Aerosmith "Big Ones (Japan Edition)"

Big Ones is a compilation album by American rock band Aerosmith, released on November 1, 1994 by Geffen Records. Big Ones featured 12 hits from the band's three consecutive multi-platinum albums, Permanent Vacation (1987), Pump (1989), and Get a Grip (1993), as well as the hit, "Deuces Are Wild" from The Beavis and Butt-Head Experience (1993), and two new songs, "Blind Man" and "Walk on Water", which were recorded during a break in the band's Get a Grip Tour. These songs were also included on the band's 2001 compilation album, Young Lust: The Aerosmith Anthology. Big Ones is the band's second best-selling compilation album, reaching #6 on the Billboard charts, and selling four million copies in the United States alone. The album quickly became a worldwide hit reaching the Top 10 in nine countries before the end of the year.

In March 1987, Aerosmith began working at Little Mountain Sound Studios in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada for the album that became Permanent Vacation. The recordings were completed in May, the album was released in August, and reached #11 on the Billboard 200. The album released several singles including "Dude (Looks Like a Lady)" (#4 on the Mainstream Rock Charts, #14 on the Billboard Hot 100), "Rag Doll" (#12 Mainstream Rock Charts, #17 Hot 100), and "Angel" (#2 Mainstream Rock, #3 Hot 100).

Then in April 1989, the band went back to Little Mountain Sound Studios to record songs for their next studio album, Pump. The recordings were completed in June 1989, the album was released in September, and reached #5 on the Billboard 200. Several other singles were released from Pump including "Janie's Got a Gun" (#2 Mainstream Rock, #4 Hot 100), "Love in an Elevator" (#1 Mainstream Rock, #5 Hot 100), "The Other Side" (#1 Mainstream Rock, #22 Hot 100) and "What It Takes" (#1 Mainstream Rock, #9 Hot 100). In May a song was recorded during the sessions for Pump called "Deuces Are Wild", however it was not released on the album and was not released until the 1993 compilation album, The Beavis and Butt-head Experience.

In January 1992, the band began recording at A&M Studios in Los Angeles, California. The recordings at A&M ended in February and in September the band began recording again at Little Mountain Sound Studios. The recordings at Little Mountain ended in November, and Aerosmith's next studio album, Get a Grip was released in April 1993 and went to #1 on the Billboard 200. The singles released from Get a Grip included "Amazing" (#3 Mainstream Rock, #9 Top 40 Mainstream, #24 Hot 100), "Cryin'" (#1 Mainstream Rock, #11 Top 40 Mainstream, #12 Hot 100), "Eat the Rich" (#5 Mainstream Rock), "Livin' on the Edge" (#1 Mainstream Rock, #18 Hot 100, #19 Top 40 Mainstream), and "Crazy" (#7 Mainstream Rock, #7 Top 40 Mainstream, #17 Hot 100).

In April 1994 the band went to The Power Station in New York City, New York and started recording the songs "Walk on Water" and "Blind Man". The group then completed the songs in June at Capri Digital Studios, Capri, Italy. "Blind Man" reached #3 on the Mainstream Rock Charts, #23 on the Top 40 Mainstream, and #48 on the Hot 100 in 1994. "Walk on Water" reached #16 on the Mainstream Rock Charts in 1995.

There were no songs from Aerosmith's first Geffen release, Done With Mirrors (1985), despite the hit "Let the Music Do the Talking" which reached #18 on the Mainstream Rock Charts.

For his review of Big Ones for Allmusic, Stephen Thomas Erlewine gave the album a high rating because he felt that the album captured the "comeback" of Aerosmith. However, he felt that the songs did not match the "rawness" of the band's earlier material, and seemed a little too "mainstream", with rampant over-production and too many power ballads. Robert Christgau did not think the album included enough songs from the album Get a Grip, and did not like that it excluded "My Fist, Your Face." However, he did like the two new tracks, "Walk on Water" and "Blind Man." Tom Sinclair thought well of the album in his review for Entertainment Weekly because it showed that they could mix hard rock and funk-based blues, and that they were more than just the American version of The Rolling Stones. He'd have given the album a higher rating had it not included the song "Angel".

