Artist:Aerosmith
Song:Angel
Album:The Essential Aerosmith
Most fans are familiar with Aerosmith's hits from the 70s on Columbia. They had a few hits but they were mostly were an album and touring band. They switched to Geffen in 1985. The 1988 single Angel was one of four top ten hits from that era. Aerosmith returned to Columbia in 1997. The late 70s decline of Aerosmith started with constant touring and drug abuse. Steven Tyler and Joe Perry became known as The Toxic Twins. Then backstage at the 1979 World Series of Rock festival in Cleveland, Tyler and Perry got into an argument over Perry's wife's behavior. That led to Perry leaving and starting his own band The Joe Perry Project. Needless to say, Columbia was not happy. Then guitarist Brad Whitford left in 1981 and joined The Joe Perry Project in 1984. Then Perry divorced his wife and reunited with Tyler. Drug abuse was still a problem. So Columbia didn't renew Aerosmith's contract. They signed with Geffen. They were still in a funk when they released the 1985 album Done with Mirrors. Aerosmith was still a popular touring act mostly for their 70s hits. No one was interested in the new stuff. Then Aerosmith got a big boost when Run DMC's 1986 cover of Walk This Way featuring Tyler and Perry reached #4 on the Billboard Hot 100. This led to a real comeback starting with Tyler going to rehab. And that led to the success of the 1987 album Permanent Vacation. The album was certified 5XPlatinum. There were three hit singles. Angel reached #3 on the Billboard Hot 100. Tyler and Perry still wrote most of the songs. But Tyler was open to getting help with songwriting, something he resisted in the past. He wrote Angel and a couple of other songs with Desmond Child. The success continued with the 1989 album Pump. Then Aerosmith signed a new record deal with Columbia in 1991. But they still had three albums remaining on their Geffen deal. At the time, Sony was throwing a lot of money around. They had just signed Michael Jackson to a big deal. Geffen couldn't match it. They eventually worked things out and recorded for Columbia in 1997. This 2CD comp is the only one that has Columbia and Geffen hits. Here's the video for Angel by Aerosmith.
No comments:
Post a Comment