A Little South of Sanity (1998)


Disc One
1.Eat the Rich
2.Love in an Elevator
3.Falling in Love (Is Hard on the Knees)
4.Same Old Song and Dance
5.Hole in My Soul
6.Monkey on My Back
7.Livin' on the Edge
8.Cryin'
9.Rag Doll
10.Angel
11.Janie's Got a Gun
12.Amazing

Disc Two
1.Back in the Saddle
2.Last Child
3.The Other Side
4.Walk on Down
5.Dream On
6.Crazy
7.Mama Kin
8.Walk This Way
9.Dude (Looks Like a Lady)
10.What it Takes
11.Sweet Emotion

 

Aerosmith still owed one album to their former record company in 1998. Since they released a best-of package a few years earlier (Big Ones), it only made sense to conclude their deal with a live release. Rather than focusing on a single disc of mostly newer material, the band wisely chose a double set that spans their entire career. It was a good decision since the older stuff does sound a bit more spontaneous.

The newer Geffen material occupies most of the first CD, and it doesn't sound that much different from its studio counterparts. Yes, the songs are good, and we all know them, but, well...let's just say that it is possible to fall asleep during a live Aersosmith CD.

Fortunately the second disc makes up for the monotony. Focusing on their older tracks when they were a bit more wild, they sound more spontaneous, less rehearsed, more fresh and more exciting. Of course, there's basically nothing but hits here - which probably was close to how a show sounded at the time. The only non-hits here are Monkey on Your Back (great song, but nothing new with this version) and Joe Perry's Walk on Down which fortunately does improve on the original substantially. Of course, this was their fourth live release since 1978, and if the newer stuff isn't your thing, you have plenty of other concert CDs to choose from. If you like live CDs, and if you are a fan of the band's hits, then you really can't go wrong here, though.

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