Track listing

Big Ones

1. "Walk on Water" (previously unreleased) Steven Tyler, Joe Perry, Jack Blades, Tommy Shaw 4:54
2. "Love in an Elevator" (from the album Pump) Tyler, Perry 5:33
3. "Rag Doll" (from the album Permanent Vacation) Tyler, Perry, Jim Vallance, Holly Knight 4:24
4. "What It Takes" (from the album Pump) Tyler, Perry, Desmond Child 5:10
5. "Dude (Looks Like a Lady)" (from the album Permanent Vacation) Tyler, Perry, Child 4:23
6. "Janie's Got a Gun" (from the album Pump) Tyler, Tom Hamilton 5:29
7. "Cryin'" (from the album Get a Grip) Tyler, Perry, Taylor Rhodes 5:07
8. "Amazing" (from the album Get a Grip) Tyler, Richard Supa 5:55
9. "Blind Man" (previously unreleased) Tyler, Perry, Rhodes 3:57
10. "Deuces Are Wild" (from the album The Beavis and Butt-Head Experience) Tyler, Vallance 3:33
11. "The Other Side" (from the album Pump) Tyler, Vallance 4:03
12. "Crazy" (from the album Get a Grip) Tyler, Perry, Child 5:14
13. "Eat the Rich" (from the album Get a Grip) Tyler, Perry, Vallance 4:09
14. "Angel" (from the album Permanent Vacation) Tyler, Child 5:04
15. "Livin' on the Edge" (from the album Get a Grip) Tyler, Perry, Mark Hudson 6:20

Total length: 1:13:15

Japanese and European edition bonus tracks

1. "Dude (Looks Like a Lady)" (Live) Tyler, Perry, Child 5:20

Total length: 1:18:35

Aerosmith "Done With Mirrors"

Done with Mirrors is the eighth studio album by American rock band Aerosmith, released on November 4, 1985. It marked the return to the band of guitarists Joe Perry, who left in 1979 and Brad Whitford, who departed in 1981. The band's first album on Geffen Records, it was intended as their ‘comeback’. However, the record didn’t live up to commercial expectations despite positive reviews.

"Let the Music Do the Talking" was a rerecording of the title track from first album by the Joe Perry Project, with altered lyrics and melody.

Brad Whitford revealed that producer Ted Templeman wanted to capture the band's aggressive, "out of control freight train" sound by removing the red light indicating that recording was underway (a technique he had used to capture Van Halen's sound). Templeman told the band to run through the songs in the studio and recorded them without their knowledge. Whitford referred to the nerves generated when knowingly recording songs as "the red light blues".

"I had a great time making that record," Templeman told The Washington Post's Geoff Edgers” and Steven was one of the most amazing guys. But we had to do that record in Berkeley because they didn’t want those guys to score (drugs). They didn’t want them to be in L.A. or San Francisco. I wasn’t familiar with the board. As a producer, if you know your room and the mic preamps, you know how things are going to sound. I don’t think I made Joey’s drums sound as good as they could have or Joe’s guitar."

On VH1 Classic's That Metal Show, Joey Kramer expressed his dislike of Done with Mirrors, claiming the band "never really finished it".

Joe Perry was similarly dismissive: "Done with Mirrors, as far as I'm concerned, is our least inspired record. But I've heard fans really like it so I'm not gonna stand there and tell 'em, 'No, it sucks.' We had to do that record to get to the next one so it served its purpose. I just don't think it's up to the standard of some of our others."

Viacom (MTV & VH1) executive Doug Herzog recalled that, after this album, "Aerosmith was done… They were a little bit of a joke." However, they would revive their career in 1986 with a landmark remake of 1975's "Walk This Way" with hip-hop group Run DMC, followed by an album that would eventually go 5× Platinum – Permanent Vacation – in 1987.

Despite the band's views, this album earned mostly positive reviews and is a cult favorite among fans.

To date, Done with Mirrors is the last Aerosmith record written without the aid of outside songwriters.

In keeping with the title, all the text (bar the catalog number and UPC) on the original releases were written back-to-front – to be read by holding it to a mirror. Rereleases flip the artwork so it can be read without a mirror, and add the band's logo. As a result, the original CD (which came in a longbox) is collectable. (All text in the booklet of the first CD pressing is also back-to-front.)

