By Akeana Rootes, DBC Intern
Numerous rock albums are turning 50 years old in 2025. Yet, three stand out because they helped these musicians establish their dominant roles in the industry.
Aerosmith was formed in 1970 in Boston, and its sound was known for being similar to the Rolling Stones. Aerosmith’s first album (“Aerosmith”) peaked at No. 21 on the US Billboard 200 chart and the second album (“Get Your Wings”) only rose to No. 74 on this chart. These albums had individual success but Aerosmith’s third album called “Toys in the Attic” was released on April 8, 1975 and it rose to No. 11 on the US Billboard 200 chart and showed Aerosmith’s members that they could really make it in the industry. This was the first album that the band had to fully write from scratch, which may have been challenging, but they understood what their fans were enjoying based on the music they were playing on tour.
“We had an idea of what songs were working for us live at that point, and so we kind of had an idea of what direction we wanted the songs to go in,” guitarist Joe Perry said. “We knew we wanted to play some up-tempo songs, some shuffle songs and some blues rock. But though we knew what kind of songs we wanted, we didn’t really know how it was going to turn out.”
This newfound confidence was also sparked by bassist, Tom Hamilton, who believed that he was playing at the highest level in his career, and he believed that his talent had caught up to the rest of the guys’.
With the tough love from their producer Jack Douglas, this album helped make Aerosmith a prominent name in the industry and put them up there with the best of the best. After playing on tour together they gained immense experience and realized what it was going to take to go down in history. According to the Recording Industry Association of America, nine million copies of “Toys in the Attic” were sold, making it the band’s most successful LP (long-playing record). The songs “Sweet Emotion” and “Walk This Way” are two of their most famous songs. “Sweet Emotion” made its way to No. 36 and “Walk This Way” hit No. 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
A couple months after Aerosmith’s success on their third album in 1975, Bruce Springsteen finally got his taste of success because of his third album called “Born to Run.” This album came out on August 25, 1975 and climbed to No. 3 on Billboard’s Top LPs & Tape chart. It even ranked No. 1 on Record World’s chart. This success was new to Springsteen, whose first two albums in 1973, “Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J., and The Wild, The Innocent & The E Street Shuffle,” only reached No.60 and No. 59 on the Billboard 200 chart.
“Born to Run” was such a success because Springsteen took the pressure that he was feeling at 25 years-old with Columbia Records breathing down his throat and turned it into an album that many who were struggling to relate to. He was still grappling with being a young adult and finding his place in the world and people gravitated to this album, which created this “it’s okay to struggle and take it day-by-day” mantra. Years later, people still got excited over his performance of these songs off the album because they remember the place in life in which they were at and now those feelings come rushing back as they listen. They get the chance to reflect on how far they have come, and so does Springsteen.
“I wanted to make the greatest rock record that I’d ever heard, and I wanted it to sound enormous and I wanted it to grab you by your throat and insist that you take that ride, insist that you pay attention, not to just the music, but just to life, to feeling alive, to being alive,” Springsteen said.
For many, it lived up to Springsteen’s expectation.
Third time’s charm wasn’t the case for Kiss, but the fourth time was. On September 10, 1975 Kiss released “Alive!” The first three albums weren’t successful because they did not capture the energy that the lively band was bringing to the table. Kiss took a very different approach than most bands. They were extremely loud and had an intense stage presence. All four members wear Kabuki-style makeup and outfits to compliment the makeup. Other theatrics included bassist Gene Simmons spitting fire and fake blood. People enjoyed the novelty of the performance, so the head of Casablancas Neil Bogart encouraged Kiss to release a concert recording. Four shows were recorded and edited for this album. Bogart saved the day because without this suggestion, who knows if Kiss’ music would have ever attracted fans solely. The recording company was saved with this album’s success, and “Alive!” made it up to No. 9 on Billboard’s 200 chart.
Without perseverance, confidence and taking risks these musicians maybe would have never made their mark on rock music. Happy Anniversary and hopefully there are many more musicians who take inspiration from these stories and take a chance on themselves.
