Live! Bootleg

iTunes Review

The 1970s were a time of great debauchery and also a time when illegal “bootleg” live recordings were a common sight at many record stores. Always playful, Aerosmith decided to design their double live album, another ‘70s staple, in the spirit of a bootleg, by mislabeling the track listing, leaving off “Draw the Line” and sneaking it in at the end of the James Brown number, “Mother Popcorn.” “Popcorn” and “I Ain’t Got You” are taken from a Boston radio broadcast from March 1973, while the remainder of the album is culled from concerts in 1977 and 1978. The versions included here are fairly raw and refreshing from the usual over-perfected live albums that made it to market. Aside from band classics such as “Back In the Saddle,” “Sweet Emotion,” “Toys In the Attic,” “Dream On” and “Walk This Way,” the album also features a cover of the Beatles’ “Come Together” (the studio version is on the soundtrack to the 1978 movie Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band) Future temporary Aerosmith guitarist Richard Supa’s excellent “Chip Away the Stone” makes it first album appearance.