Aerosmith Get Your Wings CD

Aerosmith: Tom Hamilton (bass instrument); Joe Perry , Joey Kramer, Steven Tyler, Brad Whitford.
Personnel: Joe Perry (vocals, guitar, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, 12-string guitar, slide guitar, percussion); Steven Tyler (vocals, acoustic guitar, harmonica, piano, keyboards, percussion); Joey Kramer (vocals, drums, percussion); Brad Whitford (electric guitar); Michael Brecker (tenor saxophone); Stan Bronstein (baritone saxophone); Randy Brecker (trumpet); Ray Colcord (keyboards); Tom Hamilton (electric bass).
Additional personnel: Jon Pearson (trombone); Roy Colcord (keyboards); Michael Brecker, Randy Brecker, Stan Bronstein.
Liner Note Author: Charles Walters.
Recording information: Record Plant Studios, NY.
Photographer: Jimmy Ienner, Jr.
Often overshadowed by the subsequent twin highlights of Toys in the Attic and Rocks, Aerosmith's 1974 second album, Get Your Wings, is where Aerosmith became Aerosmith -- it's where they teamed up with producer Jack Douglas, it's where they shed much of their influences and developed their own trademark sound, it's where they turned into songwriters, it's where Steven Tyler unveiled his signature obsessions with sex and sleaze. Chief among these attributes may be Douglas, who either helped the band ease into the studio or captured their sound in a way their debut never did. This is a leaner, harder album, bathed in grease and layered in grit, but it's not just down to Douglas. The band itself sounds more distinctive. There are blues in Joe Perry and Joey Kramer's interplay, but this leapfrogs over blues-rock; it turns into slippery hard rock. To be sure, it's still easy to hear the Stones here, but they never really sound Stonesy; there's almost more of the Yardbirds to the way the group works the riffs, particularly evident on the cover of the early 'Birds classic "The Train Kept a Rollin'." But if the Yardbirds were tight and nervy, Aerosmith is blown out and loose, the sound of excess incarnate -- that is, in every way but the writing itself, which is confident and strong, fueled by Tyler's gonzo sex drive. He is the "Lord of the Thighs," playing that "Same Old Song and Dance," but he also slows down enough for the eerie "Seasons of Wither," a powerful slow-churning ballad whose mastery of atmosphere is a good indication of how far the band has grown. They never attempted anything quite so creepy on their debut, but it isn't just that Aerosmith is trying newer things on Get Your Wings, it's that they're doing their bloozy bluster better and bolder, which is what turns this sophomore effort into their first classic. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine
By the time Aerosmith released GET YOUR WINGS they were gaining serious momentum as edgy, sassy hard rock contenders. The band's sophomore effort, WINGS was the first time the five-piece band hooked up with eventual long-time producer Jack Douglas, and the result was an eight-song juggernaut of slashing guitars, pounding rhythms, and in-your-face attitude. The band's trademark dual-guitar raunch and vocalist Steven Tyler's vowel-chewing yelp can be heard loud and clear on slinky rockers like "Same Old Song and Dance" and "Pandora's Box."
The band turns in a scathing cover of Tiny Bradshaw's "Train Kept a Rollin'" (originally done by Aerosmith's heroes, the Yardbirds), a track that became a fixture in the band's live set. There are also songs about the prostitutes strolling outside the band's New York City recording studio ("Lord of the Thighs") and the edgy inevitabilities of living on the wrong side of the tracks ("S.O.S. [Too Bad]"). A too-often overlooked song on this record is "Seasons of Wither," a melancholy epic penned by Steven Tyler during a windy winter day in New Hampshire. GET YOUR WINGS defined the muscular, sexy sound that would make Aerosmith one of the best rock acts of the '70s, and is the band's first bona fide classic.Q (4/01, p.92) - 3 stars out of 5 - "...Awash with red-eyed 'toking music' and punning song titles ('Lord Of The Thighs'), fleshed out with a version of The Yardbirds' 'Train Kept-A-Rollin'."