Aerosmith - Young Lust: The Aerosmith Anthology

Aerosmith's reign as America's greatest hard-rock heroes seemed all but over at the end of the '70s, the victim of internal squabbles, drug abuse, and a cocooned, decadent environment. Set against that backdrop, their '80's label switch and resurgence--and an eventual iconic, widespread acceptance even more pervasive than during their "prime"--was initially as gratifying as it was unlikely. This double-disc, 34-track compilation of the Geffen years chronicles a not-so-young band clawing their way back to the top with a hungry frenzy that shamed many upstarts half their age. With all the high points intact (including their groundbreaking rock-rap redux of "Walk this Way" with Run D.M.C., "Rag Doll," "Dude (Looks Like a Lady)," "Love In an Elevator," "Janie's Got a Gun," "The Other Side," Cryin'" et al.), this compilation offers up the expected live extras (a handful of old hits and '90's staples), soundtrack cuts ("Deuces Are Wild" and the Doors' "Love Me Two Times") and sundry rarities (including the non-album cuts "Don't Stop" and "Can't Stop Messin'," B-side "Head First," and Japan-only "Ain't Enough")--though, sadly, no "Theme to Wayne's World." But by its waning tracks, it also documents the encroaching influences of hired-gun tunesmiths like Desmond Child and Glen Ballard, and the band's troubling tendency to hew ever closer to the middle-of-the-road as its fame burgeoned. Younger listeners may well treasure this album as a history of Aerosmith's golden years, B.D.--as in before Diane (Warren). --Jerry McCulley Amazon.com

A Perfect Aerosmith Overview

If someone were new to the band Aerosmith I would definitely recommend two CDs,one would be this collection and the other would be "O'Yeah" between these 2 collections the casual fan would have all the essential Aerosmith tunes recorded both during their Columbia career and their Geffen career

sure,some of the songs are repeated,but the bonus and hard to find tracks are well worth buying both sets
in fact,even if you are like me and own every Aerosmith album,it's still worth buying both collections for the convenience of having all the songs on 2 easy to carry CDs and of course for the bonus materials

normally I'm very irritated by bands that release numerous 'greatest hits' packages (for example,Kiss,Iron Maiden,Heart,Def Leppard,Motley Crue,Poison,to name a few) but in the case of Aerosmith I would definitely recommend this one and 'O Yeah' ,as for the original 'greatest hits' collection,it is all songs from the 70s and all the songs can be found on 'O Yeah' except for 'Remember' and 'Come Together' but you can either download those two songs (legally of course) or buy the CD since it is relatively inexpensive,same with the latest 'greatest hits' package,it features all the same songs found on these 2 collections except for 2 new songs (which are both really good) but can be legally downloaded very inexpensively

back to the point here...this CD collection 'Young Lust' features the songs from the bands Geffen years,and does a nice job of covering every album from that time period (unlike 'Oh Yeah' which ignores 'done with mirrors' completely) and shows why the band dominated the airwaves and MTV throughout the late 80s early 90s...this is essential listening for all fans of rock music
and is a great overview (along with O Yeah) for anyone that is just discovering these great American rock legends!

the upside - has all the hits you could ever want from the Geffen years in one easy to carry package

the downside - can't really think of any

the bottom line - If you love Aerosmith,or rock in general,run out and buy this CD...donutman says so!!! March 12, 2007

I must say, I'm liking the cover :)

This is a great collection from an incredible band. Though not the best, as it doesn't have some of it's hit songs in their hit forms, like live or acoustic, it's still one of the better collections. Though I noticed it has almost the same song list as the later album, " Aerosmith Gold". Of the two, I suggest this one. Plus, just look at the cover of "Young Lust"! Anyways, this or "Gold" along with "Aerosmith" and "Toys in The Attic" would be a good buy. This along with "Aerosmith's Greatest Hits" would be a bad buy because on the greatest hits, the songs, like "Sweet Emotion", are edited WAY to much. I have the unfortunate fortune to have "Young Lust" and "Aerosmith's Greatest Hits". The live "Dream On" on this and "Gold" from "A Little South of Sanity" is very well done for a live, though it's still better to have the original studios as well. This is a very good buy, better than "Gold". AEROSMITH ROCKS! July 4, 2006

Young Lust

Particularly if you don't have any of their other albums, or if you have giant gaps in your mid-years Aerosmith collection, this is a great anthology. It includes a lot of odds, ends, and B-sides from their other albums, plus the greats, like Elevator, Ragdoll, Dude Looks Like a Lady, and the Run DMC Walk this Way. There's also a four song live segment, and while the live Dream On and Fallin' in Love are fabulous tracks, I think the live Sweet Emotion is weaker than the studio. Because this is a one-label anthology, it's missing most of the comeback hits (Pink, Don't Wanna Miss a Thing, Jaded, etc.) which is a real disappointment. Still, a great listen and well worth the money. January 30, 2005

(...)kicking aerosmith does it again and again

whether your a die hard fan or a new listener...you will love this cd with all of the best songs of aerosmith who are by far one of the last few REAL hard rock bands around who can still get down and dirty January 16, 2005

****1/2 - a really good latter-day overview

"Young Lust - The Aerosmith Anthology" chronicles Aerosmith's Geffen-years from the mid-eighties onward.
Gathering 34 singles, album tracks and live cuts, it offers a fine retrospective, and it manages to include almost all of the best songs from Aerosmith's last six studio albums. This is pretty much all that the casual fan will need.

Having said that, I would have preferred a leaner version of "Amazing" to the orchestrated one included here, but the acoustic rendition of the hit "Livin' On The Edge" is really good, and Run-DMC's take on the sublime hard rock song "Walk This Way" is included, too.
The live versions of "Dream On" and "Sweet Emotion" are sort of pointless, though, and those two should have been left off in favour of two or three more songs from the band's Geffen years, but the selection is generally very good, and small flaws like those I just mentioned don't really ruin the overall impression.

The MTV-staples "Dude (looks like a lady)" and "Love In An Elevator" are here, as well as power ballads like "Angel", "Cryin'", and "Crazy", the underrated blues shuffle "Hangman Jury", the melodic (and disturbing) "Janie's Got A Gun", and several other smashes like "The Other Side", "What It Takes", and the hard rockers "Eat The Rich", "Head First", "Let The Music Do The Talking", "Rag Doll", and "My Fist Your Face".
"Young Lust" also includes and excellent version of the Door's "Love Me Two Times", as well as "Deuces Are Wild", "Blind Man" and "Walk On Water", the three previously unreleased songs from Aerosmith's earlier Geffen compilation, "Big Ones".

This well-annotated double disc compilation is the best available overview of Aerosmith's latter-day output. Get this one, and the excellent box set "Pandora's Box" for the 'Smith's seventies classics, and you're set! July 31, 2004

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