Toys in the Attic (1975)

Critically, Toys in the Attic is taken for granted a little bit. "Yes, yes, it has 'Walk This Way' and 'Sweet Emotion' on it, well done." Those are two amazing songs, but the entire album has a vibe that epitomizes Aerosmith so well. It has the raunchy, smirking blues of "Big Ten Inch Record" a few widescreen flights of fantasy, some serious but not heavy-handed philosophy, and a ballad that is completely the opposite of the one on the previous album.

If you're a teenage boy, this album is like your cool older brother. It doesn't know everything, but it knows more than you, and you just want to hear what it has to say. It shows growth, or a confidence in revealing more different sides, perhaps due to Steven's satisfaction with tracks like "Seasons of Wither." It's very worldly and shows not only the band's adeptness and playing around with its style, but Steven Tyler's completely deranged worldview. On the title track, and a few other tracks on the album, he invokes strange imagery, vague metaphors, and strangely profound snippets that don't seem, at a glance, like they belong next to the raunchy, sexy stuff. I'm not saying it's exactly deep, only that when you look at it, it's an interesting and weird thing to have been a hit rock record. But that sense of excitement, of otherworldliness, which pervades Toys in the Attic, was why the kids were all shelling out to see this band perform in their hometown. It was a glimpse at something outside their own headspace.

But this album now: iTunes Canada // iTunes USA // Amazon.ca // Amazon.com