Aerosmith: Steven Tyler (vocals, harmonica, piano); Joe Perry (acoustic guitar, electric guitar, 12-string guitar, slide guitar); Brad Whitford (electric guitar); Tom Hamilton (bass instrument); Joey Kramer (drums).

Additional personnel: Michael Brecker (tenor saxophone); Stan Bronstein (baritone saxophone); Randy Brecker (trumpet); Jon Pearson (trombone); Roy Colcord (keyboards).

Recording information: The Record Plant, New York, New York.

By the time Aerosmith released GET YOUR WINGS they were gaining serious momentum as edgy, sassy hard rock contenders. The band's sophomore effort, WINGS was the first time the five-piece band hooked up with eventual long-time producer Jack Douglas, and the result was an eight-song juggernaut of slashing guitars, pounding rhythms, and in-your-face attitude. The band's trademark dual-guitar raunch and vocalist Steven Tyler's vowel-chewing yelp can be heard loud and clear on slinky rockers like "Same Old Song and Dance" and "Pandora's Box."

The band turns in a scathing cover of Tiny Bradshaw's "Train Kept a Rollin'" (originally done by Aerosmith's heroes, the Yardbirds), a track that became a fixture in the band's live set. There are also songs about the prostitutes strolling outside the band's New York City recording studio ("Lord of the Thighs") and the edgy inevitabilities of living on the wrong side of the tracks ("S.O.S. [Too Bad]"). A too-often overlooked song on this record is "Seasons of Wither," a melancholy epic penned by Steven Tyler during a windy winter day in New Hampshire. GET YOUR WINGS defined the muscular, sexy sound that would make Aerosmith one of the best rock acts of the '70s, and is the band's first bona fide classic.

Q (4/01, p.92) - 3 stars out of 5 - "...Awash with red-eyed 'toking music' and punning song titles ('Lord Of The Thighs'), fleshed out with a version of The Yardbirds' 'Train Kept-A-Rollin'."