Home Read Classic Album Review: Aerosmith | O, Yeah! Ultimate Aerosmith Hits

Classic Album Review: Aerosmith | O, Yeah! Ultimate Aerosmith Hits

The Boston rockers' latest compilation downplays early gems for latter-day shlock.

This came out in 2002 – or at least that’s when I got it. Here’s what I said about it back then (with some minor editing):

 


The ultimate? Yeah, right.

The only fans who need to pick up this Aerosmith compilation — their sixth including box sets — are folks who: A) Don’t own any Aerosmith albums and B) Prefer ’90s power-ballad shlock like Cryin’, Amazing and Angel to the old stuff. Any old fans sniffing around for unearthed gems from these reformed rockers’ decadent early days can forget it; while O Yeah! is the first best-of to cover the band’s entire career, it dismisses the group’s ’70s output in 10 songs — which don’t include Toys in the Attic, Lord of the Thighs, Train Kept A-Rollin’, Lick And A Promise, Rats In The Cellar or anything from Night In The Ruts, Rock In A Hard Place or Done With Mirrors. In their place you get tons of comeback glop, remixed tracks and two new cuts: The paisley-rocker Girls of Summer and the piano power-ballad Lay it Down. Great, another Aerosmith power ballad. Better make that O, No! Give it a Rest Already.

 

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_kdjkkKfp4fMYHpBbvuVbmHjo9jgvrsiY4