Aerosmith's breakthrough album reached #11 on the chart, and two singles charted: "Sweet Emotion" at #36 and "Walk This Way" at #10. The influence of the Stones and Led Zeppelin is still apparent, but the band demonstrates its own sound on this album as well with classic bluesy riffs from Perry and Tyler's unrestrained vocals.
Appropriately, this is the band's hardest rocking album from its first life. "Back in the Saddle" and "Last Child" reached the Top 40 as singles, but other tracks have held up just as well. Perry's riffs take center stage on "Get the Lead Out" and reveal more than a hint of Led Zeppelin in "Rats in the Cellar." The band also gets surprisingly (and successfully) philosophical in "Nobody's Fault."
This is one of the top five albums released by Aerosmith since the band re-formed in 1985. Songs like "Love in an Elevator" show that the old guys can still rock, while "Janie's Got a Gun" demonstrates that their songwriting has matured. Three tracks reached the top ten as singles, and one of these ("Janie's Got a Gun") won the band their first Grammy.