Aerosmith to Switch from Playing “Toys in the Attic” to “Rocks” Album in its Entirety on Tour
Aerosmith will be switching — in a few weeks — from playing Toys in the Attic in its entirety on tour, to Rocks.
Playing Rocks in its entirety has nothing but an upside for me. This might make me buy a ticket. Toys in the Attic may be more of a classic developed from airplay on FM radio, but Rocks is a favorite Aerosmith album of many. It seems like the lesser-known tracks like “Rats in the Cellar” and “Last Child” and others never got the exposure they deserved.
And, it makes you think: Joe Perry told Reuters that Tyler did have trouble singing the Toys song “You See Me Crying” on this tour. Sounds like it could be part of the reason for the switch to me. But, more likely, I think the guys in the band are just excited about giving the most loyal fans what they really want: the classic material from the 70s.
And this is becoming a beautiful trend: bands emphasizing their classic albums on tour. According to Reuters, the band is considering other LPs, too:
The centerpiece of each show on the new tour is the performance of an early album in its entirety, front to back. For at least the next two weeks, that album is the 1975 smash “Toys in the Attic,” which features the hits “Walk This Way” and “Sweet Emotion.” (The album closer “You See Me Crying” is currently absent from the set list because it is “one of the toughest songs probably in our catalog,” Perry said, and vocalist Steven Tyler needs two more shows to get his throat into shape).
The band’s first two albums, its 1973 self-titled debut and 1974’s “Get Your Wings” are also candidates for a revival.
But what Perry really wants to do is exhume is the unloved 1979 album “Night in the Ruts,” recorded during the band’s lengthy, drug-fueled nadir. Perry plays on only some of the tracks because he left the band before the album was released.
“I think there are probably two songs on there that we could play pretty much right off the bat,” he said. “The rest of them we’d have to sit down and really take them apart, relearn all the guitar parts. There are some rockin’ songs on there and it would be fun to play them live.”
So far on the tour Perry takes to the microphone for the “Rocks” cut “Combination,” and he envisages adding other solo outings such as “Bright Light Fight” (from 1979’s “Draw the Line”) and “Walk on Down” (from 1993’s “Get a Grip”).
Perry is also getting to release a solo album soon called Freedom. All good stuff to look forward to!
