Classics Live - Aerosmith (CD 1993)

Aerosmith has been rockin' now for over 30 years. A lot of bands have come and gone since then, and Aerosmith has outlasted all but the best bands. They've stood the test of time and have adapted to whatever comes their way. This is somewhat annoying at times especially with their re-breakthrough of Permanent Vacation. Not that I don't like Permanent Vacation, I actually think that Vacation is an excellent album, but they got some of their stardom back with ballads (beginning with Angel off of Vacation) and some with rocking tunes like Dude Looks Like A Lady and Ragdoll. I wish they hadn't focused so much on the ballads that have dominated their 90's sound, because I think they still had a lot in the tank left for rockin'. But they chose the ballads dominantly over rockin' tunes, or maybe the media or record companies chose the ballads. I don't know how that works, but I prefer their older stuff to their newer stuff primarily because they sounded more raw and powerful in 70's as opposed to what they released in the 90's. I guess they probably don't care as much, they cashed in bigtime with all their power ballads and picked up a new younger fanbase (especially chicks) with their slower sappy love tunes.

I like a lot of their newer stuff, but their older stuff is the core of what makes Aerosmith a great band. Classics Live is a good example of the older stuff I crave. The pure raw power is charging with a vengeance. They start it off with a classic cover of The Yardbirds' Train Kept A Rollin' that they've pretty much made their own with a much cooler tempo. This song starts out the album in the middle of the song skipping the slower verses at the beginning. I'd prefer they had the entire song on this live recording, but at least they put the best part on here. Next is a cool rendition of Kings And Queens that warms us up for Sweet Emotion which I think shows Joe Perry at his rockin' best. Then it's on to Dream On. I think they could've found a little better live version of this classic song, but it's still pretty good (it's a little uneven musically but Steven Tyler does a good job saving the song towards the end with his outstanding vocals). Then comes a pure rockin' version of Mama Kin, one of my favorite songs off their self titled first album. This one is probably the best one on this live album. I've always liked that song, and they certainly do the song justice here, playing much tighter musically than they did on Dream On. Then comes a two song medley of Three Mile Smile and the slow bluesy Reefer Head Woman which I wish they would've played longer. Reefer reminds me of Zeppelin bigtime, just take a listen and you'll know what I'm saying. They only play Reefer for about a minute or so, it just would've been nice to hear the whole song on this live set. They end the live set with the underrated Lord of the Thighs, a cool bass driven song. Also on this album is one studio song, Major Barbra, originally written for one of their earlier albums (I'm not sure, but I think Draw The Line). It must not have made the cut back then, but I'm glad it comes to light here.

Classics Live is exactly what the title says. It's a bunch of classic Aerosmith songs that they play live. It's a really good live set, but I wish they had found a few more to put on here (it's only about 38 minutes long). Nevertheless, it's a good live set and the companion, Classics Live 2, is a good album to own along with this one.