Live Bootleg (1978)


1.Back in the Saddle
2.Sweet Emotion
3.Lord of the Thighs
4.Toys in the Attic
5.Last Child
6.Come Together
7.Walk This Way
8.Sick as a Dog
9.Dream On
10.Chip Away the Stone
11.Sight for Sore Eyes
12.Mama Kin
13.S.O.S. (Too Bad)
14.I Ain't Got You
15.Mother Popcorn
16.The Train 'Kept A-Rollin/Strangers in the Night
17.Draw the Line

 

It made great sense for Aerosmith to put out a live album at this point in their career. They had established themselves as one of the hardest rocking bands in the world and had built a reputation of being one of the best live acts around at the time. In restrospect, the timing was appropriate as well. Although no one knew it at the time, the band was closing on the first chapter of their mixed history (the second chapter would be the most destructive, with hard core drug use and in-band fighting/dismissals, the third would be the resurgence and comeback period).

All of the best songs in the band's early catalog are featured here, and the live sound is truly authentic. They don't sound flawless, but then again a true live album probably shouldn't. Although many would argue their studio albums at this point were beginning to sound fragmented, that's not the case here. Unlike their later live releases, the band doesn't really hold back. They're less concerned with replicating the music that fans hear on the radio (and they weren't on the radio that much in 1978, remember) and concentrate on putting on the best live show possible. There are no long-drawn out versions of shorter songs, and no individual solos that deviate from the great set list presented.

To complain about anything, the release changes tempos too much near the end. They play a couple of strong covers with I Ain't Got You and Mother Popcorn, but the "live" atmosphere is suddenly shifted from a multi-thousand seat crowed to almost performing in a garage. Yes, it's still live, but it loses its momentum. Likewise, when they perform The Beatles' Come Together, it ends to what sounds like complete silence. Where's the screaming crowd? It seems like a huge rip-off, especially since they pull this song off so well. Again, minor complaints. A great representation of their best early material done in concert.

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