Aerosmith's second studio album, released March 15, 1974 on Columbia Records and the first to be produced by Jack Douglas — a partnership that would carry the band through their commercial peak. Recorded at the Record Plant in New York between December 1973 and January 1974, Get Your Wings didn't chart high on release (it peaked at #74 on the Billboard 200) but slow-burned its way to 3x Platinum in the US, eventually clearing three million copies.
The lineup is the classic one: Steven Tyler, Joe Perry, Brad Whitford, Tom Hamilton, and Joey Kramer. Bob Ezrin (Alice Cooper, Pink Floyd) is credited as executive producer; Douglas, who'd just engineered the first New York Dolls record, ran the actual sessions with engineer Jay Messina.
Cool stuff:
- The cover of "Train Kept A-Rollin'" is a sleight-of-hand: the band wanted a live take, but Jack Douglas talked them into a studio version, then faked the live audience and arena ambience in the second half of the recording — a half-studio, half-fake-live track
- Joe Perry has said the lead-guitar solos on "Train Kept A-Rollin'" weren't actually played by Perry or Whitford — Douglas brought in session guitarist Steve Hunter and Dick Wagner (who were Lou Reed's Rock 'n' Roll Animal guitarists) to add the leads. Perry has talked about the awkwardness of this in later interviews
- First Aerosmith album with Jack Douglas at the controls — he'd produce Toys in the Attic, Rocks, and Draw the Line next, the band's commercial and creative peak
- Cover artwork features the band's first winged logo, a precursor to the now-iconic Aerosmith mark
- The album opens with "Same Old Song and Dance," which became a staple of FM rock radio and the band's live set for the next 50 years
Spin it for: the album where Aerosmith stopped sounding like a Stones bar band and started sounding like Aerosmith — Jack Douglas-era hard rock at its inception.
Standouts: "Same Old Song and Dance" · "Train Kept A-Rollin'" · "Seasons of Wither" · "S.O.S. (Too Bad)"
Sources: Wikipedia · Best Classic Bands — Jack Douglas interview · Classic Rock Review · Aerosmith Temple · Discogs