Cover to Cover - Part One

Back in the late 80s, my brother and I started listening to Aerosmith. Singles from 1987's Permanent Vacation were all over the radio and MuchMusic and we enjoyed their blues-rock. Catchy melodies, great guitar riffs and straight forward beats - Aerosmith was good stuff. Between Permanent Vacation and its follow-up (1989's Pump) my brother and I both started checking out older Aerosmith albums from the public library. Albums like 75's 'Toys in the Attic' and 76's 'Rocks' were full of gems that far-outshone the band's then current material. Thank goodness we went back and listened to the old material, because if it hadn't been for those songs I would've never discovered two of my most appreciated bands.

Although I had heard of them before, I had never sat down to really listen to R.E.M. until I found out they had covered Aerosmith's 'Toys in the Attic' on 1987's Dead Letter Office. I took DLO out from the library and listened to the cover. It was loose...exceedingly loose, frivolous and fun. The cover version was enjoyable because it hearkened the original, but added something of it's own.

Now, any R.E.M. fan knows that 'Dead Letter Office' is pretty much bottom of the barrel when it comes to their extensive catalogue. But I listened to that album over and over and over, taking in a style of music I had never heard yet: the beginning of alt-rock. On the next visit to the library, I checked out 1986's 'Life's Rich Pageant', 1987's 'Document' and 1988's 'Green'. After enjoying 'Dead Letter Office', a collection of throw away recordings and b-sides, those three albums were unbelievable. Rich lyrics, dueling vocals, earthy production. Thanks to Aerosmith, I had a new favourite band.