Album Of The Week: Toys In The Attic by Aerosmith

This past Sunday, we held MusicBowl 53 where we allowed you the fans to vote as Aerosmith (representing New England) took on Motley Crue (representing LA) to coincide with SuperBowl LIII. After collecting your votes on the blog and on Twitter, Aerosmith was the winner of the MusicBowl. As is tradition on the blog, we cover an album from the winning band for the album of the week post and for this week’s we chose Toys In The Attic by Aerosmith. The bad boys of Boston which was made up of Steven Tyler (Vocals/Keyboards/Harmonica), Joe Perry (Lead Guitar), Brad Whitford (Rhythm Guitar), Tom Hamilton (Bass), and Joey Kramer (Drums) released their third studio album on April 8, 1975 via Columbia Records and was produced by Jack Douglas. The album is the band’s most successful album in the United States selling over 8 million copies while peaking at number 11 on the Billboard Top 200 Charts. Rolling Stone ranked Toys In The Attic 229 on their The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list.

1. Toys In The Attic– The title track kicks off the album in style to which Tyler recalls, “Joe was jamming a riff and I started yelling, ‘Toys, toys, toys…’ Organic, immediate, infectious…I just started singing and it fit like chocolate and peanut butter. Joe plays his ass off on that song.” 5/5

2. Uncle Salty– Is kind of a creepy song that Tyler has said that it is about an orphanage where a man named Uncle Salty works at and has his way with a girl there. Tyler said, “Salty worked in a home for lost children and had his way with this little girl. That’s what it’s about. I’m the little girl, the orphaned boy. I put myself in that place. I’m Uncle Salty too.” 4/5

3. Adam’s Apple– a bluesy track where Steven takes the time to use the story of Adam and Eve to explore man’s behavior when it comes to sexuality. 4.5/5

4. Walk This Way-This is the original version of the track before Run DMC came around in a track that is all about a high school kid who loses his virginity. There’s a funny story about the origins of the lyrics. Tyler left the original lyrics inside a cab in New York and had to rewrite them in the studio. 5/5

5. Big Ten Inch Record-This is the band’s cover of Bullmoose Jackson’s track and Aerosmith does a great job with it. 4/5

6. Sweet Emotion– One of my all time favorite Aerosmith song’s that I first heard when I watched the film Dazed And Confused. The song was written by Tom Hamilton who came up with the bass riff that was played alongside an bass marimba in the beginning. The track also featured a talk box and what Tyler describes, “On ‘Sweet Emotion’, we used these backward handclaps and four of us in the studio chanting, ‘Fuck you, Frank.’ If you play it backward, you can hear this.” 5/5

7. No More No More-a track whose lyrics Tyler describes saying, “On a song like ‘No More No More,’ the lyrics came from my verbal diarrhea, a mishmash that I made up and eventually changed the lyrics to something cool…about life on the road: boredom, disillusion, Holiday Inns, stalemate, jailbait. My diary.” 4/5

8. Round And Round-a bad ass rock song from the band whose sound reminds me of a Kiss like track with the big bass riffs to match with the guitars in a track where Brad Whitford plays lead guitar on. The lyrics seem to be talking about life as a musician and how ti just spins out of control, but it just goes round and round like a vicious cycle. 4.5/5

9. You See Me Crying– The last track on the album that the band has stated was a pain in the ass to record because it took so long due to complex playing. It’s a piano ballad that for a while Tyler didn’t remember recording due to the memory loss from the drug use. 4.5/5

My Final Thoughts– This is definitely up there in the echelon of what is considered a classic Aerosmith record and it’s definitely top five for me, but to be honest I grew up a fan of 80’s Aerosmith. I have a new appreciation over the years for their 70’s material which is why I decided to visit it today. This album really put the band on the charts and it certainly paid off as even producer Jack Douglas saw that the band had matured while being on the road before recording this. My favorite track is Sweet Emotion, Walk This Way, the title track, and even Round And Round. Uncle Salty is my least favorite track on the album. I am giving the album 4.5 stars out of five for a final grade.

MusicBowl 53: New England Vs Los Angeles

Last year, we skipped doing MusicBowl 52 because I couldn’t find a suitable band from Philadelphia to challenge a band from New England. Well that has all changed thanks to some tweets and some Instagram posts courtesy of Nikki Sixx. Nikki has proclaimed his allegiance to the Los Angeles Rams on several occasions and I have seen Steven Tyler of Aerosmith sing the national anthem while wearing a Patriots jersey. So, I figured the perfect matchup for this year’s MusicBowl was to have to be Motley Crue vs Aerosmith as it is the LA Rams vs the New England Patriots in SuperBowl LIII (53 for those who do not know Roman numerals). It makes the most sense since Aerosmith threw the first shot at Motley Crue in 1987 with Dude Looks Like A Lady, but it didn’t matter much when Motley Crue silenced their critics with 1989’s Dr. Feelgood which happened to be the band’s biggest selling and charted album of their careers with great songs like the title track, Kickstart My Heart, and Don’t Go Away Mad (Just Go Away). One thing you do have to remember is that the original Toxic Twins were in Aerosmith who were making waves in the 1970’s when guys like Tommy Lee and Vince Neil were still in junior high. Both bands have had legendary careers and were the tops of their genre and have had some legendary comeback stories as well. The problem is that only one of them can win MusicBowl LIII much like only team will come up victorious tonight in Atlanta. I am going to run the poll in two areas with this one being one and the second run through Twitter where you will have until 8:30PM ET tonight to decide. Two legendary bands, but only one can win, vote and enjoy!!! Also below the voting poll is also some examples to help you decide.

