Aerosmith's 15 greatest songs, ranked

8 August 2024, 10:44

Aerosmith from left to right: Joey Kramer, Tom Hamilton, Brad Whitford, Joe Perry, and Steven Tyler. (Ron Pownall/Getty Images). Picture: Getty

By Thomas Edward

Loading audio...

"The Bad Boys from Boston."

When Aerosmith came blasting out of the blocks, they quickly built a reputation for being a hard rock band with a penchant for rock 'n' roll excess.

Likely why the band's primary songwriting team of singer Steven Tyler and Joe Perry were affectionately dubbed "the toxic twins".

Despite their off-stage antics, Aerosmith established themselves as one of rock music's most intriguing prospects based on their hard-edged and humorous melange of blues, heavy rock, and glam.

Formed in 1971, Tyler's distinct and powerful shriek - and the unusually large mouth it came from - got Aerosmith noticed. From there they grew to become one of America's most beloved exports throughout subsequent decades.

They are the most successful hard rock band to come from the US, selling over 150 million records worldwide, winning four Grammy Awards, six American Music Awards, ten MTV Video Music Awards, and were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001.

Bonafide rock royalty, the music world was saddened when in 2024 the band announced they'd be retiring from touring with immediate effect as Tyler's iconic vocal was beyond repair after issues with his vocal cords.

Though Aerosmith might've not said goodbye to their fans they way they wished they had, their legacy as one of hard rock's finest operators will never diminish.

That said, we've ranked the very best fifteen Aerosmith songs from top to bottom to prove it:

'I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing'

Aerosmith - I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing (Live From Mexico City, 2016)

Aerosmith scored their first (and only) number one single in the US with 'I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing' after it featured as the soundtrack for 1998 blockbuster Armageddon.
Starring his daughter Liv Tyler (who had reconciled after finding out the singer was her dad) and action hero Bruce Willis, it established Aerosmith as a blockbuster band themselves, topping the charts after nearly thirty years of trying.
The power ballad was written by Diane Warren who intended "Céline Dion or somebody like that" to sing it, likely why its saccharine nature didn't go down too well with the band's head-banging fanbase.
'Shut Up and Dance'

AEROSMITH - Shut Up and Dance (Live)

Fans of Mike Myers' goofball rock comedy Wayne's World 2 will no doubt be fans of Aerosmith's 1994 single 'Shut Up and Dance' which appeared on album Get A Grip released the year before.
Being the band who pull through and headline the fictional 'Waynestock' festival at the film's finale, Aerosmith crack out the groovy metal pop number for the jubilant masses.
It was only released a single in the UK, likely due to the film's popularity seeing Queen's 'Bohemian Rhapsody' resurgence to the top of the charts, peaking at number 24.
'Pink'

Aerosmith - Pink

"Pink, it's like red but not quite." Not entirely sure if this particular hue warranted an entire song written about it, but Aerosmith made a charming number out of the subject matter regardless.
Released on their 1997 album Nine Lives, Tyler was quoted as saying "the only difference between pink and purple is the grip," still evidently intrigued by sexual innuendos.
'Pink' was a hit for Aerosmith though, and scored their their fourth (and final as it stands) Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal in 1999.
'Rag Doll'

Aerosmith - Rag Doll (Official Music Video)

Like the majority of Aerosmith's songs, 1987 hit 'Rag Doll' was about shagging.
Featuring on their comeback album, Permanent Vacation, the song was co-written by Tyler with songwriters Jim Vallance (who worked on tracks like Bryan Adams' 'Summer of '69') and Holly Knight (who wrote 'The Best' for Tina Turner) who was drafted in to tune up the track and turn it into a top 20 hit.
She revealed in a 2008 interview she was brought in to fix the song, which both she and Aerosmith felt awkward about.
"But I've had many, many people tell me that the contribution I made is what made it a hit. Sometimes just turning the screw is what makes all the difference."
'Train Kept A-Rollin'

