Aerosmith's - Toys In The Attic Album

On April 8th, 1975 Aerosmith released their 3rd album Toys In The Attic. It was recorded at New York's Record Plant in January & February 1975 and was produced by Jack Douglas. It became their biggest selling US album, going gold in its year of release and has since reached 8 times platinum. The cover art shows a a cartoon drawing of a chestful of old toys with a brown border background. The classic Aerosmith logo is seen in orange letters for the first time on an album.

The album put Aerosmith on the map with a hard rockin, dirty, sexual, heavy metal blues sound that is still their trademark 36 years later. This is the first of three great classic albums the band would put out in a row. This is my 2nd favorite Aerosmith album (2nd to 1976s Rocks) but a must to have in your collection.
Toys: The title track opens the album, it is an Aerosmith classic and is considered by the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as a song that helped shaped rock music. The song refers to the term which means a going crazy in the head. Joe Perry's 1st of an album full of great catchy guitar riffs, the band rocks out and chants "Toys" as Steven Tyler's haunting in your face vocals sets the tone for whats to come. A great song live, especially when it opens a concert. The song was written by Steven Tyler & Joe Perry, and was released as a single but did not chart.

The album features a couple of other Aerosmith all time classics. Walk This Way has become a revolutionary ground breaking song through the years, it gained attention by combining rock & rap music in the late 1980's. But back upon its release it was an instant FM rock radio staple and gave the band national attention. The title came as the band took a break from recording and caught a movie in Manhattan during the winter of 1975. The title was inspired by the Walk this Way scene done by Marty Feldmen in the movie Young Frankenstein.

The famous drum beat intro, followed by the classic heavy Joe Perry guitar riff put Aerosmith up with the likes of the mighty Led Zeppelin. Steven Tyler's grabs you by the collar as he shouts the lyrics with an emphasis on the word rhymes. He tells the story of a high school boy losing his virginity to the naughty girl next door. Released as a single it peaked at #11 which was pretty good for hard rock in those days. The song is considered one of the top 10 rock songs of all time and is always played live at Aerosmith concerts.

Sweet Emotion rivals Walk This Way ( and Dream On) as being the most popular & best Aerosmith song of all time.This song starts out with a famous Tom Hamilton bass line and Joe Perry's use of the guitar talk box. (Remember this is a year before the Frampton Comes Alive became famous for the talk box use.) The song then rocks out with another classic guitar riff, led by Tyler's powerful vocals. The lyrics are said to be about anger geared toward Joe Perry's wife, and the tensions going on amongst the band mates & their wives. The song was released as a single and was the 1st Aerosmith song to crack the top 40, peaking at #36. In charted in July '75 while Aeorsmith were playing a gig in New York's Central Park. 9Anybody remember the Schafer Music Series!) Riding its success they decided to reissue Dream On, which did much better the 2nd time around. Sweet Emotion is also always played live at Aerosmith concerts.

Big Ten Inch is an old early 1950s blues cover. It has a humorous sexual innuendo, and it's right up Steven Tyler's alley. In fact the singer is referring to old ten inch 78 rpm blues records which the lady cant resist. The song never says "suck on my big ten inch", contrary to popular belief. The misinterpreted line is "seems she don't go for nothing 'cept for my big ten inch".........

Round & Round is one of my favs & maybe one of the most under rated Aerosmith tunes. A 5 minute hard rock psychedelic epic,with a pounding Tom Hamilton bass & Joey Kramer drum section.

Uncle Salty deals with a child abuse, incest, drugs & prostitution. Under the dark lyrics the song has a smooth musical style. It was the first time the group touched the subject of abuse, something they would do 15 years later on the song Janie's Got A Gun. The song was written by Tyler & bassist Tom Hamilton and was the B side of the Sweet Emotion single.

Adams Apple was written by Tyler & guitarist Brad Whitford. It tells a version of the biblical story of Adam & Eve with a touch of sci fi & conscience. The serpent lures Eve to taste the forbidden fruit even though she tries to resist. "All she wants & need was just a little taste".

No More No More is about a bands life on the road & rise to fame. Written by Tyler & Joe Perry it features acoustic & electric guitars with a constant piano playing behind it. The song was revived for the 2005-2006 tour after being a seventies live regular.

The album ends with the ballad You See Me Crying which features an orchestra arrangement.

Aerosmith would go on legendary path of excess as their careers took off. They would become one of the most popular rock bands & one of the best live acts of the seventies. Their excess would lead them to destruction by the early eighties. But some how they cleaned up their act, made nice with each other and reinvented them selves to whole new level. They are still going strong and have become one of the most successful bands of all time.