Cover Of The Week: Toys in The Attic by Warrant

There was a time in the late 90’s and early 2000’s when bands were releasing all covers albums hoping to repeat the success that Metallica had with Garage Inc. Of course, not everyone is going to have the success that they had, but sometimes it’s cool to listen to these albums. I have always wondered at times what bands were influenced by and these albums give us great insight into that. Jani Lane was definitely one of my favorite vocalists from the 80’s Glam Metal scene and you definitely knew that he was into 70’s glam and rock and roll. In 2001, the band with Jani Lane decided to release an all covers album of their own called Under The Influence. The album featured the band covering the likes of Michael Monroe, Nazareth, David Bowie, Badfinger, AC/DC (sung by Billy Morris), and our featured artist Aerosmith. The band covered one of my all time favorite 70’s Aerosmith songs in the classic Toys In The Attic which is off the album of the same name. The song packs the same punch as the original, but while Lane is no Steven Tyler, he still does a terrific job with the song making it his own which isn’t that the point of it all. Check out the track below and while you’re at it, like the official Facebook page for Moshpits & Movies here:

Rock Docs: Supermensch: The Legend Of Shep Gordon (2013)

It has been a very longtime since we last did a Rock Docs on Moshpits & Movies and I have a good one for all of you this week. Some of you may remember Mike Myers as the actor that voiced Shrek, was Wayne in Wayne’s World, and a memorable cast member of SNL, but you can now add director to his credits. Mike takes on the legend of Shep Gordon in this rock Doc entitled Supermensch: The Legend Of Shep Gordon, the legendary manager of Alice Cooper and so many others. The documentary follows the man who bi-accidentally fell into the music business just because he was friends with Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, and Jim Morrison. Follow his story through his storytelling of all the wild parties and crazy stories from various interviews conducted with the likes of Mike Myers, Anne Murray, Alice Cooper, Bob Ezrin, Michael Douglas, Tom Arnold, Sylvester Stallone, Fab Five Freddy, Willie Nelson, Emeril Lagasse, Steven Tyler, Sammy Hagar, Mick Fleetwood, Don Nelson, Carolyn Pfeiffer, and so many more.

The whole entire film is one crazy story after another as you pretty much get the story of how Alice Cooper became who he is today through the hard work of Shep Gordon who was always scheming. I didn’t realize he was the brains behind some of the decisions that were made that impacted Alice and some of his releases. I certainly didn’t know that Shep could be consider the guy who single-handledly created the celebrity chef craze that we have know for so many years with Emeril Lagasse. He is also a great humanitarian as he has taken care of a women’s grand kids since their mother had passed away and he didn’t even have to and that is why they call him supermensch. The definition of Mensch is, “a person of integrity and honor” and multiply that to get what Shep is. The documentary is amazing and it has some cool stories that you wouldn’t even had known if it wasn’t for this documentary. So, I have to give Mike Myers some credit where credit is due because he does an amazing job. If you want to check out the documentary for yourself, then head over to Netflix because it’s streaming over there as we speak. So, I am going to give this documentary an A- for a final grade because it was insightful and interesting.

Album Of The Week: Pump by Aerosmith

I realized that after reviewing 80 plus albums that I don’t think I ever reviewed one from the original bad boys of Boston in Aerosmith. So, I figured what better chance than now and what better album than the one that introduced me to Aerosmith in 1989’s Pump. Everyone thought that Aerosmith was done for in the business and that they had lost their glory. That was until the band returned with 1987’s Permanent Vacation which saw the band rise to new heights. Pump was an album that was continuing to bring Aerosmith into the right direction especially seeing as Desmond Child and Jim Vallance were helping them write hits. Child had resurrected Alice Cooper’s career in the 1980’s. Steven Tyler (Vocals), Joe Perry (Guitar), Tom Hamilton (Bass), Brad Whitford (Guitar), and Joey Kramer (Drums) were ready to rock and it showed as the album is tied for second for best selling Aerosmith album at 7 million (tied with Get A Grip and Toys In The Attic is number one with 8 million).