The Train Kept A Rollin - Aerosmith | The Midnight Special

Tiny Bradshaw's American blues staple 'Train Kept A-Rollin' was revitalised by Aerosmith in 1974 and offered up to the hard rock mainstream after featuring on their second studio album, Get Your Wings.
Originally brought to the table by The Yardbirds in the mid-sixties when Jimmy Page was their guitarist, he then continued to perform the track with Led Zeppelin, with Tyler joining them to perform it when the rock pioneers were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995.
Tyler recalled seeing The Yardbirds perform in 1966 as a budding musician bagging a support slot in Connecticut - whose band was called Chain Reaction at the time - saying they "knocked my tits off" after playing this track. Clearly it made an impression.
'Mama Kin'

Aerosmith - Mama Kin (Live At The Summit, Houston, TX, June 25, 1977)

'Mama Kin' was one of the first songs Steven Tyler wrote as he congregated his band of rock 'n' rollers together in the early days, and it's a song Aerosmith have continued to belt out throughout their entire career.
With nods to The Rolling Stones' exceptional 1972 record Exile On Main Street with its flickering saxophone, 'Mama Kin' acted as a template for Aerosmith songs throughout the seventies, all street-wise strutting and boozed-up snarling.
Featuring on their self-titled 1973 debut album, Tyler had a canny method of songwriting in his early days - taking sleeping pills and garbling out words whilst Joe Perry played guitar. Guess it worked out of them.
'Cryin’'

Aerosmith - Cryin' (Official Music Video)

About a blissful relationship turned bad, Cryin'' is supposedly inspired by Steven Tyler's own problematic relationship with drugs.
Throughout the nineties as the band achieve more mainstream recognition, they dabbled in styles outside of hard rock, with 'Cryin'' taking on a country feel. "Listen to the lyrics," Tyler told Rolling Stone. "It was country - we just Aerosmith'd it."
The song is also famous for launching the acting career of Alicia Silverstone who featured in the music video for the earnest ballad that reached number twelve in the US charts upon its 1993 release.
'Janie’s Got A Gun'

Aerosmith - Janie's Got A Gun

Inspiration for Aerosmith's drama-laden track 'Janie's Got A Gun' came from Steven Tyler's darker recesses - it's about a father sexually abusing his daughter.
"I'd heard this woman speaking about how many children are attacked by their mothers and fathers. It was f**king scary. I felt, man, I gotta sing about this," he told Rolling Stone magazine.
The raw subject matter resonated with their fans and a wider audience however, paving the way for Aerosmith to win their first ever Grammy Award in 1991.
In the same interview with Rolling Stone however, Tyler did make a bit of a dodgy claim when discussing the song, saying: "How can a father not be attracted to his daughter, especially when she's a cross between the girl he married and himself?"
'Love In An Elevator'

Aerosmith - Love In An Elevator

Whilst Aerosmith had the capability to be meaningful and moody, they more often than not just had a laugh to showcase their rockin' musicianship. Case-and-point with 'Love In An Elevator'.
Yet another song about shagging, this time they relocated to the elevator where Steven Tyler had a few sexual anecdotes to draw upon for the song's inspiration.
Going gung-ho with the track's juvenile nature, 'Love In An Elevator' was a success for the band, charting at number five in the US and peaking at number thirteen in the UK.
'Back In The Saddle'

Aerosmith - Back In The Saddle (Live At The Summit, Houston, TX, June 25, 1977)

Despite guitarist Joe Perry "lying on the floor, stoned on heroin" whilst he wrote the riff to 'Back In The Saddle', it became one of his most enduring moments on the instrument.
The opener for the band's lauded 1976 album, Rocks, Tyler used the Wild West imagery to reiterate that Aerosmith were back at their best, ready to rock on stage - and between the bedsheets no doubt.
With a nod to Gene Autry's 1939 country classic 'Back In The Saddle Again', the fan favourite also served as the title for Aerosmith's 1984 tour when Joe Perry and rhythm guitarist Brad Whitford returned to the band's lineup after initially departing due to drug-fuelled in-fighting.
'Livin’ On The Edge'

Aerosmith - Livin' On The Edge (Official Music Video)

