Aerosmith: Aerosmith (180g, remastered) [HIP-O]

Why you'll love it

This reissue is remastered and pressed on 180g vinyl. "Dream On" became the band's first top 10 hit when it reached No. 6 on the Hot 100 in 1976, pulling the album to No. 21 on the Billboard 200, and the record has gone double platinum.

This edition

• 180g vinyl
• Remastered

About the album

Every great Boston story starts small, and this one starts at Intermedia Studios on Newbury Street in October 1972. Steven Tyler, Joe Perry, Brad Whitford, Tom Hamilton and Joey Kramer cut their debut with producer Adrian Barber, and Columbia put it out in January 1973.

"Make It" opens with a mission statement, "Somebody" and "One Way Street" swagger with Stones-y blues, and "Mama Kin" grew out of a warped acoustic guitar Kramer found in the trash on Beacon Street, which Tyler fitted with four strings; David Woodford adds saxophone. Then there's "Dream On," Tyler's piano-led power ballad, which became the year's top single on Boston radio long before the rest of America caught up. Tyler wrote "Seasons of Wither" on that same battered guitar, saving it for the next album, and a rowdy cover of "Walkin' the Dog" closes the set.

Slash and Izzy Stradlin of Guns N' Roses have both sung its praises, and Guns N' Roses covered "Mama Kin" themselves. The first pressing printed the closing track as "Walkin' the Dig," which we'd argue is still a perfectly good name for a rock song.

Also at Kops: more Aerosmith on vinyl · browse Rock

Tracklist

Listen

On Columbia / Capitol, a reissue of the 1973 album.