Ranking 3 Of The Best Aerosmith SONGS

Aerosmith, is an American rock band known for their energetic live performances, bluesy sound, and rebellious attitude. Their music has influenced countless artists and continues to resonate with fans around the world.

I’ve been asked to rank three iconic Aerosmith songs – “Dream On,” “Sweet Emotion,” “Walk This Way.” Here’s what I think.

3. "Sweet Emotion"

While "Sweet Emotion" is a classic, it's not the most iconic Aerosmith song for me.

Sweet Emotion was released in 1975 on the band’s third album, Toys in the Attic. Tyler wrote the song about his frustrations with the band, their drug use and tensions between he and Joe Perry. 

According to Tom Hamilton, the bassline for “Sweet Emotion” was coaxed out of him by Jack Douglas, the band’s producer. The band was nearly done recording Toys In The Attic, when Douglas asked if the band had any riffs in the works. Hamilton played what would become "Sweet Emotion" and everyone was into it.  

Hamilton recalls, "I smoked a bowl or two and wrote the arrangements, the guitar parts. Steven took the intro, turned it around, changed key, and we used it as the tag, the resolution of the song. Brad, Joey, and I went home. Next time we heard 'Sweet Emotion,' it had the overdubs, the vocals, and I flipped out. I loved what they did with it."

The track's signature sucking sound was created by recording the band clapping and chanting then playing it backwards. According to Douglas, the band is chanting, “Thank you, Frank” but Steven Tyler has said their were actually saying “F*ck you, Frank,” in reference to their manager Frank Connelly who sold the rights to manage Aerosmith to Steve Leber and David Krebs. 

"Sweet Emotion" peaked at No. 36 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1975, becoming Aerosmith's breakthrough single and their first Top 40 hit.

2. "Dream On" 

"Dream On" has to be number two. It's just this really cool moody feeling and doesn't sound like what you would expect from Aerosmith. It's a classic power ballad that showcases the band's softer side.

The song was inspired by Tyler's personal struggles and his determination to succeed in the music industry. He had been working on the song off and on for 6 years but it wasn't until he was sharing a house with his Aerosmith bandmates that he was able to finish it. 

“'Dream On' came of me playing the piano when I was about 17 or 18, and I didn't know anything about writing a song. It was just this little sonnet that I started playing one day. I never thought it would end up being a real song."

Steven Tyler

According to Tyler, the song is about, “The hunger to be somebody: Dream until your dreams come true.” It “sums up the sh*t you put up with when you're in a new band.” 

If it wasn't for "Dream On," Aerosmith may never have become what they are today. After poor sales on their first album, Columbia was thinking about dropping them altogether. But the band's management convinced them to release “Dream On” as a single. The original version made it to #59 in the US and helped ensure they would have a next album. 

The band went on to record a new version for their album, which peaked at No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1976, becoming Aerosmith's first major hit.

1. "Walk This Way"

"Walk This Way" has to be #1 because it's just so fun and you can't help getting into the music. It's a high-energy, infectious track that perfectly captures the band's rebellious spirit. Not to mention everybody knows that tune. 

The song was created during a jam session between Perry and Tyler, before opening for the Guess Who. Perry was "fooling around with riffs and thinking about the Meters” while doing a sound check. (The Meters were a band that he had heard about from Jeff Beck.) Perry was a fan on the bands “riffy New Orleans funk, especially 'Cissy Strut' and 'People Say.'"

He asked the drummer to play “something flat with a groove on the drums.” Tyler can out and sat behind the drums and joined in. He strung together "nonsensical words initially to feel where the lyrics should go before adding them later."

By the time the sound check was over, Perry and Tyler had the basic song layed out. 

The actual lyrics were written in New York City during the recording of Toys in the Attic. Tyler wrote them in his hotel room but left them in the cab on the way to the studio. When he arrived, nobody believed he had actually written them so he grabbed a cassette tape with the instrumental track and disappeared into a stairwell. A few hours later, he turned back up with the lyrics written down. 
When Aerosmith originally released “Walk This Way” in 1975, the song didn’t get much attention. A year later the band reissued the song and it was a hit. 

The song gained further popularity when Run-D.M.C remixed it in 1986. The release helped revitalize Aerosmith’s career and introduced them to a whole new generation of fans. 

Not sure if you agree with how I ranked these Aerosmith songs? Here's how McCully ranked these classics...