In 1993, Aerosmith wrote the most politically motivated song of their entire careers in the six-minute epic 'Livin' On The Edge'.
Influenced by the 1992 Los Angeles riots when the police officers accused of unlawfully beating black motorist Rodney King were acquitted, Tyler felt compelled to put pen to paper on the world being a crazy place in which people resist change and progress to the detriment of society at large.
Featuring on 1993 album, Get A Grip, the song includes the lyric "if you can judge a wise man by the colour of his skin then mister, you're a better man than I" which was lifted from The Yardbirds' song 'You're A Better Man Than I", another nod to the band's ingrained impact on the band.
'Dude (Looks Like A Lady)'

Aerosmith - Dude (Looks Like A Lady) (Official Music Video)

In 1987, Aerosmith hadn't had a hit single for nearly a decade. That was until 'Dude (Looks Like A Lady)' saw them comeback in a big way.
Daring for its time, Steven Tyler and Joe Perry were suggested to write with John Kalodner for their return to rock music's fore, given his success in co-writing Bon Jovi hits like 'Livin' On A Prayer' and 'You Give Love A Bad Name' as well as KISS' 'I Was Made You Loving You'.
Though Perry had concerns about the subject matter according to Kalodner: "Joe (Perry) stepped in and said, 'I don't want to insult the gay community.' I said, 'Okay, I'm gay, and I'm not insulted. Let's write this song'."
Taking the p*ss out of Motley Crüe's singer Vince Neil - and eighties hair metal at large - 'Dude (Looks Like A Lady)' reinvigorated Aerosmith's careers, which was solidified further still after the song featured in the iconic hoovering scene from 1993 comedy Mrs. Doubtfire.
'Walk This Way'

RUN DMC - Walk This Way (Official HD Video) ft. Aerosmith

'Walk This Way' is arguably the consummate Aerosmith song - a track about a promiscuous cheerleader leading an eager school boy through his first sexual encounter.
No doubt it appealed to the band's male teenage fanbase, though wasn't too explicit to get banned from the airwaves upon its 1975 release.
Featuring on Toys In The Attic, Perry's now-iconic riff was inspired by New Orleans funk and The Meters. "I just kind of danced around on the fretboard a little bit, and before I knew it, I had the guts of the song. It had that kind of funk thing to it."
One group who recognised the track's funk was hip-hop trio Run-DMC who convinced Tyler and Perry to re-record parts of the song and feature on their 1986 cover. It proved the right decision, as the track revived interest in Aerosmith and introduced them to an entire new generation of music lovers.
'Sweet Emotion'

Aerosmith - Sweet Emotion (Live At The Summit, Houston, TX, June 25, 1977)

'Sweet Emotion' was the result of fraying relationships within the band, whose consistent drug abuse was spiralling out of control. Ironically, it inspired a stone-cold classic.
The simmering tension throughout the intro points in the direction of an explosive chorus, which we get, with arguably Aerosmith's greatest-ever guitar riff. Though it was bassist Tom Hamilton who was responsible for it, not Joe Perry.
"I smoked a bowl or two and wrote the arrangements, the guitar parts," he recalled. "Steven took the intro, turned it around, changed key, and we used it as the tag, the resolution of the song. Brad, Joey, and I went home. Next time we heard 'Sweet Emotion,' it had the overdubs, the vocals, and I flipped out. I loved what they did with it."
It was no doubt Aerosmith's breakthrough track, seeing them chart in the top 40 for the very first time. They never looked back.
'Dream On'

Dream On - Aerosmith | The Midnight Special

'Dream On', whatever else could realistically top the ranking of Aerosmith's best songs?
It was the song that started everything, and the song that proved Steven Tyler's credentials as the "Demon of Screamin'".
Tyler had been working on 'Dream On' on-and-off for six years with various bands, coming up with the piano chords after reminiscing about his father playing the instrument to him as a child.
"It's about the hunger to be somebody: Dream until your dreams come true." Steven later revealed.
"This song sums up the sh*t you put up with when you're in a new band. Most of the critics panned our first album, and said we were ripping off the Stones. That's a good barometer of my anger at the press, which I still have."
"'Dream On' came of me playing the piano when I was about 17 or 18, and I didn't know anything about writing a song. It was just this little sonnet that I started playing one day. I never thought that it would end up being a real song."
Their first ever single, and one that saved them from being dropped by their label, 'Dream On' has gone on to become a soaring anthem for all hopeful musicians who hope to carve out an illustrious career just as Aerosmith did.