Aerosmith - O, Yeah! Ultimate Aerosmith Hits
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Free Music Notes for O, Yeah! Ultimate Aerosmith Hits
Free Music Review: Ultimate? Well... almost
Hit: 5 Stars
Aerosmith are often referred to (with utmost justification, one might say) as "America's Greatest Rock `N' Roll Band." True to their American heritage, they have oft-exercised that most American of business practices: capitalism. Having no less than 4 retrospectives, 2 box sets, and 4 live albums to its name, Aerosmith have more compilation out there than most. Now, if you are a hard-core Aerosmith fan, you have all of them. If you are a casual fan, you probably own at least 1 or 2 of them. So, the question is: Do you really need another one? If you are a loyal fan, the answer is obvious, of course: Yes. However, if you are a pretty big fan of the band but don't necessarily buy everything they release, or if you are a somewhat casual fan who already has maybe 1 or 2 such releases, the question is a bit more difficult to answer. It is not necessary to go into the merits individual tracks on any Aerosmith collection: these are tried-and-true rock classics, and as much a part of our pop culture as Mom's apple pie. No, the question of merit rests solely on what songs were chosen - as well as other side issues, such as sound quality and packaging. If you already own the majority of the Aerosmith catalog, there are a few reason why you might want to pick this up as well, aside from just completing your collection. For starters, this collection boasts two brand-spankin' new songs: Girls of Summer (a catchy pop tune - yes, even poppier than Jaded), and Lay It Down (a new power ballad.) As a long-time Aerosmith fan, I did not at first like these two songs much. They are not what I have come to expect from the band. However, upon repeated listens, my criticism lessened. Although they are perhaps the two weakest songs on the album, if you put aside any pre-conceived ideas you may have of them, and just listen to them as songs - rather than as "Aerosmith songs" - they can be enjoyed. Furthermore, this album also contains two songs (I Don't Want To Miss A Thing and the Run DMC version of Walk This Way), that are not available on any other official Aerosmith release. On top of all this, the sound quality is superb - one really notices the differences in the older tracks. The packaging (nice but not spectacular) is always a plus for fans, too. Now, as to the actual tracks: much has been made of the fact that, though several precious Aero retrospectives exist, this is the first to span the band's entire career. This is true - which makes this collection definitely the place to start if you're looking to get your first Aerosmith album, and prefer to start with a compilation. However, in my opinion, and I'm sure many other fan will agree, the band's early period seems to be under-represented. Featuring only 10 tracks (rather less than half the album) from the band's first period, this can hardly be said to represent that era any better than the original Greatest Hits, which featured the same amount of songs. (That said, this collection is certainly superior to the latter, since it offers the full songs, not radio edits, and has superior sound quality - as well as different tracks and sequencing.) Some songs are conspicuous in their absence. Train Kept A Rollin', although they didn't write it is, to many people, the ultimate Aerosmith song - not to mention the fact that they've closed the variety of their shows throughout their career with it. This is an oversight that simply cannot be forgiven. True, it was not an actual hit - but neither was Mama Kin (although that song definitely does belong here: a concert favorite and a great choice for opening the album with its classic long intro, which I'm glad they included rather than the shortened version the band now plays live) or Seasons of Wither, an album cut from the same album as Train. This is the album's only absolutely glaring oversight. You could quibble about other missing favorites - King and Queens, Toys In The Attic, No Surprize (which should have been included: Tyler has called this his favorite Aerosmith song, and expressed regret that it was "stuck on a backburner album where people don't get to hear it" - why, then, wasn't it included here?), Jailbait, Let The Music Do The Talkin', Eat The Rich - but, generally, this does an admirable job of representing the amazing career of Aerosmith. (Besides, we all know that record companies intentionally keep some big songs off of these releases, so you will be encouraged to by other records by said band.) If you don't own any Aerosmith music and would like to, this is without a doubt the best place to start. If you already do, though - well, then you'll just have to make your own purchasing decision based on the info given above.Free Music Review: Retrospective more for the MTV era fans... DVD???
Hit: 5 Stars
If you want to go overboard, there's the 3 CD "Pandora's Box" (Box of Fire is even more overboard but good if you want to get all their CDs up to 1982...) and Geffen's "Young Lust" which serves as a pretty thorough collection of songs up to the mid 90s (Nine Lives was the return to Sony).
The older Aerosmith fans will take some points off for the collection not having enough deep cuts. If you grew up in the MTV era and prefer the music after "Permanent Vacation", you'll love it.
