Aerosmith has released a greatest hits collection once again — just
in time for the Christmas shopping season (although apparently not at Tower
Records), and in the midst of their mega tour with Motley Crue. If you missed
out on buying a collection of Aerosmith’s greatest hit songs the previous
five times or so ( I have lost count), they have released a new one called Devil’s
Got A New Disguise: The Very Best Of Aerosmith. Being the swell guys
they are, here’s another chance to hear the hits that made Aerosmith the
superstars they are today.
We need another Aerosmith greatest hits collection like we do another raise
in the price of gas. It’s becoming obscene. But, I guess, contracts have
to be honored, and this really is a way to do just that. Too bad Monty Python
already used “Contractual Obligation Album” as a title some 30 years
ago. It would have been a more honest choice of names for this collection. In
true millennium fashion, all the songs you would expect are here, including
“Dream On,” “Sweet Emotion,” and “Back in The
Saddle”(soon to be used in NASCAR ads I’ve been told — ”Mo
money, mo money”) from the earlier years, as well as “Dude (Looks
Like A Lady),” “Love In an Elevator,” and “Rag Doll”
from the Sober Years. Also included here are “Crazy,” “Cryin’,”
and “I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing” from the Ballad Years
— a time when it seemed every Aerosmith tune was something you might hear
on a Lifetime Channel movie soundtrack if the royalties were paid!
Also included are two unreleased songs, the very nice “Sedona Sunrise,”
written with former Bryan Adams collaborator Jim Vallance, which explains why
I kept thinking I had heard this song before. Also the old school Aerosmith
boogie title track “Devil’s Got A New Disguise,” written with
Diane Warren. If anything, these are the reasons to pick up this disc. The inclusion
of “Walk This Way,” the version featuring Run DMC, solidified my
thinking that this collection would appeal to a younger, first time Aerosmith
CD buyer, who, after seeing this video on MTV are a VH1 classic episode, might
decide it would be great to have alongside his or her collection off LL Cool
J CDs. Maybe a hip mom doing some holiday shopping for her kids decides to turn
her kids on to a band that has been around since she was their age. That’s
the nice thing about Aerosmith being around so long — their songs do apply
to just about any generation. All in all, a nice collection, with a bonus. Happy
holidays from Aerosmith. Now go to the concert and buy a $50 T-shirt!
~ Junkman
