Posted on: December 25, 2008 Posted by: anfnewsacct Comments: 0

Aerosmith has had a number of “greatest hits” collection. I am a moderate fan of the band, and I can recall two; “Big Hits” and “Young Lust”. Apparently, there was also “O, Yeah”, “Aerosmith’s Greatest Hits”, and “Gems”. So, the question is why should anyone pick up this album if they have any of the albums described previously? Well, the first reason is that tracks from Aerosmith’s entire career are present here, rather than stopping with whatever year any of the previous greatest hits collections were released. Second, fans of Aerosmith should pick up this album because it has two new tracks, stuck at the end: the title track, and “Sedona Sunrise”. Finally, the tracks on this CD are ordered chronologically instead of having some odd way of ordering them.

This allows individuals, both knowledgeable and not, to see how the band has expanded and refined their sound over the forty years that they have been playing music. This album is a pickup for anyone that wants a very brief retrospective of Aerosmith’s work, while individuals that want something a little more substantive should do well in purchasing a number of albums or the earlier box set “Pandora’s Box”. Hardcore fans will have already heard the two “new” tracks, as they are each from a few years back, but this album seems to be ready to be stuffed in stockings throughout the United States for the holidays. There seems to be some variation between the versions given to other countries, as the Phillipines’ version has more in the way of “newer” Aerosmith songs at the loss of tracks like “Rag Doll” and “Back In The Saddle”.

The American version of “Devil’s Get A New Disguise” has all periods of Aerosmith’s career equally well covered and will provide casual listeners with more than enough in the way of tracks to sing along with. Hopefully this Greatest Hits will allow Aerosmith to follow up in a shorter period of time and release something in the way of a new or live album come 2007. As I said, if you have an Aerosmith greatest hits, take a look at this track list and determine whether the purchase is worth it. However, if you don’t have anything in the way of Aerosmith discs and want to get started with the band, this may just be the smartest and cheapest Aerosmith purchase that can be made.

Top Tracks: Sedona Sunrise, Crazy

Rating: 6.7/10

Aerosmith – Devil’s Get A New Disguise / 2006 Columbia / 18 Tracks / http://www.aerosmith.com / http://www.columbiarecords.com /

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