Continuing my look at the albums of 1976…
I was looking forward to hearing Aerosmith’s Rocks, the band’s fourth album and their follow-up to the previous year’s Toys in the Attic. I featured that album in the 1975 Decades installment and enjoyed it quite a bit.
This one was less of a hit but still went 4X Platinum, is a fan favorite, and is often cited as an inspiration by other artists.
Unfortunately, I came away disappointed, at least after one listen. I didn’t hear any of the hooks that made Toys in the Attic stand out, and I found most of the songs similarly forgettable.
That’s probably because this is more of a hard rock album than its predecessor, and hard rock just isn’t my thing.
I’ve long derided the concept of greatest hits albums, but I have to admit that some artists are best experienced that way. I would really dig a playlist of 10-15 Aerosmith songs, but based on my reaction to this “classic” album, I don’t think the band has much more to offer me.
I’m dreaming tonight, I’m living back home
Right
Yeah, yeah
[Verse 1]
Take me back to a south Tallahassee
Down ‘cross the bridge to my sweet sassafrassy
Can’t stand up on my feet in the city
Got to get back to the real nitty-gritty
[Verse 2]
Yes, sir, no, sir
Don’t come close to my
Home sweet home
Can’t catch no dose
Of my hot tail poontang sweetheart
Sweathog ready to make a silk purse
From a J. Paul Getty and his ear
With her face in her beer
[Chorus]
Home sweet home
[Verse 3]
Get out in the field
Put the mule in the stable
Ma, she’s a-cooking
Put the eats on the table
Hate’s in the city
And my love’s in the meadow
Hands on the plow
And my feets in the ghetto
[Verse 4]
Stand up, sit down
Don’t do nothing
It ain’t no good when bossman’s
Stuffing it down their throats
For paper notes
And their babies cry
While cities lie at their feet
When you’re rocking the street
[Chorus]
Home sweet home
Mama, take me home sweet home
[Outro]
I was the last child
I’m just a punk in the street
I was the last child
I’m just a punk in the street
Meet Me In Montauk 
I was largely dismissive of Aerosmith because I thought their music was mostly hard rock. However, I had to reassess when, in the mid 80s, my friend Mark from college, who was not otherwise a hard rock fan at all, lauded the band. I recall, however, that his appreciation was for their early work through Toys in the Attic. I assume he had no use for Rock or probably anything that came after.