Toys in the Attic (album)
Encyclopedia
For his review of Toys in the Attic for Allmusic, Stephen Thomas Erlewine
called the album's style a mix of Led Zeppelin
and The Rolling Stones
riffs and was filled with songs about sex with a different style than there ever was before. Greg Kot
called the album a landmark of hard rock
. For the Blender
magazine review, Ben Mitchell called Toys in the Attic cocaine
-influenced and mentions the songs "Toys in the Attic", "Walk This Way", and "Sweet Emotion" as "Standout Tracks".
Aerosmith
Additional musicians
Production
covered the song "Toys in the Attic" released in 1986 as a B-side to "Fall on Me". It is available on Dead Letter Office
.
"Sweet Emotion" has been covered by Leo Kottke
and Mike Gordon
, The Answer
, Warrant
and Ratt
.
The song "No More No More" was covered by Velvet Revolver
.
The song "Toys In The Attic" was recorded by Metal Church
on Masterpeace
.
Run-D.M.C.
covered "Walk This Way" in 1986. The song features Steven Tyler
on co-lead vocals and Joe Perry
on guitar.
Sum 41
along with rappers Ja Rule
and Nelly
did a cover of "Walk This Way" in 2002.
Rose Hill Drive
covered the album in its entirety during their 2007-08 New Year's Eve concert.
"Walk This Way" was covered by jam
/bluegrass
band The String Cheese Incident on their 1997 self-titled live album A String Cheese Incident
.
"Sweet Emotion" was covered by ska
band The Mighty Mighty Bosstones
on their EP
Where'd You Go?.
Chicago favorites, Mr. Blotto
covered the Album in its entirety on Sat. July 23rd during their 12th Blottopia at Vasa Park, South Elgin, Il.
Singles
Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Stephen Thomas Erlewine is a senior editor for Allmusic. He is the author of many artist biographies and record reviews for Allmusic, as well as a freelance writer, occasionally contributing liner notes. He is also frontman and guitarist for the Ann Arbor-based band Who Dat?Erlewine is the nephew...
called the album's style a mix of Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin were an English rock band, active in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s. Formed in 1968, they consisted of guitarist Jimmy Page, singer Robert Plant, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham...
and The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band, formed in London in April 1962 by Brian Jones , Ian Stewart , Mick Jagger , and Keith Richards . Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts completed the early line-up...
riffs and was filled with songs about sex with a different style than there ever was before. Greg Kot
Greg Kot
Greg Kot is an American writer and journalist. Since 1990, Kot has been the music critic at the Chicago Tribune, where he has covered popular music and reported on music-related social, political and business issues...
called the album a landmark of hard rock
Hard rock
Hard rock is a loosely defined genre of rock music which has its earliest roots in mid-1960s garage rock, blues rock and psychedelic rock...
. For the Blender
Blender (magazine)
Blender was an American music magazine that billed itself as "the ultimate guide to music and more". It was also known for sometimes steamy pictorials of celebrities....
magazine review, Ben Mitchell called Toys in the Attic cocaine
Cocaine
Cocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. The name comes from "coca" in addition to the alkaloid suffix -ine, forming cocaine. It is a stimulant of the central nervous system, an appetite suppressant, and a topical anesthetic...
-influenced and mentions the songs "Toys in the Attic", "Walk This Way", and "Sweet Emotion" as "Standout Tracks".
Track listing
Personnel
Per liner notesAerosmith
- Steven TylerSteven TylerSteven Tyler is an American singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist, best known as the frontman and lead singer of the Boston-based rock band Aerosmith, in which he also plays the harmonica, and occasional piano and percussion. He is known as the "Demon of Screamin'", due to his high screams...
– lead vocals - Joe PerryJoe Perry (musician)Anthony Joseph "Joe" Perry is the lead guitarist, backing and occasional lead vocalist, and contributing songwriter for the rock band Aerosmith. He is influenced by many rock artists especially The Rolling Stones and The Beatles...
– guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, backing vocals, talkbox on "Sweet Emotion" - Brad WhitfordBrad WhitfordBradford Ernest Whitford is the rhythm guitarist for the hard rock band Aerosmith. He graduated Reading Memorial High School in 1970.-Career:...
– guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with... - Tom HamiltonTom Hamilton (musician)Thomas William "Tom" Hamilton is an American musician, best known as the bassist of hard rock band Aerosmith. He has co-written two of Aerosmith's hits, "Sweet Emotion" and "Janie's Got a Gun". Hamilton occasionally plays guitar and sings backing vocals Thomas William "Tom" Hamilton (born...
– bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick.... - Joey KramerJoey KramerJoseph Michael "Joey" Kramer is the drummer for the American hard rock band Aerosmith....
– drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
, percussion
Additional musicians
- Scott Cushnie – PianoPianoThe piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
On "Big Ten Inch Record" And "No More No More" - Jay MessinaJay MessinaJay Messina is an American audio engineer, mastering and mixing engineer and music producer. He started out recording sessions for legendary arranger Don Ellion and quickly promoted to A&R Recording. He later moved to the Record Plant when it opened in 1968...
– Bass Marimba On "Sweet Emotion"
Production
- Jack DouglasJack Douglas (record producer)Jack Douglas is an American record producer. He was born in New York City. Starting out as folk musician and performer, he worked on Robert Kennedy's senatorial campaign as a song-writer. Douglas then moved to England and joined a succession of bands before returning to New York to attend the...
– producerRecord producerA record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
, arranger - Jay MessinaJay MessinaJay Messina is an American audio engineer, mastering and mixing engineer and music producer. He started out recording sessions for legendary arranger Don Ellion and quickly promoted to A&R Recording. He later moved to the Record Plant when it opened in 1968...
– engineerAudio engineeringAn audio engineer, also called audio technician, audio technologist or sound technician, is a specialist in a skilled trade that deals with the use of machinery and equipment for the recording, mixing and reproduction of sounds. The field draws on many artistic and vocational areas, including... - Rod O'Brien – assistant engineer
- Corky Stasiak – assistant engineer
- Dave Thoener – assistant engineer
- Doug Sax – masteringAudio masteringMastering, a form of audio post-production, is the process of preparing and transferring recorded audio from a source containing the final mix to a data storage device ; the source from which all copies will be produced...
- Vic Anesini – mastering engineerMastering engineerA mastering engineer is one skilled in the practice of taking audio that has been previously mixed in either the analog or digital domain as mono, stereo, or multichannel formats and preparing it for use in distribution, whether by physical media such as a CD, vinyl record, or as some method of...
- Bob Belott – original photographyPhotographyPhotography is the art, science and practice of creating durable images by recording light or other electromagnetic radiation, either electronically by means of an image sensor or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film...
- Pacific Eye & Ear – album designDesignDesign as a noun informally refers to a plan or convention for the construction of an object or a system while “to design” refers to making this plan...
- Ingrid Haenke – illustrationIllustrationAn illustration is a displayed visualization form presented as a drawing, painting, photograph or other work of art that is created to elucidate or dictate sensual information by providing a visual representation graphically.- Early history :The earliest forms of illustration were prehistoric...
- Lisa Sparagano – 1993 package design
- Ken Fredette – 1993 package design
- Jimmy Lenner, Jr. – still life photographyStill life photographyStill life photography is the depiction of inanimate subject matter, most typically a small grouping of objects. Still life photography, more so than other types of photography, such as landscape or portraiture, gives the photographer more leeway in the arrangement of design elements within a...
- Leslie Lambert – still life collage designCollageA collage is a work of formal art, primarily in the visual arts, made from an assemblage of different forms, thus creating a new whole....
- David Krebs – directionManagementManagement in all business and organizational activities is the act of getting people together to accomplish desired goals and objectives using available resources efficiently and effectively...
- Steve Leber – direction
Cover versions
R.E.M.R.E.M.
R.E.M. was an American rock band formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1980 by singer Michael Stipe, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills and drummer Bill Berry. One of the first popular alternative rock bands, R.E.M. gained early attention due to Buck's ringing, arpeggiated guitar style and Stipe's...
covered the song "Toys in the Attic" released in 1986 as a B-side to "Fall on Me". It is available on Dead Letter Office
Dead Letter Office (album)
Dead Letter Office is a rarities and B-sides collection by R.E.M., released in 1987. The album is essentially a collection of many additional recordings R.E.M. made pre-Murmur to Lifes Rich Pageant that were outtakes or released as flip sides to their singles internationally...
