The Album Review Club - Week #195 (page 1310) - A New World Record - ELO

RobMCFC said:
It seems appropriate as I'm currently listening to Rush (and working, of course) that @OB1 is next up.
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2112 (1976)
A Farewell to Kings (1977)
Hemispheres (1978)
Permanent Waves (1980)
Moving Pictures (1981)
Signals (1982)

Unmatched! ;-)
 
rocks.jpg
Once more I have gone prospecting for musical diamonds in my favourite decade and dug up this sparkling gem from a hard rock band that should be familiar to everyone. I consider Aerosmith to be one of the three giant American heavy rock bands (not AOR etc) to emerge from the 1970’s. I have already reviewed the other two: Kiss and Van Halen. This album provided inspiration to the mega bands of subsequent decades, Slash, James Hetfield and Kirk Cobain were all big fans.

Back in 1976 when Rocks was released, The original ‘Smiths were already massive in the their home market but not so much on this side of the Atlantic; that would eventually change when the comeback kings got even bigger in the late 80’s and the 90’s, following Run DMC’s life giving cover of the big hit from Rocks’ predecessor “Toys in the Attic”. Rocks didn’t chart or produce any hit singles in the UK so it may be unfamiliar to those who are not hard rock connoisseurs or Septics.

True Aeronauts prefer what lead singer Steven Tyler refers to the as the old shit. So, walk this way and enjoy the sweet emotion of a roller coaster ride fuelled by a high-octane combination of coke from Columbia (the record company, not the country) and smack.

Aerosmith’s fourth album Rocks was my introduction to the band and their sixth member, producer Jack Douglas, an honours graduate of the mighty Bob Ezrin’s school of music production. Rocks is one of those albums that I wish I had never heard so that I could hear it again for the first time: my initial listen was an absolute revelation. I love how this recording sounds. It has a special sound that assaults the ear drums, as dirty sleazy guitar riffs mesh and intertwine with rock solid rhythms and highly distinctive vocals. Guitars are the key component of the record. Mister Joe “Fuckin’” Perry and Brad Whitford constitute one of rocks’ finest dual lead guitar combos, whilst Jack Douglas is a mixer par excellence of tortured Les Pauls and Strats. This won’t be to everyone’s taste but the key according to Douglas is distortion. Apparently, execs at CBS freaked when they first heard Rocks but were soon comforted as it became one of the first L.P.s ever to ship platinum.

If the likes of Lynyrd Skynyrd were the cowboys of US rock, Aerosmith were the native Americans - the skyscraper erecting Mohawk Skywalker kind. Fittingly, Rocks begins with Back in the Saddle, a spaghetti western of a song powered by Perry’s six string bass riff and featuring all manner of sound effects as the band gallop to a finale of squalling guitars.

Last Child is a funky rocker featuring some of Tyler’s trademark naughty nursery rhyme lyrics - more double entendres than “Carry On Cowboy”. The song rolls straight into rattling rocker Rats in the Cellar, the dark side of Toys in the Attic.

Combination closes side one of the record and Joe Perry shares lead vocals with his Toxic Twin on a song he wrote about drug use.

I find my own fun,
Sometimes for free
I got to pay it to come lookin' for me
Walkin' on Gucci
Wearin' Yves Saint Laurent
Barely stay on 'cause I'm so God damn gaunt

Back in the day, critics often compared Aerosmith to The Stones because of Tyler and Perry’s supposed similarity to the Glimmer Twins: one being a big-lipped singer and the other a guitar slinger with crow’s nest hair. However, whilst the boys from Boston Massachusetts certainly had the swagger of the Londoners, they were always more “New Yardbirds” and this is one of the songs that points in that direction.

Side 2 of Rocks takes flight with the Byrds like jangle that introduces bassist Tom Hamilton composition Sick as a Dog. The song soon becomes a riff driven number with tattered and torn vocals from Tyler, who obviously gargles with JD. The other JD, Jack Douglas orchestrates a wonderful mid-section where time seems to stop, and the sudden simplicity of a tightly compressed snare holds the attention before the guitars return and rise to thrilling crescendo.

Aerosmith were never Led clones, but Nobody’s Fault really has the heft of a Zeppelin track. Drummer Joey Kramer gives a powerhouse performance and Mister Whitford contributes some substantial soloing.

Talking of Led, Get the Lead Out is lighter than the preceding track but still has that dirigible feel.

Lick and a Promise, a song about that ubiquitous rockstar Johnny and his lady friends, features more tasty guitar licks.

Aerosmith were masters of the power ballad before the term was invented and closer Home Tonight is one of their best. Composed by a man who has been injected with most things, including a phonograph needle, this Steven Tyler song provides the balm after the storm of the rest of the album; a bit like taking horse after bingeing on nose candy and Scooby snax (I guess).

And that is Rocks – it does what it says on the sleeve.
 
GornikDaze said:
Back In The Saddle - what a great opener!! First heard this on a free Sounds compilation give away and it got me hooked.
Great pick - interesting to see how this is received.
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One of the best album openers ever in my view but I had this album down as #4 on my top 20 when BH ran a favourite album poll. That's how much I love this album, no one else is going to rate as highly as I do but anyone that is up for playing it more than once is advised to play it loud through speakers but also to listen on headphones. Jack Douglas knew what he was doing. Back then, I would buy albums simply on the grounds he had produced them.
 
