Friday, November 17, 2017

Throwback Thursday: Get Your Wings, by Aerosmith



In 1974 Aerosmith was nowhere near the rock n' roll household name they are today. They only had one record out and had only just started to tread their way down the path. When they put out their second album Get Your Wings however, they definitely got more of a leg up because this is when they really started developing their signature sound and putting out hits that people would remember forever. They still had a long way to go after this, but they definitely got a lot further than they already were even if none of the songs made the pop charts at the time.

Get Your Wings is where Aerosmith started exploring a bit more musically and developing a sound that was uniquely theirs. Where their debut album Aerosmith was basically just blues on steroids, Get Your Wings got a bit heavier and delved into more creative song structure and writing though the blues influence was very much still present in much of the music. It featured memorable songs like Same Old Song and Dance, Pandora's Box, Train Kept A-Rollin', etc.

Pandora's Box has always been one of my favorite songs from this album even if no one else seems to talk about it. It has this bluesy signature riff that is so catchy and gets ingrained in your head. It picks up and grooves pretty well. It's filled with all kinds of innuendos and rock n' roll badassery. It also features some loud and proud horn playing to back it up as well, making it almost feel like it's a Las Vegas show girl song. Incidentally, drummer Joey Kramer wrote the riff to the song when he found a guitar in a dumpster one day and started playing it.

Same Old Song and Dance is probably the best remembered song from this record. I can't say I blame anyone because this has a lot of that flare that only Aerosmith can conjure up. It's got everything a good Aerosmith song needs: a steady groove from Joey Kramer and Tom Hamilton, some snarling bluesy guitar licks and riffs from Joe Perry and Brad Whitford, powerful gritty vocals from Steven Tyler, and lyrics that while down and dirty tell a story that you can follow. I find it pretty awesome that despite the lack of a real chorus aside from a short refrain people still find it so memorable.

Get Your Wings while definitely not Aerosmith's best album is a great way to hear for yourself the progression of the band's sound from a ragtag rough n' tumble blues band from Boston to the stadium filling rock n' roll icons that we know them to be today. They definitely sound a lot more like themselves on this record and you can tell that they were hungry and wanting to push for the best record they could make. It's a solid time capsule of a special time in Aerosmith's growth.

Get Your Wings, by Aerosmith receives 3.75 out of 5 stars.

Track List:

1. Same Old Song and Dance
2. Lord of the Thighs
3. Spaced
4. Woman of the World
5. S.O.S. (Too Bad)
6. Train Kept A-Rollin'
7. Seasons of Wither
8. Pandora's Box

Buy the album on Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/Get-Your-Wings-Clean-Aerosmith/dp/B00138CV00/ref=ice_ac_b_dpb?ie=UTF8&qid=1510909684&sr=8-1&keywords=Get+Your+Wings+Aerosmith

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