Given the announcement recently that Aerosmith are pretty much hanging it up, I figured it was a good time to pull out this classic album that really got the ball rolling for them nearly 50 years ago.

Aerosmith – Toys In The Attic

Released April 8, 1975 via Columbia Records

Aerosmith had very light success with their first two records. They had gained a bit of notice but were dismissed as a bit of a “dumb” act and didn’t bring a ton to the table, even with a few of their now classic songs being on those records. But after a year of touring behind Get Your Wings, the band were tighter than ever before and ready to let loose in the studio. They convened with Jack Douglas, who had produced the prior album and would handle this and two more.

The line-up is the band’s classic formation and honestly the same folks they’ve had in the band for the vast majority of their existence. Steven Tyler commanded attention at the mic, while Joe Perry and Brad Whitford were on guitar. Tom Hamilton was on bass and Joey Kramer on drums. There are some other performances credited on this album, including something called a marimba. I don’t know what the hell that is.

Today we have 9 songs that wrap up in a tidy 37 minutes. I don’t honestly know of any real “deluxe” versions of this with bonus tracks, Aerosmith typically park their bonuses on other sorts of releases.

Toys In The Attic

The balls gets rolling right out of the gate with scorching hot rocker. Flying guitar work takes center stage here, this is a vehicle that would get flagged for speeding down the freeway. This isn’t a high concept song by any means. The phrase generally refers to being crazy. There are other interpretations of the song’s meaning but no need to dwell on those. This is a massive way to open an album, great sequencing work here. Grade: A

Uncle Salty

The song itself is a pretty sweet jam, this one gets down with melodic rhythm parts while Steven Tyler goes down and dirty on some of the vocals. Lyrically the song is pretty damn dark – it’s about a young woman who grows up in abuse and later becomes a prostitute. Fairly brutal stuff to contemplate on a ’70’s hard rock record. Grade: B+

Adam’s Apple

Here we have the Shakespearean combination of the Adam and Eve story from the Bible and a blowjob. The music plays out nicely here – a good groove without doing too much. Tyler has the sole writing credit on this song but has admitted he has no memory of composing the song, which is fair given the state he used to run around in way back when. Grade: B

Walk This Way

Bands who “make it” for a brief time usually do so on the back of one signature song, and bands who last over half a century still have a signature song. While Aerosmith have no shortage of ammo in their “great song” chamber, this one is the one that made them. Twice.

We have a simple yet very infectious main riff, with some additional playful guitar notes running through. Steven Tyler employs vocals that in 1975 didn’t really have a term, it could be called scatting. His main impetus for the vocals was that he used to be a drummer so he employed a percussive rhythm to his words. It all adds up to a massively catchy and entertaining song, all about some kid in high school who’s looking to lose his virginity.

I’ll be brief for this last part – Run DMC did a remix of the song in 1986, this would help launch a new act in Aerosmith’s career that saw them become megastars. The full story is really interesting but can wait for another time. Grade: S

Big Ten Inch Record

We can save a fair bit of space here – this is an old blues cover. It’s a pretty decent song to listen to musically. Lyrically it’s one of those things that’s funny the first time. It’s not out of place for Aerosmith, hell it fits right in. But it doesn’t set the world on fire either. Grade: C+

Sweet Emotion

And now on to what was the lead single from the record and another song that has become a staple of the band’s catalog. This one sets a mood with some different instruments (and apparently sugar packets for shakers) and some ungodly guitar riffs. Aerosmith could play a basic rock song and make it compelling but here they threw in elements to really up the boogie and sleaze.

And yeah, this one is sleazy. It’s an ode to everyone’s favorite pastime of sex. Maybe too sleazy, especially in light of certain news items from the past few years. But overall this song glistens in its grime and remains a favorite Aerosmith jam.

This song also got a second lease on life in 1991 when it was remixed to promote a box set (that the remixed single isn’t even on). It came with a funny music video about phone sex operators (that’s pre-Internet stuff for any of you under 40). Grade: S

No More No More

A really fun rocker that’s just about life on the road for a young, partying band. It’s nice and bright but also has some power behind it, a really cool song. Grade: A

Round And Round

For those who frown on Aerosmith and knock them for sounding too much like Led Zeppelin, we would call this Exhibit A. It’s a cool song and it definitely has Page and Plant vibes all over it. Nothing really wrong with that. Grade: B+

You See Me Crying

The album closes with a ballad and yet another song that Steven Tyler forgot he wrote. This has some pretty elaborate stuff going on, it’s a song more loaded with stuff than any prior Aerosmith track. It’s a ballad for sure and it’s also very, very 70’s – this isn’t the prototypical power ballad of the 1980’s. Overall it’s really well put together and makes its mark, all of the extra arrangement doesn’t hurt it at all. Grade: A

Toys In The Attic was a move up for Aerosmith, who hadn’t made many waves with their first two records. The album would do a slow roll, eventually charting at number 11 on Billboard. It would go gold around the same time.

But the album’s success wouldn’t stop there. Aerosmith rose from the ashes and became a massive record-moving machine years later, and now this album has nine platinum certifications in the US.

This album pairs along with its successor Rocks as an immortal one-two punch from Aerosmith, these are widely hailed as the band’s best works. And my view is no different than many others – this is a great triumph of a rock record, offering up a wonderful listening experience.

Album Grade: A

Toys In The Attic is a hallmark moment in American rock, showing that the US could rock out on par with their former colonial overlords across the pond. And while the story on Aerosmith might have come to a sad end recently, their work and especially this one remains as an immortal piece of an unparalleled American legacy.