Toys in the Attic

Despite all the evidence presented by their later comeback run, Aerosmith didn’t always suck. They represented 70s excess in all the best (and some of the worst) ways. For all the overplay “Walk This Way” and “Sweet Emotion” received, well, everywhere, they remain some of the decade’s most potent expressions of unleashed libido. The title track shows that classic rock dinosaurs were already intrigued by punk a year before the Ramones’ debut, “Adam’s Apple” and “Big Ten Inch Record” spread Steven Tyler’s salacious slobber everywhere, “Round and Round” uses a circular riff to describe a circular (and doomed) relationship. Familiarity may dull the impact but, at launch, this packed as powerful a swing to come out of Fenway’s vicinity since Babe Ruth got sold to the Yankees.