The album starts off with an absolute straightforward blues rocker which kicks off the party right called Young Lust before we get into the other rocker on the album with it’s tongue in cheek sexual style lyrics called F.I.N.E. (Fucked Up, Insecure, Neurotic, and Emotional). The song title and it’s meaning is rumored to be a reference to AA and NA as a term they use to describe your state of being at the time you enter rehab. Love In An Elevator is a raunchy rock song about making love in an elevator which Tyler claims was an experience he had. Monkey On My Back is a hard charging rock classic that sounds similar to AC/DC’s Give The Dog A Bone about how the band overcame their battles with drug addiction. Jamie’s Got A Gun is one of the most recognizable Aerosmith songs to me since it was the first music video I ever watched from the band back in 1989. The song tackles a tough subject of sexual abuse from a father to his daughter which is Jamie and she ends up killing him. The Other Side is one of my favorite Aerosmith songs because it was a sleazy rocker with a horn section, but the song had some drama behind it. You see Aerosmith was sued by the writing team of Holland-Dozier-Holland who claimed the song sounded similar to their track Standing In The Shadows Of Love. So as part of a settlement the writing group received writing credits on the track.

My Girl is a blues rocker written by Tyler and Perry that touches upon old school blues while Don’t Get Mad, Get Even does the same, but we get to hear Tyler on the harmonica. Hoodoo/Voodoo Medicine Man features a cool intro that makes you believe you’re in the jungle before Aerosmith goes full throttle with the rest of the song. What It Takes is the best Aerosmith ballad ever written, but it’s actually one of the top 3. The track itself contains several references to other Aerosmith songs especially ones on this album. The first half of the album to me is where all the action is and quite frankly I feel that What It Takes saves the last half. It’s still a great album and there is a reason why it sold so many copies. I am going to give the album four stars out of five for a final grade.

Album Of The Week: Dr. Feelgood by Mötley Crüe

I was trying to think of something special to have for the 50TH album of the week post on this blog. I had Pantera’s Vulgar Display Of Power as the 25TH album of the week and rightfully so as it’s my favorite album from them. So, since Mötley Crüe announced that they were going to do their final tour yesterday in a press conference which you can read about here. So, I decided to choose a Mötley Crüe record for the 50TH Album Of The Week considering they are my favorite band. The album I chose is celebrating it’s 25TH Anniversary on September 5 and at the time it was the last album that would feature Vince Neil on vocals until he returned for 1997’s Generation Swine. It was also the first album to feature what we were told was a fully sober Mötley Crüe who had their Girls, Girls, Girls tour cut short because their management felt they would have died in Europe if they had continued. It is also Mötley Crüe’s highest selling album and their first album to chart at number one on the Billboard Top 200.

T.N.T (Terror In Tinseltown) is the intro to the album that kicks off with a solo from Mick Mars before we get some EMT’s speaking and police sirens before it kicks into the title track and first single off the record. Dr. Feelgood is the only gold certified single that Mötley Crüe ever had in their careers and it’s a track about the rise and fall of a Mexican drug lord. Slice Of Your Pie starts with a real bluesy beginning before it gets real heavy and sleazy. You can only imagine what the lyrics are about and it’s not food their talking about. Rattlesnake Shake continues the trend with a sleaze tinged blues track all about the way a woman moves her hips that leaves you hypnotized. Then the epic and amazing shot out of a cannon, freight train going a 1000 MPH, turbo charged I want to drive my car way past 100 Kickstart My Heart is next on the album. According to wikipedia, “The introduction is a classic example of a Floyd Rose bridge trick, in which Mick Mars drops three consecutive strings resulting in sound similar to a motorcycle shifting gears, borrowed from the similar-sounding intro to Montrose’s Bad Motor Scooter.” The song is about the 1987 overdose that Nikki went through, but I have to say that this may be one of the most ultimate rock songs of all time.

Without You is the power ballad on the record which is rumored to be about Tommy Lee’s relationship with Heather Locklear. The song features Mick playing a slide guitar during the intro and solo to give the song a little something extra. Same Ol’ Situation (S.O.S) is a kick ass rock song about lesbianism which is still a concert staple to this day. Sticky Sweet is the power chord heavy sleaze rock song while She Goes Down gets a little naughty with the sound effects and you don’t have to be a genius to figure out what the song is about. Don’t Go Away Mad (Just Go Away) was always an ultimate must have track from this album in my opinion cause you can relate to it in so many ways. I always felt that it just spoke about life even though it has obvious references to their lives. Nikki once said that he heard it as a line from a film that he couldn’t remember (which was Heartbreak Ridge from 1986) and he also could have heard it in a Blondie song (doubt it) called Just Go Away.

Time For Change is the socially conscious Mötley Crüe at work, but the song features Sebastian Bach and Bob Dowd doing background vocals for the track as well as Bob Rock playing bass on the track. The album features various rock stars doing appearances on the record like Steven Tyler doing the intro to Slice Of Your Pie and background vocals for Sticky Sweet along with Bryan Adams. Robin Zander does background vocals on She Goes Down, Jack Blades On Same Ol Situation and Sticky Sweet. The other element different about this record was the fact that the album also featured background singers for the whole record that the band also brought out on tour with them in Donna McDaniel and Emi Canyn. I am giving this album four and the half stars out of five because it is the ultimate Crüe album that helped cement them as the kings of sleaze. I can not wait to see the Crüe this summer on their final tour ever.