I remember Steven being asked what he would do if Aerosmith hadn’t happened. He said if he had to do it all over, he’d tell his younger self to get into producing or making music for video games as a side job because he mostly enjoyed the experiences he had …
We were going to go see them later this year. So much for that.
Eh, it happens as these legacy acts get older. I was going to take my older rock-n-roll-crazy daughter to see Heart on their European farewell tour until the health announcement. Sad but not terribly surprising.
Absolutely love first-era Aerosmith, a fan of middle-era, and not so much after they transformed into Bon Jovi. But man, early Aerosmith was so awesome. Dangerous, rocking stuff.
Toys in the Attic and Rocks are legitimate masterpieces. There is nothing in rock more sinister and foreboding than the intro to “Back in the Saddle.” I used to wear out “Nobody’s Fault,” played at max volume.
Saw them live maybe five times, and I caught them sober and sharp. Such a great band at their best, such a terrific catalog.
I had "Toys in the Attic " on 8-track and used to drive around blasting it out.
I bought Get Your Wings when it came out because they just looked like a hard rocking band on the cover and the name Aerosmith sounded like a blacksmith of the airwaves. Both proved to correct assumptions. Then I went out and got their first album and was convinced that they had the staying power of groups like Led Zeppelin and the Rolling Stones. Guess I was right about that one.
Saw them a couple of times in the 70’s and took my daughter and her friends to see them when she graduated HS in 2000. Damn they aged well, and the kids still loved them!
The Train Kept A-Rollin for over 5 decades, well done!
Saw them in '76 with REO Speedwagon opening. Good stuff. The wife was making noises about seeing the Peace Out tour, but I wasn’t so enthusiastic about paying those ticket prices. Well, I guess that’s settled now.
I think the first four albums, especially Toys in the Attic and Rocks, are essential for anyone with an interest in classic rock. More recently, I found Honkin’ on Bobo to be a nice listen if not essential. I wish they could have done one or two more like that (covers of old blues tunes).
Anyway, thanks, guys.
I’m glad I misunderstood the thread title- I was afraid for a second there that the whole band had died in a bus crash or something 
Hey, I might have been at the same concert! Joe Louis Arena?
Hm, well, the more I think about it, the timeline doesn’t quite match up. It was a couple years after I had graduated college in ‘87, so it was probably more like 89-90. I was dating a girl I had met at the Renaissance Center in Detroit, where I worked at the time (I know I wasn’t still working there by ‘94).
The girl I was dating (actually more like an after-work hang, but I wanted it to become more) was a ‘rocker’ girl- she dressed and looked like Joan Jett or one of the other Runaways. She wasn’t the ‘girl next door’ looking type I usually dated, and she scared me a little (in a good way). She had 2 Aerosmith tickets and asked me. The first part of the evening went great! The band had just recently gotten sober, and put on a great, tight show.
Unfortunately after we left, my car wouldn’t start. I had been so focused on trying to be cool and funny on the way there I forgot to get gas. So we’re stranded in downtown Detroit. I called a former college friend who lived nearby and he said he’d bring a can of gas. We waited outside Joe Louis Arena for a long time but he never showed. Later it turned out he had looked for us but we had crossed signals on where to meet. I had to call a cab to take us to a gas station. Thing about downtown Detroit at the time, gas stations were few and far between for some reason. The cabbie had to drive several miles. So, the aftermath did not go smoothly, and I don’t think we hung out much after that, but it was a great show.
My best guess is that it means that the band still exists as a legal entity, for the purpose of collecting royalties etc. And that this leaves the door open for releasing old, as-yet-unreleased material (demos, alternate versions, etc.). But I don’t know much about the music business.
Aerosmith has been mentioned several times over in the “What one band is the epitome of classic rock for you” thread. If the question were restricted to American bands, I think they’d be a solid first choice.
I’ve always judged bands according to how they perform live. Aerosmith was/is one hell of a live band.
They were the first concert I ever went to. High school sophomore or junior, so 86 or 87. I went to see the opening band, The Smithereens.
It wasn’t even sunrise, here, this morning. Hadn’t had coffee yet. Bleary-eyed as all Hell.
Got “Train Kept a Rollin’” going on the Amazon Echo.
Then, I uttered a sentence I’m quite sure I’ve never uttered before:
“Alexa? Volume Eight.”
Damn. So, so good.
OhByTheWay: I’m awake now.
I’d be very surprised if simply retiring (just from touring, or “fully retiring”) had any effect on the Aerosmith “legal entity,” especially as four of the five founding members (who are, presumably, the “owners” of the band as an entity) are all still alive, and still active members of the band. The fifth current member (and, I’d guess, part-owner), Brad Whitford, joined the band in 1971, a year after their founding.
Compared to most rock bands of similar vintage, they’ve gone through surprisingly little personnel turnover.
And, yes, I’d agree that, going forward, they’ll continue to repackage and re-release older material, and license their music for use in advertising, TV shows, movies, etc. As noted earlier, they haven’t released any new music in over a decade; the retirement from touring mostly means that they won’t have that particular income stream any longer.
The view from 30 years later, absolutely. Back then, as a broke college student who had to work about 5 hours to afford that $25 ticket, I deserved all the shit my friends gave me for that “negotiation.” 
The Palace.
Aerosmith just doesn’t seem like the kind of band that is going to stop until Steven Tyler and Joe Perry have both died, been cremated and had their ashes scattered into the wind. Maybe they run across some cutting-edge procedure to get Tyler singing right again. Or maybe they accept his limitations and reinvent themselves as a lower-wattage outfit (which would be entirely reasonable for a bunch of guys in their 70s). It’s just hard to imagine that they’re done, and I don’t say that as someone who is especially attached to them emotionally.
I was a fan until I saw them in late '78. It was at Market Square Arena, Indianapolis. They sucked so bad they got booed when the lights came on.
You saw them in their “stoned stupid” phase. They were a real tight band sober.
Steven has fought that battle for a long time. It’s worse for him because he’s the face of the band.
Anything past “Rocks” is just ok, in my opinion, but man…those first 4 albums, er, rocked.
mmm
I’d make one exception to that statement, Pump was definitely worth a listen and Janie’s Got a Gun totally showcased Joe Perry’s rock credentials.
But yeah, the first four albums were classic hard rock at its best.