Aerosmith are in their final throes, apparently. I know – we’ve heard the song before with other bands. But with Steven Tyler in his 76th year and the group having faced health and legal issues in recent times, perhaps, fifty years after the release of their debut record, this is a sincere finale.
If you only know Aerosmith from their many radio hits in the 80s and 90s, not only are you missing out on a ton of great songs from the 70s, but there are also a bunch of tracks that were never on a studio album.
This list, which is called “Top 10 Aerosmith songs not on a studio album”, will look at the top 10 Aerosmith songs that were not on a studio album*!
* We’re going to go with the “main” album track listing, typically meaning the US release. Some of these tracks featured on different international versions of albums, on “Deluxe Edition” bonus discs, or in later re-pressings (for example, the elephant in the room that’s coming up).
Elephant in the room
Did you know that “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing” was not featured on a studio album? Aerosmith’s only US number one is originally from the “Armageddon” movie soundtrack (it was added to a re-issued “Nine Lives” in Europe and South America). This huge global hit, written by Diane Warren, is not on this list because, well, I don’t like it at all to be honest. You might, and that’s totally fine.
Let’s move on to those honorable mentions.
Honorable mentions
Aerosmith channel the Stones on the Richie Supa-penned “Chip Away the Stone“. A live version of this catchy, blues rocker, featured on the “Live! Bootleg” album in 1978, eventually making its way to the 1988 greatest hits collection, “Gems”. A studio version was released as a single in 1978, charting at #77 in the US.
Even earlier, “Major Barbara” (songwriter: Steven Tyler) pre-dates the formation of Aerosmith; a song that just seemed to never be considered the right fit for an Aerosmith album in the 1970s. A striking power-ballad, two different versions were eventually released on “Classics Live!” (1987) and the “Pandora’s Box” compilation (1991).
Lay It Down (brought to you by Steven Tyler, Joe Perry, Donald DeGrate, Marti Frederiksen) was added to the 2002 greatest hits collection, “O, Yeah!”, along with “Girls of Summer” (oh yeah, that one’s not making this list). This might as well be a Steven Tyler solo recording as, outside of the effective descending chords in the bridge, it’s all about him – I think he performs all the harmonies, and his screeches are on point. This song makes me think of a young man hanging upside down in a Halloween costume while kissing a redhead. In unrelated news, “Lay it Down” (then called “Bad Enough”) was originally submitted for consideration to be on the “Spider-Man” movie soundtrack, but was rejected.
Finally – and it just about squeezed in – but “Sedona Sunrise” (written by Steven Tyler, Joe Perry and Jim Vallance) is Aerosmith’s best country song. This could have been a nice include on “Just Push Play” (it had been around since the late ’80s), but the band never found a spot for it on a studio album.
That Top 10
Year: 2013 | Written by: Steven Tyler, Marti Frederiksen
We kick off with controversy? I bring you the unapologetic pop-rock of “Sunny Side of Love“. Despite being a more leisurely version of “Jaded”, it has a sweet melody and some nice chord progression. We’re not here for imaginative prose or groundbreaking musical parts – I don’t even know what “the sunny side of love” is – but this is a fine three and a half minutes of sugar. I’d argue it’s better than half of the album it was left off (“Music from Another Dimension”).
Year: 1997 | Written by: Steven Tyler, Joe Perry, Marti Frederiksen
I know more goes in to choosing the songs that go an album other than how good the song is – for example, if your best 10 songs are ballads, you’re not putting them all on the same record (well, Mariah Carey might). So perhaps “Fall Together” was left off “Nine Lives” for the purpose of balance (I’d have had it on there instead of “Full Circle” for a start). A “B-Side” on “Falling in Love (is Hard on the Knees)” single, it was included on the Japanese version of the album. This is a stomping, harmonica-flavoured rocker with a fabulous groove from Joey Kramer, dashes of piano, a glorious bridge, and a sweet little Cult-like riff in the chorus.
Year: 1994 | Written by: Steven Tyler, Joe Perry, Jack Blades, Tommy Shaw
Per Wikipedia, Aerosmith’s record companies have released 16 compilation albums over the years. Hits collections are a great place for unreleased tracks to live – it’s basically a pre-existing promo track for the record, and you can lure in fans who already own all the songs. 1994’s “Big Ones” was a huge success and it was promoted with two new tracks – the very mediocre “Blind Man” (proto-“Full Circle”?), and this one. Boom-ba-boomboom-ba-boom-ba-boomboom-ba… Joey’s beating the skins, Tyler’s screeching, Brad Whitford’s chugging out the main riff with aplomb. It’s a simple rhythm, but it’s lively and has a hook. Mind you, one of the worst videos they’ve ever made.
