody
3.Dream On
4.One Way Street
5.Mama Kin
6.Write Me A Letter
7.Movin’ Out
8.Walkin’ The Dog
Album Length: 35:44
