Toys in the Attic (album)

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Untitled
"Walk This Way"
Aerosmith's "Walk This Way" from Toys in the Attic
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Toys in the Attic is the third album by American rock band Aerosmith, released in April 1975[1] by Columbia Records. The album's first single release, "Sweet Emotion", was released a month later on May 19 and "Walk This Way" was later released on August 28 in the same year (see 1975 in music).[4] The album is their second-most commercially successful studio LP, with eight million copies sold in the United States alone, according to the Recording Industry Association of America.[5]

Steven Tyler claims that his original idea for the album cover was a teddy bear sitting in the attic with its wrist cut and stuffing spread across the floor. They decided, in the end, to put all of the animals in instead.[6]

The album was ranked #228 on Rolling Stone's list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.[3] The album's title track is part of The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll list.[7]

History

For Aerosmith's previous album, 1974's Get Your Wings, the band began working with record producer Jack Douglas, who co-produced the album with Ray Colcord. Even though in the liner notes to the 1993 reissue of Greatest Hits it was said by an unnamed member of the group that they "nailed" the album,[4] it was not a hit, only reaching #71 on the Billboard 200[8] and none of the album's singles charted.

At the beginning of 1975 the band started working at The Record Plant in New York City for the album that became Toys in the Attic. The sessions for Toys were produced by Jack Douglas without Ray Colcord - the album was engineered by Jay Messina with assistant engineers Rod O'Brien, Corky Stasiak, and Dave Thoener. The songs for Toys were recorded with a Spectrasonics mixing board and a 16-track tape recorder.[2]

When Toys in the Attic was released in April 1975,[1] it eventually made #11 on the Billboard 200, a full 63 points higher than Get Your Wings.[8] The single release of "Sweet Emotion" became a minor hit on the Billboard Hot 100 reaching #36 in 1975 and "Walk This Way" reached #10 on the Hot 100 in 1977.[9]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[10]
Blender[11]
Robert ChristgauB+[12]
Rolling Stone(mixed)[13]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[14]

For his review of Toys in the Attic for Allmusic, Stephen Thomas Erlewine called the album's style a mix of Led Zeppelin and The Rolling Stones riffs and was filled with songs about sex with a different style than there ever was before.[10] Greg Kot called the album a landmark of hard rock.[14] For the Blender magazine review, Ben Mitchell called Toys in the Attic cocaine-influenced and mentions the songs "Toys in the Attic", "Walk This Way", and "Sweet Emotion" as "Standout Tracks".[11]

Track listing

Side One
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Toys in the Attic"Steven Tyler, Joe Perry3:07
2."Uncle Salty"Tyler, Tom Hamilton4:09
3."Adam's Apple"Tyler4:33
4."Walk This Way"Tyler, Perry3:41
5."Big Ten Inch Record"Fred Weismantel2:16
Side Two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Sweet Emotion"Tyler, Hamilton4:34
2."No More No More"Tyler, Perry4:34
3."Round and Round"Tyler, Brad Whitford5:03
4."You See Me Crying"Tyler, Don Solomon5:12
Total length:37:08

Personnel

Per liner notes[2]

Cover versions

R.E.M. covered the song "Toys in the Attic" released in 1986 as a B-side to "Fall on Me". It is available on Dead Letter Office, as well as the 1993 reissue of Lifes Rich Pageant.

"Sweet Emotion" has been covered by Leo Kottke and Mike Gordon, The Answer, Warrant and Ratt.

The song "No More No More" was covered by Velvet Revolver.

The song "Toys In The Attic" was recorded by Metal Church on Masterpeace.

Run-D.M.C. covered "Walk This Way" in 1986. The song features Steven Tyler on co-lead vocals and Joe Perry on guitar.

Sum 41 along with rappers Ja Rule and Nelly did a cover of "Walk This Way" in 2002.

Rose Hill Drive covered the album in its entirety during their 2007-08 New Year's Eve concert.

"Walk This Way" was covered by jam/bluegrass band The String Cheese Incident on their 1997 self-titled live album A String Cheese Incident.

"Sweet Emotion" was covered by ska band The Mighty Mighty Bosstones on their EP Where'd You Go?.

Mr. Blotto covered the album in its entirety on Sat. July 23rd 2011, during their 12th Blottopia at Vasa Park, South Elgin, Il.

Charts

Album
Chart (1976) Peak
position
US Billboard 200[8] 11
Canada RPM 100 Albums[15] 7
Singles
Year Single Chart Position
1975 "Sweet Emotion" The Billboard Hot 100 36
"Walk This Way" The Billboard Hot 100 10
"Toys in the Attic" The Billboard Hot 100 96
1991 "Sweet Emotion" Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks 36

Certifications

Organization Level Date
RIAA – U.S.[5] Gold August 11, 1975
Platinum November 21, 1986
4× Platinum
5× Platinum December 21, 1988
6× Platinum October 28, 1994
8× Platinum June 4, 2002
CRIA – Canada Gold April 1, 1977
Platinum December 1, 1978

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Stephen Thomas Erlewine. "Toys in the Attic - Aerosmith > Overview". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 25 April 2011.
  2. ^ a b c d Toys in the Attic (Media notes). U.S.A.: Columbia Records. 1975, 1993. {{cite AV media notes}}: |format= requires |url= (help); Check date values in: |year= (help); Unknown parameter |artist= ignored (|others= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |publisherid= ignored (help)
  3. ^ a b "Toys in the Attic - 500 Greatest Albums of All Time". rollingstone.com. Jann S. Wenner. April 5, 2010. Retrieved 25 April 2011.
  4. ^ a b c d Greatest Hits (Media notes). U.S.A.: Columbia Records. 1980, 1993. {{cite AV media notes}}: |format= requires |url= (help); Check date values in: |year= (help); Unknown parameter |albumlink= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |artist= ignored (|others= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |publisherid= ignored (help)
  5. ^ a b "RIAA Gold and Platinum Database". Retrieved 25 April 2011.
  6. ^ "Cool Aerosmith info". Retrieved 25 April 2011.
  7. ^ "Rock and Roll Hall of Fame top 500 songs". Archived from the original on 2007-05-24. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  8. ^ a b c "Aerosmith - Billboard Albums". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 25 April 2011.
  9. ^ "Aerosmith - Billboard Singles". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 25 April 2011.
  10. ^ a b Stephen Thomas Erlewine. "Toys in the Attic - Aerosmith > Review". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 25 April 2011.
  11. ^ a b Mitchell, Ben. "Toys in the Attic". blender.com. Alpha Media Group. Retrieved November 13, 2010.[dead link]
  12. ^ "Robert Christgau Review of Aerosmith". Retrieved 25 April 2011.
  13. ^ Fletcher, Gordon (1975-07-31). "Toys In The Attic". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2012-05-11. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  14. ^ a b Kot, Greg. "Aerosmith - Album Guide". rollingstone.com. Jann S. Wenner. Retrieved November 13, 2010.
  15. ^ "RPM top albums 1975". Retrieved 25 April 2011.
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