AEROSMITH – Aerosmith [Blu-Spec CD2 remastered]

One of you asked for the best sounding-reissue AEROSMITH albums, especially from the first era. Here’s the band’s very first, self-titled debut “Aerosmith”, pretty improved in sound with this remastered Japanese Blu-Spec CD2 release.

Aerosmith emerged in America as a hard rock alternative in a music sea of glam rock and prog rock of the first half of the Seventies. Their impressive self-titled debut “Aerosmith” album doesn’t contain anything particularly innovative, but brought the hard rockin’ blood to the American scene.
“Aerosmith” is bloozy — the riffs don’t swing, they slide. They borrow liberally from Led Zeppelin’s hybridization of Chess and Sun riffs without ever sounding much like Zep. They are never as British as Zeppelin — they lack the delicate folky preciousness, they lack the obsession with blues authenticity, they lack the larger-than-life persona of so many Brit bands.

Instead, they are truly an American band, sounding as though they were the best bar band in your local town, cranking out nasty hard-edged rock, best heard on “Mama Kin”, one of the highlights here, one that’s so greasy it nearly slips through their fingers. It was successfully recorded later by Guns N’ Roses, an dyou can hear how Aerosmith incluenced Axl Rose & Co.
Steven Tyler wrote the bulk of the original material and uses a bit of an exaggerated “blues” voice, something he would soon abandon. If you never heard “Aerosmith”, you’ll be surprised by his vocal tone.

Aerosmith’s recording career begins with an excellent example of their early sound. “Make It” is a mixture of fuzzy but clean riffs and some distant whining guitars above a solid rhythm.
“Somebody” a pure, riff-driven rocker follows. It appears the band was going for the accessible radio hit. This song has an interesting middle section, which slowly develops but works towards a whiny, bluesy guitar mimicked in sync by Tyler’s ad-libbed voice.

The original recording of “Dream On” is unique, surreal, and timeless song, which can often be overlooked as the classic signature song that it is. This may be due to the fact that it has been way overplayed on rock radio and, let’s face it, the band kind of butchers it live. The song is unique on this album, driven by piano, mellotron, and high pitched vocals by Tyler, and ringing guitar notes by Perry. It was the band’s first single, but only reached #59 in 1973. It did much better during a second release in 1976, reaching the Top 10 after Aerosmith had broken through to the mainstream.

“One Way Street” is the proper fusion of blues and rock which represents the heart of the album. “Write Me a Letter” was recorded with a real live feel to it, sounding like it was done in a club. The guitars are crisp and Kramer’s drumming is especially sharp and dynamic, rising above the rest of the band.

“Movin’ Out” was co-written by Perry and is another strong blues with a real Celtic undertone to it. The album completes with “Walkin’ the Dog”, the only cover song on the album, written by Rufus Thomas. It may also be the most Zeppelin-esque of any song on the album, very upbeat and entertaining and a strong way to finish the album.

“Aerosmith” started all, and it’s impressive how the band devoled the sound in years to come. Raw n’ rocking, this album stood the test of time and decades later still sounds fresh and entertaining.
This reissue on high quality Blu-Spec CD2 sounds great, the best you can get from this LP.
Highly Recommended

Sony Music Japan ～ SICP-30099
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01 – Make It
02 – Somebody
03 – Dream On
04 – One Way Street
05 – Mama Kin
06 – Write Me
07 – Movin’ Out
08 – Walkin’ The Dog

Steven Tyler – vocals, keyboards, harmonica, flute, percussion
Joe Perry – guitar, backing vocals
Brad Whitford – guitar
Tom Hamilton – bass guitar
Joey Kramer – drums
additional musicians:
David Woodford – saxophone

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www.cdjapan.co.jp/product/SICP-30099
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