Is Aerosmith a singles band?

I don't have a lot of Aerosmith but I'm thrilled to bits with:

- Rocks
- Toys In The Attic
- Get The Grip

Avoid hits compilations.

 

So I should stay away from Draw the Line and Night in the Ruts?
What's the general consensus of Night in the Ruts?

 

My first Aerosmith record was "Draw The Line" - and I suggest it should be yours, too. Aerosmith at their frenetic best.

 

Night in the ruts is a fairly weak effort. Don't listen to anyone who tells you to stay away from "Draw the line", it's one of their very best.

 

I listened to the whole album. I rate it 3.5 out of 5. Most of the songs were ok the only songs that stood out imo were the title track,King and Queens & I Wanna Know Why.
There are two songs on that album that are horrendous and that's Critical Mass & Bright Light Fright. Sheeeshhhhhhhh

 

I agree those three are the standout tracks!! Critical Mass and Bright Light Fright, I like too - but as with *any* Aerosmith album (or Led Zeppelin album, etc..) - you usually have a few standout tracks along with a bunch of mediocre tracks that an individual might or might not like.

 

Maybe over time they'll grow on me. Night in the Ruts might be one of the worst albums I've ever heard in my life. Does it get worse from here?
I'm afraid to listen to go further.

 

night in the ruts is a great album

 

what song is that?

also people overstate the working with other. PUMP, their best 80's album, only has 4 tunes co-written by people not in the band.

 

Definitely get "Toys In The Attic", that entire album is stellar.

 

Does it get worse from here? Hmmmm... that would depend on what you think of the "skeleton crew" Aerosmith album from 1982 (Rock in a hard place). That album was a step up from "Night in the ruts", but the vibe had changed. Use your own discretion.

Um... "Done with Mirrors" is "classic" Aerosmith, about "on par" with "Night in the ruts". It basically picks up where NITR left off. Not bad, but certainly not outstanding. Aerosmith clearly, clearly needed something new and different in order to survive. They weren't going to do it by making albums that sounded like their albums of the last decade - that was very clear.

Of course, the next album "Permenant Vacation" was "AEROSMITH 2.0". Was it "Classic Aerosmith"? Well... yes and no. It was Aerosmith with a new re-tooled sound and modern production that propelled them into the stratosphere, eclipsing everything they had done before it (commercially speaking). Same with "Pump", etc.. Permenant Vacation was the album that saved Aerosmith, and allowed them to pull off the impossible: a comeback that so eclipsed their past, that "new" fans were oblivious to their past successes and thought this was a new band. Remarkable.

Will you like Aerosmith 2.0? I don't know. I do.

 

Here's the deal: everything after "Done with Mirrors" had a very, very "slick" production. This clearly suited Aerosmith very well, as exemplified by their commercial success because of it. "Old school" fans sometimes reject these albums because of this "slickness". I personally think it's very clear that it was a step in the right direction.

 

Ha! An optimist would say it only gets better from there

 

Toys In The Attic and Rocks are must haves.
Featuring "Dream On" and Get Your Wings are should haves.
I like Permanent Vacation and Pump. Slick but solid and a lot of fun.

 

Permanent Vacation is a great place to start at this point. The album is loaded with catchy songs, and sounds great. "The Movie" is one of the all-time best rock instrumentals in my book.

 

I have the first four albums and a two disc comp, so I have what I want from the early years and their later hits that I like.

 

If you do decide to get a compilation, go with the 2 Disc Set, "O Yeah! Ultimate Aerosmith Hits" (later re-released by Sony as "The Essential Aerosmith"). An earlier poster had it right when they said that in the 70's, they were more of an albums group who had a handful of hit singles, whereas in the 80's it was just the opposite. There's also a single disc comp called "Devil's Got A New Disguise" which is a fairly good representation of their hits, although it's heavy on their 80's/90's hits, for the reasons listed above. I believe that comp also has a few single versions on it.

 

IMO anyone who thinks that - and they're entitled to their opinion of course - just isn't really an Aerosmith fan. Any of their classic albums is better than that collection.

 

I like Night in the Ruts but it is nowhere as good as their first four albums.

 

I love the first few albums, but could never listen back to back, tends to get very monotonous.

 

Night In The Ruts is better than Rock In A Hard Place.

 

Agree, some of their album tracks are better than the songs they released as singles.

 

Especially true on Rocks!!! My favorite end to end.

 

Perfect summary!

Plus I wouldn't want to be without the coke fueled over the top "Live Bootleg"!

 

Aren't they more a couples' band? Hugging and making out to "I don't wanna miss a thing"...