There are, as everyone knows, two Aerosmiths. One is the Columbian-economy-supporting drug hoovers of the 70s, who somehow managed to carve two stone-cold classic albums in Rocks and Toys In The Attic. At their best they sounded like an even filthier and funkier Rolling Stones. But the good times became a little too good for their own good. As they veered unsteadily into the 80s, guitarists Joe Perry and Brad Whitford handed in their wings. Legend has it that an incident involving a glass of milk, of all things, precipitated Perry’s departure. Who says Americans don’t do irony?
The other ’Smith is the unlikely hit machine of their re-formed years (Perry and Whitford were back in the line-up for 1985’s Done With Mirrors) who showed there might just be something to all this looking after yourself business – Perry still looks marvellously well-preserved – by delivering a masterpiece with 1989’s Pump. You should, by law, own all three of those records plus a ‘best of’, and this deluxe (if you’re going to be a bear, be a grizzly) four-album set is the best one of the latter.
