Tuesday, April 8, 1975

Aerosmith released Toys in the Attic

First posted 3/28/2011; updated 10/17/2020.

Toys in the Attic

Aerosmith


Released: April 8, 1975


Charted: April 26, 1975


Peak: 11 US, -- UK, 7 CN, 79 AU


Sales (in millions): 8.0 US, -- UK, 11.0 world (includes US and UK)


Genre: classic rock


Tracks: (Click for codes to singles charts.)

  1. Toys in the Attic (Tyler, Perry) [3:07]
  2. Uncle Salty (Tyler, Hamilton) [4:09]
  3. Adam’s Apple (Tyler) [4:33]
  4. Walk This Way (Tyler, Perry) [3:40] (8/28/1975, #10 US, 7 CN)
  5. Big Ten Inch Record (Fred Weismantel) [2:16]
  6. Sweet Emotion (Tyler, Hamilton) [4:34] (5/19/1975, #36 US, 24 UK, 36 AR, 56 CN)
  7. No More No More (Tyler, Perry) [4:34]
  8. Round and Round (Tyler, Whitford) [5:03]
  9. You See Me Crying (Tyler, Don Solomon) [5:12] (11/11/1975, --)


Total Running Time: 37:08


The Players:

  • Steven Tyler (vocals, keyboards, harmonica, percussion)
  • Joe Perry (guitar)
  • Brad Whitford (rhythm guitar)
  • Tom Hamilton (bass)
  • Joey Kramer (drums, percussion)

Rating:

4.389 out of 5.00 (average of 9 ratings)


Awards:

About the Album:

On their first two albums, Aerosmith established themselves as “a gritty, street-wise hard rock band who played their blues as blooze and were in it for a good time; Toys in the Attic crystallizes that attitude.” AMG Previously, they “didn’t have any of the menace of their influences, nor any of their mystique,” AMG but here they “finally perfected their mix of Stonesy raunch and Zeppelin-esque riffing.” AMG

Guitarist Joe Perry said, “our first two albums were basically comprised of songs we’d been playing for years live in the clubs. With Toys, we started from scratch.” JP He called the album their “breakthrough,” facilitated by producer Jack Douglas, who “moved into the slot of the sixth member of the band.” JP Douglas credited the band’s year on the road supporting the previous album with making them better players. “It showed in the riffs that Joe and Brad brought back…for the next album. Toys in the Attic was a much more sophisticated record than the other stuff they’d done.” SD

“The success of the album derives from a combination of an increased sense of songwriting skills and purpose.” AMG Singer Steven Tyler “has fully embraced sleaziness as his artistic muse” AMG writing “with a gleeful impishness about sex throughout Toys in the Attic, whether it’s the teenage heavy petting of Walk This Way, the promiscuous Sweet Emotion, or the double-entendres of Uncle Salty and Adam’s Apple.” AMG

“Sweet Emotion” and “Walk This Way,” both marked by “indelible riffs” AMG by Joe Perry, went on to become staples of classic rock radio. The former gave the band their first top 40 hit on the Billboard pop charts. 15 years after its initial release, a reissue of the song landed on the album rock chart.

“Walk This Way,” with its rapid-fire lyrics about a highschooler losing his virginity, was an even bigger hit, landing in the top ten of the pop charts, not once, but twice. The first time was in 1976 when the song was reissued after the success of the band’s Rocks album. A decade later, rap group Run-D.M.C. did a remake of the song with Tyler and Perry guesting. It was even more successful, going all the way to #4 on the pop charts.

The band also covered “the old dirty blues Big Ten Inch Record,” AMG a song first recorded by Bullmoose Jackson in 1952. The band heard it via Dr. Demento’s radio show. They stayed largely true to the original, right “down to its jazz-style instrumentation.” WK

The “most ambitious recording on the album” WK is probably You See Me Crying, “a complex piano ballad” accompanied by a symphony orchestra conducted by Mike Mainieri. The band was frustrated with the time it took to record the song because of its complex drum and guitar parts. WK It was released as the album’s third single, but didn’t chart. In 1984, when Tyler was suffering memory loss from years of drug use, he heard the song and didn’t realize it was Aerosmith and suggested to the band that they cover it. WK

Resources and Related Links:

  • Aerosmith’s DMDB Encyclopedia entry
  • SD Stephen Davis with Aerosmith (1997). Walk This Way: The Autobiography of Aerosmith. Page 226.
  • AMG Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
  • JP Joe Perry with David Ritz (2014). Rocks: My Life in and Out of Aerosmith. Simon & Schuster: New York City, NY. Page 146.
  • WK Wikipedia

Wednesday, April 2, 1975

Kiss “Rock and Roll All Nite” released

Rock and Roll All Nite

Kiss

Writer(s): Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons (see lyrics here)


Released: April 2, 1975


First Charted: May 17, 1975


Peak: 12 US, 17 CN, 18 HR, 15 RR, 1 CL, 13 AR, 13 CN, 18 AU, 2 DF (Click for codes to singles charts.)


