RECORD STORE TALES MkII: Getting More Tale
#406: All of the Aerosmith…
The following challenge was posted to me by reader chrisjcombs:
“I humbly request an entry that ranks —- in order of your preference —- Aerosmith’s entire discography. I would love to see where you’d place albums like Rock in Hard Place and Night in the Ruts when lined up against the likes of Just Push Play, Nine Lives, Get A Grip, etc.”
Having recently re-listened to virtually all of the Aerosmith, in order for my Box of Fire series of reviews, I had to oblige.
In order to give some ground rules to Chris’ request, I will have to stick to studio albums. I don’t own A Little South of Sanity, so for the purposes of this list, I will exclude live releases. I also don’t have all the different greatest hits, so I’ll leave those out too. What’s left is 15 studio albums. Since I’ve reviewed most of these albums already, I won’t be adding too much in terms of commentary. Let’s give’r!
After some deliberation here’s all of the Aerosmith, from worst to best:
15. Just Push Play (2001)
14. Honkin’ On Bobo (2004)
13. Music From Another Dimension! (2012)
12. Rock in a Hard Place (1982)
11. Done With Mirrors (1985)
10. Permanent Vacation (1987)
9. Get A Grip (1993)
8. Night in the Ruts (1979)
7. Nine Lives (1997)
6. Aerosmith (1973)
5. Draw The Line (1977)
4. Get Your Wings (1974)
3. Pump (1989)
2. Rocks (1976) (TIE)
1. Toys in the Attic (1975) (TIE)
I think Nine Lives is a real underdog of an album — a latter-day gooder, that often gets lumped in with shit like Just Push Play. Pump, in my opinion, is Aerosmith as close to a peak as possible, and very close indeed to the top of the pyramid. Sonically and song-wise, I think Pump is as F.I.N.E. fine as anything the did in the 1970’s!
I hope you enjoyed this list, and thanks to Chris for the suggestion!
mikeladano.com 
Enjoyed this, although I really don’t like Pump very much. I’d take Vacation over it every time, bar a track, or two.
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Wow dude that’s saying something….interesting…..
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I thought the same thing, but then again I don’t own Pump, so maybe Vacation wins just ‘cos I’ve heard it more. Also, I don’t like Janie’s Got A Gun.
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You own Pump now!!!
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Yeah but only ‘cos I got it for $0.01. I’ll see what all the fuss is about.
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Janie aside, which never appealed to me, it’s a solid slice o granite.
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I’m with Ya on Nine Lives Mikey,and i was pleasantly surprised to see you loft Done With Mirrors above RIAHP!
Cool stuff…
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Nine Lives is a very underrated disc. I have a UK import with bonus track I’m dying to do an epic review of. And I think it does require an epic review, or at least a thorough one.
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I like this very much, Mike – a good reference point for where to go next in the ol’ ‘obtain Aerosmith records’ project. Seems Pump is the studio album I’ve to seek out. Good work!
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I think Pump is indispensable athough I see some here do not agree!
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Judging by the track list I’d be inclined to pick this one up if I saw in … The Other Side is on there and I’ve been a fan of that one since the days of watching True Romance!
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There’s also a 12″ or CD single for The Other Side featuring 2 remixes plus the theme from Wayne’s World!
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Party time!
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EXCELLENT!
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Excellent! Thank you, Mike! I too find ‘Nine Lives’ to be underrated. It’s a little long, but it’s the most cohesive of their 90s/00s albums. Sadly (or not), I have yet to hear ‘Music from Another Dimension.’ I couldn’t get myself to buy it after reading so many lackluster reviews. And finally, I’ll have to revisit ‘Pump,’ it has been awhile…
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Wait til I get to Nine Lives, dude. I will give it the love it deserves.
Skip MFAD. I mean it’s OK, you could make a pretty killer single disc out of it by cutting the ballads.
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With you on this for the most part Mike! I’d be bumping Permanent Vacation up the list a bit though and dropping Pump down it. They’d maybe even pass each other on the way! But with you on the rest of it and Nine Lives is excellent.
