Aerosmith
- Ideal Aerosmith Inc. is an American manufacturer of aerodynamics test equipment founded in 1938.
- Arrowsmith is a 1925 book by Sinclair Lewis.
Table of contents |
History
The original lineup included Steven Tyler (lead vocals), Joe Perry (guitar) and Tom Hamilton (bass guitar), soon adding Ray Tabano as a second guitarist, then replacing him with Brad Whitford (formerly of Earth Inc.). Tyler, who was originally a drummer and singer, became a full-time vocalist when drummer Joey Kramer joined. After some local success doing live shows, Aerosmith signed with Columbia Records in 1972 and issued a debut album, Aerosmith that included a minor hit single, "Dream On". After constant touring, the band released Get Your Wings (1974), which did quite well on the charts.
It was 1975's Toys in the Attic that established Aerosmith as international stars. Part heavy metal, part glam rock and part punk music, Toys in the Attic was an immediate success, starting with the single "Sweet Emotion", then a successful rerelease of "Dream On" and a new song from the album, "Walk This Way". Both of the band's previous albums recharted. Aerosmith's next album, Rocks, went platinum swiftly and featured two FM hits, "Back in the Saddle" and "Last Child".
The next album, Draw the Line, was not as successful, though the title track proved to be a minor hit (and is still a live staple.) While continuing to tour and record into the late 1970s, Aerosmith acted in the movie version of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, covering the Beatles hit "Come Together." As their popularity waned and drug abuse began effecting their output, Joe Perry left the band,and forms The Joe Perry Project, followed by Brad Whitford. After replacing the two ex-members first with longtime band friend and songwriter Richie Supa, then Jimmy Crespo and Rick Dufay, Aerosmith released its mammoth-selling Greatest Hits album in 1980; that was followed by a relative failure, the new studio record Rock in a Hard Place.
After Perry and Whitford rejoined the group in 1984, they embarked on a lucrative reunion tour, which produced the live album 'Classics Live II'. Their problems still not behind them (Tyler collapsed onstage due to drug problems early in the tour), the group was signed to Geffen records and began working on a comeback.
1985 saw the release of Done With Mirrors – their first studio album since the much-publicized reunion – which fared relatively well commercially, but did not produce a hit single or generate much of a buzz. By the time the record was released, Tyler and Perry had exited rehab and the group appeared on Run D.M.C.'s massively successful cover of "Walk This Way", blending rock and roll and hip hop, and thereby beginning Aerosmith's comeback. The group's next release was Permanent Vacation (1987), which included the hits "Dude (Looks Like a Lady)", "Rag Doll" and "Angel". The true comeback album, however, was Pump, featuring three Top Ten singles in "Janie's Got a Gun", "What It Takes" and "Love in an Elevator," reestablishing Aerosmith as a serious musical force again.
Despite significant shifts in mainstream music at the beginning of the 90s, the band's 1993 follow-up to Pump, Get a Grip, was just as successful commercially. Though many critics were unimpressed by it's abundance of power-ballads, all four ("Cryin'", "Crazy", "Amazing" and "Livin' on the Edge") proved to be huge successes on MTV and radio. Three of those featured up-and-coming actress Alicia Silverstone in their music videos, and her provocative performances earned her the title of "the Aerosmith chick" for the first half of the decade.
Aerosmith signed to Columbia Records in the early 1990s, but had to complete two contractual albums for Geffen before recording for the new label. The next album was Nine Lives, and was plagued with personnel problems, including the firing of manager Tim Collins. The reviews were mixed, and Nine Lives fell down the charts quickly. This was followed by a series of late 1990s releases (live and retrospective) that sold respectably, but have shown the beginning of a second decline in popularity and critical respect. However, Aerosmith's biggest hit of the '90s, and its only #1 single to date, was the love theme from the film Armageddon, I Don't Want to Miss a Thing (conceived by Joe Perry and Diane Warren, although Warren did get songwriting credit).
The band entered its next decade with 'Just Push Play' in 2001, which charted well.
Their long-promised blues album, Honkin' on Bobo was released March 30, 2004 on Columbia. Honkin' on Bobo continues to be a success for the resurgeance of blues and roots music across the US and Europe and was followed up by the accompanying live DVD in December 2004.
