Rats in the Cellar: Aerosmith’s Gems at 35
Why its the Boston band’s greatest compilation
Aerosmith has about 16 different “Best Of” type compilations in their catalog, but there’s only one worth owning: Gems, originally released on November 15, 1988.
Around this same time, the band was riding high on the success of their second album for Geffen Records, 1987’s Permanent Vacation, with its last single, “Rag Doll,” rocking AOR and Top 40 radio all throughout the summer of ’88. With the holiday season approaching, and the fact there hadn’t been a proper Aerosmith compilation released since 1980’s Aerosmith’s Greatest Hits, the folks at Columbia Records felt it was high time to put something together. Only the cats they seemed to choose for the job at the time, which includes project administrator John Ingrassia, project director James Diener, engineer Mark Wilder and creative supervisor Keith Garde, appeared to be dead set on assembling the greatest Aerosmith album ever. It almost feels like a reaction to their Geffen success, as if to remind fans that the group might have been hot shit in the late 80s, but you’re gonna have to look back at the ‘70s if you want to hear the band at its very best.
I mean, what kind of wizard puts together an Aerosmith comp where we see “No Surprize” from 1979’s Night in the Ruts go into “Mama Kin” off 1973’s eponymous first album into “Adam’s Apple” from the seminal 1975 third LP Toys in the Attic? Then flip over to side B, where a Jimmy Crespo classic (“Jailbait” from 1982’s underrated Rock in a Hard Place) is sandwiched between a pair of aces from 1974’s Get Your Wings in “Lord of the Thighs” and the group’s riotous cover of the Yardbirds’ “Train Kept A Rollin’.” The rarity tacked on to entice the completists, meanwhile, was the studio version of “Chip Away The Stone,” a song written by guitarist Joe Perry’s temporary replacement Richard Supa that originally appeared on the Live! Bootleg concert album.
I recently picked up a second copy of Gems for 50 cents at my local record shop on CD, and it hasn’t left my car since. If there’s one Aerosmith collection that truly defines what puts these Boston boys on the short list for the Greatest American Rock Band, it’s Gems. If you see a copy out in the wild, do not hesitate to get it.
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