''Greatest Hits'', later re-released as ''Greatest Hits 1973–1988'', 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 creat ...

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one Performing arts#Performers, performer or by several performers. If the recordings are from ...

by American

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a heavier subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and Distortion (music), distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the Garage rock, garage, Psychedelic rock, psychedelic and blues ...

band

Aerosmith Aerosmith is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Boston in 1970. The group consists of lead vocalist Steven Tyler, bassist Tom Hamilton (musician), Tom Hamilton, drummer Joey Kramer, and guitarists Joe Perry (musician), Joe Perry and B ...

, released by

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American reco ...

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 remaine ...

" 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 15, 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 ...

''. 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, released in 1975 on their third studio album '' Toys in the Attic'' by Columbia Records. It was released as a single on May 19, 1975. The song began a string of pop hits and large ...

" 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 so ...

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

Track listing

Original version

1997 reissue

Track details same as original version track listing, except where noted.

Personnel

Aerosmith *

Steven Tyler Steven Victor Tallarico (born March 26, 1948), known professionally as Steven Tyler, is an American singer and songwriter. Tyler is best known as the lead singer of the Boston-based rock band Aerosmith, in which he also plays the keyboards, h ...

– lead vocals, harmonica,

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a percussion mallet, beater including attached or enclosed beaters or Rattle (percussion beater), rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or ...

, producer, arrangement * Joe Perry – lead guitar,

rhythm guitar In music performances, rhythm guitar is a guitar technique and role that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse (music), pulse in conjunction with other instruments from the rhythm section (e.g., d ...

, backing vocals, 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 ...

– rhythm and lead guitar, producer, arrangement * Tom Hamilton – bass guitar, producer, arrangement *

Joey Kramer Joseph Michael Kramer (born June 21, 1950) is an American musician best known as the drummer of the hard rock band Aerosmith, which was inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001. Personal life Kramer was born in the Bronx, New York C ...

– drums, producer, arrangement Additional musicians *

Jimmy Crespo Jimmy Crespo (born July 5, 1954) is an American guitarist. He was the lead guitarist for Aerosmith from 1979 until 1984. He co-wrote " Rock in a Hard Place" with Steven Tyler, and has performed or recorded with Rod Stewart, Billy Squier, Meat Loa ...

– 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 a performer and composer, received an honorary doctorate from Berklee College of Music in ...

–

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 (whi ...

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 music, rock, and R&B. Early life Brecker was ...

– trumpet on "Same Old Song and Dance" *Stan Bronstein –

baritone saxophone The baritone saxophone (sometimes abbreviated to "bari sax") is a member of the saxophone family of instruments, larger (and lower-pitched) than the tenor saxophone, but smaller (and higher-pitched) than the bass saxophone, bass. It is the lowe ...

on "Same Old Song and Dance" *Jon Pearson – trombone on "Same Old Song and Dance" *David Woodford – saxophone on "Mama Kin" *Scott Cushnie – keyboards, piano on "Big Ten Inch Record" * Jay Messina –

bass marimba The marimba ( ) is a musical instrument in the percussion family that consists of wooden bars that are struck by mallets. Below each bar is a resonator pipe that amplifies particular harmonics of its sound. Compared to the xylophone, the mari ...

on "Sweet Emotion" Production * Jack Douglas – producer, arrangement *

Adrian Barber Adrian Barber (13 November 1938 – 8 August 2020) was an English musician and producer most noted for recording the Beatles '' Live! at the Star-Club in Hamburg, Germany; 1962'', producing the Allman Brothers Band's self-titled debut album, alon ...

– 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 Beatle ...

– 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 Invention, invent, design, build, maintain and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials. They aim to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while ...

*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

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)