.
"Sweet Emotion" has been covered by Leo Kottke
Leo Kottke
Leo Kottke is an acoustic guitarist. He is widely known for his innovative fingerpicking style, which draws on influences from blues, jazz, and folk music, and his syncopated, polyphonic melodies...
and Mike Gordon
Mike Gordon
Mike Gordon is a bass guitar player and vocalist most noted for his work with the rock band Phish. Gordon is also an accomplished banjo player, and is proficient at piano, guitar, harmonica and percussion...
, The Answer
The Answer (band)
The Answer are a Northern Irish hard rock and blues-rock band from Newcastle and Downpatrick, County Down, Northern Ireland. They have achieved success with their debut album Rise selling in excess of 30,000 copies in the UK & Europe, 10,000 on day one in Japan and 100,000 worldwide.-Lineup:*Cormac...
, Warrant
Warrant (American band)
Warrant is an American heavy metal band from Hollywood, California, that experienced success from 1989-1996 with five albums reaching international sales of over 10 million. The band first came into the national spotlight with their debut album Dirty Rotten Filthy Stinking Rich, and one of its...
and Ratt
Ratt
Ratt is an American heavy metal band that had significant commercial success in the 1980s. The band is best known for songs such as "Round and Round," "Wanted Man," "Lay It Down," "You're in Love", "Slip of the Lip", "Back For More", "Dance", "Body Talk", "I Want a Woman", and "Way Cool Jr." Ratt...
.
The song "No More No More" was covered by Velvet Revolver
Velvet Revolver
Velvet Revolver is an American hard rock supergroup consisting of former Guns N' Roses members Slash, Duff McKagan, and Matt Sorum, alongside Dave Kushner formerly of punk band Wasted Youth. Stone Temple Pilots vocalist Scott Weiland was Velvet Revolver's lead singer from their formation until...
.
The song "Toys In The Attic" was recorded by Metal Church
Metal Church
Metal Church was an American heavy metal band. They originally formed in Seattle, Washington as Shrapnel in 1980. Their first album was released in 1984, and the band's most recent work, This Present Wasteland, was released in 2008....
on Masterpeace
Masterpeace
Masterpeace is the sixth album of heavy metal band Metal Church. This album features the return of David Wayne, absent since The Dark. All original members recorded on Masterpeace except guitarist Craig Wells and drummer Kirk Arrington. Jeff Wade filled in for Arrington...
.
Run-D.M.C.
Run-D.M.C.
Run–D.M.C. was an American hip hop group from Hollis, in the Queens borough of New York City. Founded by Joseph "Run" Simmons, Darryl "D.M.C." McDaniels, and Jason "Jam-Master Jay" Mizell, the group is widely acknowledged as one of the most influential acts in the history of hip hop culture.Run–D.M.C...
covered "Walk This Way" in 1986. The song features Steven Tyler
Steven Tyler
Steven Tyler is an American singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist, best known as the frontman and lead singer of the Boston-based rock band Aerosmith, in which he also plays the harmonica, and occasional piano and percussion. He is known as the "Demon of Screamin'", due to his high screams...
on co-lead vocals and Joe Perry
Joe Perry
Joe Perry may refer to:*Joe Perry *Joe Perry **Joe Perry *Joe Perry...
on guitar.
Sum 41
Sum 41
Sum 41 is a Canadian rock band from Ajax, Ontario. The band was formed in 1996 and currently consists of members Deryck Whibley , Tom Thacker , Jason McCaslin and Steve Jocz .In 1999, the band signed an international record deal with Island Records...
along with rappers Ja Rule
Ja Rule
Jeffrey Atkins , better known by his stage name Ja Rule, is an American rapper, singer, and actor.Born in Hollis, Queens, he began his career in the group Cash Money Click and debuted in 1999 with Venni Vetti Vecci and its single "Holla Holla"...
and Nelly
Nelly
Cornell Iral Haynes, Jr. , better known by his stage name Nelly, is an Grammy Award winning American rapper and actor. He has performed with the rap group St. Lunatics since 1993 and signed to Universal Records in 1999. Under Universal, Nelly began his solo career in 2000 with his debut album...
did a cover of "Walk This Way" in 2002.