GornikDaze said:
Back In The Saddle - what a great opener!! First heard this on a free Sounds compilation give away and it got me hooked.
Great pick - interesting to see how this is received.
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Already a popular pick on the Playlist Review Club when @BimboBob asked "How are you feeling?".

Love that opener and a great build-up opening to the song!

I have it on good authority that the nominator of that track was really feeling it on the bike that day. ;-)
 
Black&White&BlueMoon Town said:
Already a popular pick on the Playlist Review Club when @BimboBob asked "How are you feeling?".

Love that opener and a great build-up opening to the song!

I have it on good authority that the nominator of that track was really feeling it on the bike that day. ;-)
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Some of the sounds on that track were obatined by strapping tambourines to Steven Tyler's cowboy boots IIRC.
 
Never heard of any of the tracks on this album so looking forward to this.
Come to think of it i have never heard any Aerosmith album.Couple of songs in the 80's and 90's and that's it.
 
bennyboy said:
Never heard of any of the tracks on this album so looking forward to this.
Come to think of it i have never heard any Aerosmith album.Couple of songs in the 80's and 90's and that's it.
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Same actually, never embarked on a full album. Had a best of compilation in the late 90s I think which I quite liked, and know a bunch of the hits, but never went beyond that. Should be interesting.
 
Same boat as Coat and Benny, I reckon I know about a dozen of their songs some of which I really like and others I completely detest. Don't think any of them are on this album so will be starting with a clean slate.
 
Coatigan said:
I'm more interested in your concept album. Does each song cover an argument on a different thread?
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It's a mixture, thread specific and general themes. During the course of the week, the protagonist returns back to the music threads as (mostly) sanctuary from the rest of the madness. The working titles are...

  1. Nomination Day
  2. Match Thread
  3. Atmosphere
  4. Bimbo’s Bathroom
  5. Brick It, Smash It, Torch It, Claim It
  6. Gated Reverb 80's Hell
  7. You Know The Rules (Readers Wives)
  8. You F******g Clown (AKA Politics)
  9. 808 Playlist
  10. Where have all the Bosnians Gone?
  11. How Can You Miss Someone You’ve Never Met?
  12. The Scores Are In
  13. One Love

As concepts go I do accept it's pretty niche.
 
threespires said:
It's a mixture, thread specific and general themes. During the course of the week, the protagonist returns back to the music threads as (mostly) sanctuary from the rest of the madness. The working titles are...

  1. Nomination Day
  2. Match Thread
  3. Atmosphere
  4. Bimbo’s Bathroom
  5. Brick It, Smash It, Torch It, Claim It
  6. Gated Reverb 80's Hell
  7. You Know The Rules (Readers Wives)
  8. You F******g Clown (AKA Politics)
  9. 808 Playlist
  10. Where have all the Bosnians Gone?
  11. How Can You Miss Someone You’ve Never Met?
  12. The Scores Are In
  13. One Love

As concepts go I do accept it's pretty niche.
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As a bonus track in the style of YYZ, may I suggest the old BM favourite FFS?
 
So just finished my first listen. Some really good music but I feel a discussion coming on around great 'screamers' of rock.

Daltry - great screamer
Plant - pretty good screamer
Screamin' Jay Hawkins - clue's in the name
Joplin - great screamer
Redding - great screamer
Gillan - good screamer
Dio - probably thought of as a better screamer than Gillan but not convinced
Tyler - lot's of screaming but far from convinced in my book

As far as I'm concerned less is more on the screaming front but i'm not sure ST is in agreement.
 
GornikDaze said:
As a bonus track in the style of YYZ, may I suggest the old BM favourite FFS?
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In fairness the first few bars of YYZ would make a good sample that fits nicely into the overall style (think it's been used before in stuff?) and no FFS is a bit of an omission.

Suppose you'll be wanting a writing credit?
 
threespires said:
So just finished my first listen. Some really good music but I feel a discussion coming on around great 'screamers' of rock.

Daltry - great screamer
Plant - pretty good screamer
Screamin' Jay Hawkins - clue's in the name
Joplin - great screamer
Redding - great screamer
Gillan - good screamer
Dio - probably thought of as a better screamer than Gillan but not convinced
Tyler - lot's of screaming but far from convinced in my book

As far as I'm concerned less is more on the screaming front but i'm not sure ST is in agreement.
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Cornell, the best of the lot.
 
Coatigan said:
Cornell, the best of the lot.
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Fair shout, loads I haven't put on, that was just some examples. I'm far from an expert but I would say to my ears that there's some interesting contrast between Cornell and Tyler in terms of how they go about it.
 
threespires said:
So just finished my first listen. Some really good music but I feel a discussion coming on around great 'screamers' of rock.

Daltry - great screamer
Plant - pretty good screamer
Screamin' Jay Hawkins - clue's in the name
Joplin - great screamer
Redding - great screamer
Gillan - good screamer
Dio - probably thought of as a better screamer than Gillan but not convinced
Tyler - lot's of screaming but far from convinced in my book

As far as I'm concerned less is more on the screaming front but i'm not sure ST is in agreement.
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No DLR renders this list instantly lacking :)
 
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