Aerosmith had their breakthrough record in 1975 with Toys in the Attic, but it would be the next year's follow-up, Rocks, that remains the fan favorite to this day among hardcore fans. It sees the Boston outfit at their most, well, rocking, on classics like "Back in the Saddle" and "Rats in the Cellar," alongside... Continue Reading →
Class of 1981: 81 Albums Turning 40 in 2021
Anniversaries are nothing new when it comes to music writing. It helps quite a bit during dry times when there isn't much else happening in the industry. That's been the case over the past several months due to the pandemic, and it will be for many more to come unfortunately. The silver lining is there's... Continue Reading →
It May Be the End of the Road for Classic Rockers Performing Big Gigs
Did you catch the Rolling Stones at the Linc last summer? How about Paul McCartney at Citizens Bank Park back in July 2016? Count yourself among the lucky then, as it very well could be the last time those acts will tour in front of such substantial crowds, another unfortunate side effect from the coronavirus... Continue Reading →
Aerosmith Meeting Obama to David Lee Roth Crashing a Wedding: Seven Reveals from Interviews with Vanyaland
Yesterday, as part of the 7th anniversary of Vanyaland celebration, I linked to a piece written for the online magazine about seven artists I personally think should be way, way more popular than they are. That was the first of two features I did for the landmark occasion, the second being seven revealing things I've... Continue Reading →
‘Toys in the Attic’ by Aerosmith, a Track-by-Track Guide
Unless you didn't get into Aerosmith until their second wave of mainstream popularity, the debate of which is the greatest album in their catalog comes down to two choices: Rocks or Toys in the Attic. The latter came out 45 years ago today, so for the occasion I broke it down track-by-track for Ultimate Classic... Continue Reading →
30 Years Ago: Aerosmith Party On with ‘Wayne’s World’ on ‘Saturday Night Live’
The popularity of 'Wayne's World' on Saturday Night Live was through the roof in 1990, and with Aerosmith at the height of their comeback that started a few years earlier when they collaborated with Run-DMC on a remake of "Walk This Way," it was a perfect storm for them to get together. Mike Myers, the... Continue Reading →
Voltage Factory Playlist 02 June 16
This week on The Voltage Factory I featured the debut album from The Smashing Pumpkins, Gish, which came out this week in 1991. It wouldn't be until the Chicago outfit's next effort, 1993's Siamese Dream, that they would receive mainstream success, despite the fact that bands like Nirvana, Soundgarden, et al were getting widespread acclaim in... Continue Reading →
Voltage Factory Playlist 05 MAY 16
Welcome to the first week of May with the Voltage Factory on VanyaRadio. It's still been a bit chilly on the East Coast, but there's some tentative hope of a warm up by this time next week. As always, the day after a new show runs, I’ll be posting the playlist here. There’s also an... Continue Reading →