Search - Aerosmith :: The Best of Aerosmith: 20th Century Masters - The Millennium Collection

Aerosmith's "Big Ones" redux

Paul Allaer | Cincinnati | 02/02/2008

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Music: 4 stars; Economic Value: 3 stars; Compilation relevance: 1 star



1994, at the end of Aerosmith's tenure with Geffen Records, the label issued a "best of" from the band's Geffen era, called "Big Ones". It was an excellent overview of Aerosmith's commercial and critical comeback years. Fast forward to Fall, 2007, when Universal issued an Aerosmith volume in its ongoing "20th Century Masters" series.



"20th Century Masters: The Best of Aerosmith" (12 tracks; 60 min.) presents a chronological overview of the band's best and biggest hits from 1987 through 1994. "Permanent Vacation" gets 3 songs; monster-albums "Pump" and "Get a Grib" each gets 4 songs, and "Deuces Are Wild" (from the Beavis & Butthead Experience movie soundtrack) rounds out the collection. Terrific songs, good collection as such, BUT....



If it strikes you as well that this is a virtual copy of "Big Ones", you are correct. Indeed, ALL TWELVE songs from this collection are on "Big Ones", which had 3 additional tracks (2 new songs and "Eat the Rich"). Given that both those collections sell for an identical $9.97 on Amazon and elsewhere, why in the world would anyone buy this 'new' collection?"

An absolute cash cow; Aerosmith deserves SO MUCH BETTER than

Johnny Boy | Hockessin, DE | 03/26/2010

(1 out of 5 stars)

"The '20th Century Masters' series is at it again -- this time with Aerosmith, one of America's finest rock and roll bands. This disc, which was released in the 2006-2008 time frame, if I'm not mistaken, was an awful idea then, and it sure doesn't hold up well in 2010. What a disgraceful compilation.



This '20th Century Masters' disc covers Aerosmith's latter day comeback era on the Geffen Records label -- 1988-1995. This was a big time period for Aerosmith. They were MTV regulars; quite a remarkable comeback for a group that had just a few years earlier considered disbanding because of all of the drug/alcohol problems within the band.



I like the Columbia era better, I'll admit, but I've got nothing against the Geffen years, personally, and I certainly am not ranking this disc one star because of the music. I LOVE Aerosmith, and believe me, this is very painful to write this review.



But, the problem is, THIS HAS BEEN DONE BEFORE. There's two discs out on the market already, 'Big Ones,' which covers the Geffen years, and which contains EVERY song here, and 'O Yeah!: Ultimate Aerosmith Hits,' which also contains EVERY single song here too. The sad part about that is 'Big Ones' was released in 1994, nearly 13 years before this was released, and 'O Yeah,' was released in 2002, also predating this disc by about 3-4 years.



And, another complaint. WHY DOES ALMOST EVERY GEFFEN-ERA AEROSMITH COMPILATION OMIT 1985's 'DONE WITH MIRRORS'!?! Argh! That's probably my favorite album of the era, and 'Young Lust' and the import 'Universal Masters Collection' are the only two compilations that give it rightful recognition. How disappointing that Geffen and UMG always seem to ignore that album.



The only positive about this disc is the sound quality, which is, admittedly very good. I don't own this disc, nor will I ever buy it, but I have heard before, and it does have very good sound, although not much better than the 'O Yeah!' disc.



Overall, '20th Century Masters' and the Universal Music Group try to deprive you of your hard-earned dollar by trying to lure you into buying the same thing AGAIN and AGAIN. Aerosmith summed it up best themselves in the early '70s: "It's the same old story, it's the same old song, and dance."



Stay away from this album. If you want a strictly Geffen era record, go buy 'Big Ones,' or if you have the pocket change, seek out the import 'Universal Masters Collection' (which is better than 'Big Ones' by a comfortable mile). Or, if you want just a solid introduction to Aerosmith's legendary catalogue, just buy 'O Yeah!: Ultimate Aerosmith Hits,' or buy the studio albums and listen to Aerosmith that way (which is what I strongly recommend).



NOT RECOMMENDED."