7. Angel’s Eye
Year: 2000 | Written by: Steven Tyler, Joe Perry, Marti Frederiksen, Taylor Rhodes
I don’t think they spent too much time coming up with the riff for “Angel’s Eye” but, regardless, it’s a crunching good time, backed by Kramer’s disciplined backbeat. The verse gives way to a bank of cymbals, and a few different melodic parts in the pre-chorus and chorus, that change things up nicely. Don’t know who is playing the solo here, but it’s a fun 20 seconds that contrasts nicely to the dirty riff in the verse. Not being a “Charlie’s Angels” fan, I did not know of this soundtrack song until it appeared on the “Jaded” CD single a year later.
Year: 2005 | Written by: Steven Tyler, Joe Perry, Diane Warren
Ten seconds ago, I had no idea that Diane Warren was a co-writer of this song. It seems she contributed some lyrics to what was originally an outtake called “Susie Q” from the “Pump” sessions. I guess you don’t have to do a whole lot to get a songwriting credit when you’re Diane Warren. Confusingly this is the title track of yet another greatest hits collection, even though this was the song’s debut. You can call this a straight-forward rocker, but it’s the sort of straight-forward rocker that chews gum, does the People’s Eyebrow, kicks your front door in and knocks your coffee table over. Fantastic solo, as well.
Year: 1993 | Written by: Steven Tyler, Jim Vallance
If you are going to be left off any record, it might as well be one of the best rock albums of my lifetime, “Pump”. Written in the late ’80s, it eventually reared its head on the “Beavis and Butt-Head Experience” album in 1993. Apparently, Geffen A&R man, John Kalodner, wanted the band to change the title as he felt no one would understand it (“no one plays cards anymore”), but they refused. A mid-tempo ballad with a restrained chorus that builds to a melodic, rocky chorus. It’s all very brief – 2 and a half minutes – but it’s worthy.
Year: 1993 | Written by: Steven Tyler, Joe Perry, Jack Blades, Tommy Shaw
While I got this song on the European “Get a Grip”, American fans were were left without. The version I’m including here is the 4 and a 1/2 minute extended version from the greatest hits collection, “Young Lust – The Aerosmith Anthology” (yep, another one – 2001), not the 3 and a 1/2 minute version from the studio album. At the time, I didn’t know that this was a ‘bonus’ track (no internet then, kids). To me, this was one of the best songs on the record. A raucous, raunchy rocker, with piano and harmonica, and lyrics that were a blast (Talkin’ to some he/she, sliding over next to me/Man, she said, this life is a drag…Sittin’ by the seashore, dreamin’ ’bout a little more, circlin’ the classifieds/976, man I need another fix, I never have to kiss the bride…they’re screamin’ hallelujah, but I don’t give a damn/’Cause I got my own religion, yeah it’s right here in my hand’.) That’s a lot to recount but it’s fantastic stuff. The extra minute or so here is tacked on at the end with what sounds like a key change thrown in (I’m no music student), but it’s such a jaunt that you never get tired of it.
Year: 2001 | Written by: Steven Tyler, Joe Perry, Marti Frederiksen
Although I have time for it, “Just Push Play” was a somewhat-maligned album – not totally undeserved given its unevenness. Joe Perry has said it’s his least favourite record, stating that there was no time during the recording that all five band members were in the room at the same time. I could name four tracks from that record that “Won’t Let You Down” (which appeared on the Japanese version of the album) would have been an upgrade on. It’s a ballsy rocker with a catchy chorus and an incessantly punchy beat from Kramer. For all the criticism Aerosmith get for their 21st century work, this has the hook of something like “Adam’s Apple” or “Write me a Letter” with the vigor of “Critical Mass”.
2. What Kind of Love Are You On
Year: 1998 | Written by: Steven Tyler, Joe Perry, Jack Blades, Tommy Shaw
The other song from the “Armageddon” soundtrack. This was more my vibe – driving, edgy, unrepentant. Aside from the usual verse-chorus-verse arrangement, we get a little breakdown in the middle, followed by a solo, and then another fiery part in which Tyler raw-screeches the line ‘Everybody asks me why, I kiss the girls and make them cry‘. I’d say this is one of my favourite non-album tracks from the band but you already know that as it’s near the top of the list.
1. Head First
Year: 1993 | Written by: Steven Tyler, Joe Perry, Jim Vallance
I’m old enough to remember downloading this on a 56k modem in the mid 90s when Aerosmith became the first major label act to release a song for free digital download in 1994. From the “Get a Grip” sessions, it was originally included on the “Eat the Rich” CD single and eventually turned up on the “Young Lust” collection in 2001 (with intro edited down by 20-ish seconds). What might the title “Head First” mean? Well with lyrics like ‘I’m so hungry for love, I been lickin’ off all my fingers’ and ‘And I love to get down on the stubble/With my teeth it will taste like your grin‘, I’ve got an idea. When I heard it back then, I wondered how such a good song was not included on the album. The track falls in to a relentless groove at the start of the first verse, and never let’s it go.
The final bit
The postponement of Aerosmith’s final tour – at this time it is not a cancellation – means there is a vacuum that could allow for some additional music to be released. And, of course, a future “rarity” collection would be a great antidote to the far-too-numerous greatest hits collections that have been put out. I mean I’ve already put together the track listing for them.
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