The first 10 songs are the classic Aerosmith songs up to 1977, all classic rock essentials, and then skips 10 years later. "Ruts", "Stonehenge" (my name for it), and "Mirrors" are totally ignored (Let the Music Do the Talking should've been saved at least). None of them are terrible, but they're not all that great. Give it a chance and just see how you like those.
And then, from "Dude" on, it's the more polished sounding era of Aero that we follow through disc one, into disc 2. "Permanent Vacation", "Pump" and "Get a Grip" are well-represented here.
"Eat The Rich" doesn't make the cut from "Big Ones" as well as the songs that were recorded for that collection. If your copy of "Big Ones" needs replacing, then get this one. If you already have it, it's just going to be more of the same for 12 of the songs.
And then Aerosmith went back to Sony, where they recorded "Nine Lives", which is represented by "Falling in Love" and "Pink". Not everyone's favorite after "Get a Grip", but it still has a lot of great moments on it.
Their ONLY #1 hit "I Don't Want To Miss A Thing" from the "Armageddon" soundtrack is on here. Some people don't like it because it was overplayed, but it is a great song.
The stopping point of the hits is "Just Push Play" with 2 songs, "Jaded" and "Just Push Play",and then some "extras" at the end.
"Walk This Way" with RUN DMC is on here because it was one of their biggest hits, it was a crossover saying that rap wasn't just a fad, and it signalled a return from has-been land, and launched them right into the 80s. The last 2 songs are great, "Girls of Summer" got a lot of airplay when the CD came out.
So to sum it up, it covers a lot of bases in 2 1/2 hours, I think it's great to listen to and have yet to skip over any of the songs... some songs are missed (Pandora's Box and Young Lust will have them), but the songs people know and love are here. I feel that this collection out of any of the "greatest hits" (or any "greatest hits" for that matter) is the one to own and the one you'll listen to the most... if you want more of the deeper cuts from the 70s, get "Gems"...."Rocks" and "Toys in the Attic" are the must-haves though. For the live material, pick up "Live Bootleg" and "A Little South of Sanity" to hear Aerosmith in completely different eras...
The only thing that would have been nicer would be a DVD of all their videos included ("Sweet Emotion" and "Dream On" have videos as well) even though it would mean it would cost a little more. It's definitely long overdue for a band that has been doing videos for over 20 years. They have already put out some material on VHS that's out there (between "Video Scrapbook","Big Ones You Can Look At" "3x5", the "Pump" videos as well as the other things they've done over the years would be a hell of a collection),, but it would be great if they reissued some of it on DVD...some of the video footage they have dates back to 1974... However, good news in that they're putting out a live DVD that was shot for A&E. Hopefully the interest in that video will encourage the band to put more out.
Free Music Review: Ultimate is right - Run this way for a great album
Hit: 5 Stars
It's truly amazing to realize that Aerosmith's career has spanned 30 years, and they are still as relevant today as they were when they burst upon the Boston music scene in the early 70's. And still as hard rocking with Just Push Play as they were with Mama Kim. And over these 30 years the guys have produced a consistent string of hits. All too often today "Greatest Hits" packages are either applied to any band who has had a hit song (Frankie Goes to Hollywood's Greatest Hits anyone?), or as a chance for an established artist to package together a collection of hits and bundle in a mediocre new song or two forcing the fan to rebuy what they already have in order to keep a complete collection. And it must be admitted that Aerosmith has mined this hits territory before ("Greatest Hits," "Big Ones"). But these efforts were simply mix tapes - throw together the past few hits and a song or two from the albums and package it for the masses. They were the progenitor for what was to come - O, Yeah!
And O, Yea! it's great! From the sounding of the first riff of Mama Kim, Steve and the gang pull us along in a retrospective of every big song produced by the band. Arranged in almost chronological order, it shows the musical development of Aerosmith, who evolved but never lost that hard rocking party sound. Flowing from the album Aerosmith in '72 to last year's Just Push Play, and beyond, to include two new songs for 2002. Yes, Aerosmith is not above adding some new material to their Ultimate Hits package. The new songs (the "Jaded"-esque "Girls of Summer" and the ballad "Lay It Down") are nice additions, though you would have to stretch things to put them on even the potential par as the other true hits on the album. While they may not necessarily be "hits," (more akin to the sound of "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" than the rock of "Living on the Edge.") these new songs propel Aerosmith towards the future, and eventually Ultimate Hits II.
Liner notes are notoriusly skimpy on greatest hits packages, and the same continues here - a number of pictures pad the booklet, but included is information on each song, including the date and album it is from, which is helpful.
