A Classic Revisited - Aerosmith "Live Bootleg"

Since I haven't got a ton of things going on, I figured I'd take some blogs to post thoughts on recent CD purchases.

This week: Aerosmith - "Live Bootleg"

For me, this live release captures Aerosmith at their 70s peak. Granted, some of the pleasure comes in reminiscing, since I remember seeing my first Aerosmith concert in 1978. Most of the recordings come from the 1978 era, around the "Draw The Line" tour. Not only do you get the early classics like "Dream On", "Mama Kin", and "Train Kept A Rollin", but you also get later 70s era tunes like "Back In The Saddle" and a cover of The Beatles "Come Together" (which they recorded originally for the movie version of "Sgt Pepper", staring the Bee-Gees and Peter Frampton).

You wouldn't get any argument that this wasn't the "tightest" version of Aerosmith, since this was back before everyone completed their first detox tours. In my opinion, this is Aerosmith at their best. Bluesy hard rock, played just a bit sloppy, but with tons of attitude.

Originally released as a 2-LP project, I remember not being able to get a copy because it was too expensive ($9). Now, we get most everything on a single CD (around $11.99), and the remastering does add some punch to the live mix. The new booklet features all the photos and notes from the original LP set, as well as some previously unreleased photos. Overall, it's a nice package for the classic rocker.

If you are looking for the more recent "soundtrack ballad" Aerosmith, you won't find it here. But, if you want to hear want built this band into a classic rock staple with millions in unit sales, here's a snapshot of the energy. I only wish there was a decent video of this era Aerosmith, so we could see some of these performances as they happened.

It's not perfect, but that wasn't the point. They didn't call it "live bootleg" for nothing.

My grade: A-

A+ = must have
A = should have
A- = highly recommended
B+ = recommended
B- = slightly recommended
C+ = worth checking out if on sale
C = worth checking out if in cut-out bin
C- = worth checking out if at garage sale
D+ = wouldn't want it in my collection
D = wouldn't take it even if it was free
D- = couldn't recommend it to anyone
E = avoid at all costs