Rose Hill Drive
Rose Hill Drive
Rose Hill Drive is an American rock band. The group is often aligned with other innovators in the revival of traditional hard rock and early metal–psychedelic...
covered the album in its entirety during their 2007-08 New Year's Eve concert.
"Walk This Way" was covered by jam
Jam band
-Ambiguity:By the late 1990s use of the term jam band also became ambiguous. An editorial at jamband.com suggested that any band of which a primary band such as Phish has done a cover of be included as jam band. The example was including New York post-punk band Talking Heads after Phish performed...
/bluegrass
Bluegrass music
Bluegrass music is a form of American roots music, and a sub-genre of country music. It has mixed roots in Scottish, English, Welsh and Irish traditional music...
band The String Cheese Incident on their 1997 self-titled live album A String Cheese Incident
A String Cheese Incident
A String Cheese Incident is the second release and first live album of Colorado-based Jam band, The String Cheese Incident. The album chronicles a single concert from the Fox Theatre in Boulder, Colorado on February 27th, 1997 and is the first to feature pianist Kyle Hollingsworth as part of the...
.
"Sweet Emotion" was covered by ska
Ska
Ska |Jamaican]] ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s, and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. Ska combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues...
band The Mighty Mighty Bosstones
The Mighty Mighty Bosstones
The Mighty Mighty Bosstones are an American ska punk band from Boston, Massachusetts, formed in 1983. Since the band's inception, lead vocalist Dicky Barrett, bassist Joe Gittleman, tenor saxophonist Tim "Johnny Vegas" Burton and dancer Ben Carr have remained constant members...
on their EP
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
Where'd You Go?.
Chicago favorites, Mr. Blotto
Mr. Blotto
Mr. Blotto is a jam band band from Chicago, Illinois. They blend hard rock, original rock, southern rock, folk music, and country rock. They formed in 1991, and tour extensively in the midwest area. Along with their five album releases and two DVDs, they have also released four "official bootleg"...
covered the Album in its entirety on Sat. July 23rd during their 12th Blottopia at Vasa Park, South Elgin, Il.
Charts
Album| Chart (1976) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| US Billboard Billboard (magazine) Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis... 200 Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists... |
11 |
| Canada RPM RPM (magazine) RPM was a Canadian music industry publication that featured song and album charts for Canada. The publication was founded by Walt Grealis in February 1964, supported through its existence by record label owner Stan Klees. RPM ceased publication in November 2000.RPM stood for "Records, Promotion,... 100 Albums |
7 |
Singles
| Year | Single | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1975 | "Sweet Emotion Sweet Emotion "Sweet Emotion" is a song by American rock band Aerosmith, released by Columbia Records in April 1975 on the album Toys in the Attic and was released as a single a month later on May 19th . The song began a string of pop hits and large-scale mainstream success for the band that would continue for... " |
The Billboard Hot 100 | 36 |
| "Walk This Way Walk This Way "Walk This Way" is a song by American hard rock group Aerosmith. Written by Steven Tyler and Joe Perry, the song was originally released as the second single from the 1975 album Toys in the Attic. It peaked at Number 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 in early 1977, part of a string of successful hit... " |
The Billboard Hot 100 | 10 | |
| "Toys in the Attic Toys in the Attic (song) "Toys in the Attic" is a song by American hard rock band Aerosmith. Written by Steven Tyler and Joe Perry, it is the first song and title track from the band's third album Toys in the Attic, their bestselling studio album in the United States. The song is three minutes, five seconds long... " |
The Billboard Hot 100 | 96 | |
| 1991 | "Sweet Emotion Sweet Emotion "Sweet Emotion" is a song by American rock band Aerosmith, released by Columbia Records in April 1975 on the album Toys in the Attic and was released as a single a month later on May 19th . The song began a string of pop hits and large-scale mainstream success for the band that would continue for... " |
Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks | 36 |
Certifications
| Organization | Level | Date |
|---|---|---|
| RIAA – U.S. | Gold | August 11, 1975 |
| Platinum | November 21, 1986 | |
| 4× Platinum | ||
| 5× Platinum | December 21, 1988 | |
| 6× Platinum | October 28, 1994 | |
| 8× Platinum | June 4, 2002 | |
| CRIA – Canada | Gold | April 1, 1977 |
| Platinum | December 1, 1978 |