After the debut album being a dud and all the touring, the band wasted no time going in to the studio for their second album, ‘Get Your Wing’. This time around at the boards was famed producer Jack Douglas who was introduced to the band by the one and only Bob Ezrin, who the label wanted to produce the album. Jack worked out well and would go on to have a long relationship with the band and deliver some of their best albums.
The band had extensive preproduction work and extensive rehearsals, the band entered the studio The Record Plant in New York City on December 17, 1973 and by January 14, 1974, they were done. The album would come out on March 15, 1974 and would go only to #74 on the Billboard Charts. All 3 singles flopped and not one of them charted. If they thought the first album was a dud, this one didn’t fare any better. But don’t feel bad, once the band broke, this album has since sold over 3 million copies and is certified Triple Platinum. It all worked out in the end.

But what makes this album successful on its own is that the band found their voice. They found their sound and they would find rock stardom. Bandmates Steven Tyler, Joe Perry, Brad Whitford, Tom Hamilton and Joey Kramer found themselves and were set to take over the world…okay, that is a little dramatic, but you know what I mean.
SIDE ONE:

The lead off song and single is the classic, “Same Old Song and Dance” which was built off a riff by Joe Perry. The song’s blues vibe was filled with dueling guitars by Perry and Whitford, however, the guitar solo was done by Dick Wagner from Alice Cooper’s Band and he did some work for Kiss as well (uncredited of course). The upbeat song was also filled with a pretty cool horn section full of saxophones, trumpet and a trombone thanks the help of Michael and Randy Brecker, Stan Bronstein and Jon Pearson. Steven Tyler’s vocal delivery was slick and yet gritty and with that blues edge the band is so know to do. It is a solid opening track.
Then we go in to the cool ass song, “Lord of the Thighs”, which a result of the creepy, nasty place the band was recording. Full of pimps and hookers, inspiration was had by Tyler to create this dark masterpiece filled with so many innuendos and double entendres to make a grown man blush. Kramer lays down a nice groove with his drum beats which is quite funky at times. Tyler’s vocals are deep, bluesy and deliver the intensity needed for this darker track. All around great song.
“Spaced” is one of the songs I was most unfamiliar with as it is a little underwhelming although still somewhat enjoyable. It lacks the grit and punch of the other tracks and does feel like filler. It is missing an edge. Maybe it is because if has keyboards from Ray Colcord…I’m not blaming him at all. The keyboard just adds to the lack of luster to the song.
The final track on Side One dates back to the 60’s and Tyler’s earlier band The Strangeurs. “Woman of the World” was written by Steven and Don Solomon. The song has a similar start like “Lord of the Thighs” but ends up going its own way. Perry handles the lead guitar work on this one which sounds a little too pushed back in the mix and need to be more front and center but that is not on him. The ending is what sets this one apart with a cool ass jam session, you get a harmonica solo from Tyler mixed in between the guitar duo of Perry and Whitford, you can’t beat that combo.
SIDE TWO:

