More sullied and tarnished legacy: Aerosmith or the Rolling Stones...

[vi5]

Both bands early work pretty much epitomizes bad-ass rock and roll in both sound, image, vibe, attitude, whatever.

And both bands have regularly and consistently turned themselves into a complete mockery of all that they once were by continuing to put out sub-par, pure crap albums and by continuing to get up on stage and perform as though they are not right on the edge of being senior citizens.

[MaineDem]

1. Joe Perry is still hot!

I like the Boston band! But I have to hand it to both bands that they're still kicking after all these years. See what good living will do for you. :evilgrin:

[vi5]

2. Hmm....I can't vouch for his hotness....

But I have to admit that he doesn't look all that much different than he did back in the day.

[latebloomer]

3. My ex-boyfriend's ex-wife married him

and she has her kids tutored so they can travel with him all over the world on his gigs.

I can think of several good reasons why she might want to do this, first among them the tendency of women to throw themselves at his feet.

I never quite saw his appeal, myself. . .

[geebensis]

4. I've been saying for years

That if go the rest of my life without hearing Aerosmith again I'll be perfectly happy. I tolerated them in junior high, but 25 years later they make my skin crawl.

mm

[DoctorBombay]

5. Aerosmith has been regressing for years

The Stones were a great band for many, many years.

Aerosmith, after a couple of pretty good albums that came out in the mid-70s, have progressively gotten worse and worse. I think that song from that crappy asteroid or meteor or whatever movie was rock bottom.

[vi5]

6. And the Stones haven't?

Granted I think the Stones have a better positive body of work then Aerosmith, but still at least Aerosmith was successful at making themselves relevant to a younger audience and consistently has had hits throughout the 90's (However horrible those songs actually were). The Stones continue to flounder creatively with new material. The Stones would be better off going the Who route and not putting out any new material and just touring every 5 years or so.

[mitchum]

7. Rolling Stones because they had so much farther to fall

Even when they were good, Aerosmith were just kings of the parking lot. As someone said, "Your favorite band in high school"

[xJlM]

8. The fact that they're all still alive...

With the exception of Brian Jones, they've all survived through a legacy of airplane crashes and drug overdoses for R'N'R musicians. The very fact that Keith Richards, Joe Perry and Steven Tyler are still alive is a statement on it's own.

[NightTrain]

9. The Stones have the more sullied legacy

Why? Because even well into their decline, the Stones could demolish an Aerosmith at the peak of its powers! As such, Jagger and Company had a lot more to lose by refusing to pack it in when they still kicked ass.

[Alexander]

10. Well, I'd say the Stones, because Aerosmith never impressed me.

Aerosmith is basically an American clone of the Stones. Not much creativity or originality about it, and Steven Tyler's voice can get really annoying. I like a couple of their songs, but for the most part it's the "let's sound as much like the Stones as we can" band.

The Stones have been at it for 40 years - and still sell-out every damn place they go. That being said, their newer stuff (Dirty Work, anyone?) sucks. A lot. They were at their peak just before Brian Jones left the band (and drowned), then after he left and Mick Taylor joined in, they decided to play a lot of country and funky 70's tunes, which rubbed me the wrong way. But their more blues rock-ish songs were still great. Then Ronnie Wood joined, and they churned out a couple of decent albums with "Some Girls" and "Tattoo You", and then it all went to hell.

Bill Wyman's departure was the final nail in the coffin. Now they're just a self-parody (and I say this in the nicest way possible, having gone to their most recent concert in Hartford). Mick jumps around and does the pointy fingers, Keith looks and sounds like hell from all the drugs he's done, Charlie looks bored, and Ronnie acts like all the classic songs they played originally had him playing on them.

[ZoCrowes]

11. Oh please

The Stones were at their peak AFTER Brian Jones left. Mick Taylor was one million times the musician (yes I said musician NOT guitarist) that Brian Jones was. The only reason that he is regarded as such a genius is because he DIED. I have nothing against Brian. He was an integral part of the EARLY Stones but once they got rid of his bloated dead weight they soared (until Mick, Keef and Mick became bloated dead weight as well.)

I'll agree with you on Some Girls and Tatoo You. Woodie lit a spark under their asses for a short period of time.

[Dancing_Dave]

12. Nothing can tarnish the glorious legacy of the Stones!

And I hope they'll keep doing their thing for as long as Johnny Lee Hooker or Bob Hope!

[last_texas_dem]

13. The Stones

I'd have to say their legacy is more "tarnished", but only because their earlier work is so great in comparison to the stuff they've done mid-eighties-on. After so many great album, it only makes sense that a band is going to lose some amount of "relevance". They've certainly paid their dues, though, and you have to (or at least I do) give a band credit for not throwing in the towel and just living off past glories, especially a band like the Rolling Stones who could totally do that if they wanted to.

(Also, for what it's worth, I have to agree with Alexander and take the somewhat less popular view that the Brian Jones years were their peak period.)

As for Aerosmith, I almost look at them as having two distinctly different eras, one being their seventies to early/mid-eighties work v. the "Permanent Vacation" on era. And I think both eras are great. Sure, their style changed a bit, and "I Don't Wanna Miss a Thing" was cloying, but their nineties stuff is still great hard rock IMHO. I'm certainly no musical purist, though. They're also the greatest live band *I've* ever seen- and yeah, I've only been to a dozen concerts, but you've gotta start somewhere. Aerosmith hasn't tarnished their legacy in the least the way I see it. Their work since their comeback has actually given them more of a legacy than I believe they would've had if they'd simply gone under in the eighties.