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Oooh another vote for PV ahead of Pump! Thanks man!
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Yeah I’m not 100% on that. At the moment it edges it but it’s a bit like with Toys and Rocks. It’s a pretty close call! I’d probably have both sitting just above Nine Lives on your list.
Some of the more recent albums I’ll have to take your word for but, even with limited exposure, I’d agree that Just Push Play is absolute gash.
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Absolutely gash. Don’t know what it means but I get the picture!
Just Push Play, you know I don’t wanna listen to it, but I should do up a review.
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Isn’t ‘gash’ a good thing? Or am I thinking about something else? Oh dear. How rude of me.
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And a few years ago Pump might have beat PV but PV seems to be aging better. Pump gets a bit too… obvious after a while.
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Iiiiiinteresting.
Pump is another I need to get down on with a review. I have a neat version in a faux-leather case.
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The 1001 list agrees with you Mike – it picked 3 aerosmiths, your #1a,1b, and 3.
I’ve only got those + get a grip so far so I agree with your rankings too, cheers to posts with lists!
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Right on! Glad to have some written support.
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For better or worse, Aersmith has been the soundtrack of my life – oor at least the young years!
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That’s awesome Jay. Hard to do much better than that.
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Dude, confronted by that discography, I do believe you have managed a really fair assessment of the discography. I would have placed Vacation higher, but like I replied to Deke, I don’t own Pump so who knows. I could probably find it cheap and correct that oversiiiiiight.
You should do more! KISS! Purple! Marillion! Def Leppard! Go go go!*
Oh man, I can’t imagine someone asking me to try this with the Stones discography. I just… oof. Kudos to you for trying this!
*You heard it here first folks, if you agree drop a Like on this comment or reply! Go Mike go! :)
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Confession: I hate making lists. I really do. I did this because of a request…I’ll let you have one request. Kiss, Purple, Marillion, Leppard? Name it and I’ll do it. That’s a promise.
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Ooo lemme think on it. They’re all so tempting…
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I think Kiss would be the least interesting band to rank, then and Maiden, because I’ve done the series. Some of those others would be swell….
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Alright. Marillion. Go!
And because we love you, I’ll do the Stones. Even though the thought of trying to pick between children terrifies me. GIVE ‘ER!
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Ha! If I had only known you hated making lists! Still, I appreciate the effort!
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I really thought Dimension was – apart from a few too slippery ballads – was a killer record. All the rockers on it are really good, I think. I Would also put Vacation in the top 5.
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Not a fan of the post-Done with Mirrors era so my ranking may be a bit predictable:
1. Rocks
2. Toys in the Attic
3. Get Your Wings
4. Draw the Line
5. Aerosmith
6. Night in the Ruts
7. Rock in a Hard Place
8. Done with Mirrors
9. Honkin’ on Bobo
10. Nine Lives
11. Permanent Vacation
12. Pump
13. Music from Another Dimension
14. Get a Grip
15. Just Push Play
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That’s a killer list. Aside from a low ranking for Pump I wouldn’t be arguing with you too much!
I guess I should get on a review for Pump.
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Agreed on ‘Nine Lives’ a stellar album that does not get it’s deserved plaudits.
Interested to see you ranking ‘Bobo’ so low. How come?
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To be fair I haven’t listened to Bobo in ages. I found it very boring…but then I’m not into covers albums!
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That’s a fair comment. I really dig that album. But that might be that for me, it’s synonymous with poker nights with my friends!
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I see! I haven’t played Poker in years. Reason being, we had never played before…we were invited to somebody’s Poker night and won enough hands to buy a nice meal. We were never invited back…
Anyway my unstated but implied goal here is to review my whole collection. I’m not even close, but something like Bobo I would like to review sooner rather than later because I’d like to polish off my whole Aero-collection now.
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Yeah I can imagine that would have rubbed the other players up the wrong way LOL Beginner’s luck as they say ;)
It’s well worth a listen.
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Fair enough I’ll consider than an endorsement.
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Indeed!
Just don’t expect an invite to poker night ;) :D
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