Sure, it's possible to quibble that inevitably something is missing. Personally I am saddened to not see "Eat the Rich" on the collection. But any Aerosmith fan has to agree that this is one solid album, the cream of the crop. While the solid fan who has all the albums, and the excellent box set may find this repetitive, for the rest of us, this collection is the perfect portable celebration to grab and let yourself get lost in the riffs. And for the casual fan, this is the perfect chance to get the best they boys have to offer.
Free Music Review: Don't Hate it...BUY IT!
Hit: 5 Stars
Yeah yeah, how many times have you heard that this is the umpteenth Greatest Hits album from Aerosmith? Well just ignore that stuff, and listen to me: THIS is the album to get if you want to get a whole lotta music from the band. I just discovered it about a month ago and it's got me spinning around! I'm honest, this is the definitive Aerosmith collection...possibly. It's got a good dose of their early stuff, then it skips to their late 80s tracks (thanks to countless other ''Greatest Hits'' and ''Live'' albums), but it's all right.
Let me start my review: It bursts open with Mama Kin and Aerosmith's gritty but talented blues-based hard rock. And it bursts even further with power ballads such as ''Dream On'', and ''Seasons of Wither'', (thought you might also be able to call it an epic), and other hard-rocking classics such as ''Same Old Song and Dance'', ''Back in the Saddle'', and ''Dude (Looks Like a Lady)''. And it's not even that that makes the album worthwhile (I haven't even gotten to the second CD). ''Love in an Elevator'' is a wonderful rocker and actually sounds a bit like a Def Leppard anthem. Cool!
Now we cross over to the other side, where Aerosmith is living on the edge (two of the opening tracks). I don't listen to this disc as much as I do the first one, but it's worth every, single penny!!! We got some great rockers (Livin' On The Edge) and some beautiful ballads in the same class as Kiss's ''Beth'' and Guns n' Roses ''Sweet Child o' Mine'', in this case, it would be songs such as ''Deuces Are Wild'' and ''I Don't Want To Miss A Thing''. Great stuff! We also got some of the most recent tracks, including, ''Jaded'', ''Just Push Play'', ''Girls of Summer'', and ''Lay it Down''. All are good, but the two ending tracks sound kind of similar. But they're still great!
Oh yeah, and they team up with Run-D.M.C. to do a cover of ''Walk This Way'', (The original version is one of the greatest tracks on the entire collection!
Conclusion: One of the greatest ways to get into Aerosmith, but if you just got a big paycheck, you might wanna get the first, several albums. But hey, don't let me tell you what to do. This is the only Aerosmith album I have, so you don't have to listen to me. But if you want to get into Aerosmith and only want ONE compilation that's TOTALLY worth your money, it might be a good idea to check this out. Thanks for the time. :-)
Free Music Review: Gems
Hit: 5 Stars
My disclaimer for best of, or greatest hits packages is that they are not for the fans of the artist who own all of the artist's cds. My rule of thumb with compilations is that they include all of the artist's top 40 hits plus key album tracks. "O Yeah" foots this bill perfectly. All of Aerosmith's top 40 hits are covered here with the exception of "Come Together", their cover of the Beatles' tune featured in the 1978 film "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band", in which they had a cameo. I suspect that the majority of these songs have a half-life of 1,000 years. So overplayed are these songs, that you could sing every lyric in your sleep. In fact, some of these songs may induce nausea, and doctors recommend hitting the skip button on those particular tracks. The liner notes are skimpy, but the hologram on the cover is neato. I like Aerosmith, but the same reason I became interested is the same reason I lost interest. Can you picture your father writing and singing "Pink"? What about "Girls Of Summer"? While the melodies are nice, who is the band trying to appeal to? Teenagers. They're in their 50's now and still singing about themes that are far too immature for them. I mean, even the Rolling Stones write about other things. Sure, Aerosmith have proven themselves to be a cornerstone of rock and roll, that's all fine, but can they overcome puberty, that's the question. For those teens/kids who haven't heard of Aerosmith (yeah, right), this compilation is a great introduction. Every track is digitally remastered so you can hear all the nuances of Steven Tyler's screams. The only drawback to this compilation is that it skips over three albums: "A Night In The Ruts" (1979), "A Rock In A Hard Place" (1982), and "Done With Mirrors" (1985). So, a chapter or two is missing--but hardcore fans might tell you that skipping those albums isn't a loss. It was a nice idea to include Run DMC's version of "Walk This Way" (1986), and, aside from Aerosmith's box set, this two disc compilation is the most comprehensive to date.