The title refers both to illusions that are "done with mirrors", and the laying out of drugs such as cocaine, traditionally snorted off a mirror.

Track listing

1. "Let the Music Do the Talking" Joe Perry 3:48
2. "My Fist Your Face" Steven Tyler, Perry 4:23
3. "Shame on You" Tyler 3:22
4. "The Reason a Dog" Tyler, Tom Hamilton 4:13
5. "Shela" Tyler, Brad Whitford 4:25
6. "Gypsy Boots" Tyler, Perry 4:16
7. "She's on Fire" Tyler, Perry 3:47
8. "The Hop" Tyler, Hamilton, Joey Kramer, Perry, Whitford 3:45

All CD, cassette and certain vinyl pressings

1. "Darkness" Tyler 3:43

Total length: 35:42

Ted Templeman – producer

Jeff Hendrickson – engineer, mixing

Tom Size, Gary Rindfuss, Stan Katayama – assistant engineers

Howie Weinberg – analog mastering engineer at Masterdisk, New York

Ken Caillat – digital mastering

Joan Parker – production coordinator

Kent Ayeroff – album cover concept

Norman Moore – art direction and design

Jim Shea – photography

John Kalodner – A&R

Roxy Music "For Your Pleasure"

For Your Pleasure is the second album by English rock band Roxy Music, released by Island Records in 1973. It was their last to feature synthesiser and sound specialist Brian Eno, who would later gain acclaim as a solo artist and producer.

The group was able to spend more studio time on this album than on their debut, combining strong song material by Bryan Ferry with more elaborate production treatments. For example, the song "In Every Dream Home a Heartache" (Ferry's sinister ode to a blow-up doll) fades out in its closing section, only to fade in again with all the instruments subjected to a pronounced phasing treatment. The title track fades out in an elaborate blend of tape loop effects. Brian Eno remarked that the eerie "The Bogus Man", with lyrics about a sexual stalker, displayed similarities with contemporary material by the krautrock group Can.

Of the more upbeat numbers on the album, "Do the Strand" and "Editions of You" were both based around insistent rhythms in the tradition of the band's first single "Virginia Plain". "Do the Strand" has been called the archetypal Roxy Music anthem, whilst "Editions of You" was notable for a series of ear-catching solos by Andy Mackay (saxophone), Eno (VCS3), and Phil Manzanera (guitar).

Eno is very present in the final song from the album "For Your Pleasure", making it unlike any other song on the album. The song ends with the voice of Judi Dench saying "You don't ask. You don't ask why" amid tapes of the opening vocals ('Well, how are you?') from "Chance Meeting" from the first Roxy Music album. A live recording of the song has been used in 1975 as a B-side to "Both Ends Burning".

The original UK LP cover credits "Produced by Chris Thomas and Roxy Music" for the entire album, but only the side one label repeats that; the side two label credits "Produced by John Anthony and Roxy Music". Various foreign editions and reissues have confused the matter with random variations.

For Your Pleasure was originally released by Island Records in the United Kingdom and Warner Bros. Records in the United States. It has been subsequently reissued by Polydor Records in the UK and Atco Records and Reprise Records in the US.

As with the debut Roxy Music album, no UK singles were lifted from For Your Pleasure upon its initial release. The non-album single "Pyjamarama", backed with "The Pride and the Pain", was issued in advance of the album in Britain, peaking at number 10 on the UK Singles Chart. "Do the Strand", backed with "Editions of You", was released as a single in the US and Europe; it was finally issued as a UK single in 1978 to promote Roxy Music's Greatest Hits album, released in December the previous year.

The cover photo, taken by Karl Stoecker, featured Bryan Ferry's girlfriend at the time, singer and model Amanda Lear, who later became Salvador Dalí's muse. Original pressings of the album featured a gatefold sleeve picturing all five band members posing with guitars.

Track listing

All tracks are written by Bryan Ferry.

Side one

1. "Do the Strand" 4:04
2. "Beauty Queen" 4:41
3. "Strictly Confidential" 3:48
4. "Editions of You" 3:51
5. "In Every Dream Home a Heartache" (LP editions of the album incorrectly listed the song's timing as 4:25, due to its "false fade" referenced above) 5:29

Side two

1. "The Bogus Man" 9:20
2. "Grey Lagoons" 4:13
3. "For Your Pleasure" 6:51

Roxy Music "Roxy Music"

Roxy Music is the debut studio album by the English rock band Roxy Music. It was released on 16 June 1972.

