Great Rock Albums of 1979: Aerosmith- Night in the Ruts

One way you can tell how brilliant a band is is when they put out a decent album when they are at one of the lowest points in their career. When they put out "Night in the Ruts" in 1979, they had fully made the transition from musicians dabbling in drugs to druggies dabbling in music. Joe Perry said in an interview about ten years ago that by this time, they were making records to pay their dealers. In spite of all that, "Night in the Ruts" is still a pretty good album. I know it's not as good as some of their earlier ones like "Draw the Line" and it doesn't come close to "Toys in the Attic," (my all time fave). Still when Aerosmith can put out a decent album when they were at such a low, it only cements how great their earlier albums are.

I have to confess, that there are some parts of this album where it sounds like a bit of a dirge but it's a good dirge. There is  that familiar 70's rock sound that Aerosmith were famous for then and Joe Perry comes out of his drug induced state to put down some good guitar solos. Steve Tyler also has some good vocal moments and Aerosmith's three unsung heroes, Brad Whitford, Tom Hamilton and Joey Kramer do what they do best. Tracks like "No Surprise," "Bone to Bone (Coney Island Whitefish Boy" and "Reefer Head Woman" lead the way to what is a decent album.

When I first heard the single from the album, "Remember, Walking in the Sand" I thought this was a definite attempt to get into the singles charts, capitalizing on the success from their cover of The Beatles classic, "Come Together." I still believe this is the case. This was a song that was first made in the 1960's and I wondered what were they trying to do. Saying that, like with "Come Together," they put their own unique spin onto it which makes the song somewhat enjoyable.

Track Listing:

1. No Surprise

2. Chiquita

3. Remember, Walking in the Sand

4. Cheese Cake

5. Three Mile Smile

6. Reefer Head Woman

7. Bone to Bone (Coney Island Whitefish Boy)

8. Think About It

9. Mia

Aerosmith

Steve Tyler- vocals

Joe Perry- lead guitar

Brad Whitford- rhythm guitar

Tom Hamilton- bass

Joey Kramer- drums

Before I close, I just wanted to say that I just realized some information I thought reliable all these years has been proven to be slightly inaccurate. I was told that the infamous bottle incident in Philadelphia happened on this tour. It actually occurred in 1978 on the "Live Bootleg" tour. For those who have no clue what I'm talking about, what happened was during a show at the Philadelphia Spectrum, someone threw a bottle that shattered in Steve Tyler's face. The band immediately walked off stage and the culprit was found, dragged onto the stage and beaten up in front of the audience. (It's bad enough to get your ass kicked but having it kicked in front of 20,000 people must be humiliating.) Anyway, nothing happened for an hour and a half, then Aerosmith returned and Steve Tyler announced, "Fuck you Philly, we ain't ever coming back!" I wasn't at this concert but I know someone who was in this was her account. However, I saw them in 1986, they did come back eventually and while they were good that night, they weren't excellent. In fact Ted Nugent kind of blew them away. I cite the reason as being that Aerosmith still hadn't fully forgiven Philadelphia for the bottle incident. He made reference to it during the show when he said, "Don't throw anything up here, remember what happened last time." I do make mention of this in "Rock And Roll Children."

That incident was probably an indicator of things to come for the band. Joe Perry, after violent arguments with the band,  left halfway through the recording of the album and would eventually be replaced by Jimmy Crespo. A greatest hits album would be put out the following year leaving many to think that this was the end of the line. It would be seven years before the next good album would be released. I'm glad that the end of the line theory was wrong. Despite all that, "Night in the Ruts" is still a good album.

Next post: Frank Zappa- Joe's Garage Act 1

To buy Rock And Roll Children, go to www.strategicpublishinggroup.com/title/RockAndRollChildren.html

Also available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Froogle and on sale at Foyles Book Shop in London

Take a Trip Through 80s Heavy Metal History

There are many great heavy metal blogs on the net, including some right here on Wordpress. They cover metal both old and new alerting readers to great heavy metal releases and news as well as the occasional trip back in history. My blog will now take you through the history of heavy metal in the 1980s, thus keeping in line with the name of the blog. I will mention great albums of the decade and the artists who made them. I will also revisit many of the events from the 80s which helped to shape the music and I will do all I can to post twice a week.

Let us start by paying tribute to a great concert venue from the era. The Spectrum in Philadelphia was the sight of many a great event from when it was built in 1967 to it's demolition in 2009.  During its 42 years, it hosted many great happenings in sports and music. It was the place where the Philadelphia Flyers lifted their first Stanley Cup in 1974 and where the 76ers won at least one of teir NBA Crowns. However, for me, it was the scene of some fantasitc metal concerts from 1983 -86. I rocked and partied to great shows by Twisted Sister, Dio, Aerosmith, Black Sabbath and many more to name a few. There were many other great shows both before and after as well.
I am sure many an old metalhead like myself shed a silent tear when this great monument to heavy metal was demolished. I look back in time and still immagine metalheads all partying under the Rocky statue swapping stories, having pre concert parties and even being accosted by Jesus freaks. So when you travel down metal memory lane with me, take a second to pay homage to the venue that gave thousands some great metal memories.

To buy Rock And Roll Children go to: www.strategicpublishinggroup.com/title/RockAndRollChildren.html