Tuesday, May 29, 2012

10. Aerosmith - Toys in the Attic

After I listened to the new Van Halen, a colleague asked me how it was. My answer was: "eh, just your basic cock rock."

In same ways, I feel the same way about Aerosmith. Calling it cock rock doesn't make it bad - heck, you could call Led Zeppelin cock rock - but much of the 80s hair metal can be put in this category.

So, when the most suggestive song title on an album *isn't* "Big Ten Inch Record" (that honor goes to "Uncle Salty") you know there's a lot of dick swinging going on.

Now that we're past all that, this is a pretty terrific album. Great blues-based rock with a continual love of the Beatles. Somehow, listening to the narcotic opening of "Sweet Emotion" sounds better in its true album context, and deeper songs like "You See Me Crying" really pack a punch.

Walk this way indeed.