It was generally well received by contemporary critics and made it to number 10 in the UK Albums Chart.

The opening track, "Re-Make/Re-Model", has been labelled a postmodernist pastiche, featuring solos by each member of the band echoing various touchstones of Western music, including The Beatles' "Day Tripper", Duane Eddy's version of "Peter Gunn", and Wagner's "Ride of the Valkyries"; the esoteric "CPL 593H" was supposedly the license number of a car spotted by Bryan Ferry that was driven by a beautiful woman. Brian Eno produced some self-styled "lunacy" when Ferry asked him for a sound "like the moon" for the track "Ladytron". "If There Is Something" was covered by David Bowie's Tin Machine, and was later featured quite extensively, almost as a central figure, in the British film Flashbacks of a Fool.

Several of the album's songs were thematically linked to movies. "2HB", with its punning title, was Ferry's tribute to Humphrey Bogart and quoted the line "Here's looking at you, kid" made famous by the 1942 film Casablanca; "Chance Meeting" was inspired by David Lean's Brief Encounter (1945). "The Bob" took its title from Battle of Britain (1968) and included a passage simulating the sound of gunfire.

Discussing the music, Andy Mackay later said "we certainly didn't invent eclecticism but we did say and prove that rock 'n' roll could accommodate – well, anything really".

The band had been rehearsing and re-working the songs for a couple of months before they finally found a recording place, after which the entire album was recorded in the space of a single week. This was necessary because there was no record deal as yet, and their managers at EG were financing the sessions themselves, paying £5,000 in recording fees. The album was produced by King Crimson's lyricist Peter Sinfield, who had recently left that band. In May 1972, a few weeks after the recording sessions, a contract was signed with Island Records and in June the album was released.

The band's penchant for glamour was showcased both in the lyrics and in the 1950s-style album cover. The photographer Karl Stoecker shot the cover, featuring model Kari-Ann Muller, who later married Chris Jagger, brother of Mick Jagger (a stylised portrait of Kari-Ann Muller also graces the cover of Mott the Hoople's 1974 album The Hoople). The album was dedicated to Susie, a drummer who auditioned for Roxy Music in the early days.

Roxy Music, particularly the album's LP incarnation, has been released in different packages over the years. The album's original cover, as issued in 1972 by Island Records, featured a gatefold sleeve picturing the band (including original bass guitarist Graham Simpson) in stage attire designed by Antony Price,[4] and did not include the track "Virginia Plain". The album's original US release, in late 1972 on Warner Bros. Records' Reprise subsidiary, included "Virginia Plain", which had since been issued as a single in the UK. The original US release also featured a gatefold sleeve, but replaced Simpson's photo with that of Rik Kenton, who played bass on "Virginia Plain" following Simpson's departure from the group.

US distribution of Roxy Music was transferred from Reprise to their affiliated company Atco Records in 1976, and back to Reprise in the mid-1980s. LP editions of the album pressed in these timeframes were without the gatefold sleeve and band photographs, instead providing liner notes on the rear album cover.

The original LP release did not contain any singles. In July 1972, a few weeks after the contract was signed, Roxy Music recorded two more songs, "Virginia Plain" and "The Numberer", that were released as a single. It peaked at No. 4 in the UK Singles Chart and helped push sales of the album, which itself went to No. 10. In most later repressings of the album, including CD versions, the song "Virginia Plain" has been included.

Versions of all nine tracks of the UK album were recorded by the BBC for the John Peel show on 4 January and 23 May 1972, with the earlier session featuring David O'List on guitar.

Track listing

Original UK release

All tracks are written by Bryan Ferry.

Side one

1. "Re-Make/Re-Model" 5:10
2. "Ladytron" 4:21
3. "If There Is Something" 6:33
4. "2HB" 4:34

Side two

1. "The Bob (Medley)" 5:48
2. "Chance Meeting" 3:00
3. "Would You Believe?" 3:47
4. "Sea Breezes" 7:00
5. "Bitters End" 2:02