Aerosmith: The B&V 21 Favorite Deep Tracks – An Alternate Path Through Their Storied Career

*Picture of Aerosmith, in their glory days, taken from the internet and likely copyrighted…

I know I’ve already posted on the sad demise of Aerosmith due to Steven Tyler’s vocal issues. He apparently injured his vocal chords last September and it looks like he’s not going to recover and so Aerosmith has cancelled all remaining tour dates… which bums me out because I was eyeballing tickets for their show here early next year (2025) since the Black Crowes are opening for them. The Rock Chick saw the Black Crowes open for Aerosmith in the 90s, the Crowes first tour. I envy her that. We haven’t seen Aerosmith together since the early 00’s. I guess none of us will be seeing them again… More proof that when you have the chance, buy the ticket see the show.

As I was saying, I know I just posted about Aerosmith’s retirement but I just can’t stop thinking about what a great band they were and how much we all loved these guys in the late ’70s. It’s not like their retirement snuck up on me… it was their Farewell Tour for fucks sake. I just hated to see them go out this way, without the chance to see them again. It’s like watching a great athlete toward the end of his career go out with an injury instead of walking off the field of battle. It feels a little like watching a quarterback get his leg ripped off by a defensive linemen… so gruesome. Okay, maybe that’s an extreme example.

If I’m being honest though, I’d kind of given up on Aerosmith 20 years ago after their blues rock cover album Honkin’ On Bobo. It wasn’t the blues power house LP I was looking for but I do so love cover albums. And of course, I love bluesy rock. After that album, Aerosmith were consigned for me to the misty depths of nostalgia. I still dig their music, especially from the pre-comeback days and I still put them on playlists, but as a creative force, they were pretty much spent. Now I’m kind of left feeling that same emotion when a bar I was fond of – one of my old haunts, if you will – but hadn’t hung out in forever, closed it’s doors. I can’t help but think of the good times…

As I was thinking of Aerosmith, I couldn’t help but turn my thoughts to some of their great deep tracks. I mean, everybody knows “Sweet Emotion,” “Dream On,” and “Walk This Way.” For a later generation of fans it was “Dude Looks Like A Lady” or “Janie’s Got A Gun.” Whatever your point of reference on Aerosmith, you probably have a few “go-to,” favorites you put on when you’re rollin’ down the road. But there were so many other, deeper, great Aerosmith tracks. Almost each album had a track or two that either made it on the radio or should have. I started compiling a few of my favorites and pretty soon I had a rather unwieldy list. I pared it down to just these 21…  I think this is a nice, alternate path through their career:

1. “Make It” (Aerosmith) – The first track on the first album! “Good evening people, welcome to the show” meant more than just one show, it was a welcome to the next 50 years. A wonderful introduction.
2. “Movin’ Out” (Aerosmith) – I’ve loved this slinky, bluesy, rocking tune. “Nobody knows where, nobody shows where, Nobody knows where you can find me, yeah.”
3. “One Way Street” (Aerosmith) – I think this balls out rocker, at 7 minutes, was just too long to make it to early 70s radio but man it’s a great one. I love Tyler’s harmonica. Sounds like the car is a little out of control…I’ve been there.
4. “Seasons Of Wither” (Get Your Wings) – One of my buddy Stormin’ and my favorite. Atmospheric and epic, I’m not sure Aerosmith ever did another song like this one. Perhaps my favorite on the list.
5. “Pandora’s Box” (Get Your Wings) – “When I’m in heat and someone gets a notion, I jump to my feet, I hoof it to the ocean…” The perfect summer song?
6. “Adam’s Apple” (Toys In The Attic) – A retelling of the classic biblical story of Adam and Eve…
7. “Uncle Salty” (Toys In The Attic) – Peak Aerosmith here… “Ooh, it’s a sunny day outside my window…”
8. “Sick As A Dog” (Rocks) – I’ve always loved the line, “Sick as a dog, cat got your tongue?” Rocks was probably the most… well, rockin’ album of the Aerosmith catalog.
9. “Lick And A Promise” (Rocks) – Sloppy, stumblin’, race-me-to-the-finish-line rock n roll. Chuck Berry on steroids.
10. “Sight For Sore Eyes” (Draw The Line) – Call me crazy but I hear a little James Brown funk in this tune. Still rockin’ but definitely rolls as well.
11. “Chip Away The Stone” (Live Bootleg) – Another track that contends for my all time favorite Aerosmith … A true song of perseverance. Hang in there, baby. First heard on the live album Live Bootleg, but can be found on various Greatest Hits packages.
12. “Reefer Headed Woman” (Night In The Ruts) – A fabulous bluesy track extolling the joys of dating an herbal enthusiast.
13. “Jailbait” (Rock In A Hard Place) – Perhaps a bit inappropriate but hey, that’s Aerosmith… Tyler sounds unhinged because well, he probably was.
14. “My Fist Your Face” (Done With Mirrors) – I’m a lover, not a fighter and would never encourage violence in any form. But I do love this track from the album that should have been their comeback in the 80s, Done With Mirrors.
15. “Hangman Jury” (Permanent Vacation) – This bluesy stomper sounds like old Aerosmith, or at least it did to my ears in the late 80s. “Me and my old lady, sittin’ in the shade, talkin’ about the money I ain’t made.” More of this please!
16. “St. John” (Permanent Vacation) – A slinky tune that creeps up on you. Yes, it’s got that 80s production but I still dig it.
17. “Young Lust” (Pump) – Pump was a great album, but it was no Rocks. This track, that opened the album, is very close to getting me there.
18. “All Your Love” (Pandora’s Box) – I indulged myself and went very, very deep for this outtake. Aerosmith doing the classic blues tune “All Your Love” originally written by Otis Rush and done by countless rock bands. The best Aerosmith was based on the blues.
19. “Taste Of India” (Nine Lives) – Proof that an old dog er, or band can learn new, experimental things. This is a creative left turn that I just dug!
20. “Nine Lives” (Nine Lives) – This song reminds me of firing up a fast car and taking it out on the highway to let ‘er rip. Tyler’s banshee wail at the beginning sets the table and from there we’re off to the races.
21. “Love Me Two Times” (Young Lust: The Aerosmith Anthology) – Sadly, this isn’t on the dreaded Spotify. I first heard this song while drinking Ketel One in a bar in Amsterdam named, Excalibur. Aerosmith covering the Doors… it just works.

While I knew Aerosmith were on a farewell tour, I never dreamed it would end before they were really finished. Elton John has been on a farewell tour for what, a decade? Every time Ozzy toured he said it was his last time. The Eagles famously named one tour “Farewell 1.0.” I guess I just thought this last tour was Aerosmith putting their toe in the retirement water…and they were likely bluffing like Motley Crue. Alas, with this vocal injury it’s truly over for a great American rock n roll band. They might have faded a bit in recent years, but I’ll always love that good ol’ Aerosmith…

If there’s a deep track you absolutely love by Aerosmith, shoot it to me in the comments! I may have forgotten an essential tune or maybe I’ll discover something new from the latter part of their career!

Cheers!