Aerosmith Fan Club

Amazon.com
While not their strongest recording, Aerosmith’s self-titled debut gave a taste of the musical path that the band, and much of the rest of hard rock, was to follow for the rest of the 1970s and well into the 1980s. Although the awkward social commentary of “Movin’ Out” and the swinging cover of Rufus Thomas’s “Walking the Dog” have largely been forgotten, two standards emerged from Aerosmith: “Dream On,” a prototypical power ballad with its keyboards and string arrangement, and “Mama Kin,” which contains one of the most recognizable riffs in hard-rock history. Though Aerosmith would record better albums–both before and after their drug-induced implosion–their debut serves as a kind of road map to much of post-’60s rock & roll. –Genevieve Williams

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Amazon.com essential recording
Originally released in 1975, this was Aerosmith’s breakout recording. Listeners only familiar with their more recent, post-comeback material may be surprised; like their other albums from the 1970s, Toys has a strong blues inflection, as indicated by their cover of “Big Ten Inch Record,” which also shows that Aerosmith has never lacked raunchiness or innuendo. There’s also the original (pre-Run-D.M.C.) version of “Walk This Way,” and the classic “Sweet Emotion.” This is classic Aerosmith at its gritty, streetwise best; they may have been derivative, but it really doesn’t matter, then or now: it’s all in good fun. –Genevieve Williams

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