Discography
Albums
- Aerosmith (1973) #21 US, US Sales: 2,000,000
- Get Your Wings (1974) #74 US, US Sales: 3,000,000
- Toys in the Attic (1975) #11 US, US Sales: 8,000,000
- Rocks (1976) #3 US, US Sales: 4,000,000
- Draw the Line (1977) #11 US, US Sales: 2,000,000
- Live Bootleg (1978) #13 US, US Sales: 1,000,000
- Night in the Ruts (1979) #14 US, US Sales: 1,000,000
- Greatest Hits (1980) #53 US, US Sales: 10,000,000
- Rock in a Hard Place (1982) #32 US, US Sales: 500,000
- Done with Mirrors (1985) #36 US, US Sales: 500,000
- Classics Vol. 1 (Purple cover) (1986) #84 US, US Sales: 1,000,000
- Classics Vol. 2 (Red cover) (1987), US Sales: 500,000
- Permanent Vacation (1987) #11 US, #37 UK, US Sales: 5,000,000
- Gems (1988) #133 US, US Sales: 500,000
- Pump (1989) #5 US, #3 UK, US Sales: 7,000,000
- Pandora's Box (1991) #45 US, US Sales: 1,000,000
- Get a Grip (1993) #1 US, #2 UK, US Sales: 7,000,000
- Box of Fire (1994), US Sales: 500,000
- Big Ones (1994) #6 US, #7 UK, US Sales: 4,000,000
- Nine Lives (1997) #1 US, #4 UK, US Sales: 2,000,000
- A Little South of Sanity (1998) #12 US, #36 UK, US Sales: 1,000,000
- Just Push Play (2001) #2 US, #7 UK, US Sales: 1,000,000
- Young Lust: The Aerosmith Anthology (2001) #191 US, #32 UK, US Sales: 500,000
- O, Yeah! The Ultimate Aerosmith Hits (2002) #4 US, #6 UK, US Sales: 1,000,000
- Honkin' on Bobo (2004) #5 US, #28 UK, US Sales: 700,000
Hit singles
- from "Toys in the Attic"
- 1975 "Sweet Emotion" #36 US
- from "Aerosmith"
- 1976 "Dream On" #6 US
- from "Rocks"
- 1976 "Last Child" #21 US
- 1977 "Back in the Saddle" #38 US
- from "Toys in the Attic"
- 1977 "Walk This Way" #10 US
- from "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" soundtrack
- 1978 "Come Together" #23 US
- from "Permanent Vacation"
- 1987 "Dude (Looks Like a Lady)" #14 US, #20 UK (1990 release)
- 1988 "Angel" #3 US
- 1988 "Rag Doll" #17 US
- from "Pump"
- 1989 "Love in an Elevator" #5 US, #13 UK
- 1989 "Water Song/Janie's Got a Gun" #4 US
- 1990 "What It Takes" #9 US, #10 UK
- 1990 "The Other Side" #22 US
- from "Get a Grip"
- 1993 "Livin' on the Edge" #18 US, #19 UK
- 1993 "Eat the Rich" #34 UK
- 1993 "Cryin'" #12 US, #17 UK
- 1993 "Amazing" #24 US
- 1994 "Shut Up and Dance" #24 UK
- 1994 "Crazy" #17 US, #23 UK (double A-side with Blind Man in the UK)
- from "Nine Lives"
- 1997 "Falling in Love (Is Hard on the Knees)" #35 US, #22 UK
- 1997 "Hole in My Soul" #29 UK
- 1997 "Pink" #27 US (1998 release), #38 UK
- from "Armageddon" soundtrack
- 1998 "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" #1 US, #4 UK
- from "Nine Lives"
- 1999 "Pink" (re-issue) #13 UK
- from "Just Push Play"
- 2001 "Jaded" #7 US, #13 UK
12/23/1989 #29 The Billboard Hot 100
"Janie s Got A Gun"
12/24/1994 #49 The Billboard Hot 100
"Blind Man"
Aerosmith and Arrowsmith
Sinclair Lewis (1885–1951) wrote Arrowsmith. Aerosmith claims that their name has no relationship to this book. According to their biography "Walk this Way", drummer Joey Kramer came up with the name in high school when coming up with cool band names. He liked names that began with "Aero" and decided that "Aerosmith" was his favorite combination.
Miscellaneous
- Aerosmith songs are featured on the Rock 'n Roller Coaster in MGM Studios located in Orlando, Florida.
- They are also featured on the Rock 'n Roller Coaster in Eurodisney (Euro Disney Studios) located in Paris, France.
- The band was featured prominently in the movie Wayne's World 2.
- The band has starred or appeared in numerous video games, such as Revolution X and Quest for Fame.
- The single "Nine Lives" is the main theme for Dead or Alive 3.
- The single "Dream On" is also the main theme for Dead or Alive Ultimate.
- In 1994 Aerosmith released the single Head First for download on the internet. It is considered the first full-length commercial entertainment product online.