Toys in the Attic

After nearly getting off the ground with Get Your Wings, Aerosmith finally perfected their mix of raunch and riffing with their third album, Toys in the Attic. The success of the album comes from a combination of increased songwriting skills and and increased sense of purpose.

Not only does Joe Perry turn out indelible riffs like “Walk This Way,” “Toys in the Attic,” and “Sweet Emotion,” but Steven Tyler has fully embraced sleaziness as his artistic muse. Taking his cue from the old dirty blues “Big Ten Inch Record,” Tyler writes with a gleeful impishness about sex throughout Toys in the Attic, whether it’s the teenage heavy petting of “Walk This Way,” the promiscuous “Sweet Emotion,” or the double-entendres of “Uncle Salty” and “Adam’s Apple.” The rest of Aerosmith, led by Perry’s dirty, exaggerated riffing, provide an appropriately greasy backing. No other hard rock band sounded like this. Aerosmith was a gritty, street-wise rock band who were in it for a good time; Toys in the Attic fully embodied this attitude.