Sales (in millions): -- US, 0.2 UK


Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 53.4 video, 272.48 streaming

Awards:

Click on award for more details.

About the Song:

Kiss formed in New York City in 1973. They “blended the Rolling Stones’ ballsy grit with a surprising dose of Beatles-type tunefulness, then cranked up the volume.” UCR They released their self-titled album and follow-up, Hotter Than Hell, the next year. Neither set the charts on fire. “Casablanca Records founder Neil Bogart figured out what was missing as the band assembled their third album, 1975’s Dressed to Kill.” UCR Band member Paul Stanley explained, “At that time, rock bands didn’t have anthems…but Neil was real smart and really ahead of his time…You guys really should have an anthem.’” UCR

“Stanley and bassist Gene Simmons put together parts of two songs each had been working on, the latter providing the verses and the former delivering one of rock’s most universally appealing and memorable choruses.” UCR They brought in a large group including studio musicians and members of the road crew to sing and clap on the chorus. They used zippers on their jackets to make sounds. WK Bandmate Ace Frehley said, “I knew it was gonna be something special. The song says it all.” UCR

The initial single release wasn’t anything special. It did give the band its second Billboard Hot 100 entry, but at a measley #68. Still, “a grueling tour schedule that helped perfect a flashy and literally explosive stage show had earned the band a devoted following among hard rock fans.” UCR

“With both band and label at the end of their financial ropes, they decided to throw a last-ditch Hail Mary six short months later by releasing the double-live album Alive! Freed from the constrictions of their underfed studio versions and supercharged by the band’s live delivery, Kiss’s songs connected with a massive new audience.” UCR The album reached the top 10 on the Billboard charts, led by a live version of “Rock and Roll All Nite” which reached #12. The band did, in fact, achieve “not just an anthem but an enduring cultural touchstone, and the song remains the soundtrack for the confetti-and-explosion-filled climaxes of the band’s concerts.” UCR


Resources:


Related Links:


First posted 8/1/2022.

Tuesday, April 1, 1975

Journey’s debut album released

First posted 10/12/2008; updated 9/11/2020.

Journey

Journey


Released: April 1, 1975


Peak: 138 US, -- UK, -- CN, -- AU


Sales (in millions): -- US, -- UK, 0.75 world (includes US and UK)


Genre: classic rock


Tracks:

Song Title (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to singles charts.

  1. Of a Lifetime (1975, --)
  2. In the Morning Day
  3. Kohoutek (instrumental)
  4. To Play Some Music
  5. Topaz (instrumental)
  6. In My Lonely Feeling/Conversations
  7. Mystery Mountain


Total Running Time: 36:57


The Players:

  • Gregg Rolie (vocals, keyboards)
  • Neal Schon (guitar, backing vocals)
  • George Tickner (rhythm guitar, backing vocals)
  • Ross Valory (bass, backing vocals)
  • Aynsley Dunbar (drums)

Rating:

3.253 out of 5.00 (average of 12 ratings)

About the Album:

Guitiarist Neal Schon and keyboardist Gregg Rolie played together on some of Santana’s classic early albums before jumping ship to form their own band in 1973. They brought drummer Aynsley Dunbar on board, who’d previously worked with John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers, the Jeff Beck Group, and Frank Zappa’s Mothers of Invention. Rounding out the group were Ross Valory on bass and George Tickner as a second guitarist. While Valory would become a mainstay with Journey, this was Tickner’s only album with the band.

“On their eponymous debut album, Journey were still trying to find their signature sound” AMG so “unlike their later recordings, the debut release is a progressive rock album, in the jazz-fusion vein” JM focusing on the instrumental talents of the band members. WK Consequently, the album is filled “with meandering jazz-rock instrumentals that never quite catch fire. Furthermore, their pop songs are ill-formed and lack hooks – in short, they are too mainstream for the progressive audience and too unfocused for the pop audience.” AMG Mainstream success would come, but not until their fourth album and the arrival of singer Steve Perry.

Resources and Related Links: