The "album cuts" of Aerosmith's first album establish a baseline for what we're talking about here. They have a swagger and slide to them that is gritty and dirty, in its way, but not something you would want to see in an arena. You could imagine Steven Tyler 5 feet away from you singing songs like these, with the band being paid in beer and hauling their own equipment. All told, these are songs that would probably be good to hear live, but are a bit harder to sit still for on a record.
That said, if "Somebody" is one of the less impressive tracks on the first album, it's still an enviable way of starting your songwriting career, if you're Steven Tyler. He grew up in the 60's, where the British invasion bands went from bar bands to pop stars to hippie revolutionaries and, in the time of Aerosmith, stadium rockers. "Somebody" picks up that thread decently if not remarkably.
On that note, the album concludes with a cover of an old blues/R&B song that was earlier covered by the Rolling Stones. It establishes from the beginning how much 'Smith followed the Stones, with Aerosmith as the brash, American take on the same concept of spaced-out skinny white guys playing old bar band blooze.
No comments:
Post a Comment