Aerosmith - Live Bootleg (1978) 320 vtwin88cube

Aerosmith
Live Bootleg (1978)


In the days when drugs and alcohol were required substances on the road to rock & roll nirvana, Aerosmith blazed the path of excess, American-style. Though the Boston quintet's glam-rock swagger and lip-smacking arena-rock dramatics paved the way for Guns n' Roses, Mötley Crüe, and countless others, their hip-shake rhythms were steeped in old R&B and blues. The band's affinity for the groove provided a logical bridge for the first rock-rap crossover, Run-D.M.C.'s inner-city reincarnation of Aerosmith's "Walk This Way."

Aerosmith establishes the formula that would carry the so-called Toxic Twins -singer Steven Tyler and guitarist Joe Perry - through three decades in which they'd swing wildly between hits and hokum, shotgun-blues raunch and purple balladry. Perry brought riffs by way of the Rolling Stones and the Yardbirds, and Tyler the bawdiness, while second guitarist Brad Whitford, bassist Tom Hamilton, and drummer Joey Kramer applied the lubrication. "Dream On" is the debut's signature piece, a "Stairway to Heaven"