Old Enough to Forget

This was my first and for a long time only Aerosmith album. Growing up my older cousin Jeff had an 8-track copy of Toys in the Attic , and that album was a greatest hits album on its own. However, as a kid my record buying was sporadic and my small collection was played to death. I got Rocks in 1979 (I love how I can remember this, but I will forget to buy eggs when I'm out shopping) at the thrift store where I got my comics and Robert A. Heinlein paperbacks. They didn't have a lot of records, but I did find a copy of the Beatles White Album on white vinyl, the first two PRISM albums, April Wine Live! and Rocks . Probably all in the same year - I lost them all to water damage, but have replaced most of them - although I'll likely never find that Beatles album, and if I did couldn't afford it. I almost bought Tour of Japan by Teaze several times ... but never did. I recently picked it up, and it is the shit! I should have bought it as a kid. Back on topic ... So here ...

My goodness. Right out of the gate "I Need Love" hits it out of the park. I honestly had no idea what to expect. I sort of figured this would be one of those easy-to-shit-on records because no one else knew about it either when it came out in 1981. Derek St. Holmes oddly seems to really be channelling his inner Sammy Hagar. Admittedly, I don't have the deepest well of recordings with Derek to draw upon. Double Live Gonzo! from Uncle Ted about sums it up for me. Don't get me wrong, that album is the cat's pajamas and security blanket all rolled into one. I like Sammy, but he was never my favourite vocalist. So I guess I sort of expected Derek to sound like Derek ... maybe it's Sammy who sounds like Derek and I have it backwards. That said, Derek is all swagger, and Brad Whitford was finally allowed off leash to play lead, and he's really solid. The rest of the band was rounded out with Dave Hewitt on bass and Steve Pace on drums. The album was produced by T...