''Greatest Hits'' is the first

greatest hits A greatest hits album or best-of album is a type of compilation album that collects popular and commercially successful songs by a particular artist or band. While greatest hits albums are typically supported by the artist, they can also be crea ...

compilation album by American hard rock band Aerosmith, released by Columbia Records on November 11, 1980.

Release and reception

Although the official website for Aerosmith lists the release for ''Greatest Hits'' as October 1980, and the album was originally scheduled for release on October 24, 1980, it was delayed until November 11, 1980. Some of the tracks were significantly edited from their original versions. The single version of "

Same Old Song and Dance "Same Old Song and Dance" is a song by American hard rock band Aerosmith, written by singer Steven Tyler and guitarist Joe Perry. Released on March 19, 1974, as the lead single from their second studio album, ''Get Your Wings'', it has remained ...

" was used, and was edited down almost a full minute. It also contained an alternate lyric which was not heard on ''

Get Your Wings ''Get Your Wings'' is the second studio album by American rock band Aerosmith, released on March 1, 1974. The album was their first to be produced by Jack Douglas, who also was responsible for the band's next three albums. Three singles were rel ...

''. The original lyric was "Gotcha with the cocaine, found with your gun." The alternate lyric, included on the compilation, was "You shady lookin' loser, you played with my gun." "

Sweet Emotion "Sweet Emotion" is a song by the American rock band Aerosmith from the band's third album '' Toys in the Attic''. It was released as a single on May 19, 1975. The song began a string of pop hits and large-scale mainstream success for the band ...

" also used the single version; it begins with the first chorus, cutting out the now famous

talk box A talk box (also spelled talkbox and talk-box) is an effects unit that allows musicians to modify the sound of a musical instrument by shaping the frequency content of the sound and to apply speech sounds (in the same way as singing) onto the sou ...

intro and the coda was replaced with a repeating chorus and fades out. " Kings and Queens" was also edited down, cutting the intro and certain other parts. "

Walk This Way "Walk This Way" is a song by the American rock band Aerosmith. Written by Steven Tyler and Joe Perry, the song was originally released as the second single from the album '' Toys in the Attic'' (1975). It peaked at number 10 on the ''Billboa ...

" was edited slightly, chanting the first chorus once instead of twice. The other remaining tracks were kept intact. On April 21, 1997, a slightly revised version, ''Greatest Hits 1973–1988'', was released outside the US, with the ten tracks in their edited versions retained, with five additional songs from the same era added, plus the 1991 version of "Sweet Emotion" and a live version of "One Way Street". ''Greatest Hits'' is the band's highest

RIAA certified In the United States, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) awards certification based on the number of albums and singles sold through retail and other ancillary markets.

album in the United States, having been certified 12× Platinum in 2021.

Track listing

Original version

Track listing - 1997 reissue

Track details same as Original Version track listing, except where noted.

Personnel

;Aerosmith * Steven Tyler – lead vocals, harmonica,

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Ex ...

, producer, arrangement * Joe Perry –

lead guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featu ...

, rhythm guitar,

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are ...

, arrangement, except on "Lightning Strikes" *

Brad Whitford Bradley Ernest Whitford (born February 23, 1952)Putterford, Mark (1991) ''The Fall and Rise of Aerosmith'', Omnibus Press, Strong, Martin C. (2001) ''The Great Metal Discography'' (2nd edn.), MOJO Books, , p. 11-13 is an American musician who i ...

– rhythm and lead guitar, producer, arrangement * Tom Hamilton – bass, producer, arrangement * Joey Kramer – drums, producer, arrangement ;Additional musicians * Jimmy Crespo – lead guitar, backing vocals on "Lightning Strikes" *

Michael Brecker Michael Leonard Brecker (March 29, 1949 – January 13, 2007) was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. He was awarded 15 Grammy Awards as both performer and composer. He was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from Berklee College of M ...

–

tenor saxophone The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (while ...

on "Same Old Song and Dance" and "Big Ten Inch Record" *

Randy Brecker Randal Edward Brecker (born November 27, 1945) is an American trumpeter, flugelhornist, and composer. His versatility has made him a popular studio musician who has recorded with acts in jazz, rock, and R&B. Early life Brecker was born on No ...

–

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...

on "Same Old Song and Dance" *Stan Bronstein – baritone saxophone on "Same Old Song and Dance" *Jon Pearson –

trombone The trombone (german: Posaune, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate ...

on "Same Old Song and Dance" *David Woodford –

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of Single-reed instrument, single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed (mouthpi ...

on "Mama Kin" *Scott Cushnie – keyboards,

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keybo ...

on "Big Ten Inch Record" * Jay Messina – bass marimba on "Sweet Emotion" ;Production * Jack Douglas – producer, arrangement * Adrian Barber – producer *

George Martin Sir George Henry Martin (3 January 1926 – 8 March 2016) was an English record producer, arranger, composer, conductor, and musician. He was commonly referred to as the " Fifth Beatle" because of his extensive involvement in each of the ...

– producer *

Ray Colcord Ray Colcord III (December 24, 1949 – February 5, 2016) was an American film and television composer known for TV series such as ''227'', ''Silver Spoons'', ''My Two Dads'', '' Dinosaurs'', '' Big Brother'', and ''Boy Meets World''. He is a form ...

– producer * Jay Messina –

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the limit ...

*Vic Anesini – remastering *

Janet Perr Janet Perr is an art director, graphic designer, author and illustrator. She has designed record covers, advertisements, posters, CD packages and book covers and is now the creator of the books ''Yiddish For Dogs'' (Hyperion, Sept. 2007) and ''Yi ...

– cover concept *John Berg –

design A design is a plan or specification for the construction of an object or system or for the implementation of an activity or process or the result of that plan or specification in the form of a prototype, product, or process. The verb ''to design' ...

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

External links

* * {{Authority control 1980 greatest hits albums Aerosmith compilation albums Columbia Records compilation albums Albums produced by Jack Douglas (record producer)