Side Two kicks off with “S.O.S. (Too Bad)” with the S.O.S. standing for Same Old Shit. This Tyler penned song is a full on sleaze fest and I love the rawness and blues overtones. It is hard rock with some grit and a killer solo by Mr. Brad Whitford. Tyler’s vocals are perfect when he is bluesing it up and his performance as a bad ass school boy is perfect. The nastier the better is my rule and this is nastiness at its finest.
The next track is the only cover on the album. “Train Kept a Rollin'” was made famous by the Yardbirds (which is a cover as well), but Aerosmith took this song and made it their own so much so that they close out shows with it. The song is originally by Tiny Bradshaw way back in 1951. Aerosmith brought it to the modern times and made it nastier then the last track. One thing I have learned in researching this song is that the two absolutely brilliant guitar solos were not done by the band. The first solo was by Steve Hunter and the second solo was by Dick Wagner. The song also sounds live which adds to the raw sound but those crowd noises were added and actually from the George Harrison’s ‘Concert for Bangladesh. But who cares, it all sounds so great.
The band goes back to a much darker vibe with “Seasons of Wither” and opens with a blowing wind and an acoustic guitar and both sound so ominous and eerie. Not only does Tyler take on the vocals, he also handles the acoustic guitar duties and equally impressive is the bass groove set by Tom Hamilton who doesn’t get enough credit. I love the pacing and deliver of every note and Tyler might be giving his finest performance on the whole album. And Whitford’s solo is something to talk about as well as that last note goes on forever adding to the dark tone of the song. Totally brilliant track!
The album ends with the song “Pandora’s Box” which is rock and soul at the same time. The album starts off similar so nice to end in that same fashion. You can hear the Motown influences, the blues, the rock and it all ties nicely together. I love the saxophones in the mix as it adds to the vibe of the song. All around cool track.
Track Listing:
- Same Old Song And Dance – Keeper
- Lord of the Thighs – Keeper
- Spaced – Delete
- Woman of the World – Keeper
- S.O.S. (Too Bad) – Keeper
- Train Kept a Rollin’ – Keeper
- Season of the Wither – Keeper
- Pandora’s Box – Keeper
The Track Score is 7 out of 8 Tracks or 88% and although the album didn’t sell well or do much of anything, it doesn’t take away from the greatness that is on this album. The band were starting to hone in on who they were and I think they found it. Their songwriting was improving, their playing and Steven was finally relaxing and giving us his real voice which he didn’t do on the debut. This was the album that paved the to greater things for the band. Jack Douglas was a great producer to hone in this wild kids and get them to deliver what the debut lacked and that was solid production and heart. And now that I think about it, the album title “Get Your Wings” is just that. The band got their wings and have now learned to fly. I get it the title now. The band found that here. My Overall Score is 4.25 out of 5.0 Stars. Well, 4.5 was too much and a 4.0 didn’t seem like enough. Until the next album, thanks for stopping by and reading.
UP NEXT: ‘TOYS IN THE ATTIC’ (1975)
THE AEROSMITH COLLECTION SERIES:
- ‘Aerosmith’ (1973)
- ‘Get Your Wings’ (1974)
- ‘Toys in the Attic’ (1975)
- ‘Rocks’ (1976)
- ‘Draw the Line’ (1977)
- ‘Live! Bootleg’ (1978)
- ‘Night in the Ruts’ (1979)
- ‘Greatest Hits’ (1980)
- ‘Rock in a Hard Place’ (1982)
- ‘Done With Mirrors’ (1985)
- Run DMC – “Walk This Way” 12″ Single (1986)
- ‘Classics Live!’ (1986)
- ‘Classics Live! II’ (1987)
- ‘Permanent Vacation’ (1987)
- “Dude (Looks Like A Lady)” (1987) – 7″ Single & 12″ Maxi-Single (Bonus Edition)
- “Angel” (1988) – 7″ Single (Bonus Edition)
- “Rag Doll” (1988) – 7″ Single (Bonus Edition)
- ‘Gems’ (1988)
- ‘Pump’ (1989)
- ‘Pandora’s Box’ (1991)
- ‘Get a Grip’ (1993)
- ‘Nine Lives’ (1997)
- ‘A Little South of Sanity’ (1998)
- ‘Just Push Play’ (2001)
- ‘Honkin on Bobo’ (2004)
- ‘Rockin’ The Joint (2005)
- ‘Music From Another Dimension’ (2012)
- ‘1971: The Road Starts Hear’ (2021)
- The Albums Ranked Worst To First
I think only the opening song I’ve heard. Will be interesting to see how the albums got bigger and bigger as your series continues.
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And they do get bigger for a short while at least.
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Oh man. I love Spaced. Brent and Alex discussed that one a lot last week for Thursday Night Record Club. Tonight: ROCKS!
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I saw that they covered the album. Are they doing all their albums or just a few?
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Just Toys, Wings and Rocks. And then next week they are on to a new unannounced band. I’m hoping the Crue.
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I need to check them out but it is hard. Tonight isn’t a possible because my Panthers have the Thursday Night Football game and I have to watch my Panthers
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I thought the Panthers were just hockey, shows what I know!
I like watching Brent live because we can interact in the comments.
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The Carolina Panthers are a football team.
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I think you have corrected me on this before.
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Great review! My question is if Brad played some great guitar solos on this album, why does he seem to be demoted to rhythm guitar in the future?
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That is a good question. I don’t know if it was egos or drugs or both.
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Probably both 🤪
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Great write up fella! I like that both SideA and SideB lead off with kick ass tracks.
Love this series dude
Keep em coming
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Thanks man! Glad you are liking it. I am too!! Which is good or this is going to be a long series!! LOL!!
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It’s been eons since I’ve actually listened to the album. I love the songs off it but I generally listen to them on live stuff or GH comps. They definitely got into what they’re all about on this record.
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I hadn’t listened to it in a long while prior to the review. I forgot how good it is. Hey, nothing wrong with the live and GH comps at least not as far as Aerosmith is concerned.
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I’m with you on finding the right decimal places for the rating – when 4 is too little, 4.5 is too high, and I suppose anything other than 4.25 (say, 4.1 or 4.4) doesn’t feel quite right either!
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Yeah, I think it’s a step above so much of their stuff but not the best.
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This is one I never owned, but I know several of the tracks here. Lord Of The Thighs lololol.
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The Thighs song is a cool one!!
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Of course it is! I just love the title it’s great.
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THESE ARE THE SAME GUYS THAT WROTE “I DON’T WANT TO MISS A THING”?!?!?
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Yes and no. Dianne Warren helped them write that song so she’s not writing any of these. Plus this is the drugged out version of the band and the “I Don’t Want to Miss A Thing” guys are sober.
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Oh, Diane Warren helped them write “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing”? That explains why. Now that I think about it, I was watching a Sea of Tranquility video about Aerosmith and they joked that they should go back to doing drugs since that was when they put out their best material.
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I think Dianne Warren had sole writing credit on that song. I heard she was shopping it around to a number of acts for the Armageddon soundtrack. Aerosmith was the artist/group that picked it up.
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Thanks. You are so right. I thought they ended up with credits on it, but nope!!
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Tracks 1,5,6,7 are keepers for me. 4/8. I just felt that the basic blues rock thing was done better by other bands during the same period.
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Oh yeah, a lot of bands did it better, but they aren’t Aerosmith!! LOL!
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True. Aerosmith ended up bigger than most of the bands but (lol) UFO, Thin Lizzy, Rolling Stones, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Queen, Deep Purple (x2), Kiss (x2), Sweet and Bad Company all released good albums in 1974 that I feel are better than “Get Your Wings”.
However “Seasons Of Wither” is so different, I love it
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Ha! Okay, yes I would agree with that as I do like all of those bands too!
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This is Aerosmith I like best…the 70s version. The sound is so damn raw…
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I think it is my favorite era of the band. The late 80’s are good, but nothing beats that 70’s sound.
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I liked Permanent Vacation a lot…It still sounds good but yea…that dirty seventies sound is hard to beat.
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I can’t wait to get to that one. I’m on Ruts right now so still a few more to get through.
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Toys in the Attic is my favorite bar none. That should be soon with you I would think.
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Yep, up next week.
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