Band:	Aerosmith
Album:	Get Your Wings
Style:	Hard rock, Blues rock
Release date:	March 01, 1974
A review by:	omne metallum

01. Same Old Song And Dance
02. Lord Of The Thighs
03. Spaced
04. Woman Of The World
05. S.O.S. (Too Bad)
06. Train Kept A Rollin' [Tiny Bradshaw cover]
07. Seasons Of Wither
08. Pandora's Box

Taking flight.

Learning from the experience of their debut album and beginning what would be a very fruitful partnership with Jack Douglas, Get Your Wings sees the pieces begin to fall into place for Aerosmith. While not quite the complete article, this sophomore effort is a big leap forward for the band and one that many bands fail to make, let alone growing even further in the future.

Seeing the band learn their lessons from their debut and having a greater level of confidence in themselves (Tyler sounds like himself for a start), Get Your Wings sees the band take themselves to the next level with a solid, though not groundbreaking effort; any concerns that the band's new self confidence would lead them to fly as high as Icarus can be checked at the door. Though the band did produce three stellar tracks, they're found amongst good, not great, songs that produce an album worth listening to, but one that will ultimately be relegated down the pecking order as the band move forward.

Much like their self-named debut record, Get Your Wings spreads its? wings off the back off three classic songs in particular. "Same Old Song And Dance" features one of, if not the, strongest riff in the band's history, propelling the song along with a swagger and attitude that belied the commercial darlings they would later become, showing they could get down and dirty with the best of them. Punctuated by the inclusion of trumpet interspersed between the machismo and guitar, it added a lot of tension to an already tight bow. "Seasons Of Wither" is the complete opposite, a slow and morose track that relies on a mournful sorrow through haunting refrains that are led by Tyler and soft guitar before popping big and naturally throughout the track; if you thought slower songs were a latter day Aerosmith phenomenon, then you have overlooked this track.

Finally, we have the cover of the Tiny Bradshaw classic "Train Kept A Rollin'", which gets updated every so often by various artists; giving the track their own interpretation, Aerosmith arguably produce the definitive version of the song here. The half studio-half 'live' (later revealed to be studio trickery) take here captures the twin energies of power and rhythm without one element overshadowing the other, both resting in harmony next to each other.

It's here that the album then falls into the same holding pattern as befell Aerosmith; while the rest of the album here is stronger than the erstwhile studio debut, it very much takes a backseat to the three aforementioned tracks. It by no means relegates them to mere filler, but nothing about them rises much higher than that label either; a firework that goes off before gaining much altitude won't look that spectacular when obscured by trees and foliage, but still goes off with a satisfying bang nonetheless. From the piano parts of "Lord Of The Thighs" to the funky feel of "S.O.S. (Too Bad)", you have a run of songs that are at least fun and enjoyable, if not much more.

The band's newfound confidence and latent talent meet fortuitously with the ear of Douglas who completes the puzzle, being able to package and produce what Aerosmith was into a neat bundle that would reshape rock music. While these are early days, and a combination of weaker material and low priority for the record label (if accounts are true then this album had a miniscule budget that restrained much of its potential) would mean the results are not immediately felt in an instant hit, the fuse was well and truly lit, and it's just a case of following it until it meets its payload in Toys In The Attic. For now, Get Your Wings goes some way in establishing a sound that the band could call their own, just one that required refinement; this makes the album a much better listening experience than was the debut's.

Get Your Wings would see Aerosmith get their feet off of the ground and begin an ascension that would last the better part of a decade; while it is a far cry from the heights the band would go on to reach, the view from Get Your Wings is a decent one, dotted with some sublime landmark tracks that rank amongst some of the band's best work to this day.