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Speaking of Aerosmith...


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Can anybody tell me why on the old LP, "Aerosmith's Greatest Hits", there's a different cut of "Sweet Emotion" than found on "Toys In the Attic" that got all the airplay?

 

For those unfamiliar, the "Greatest Hits" version starts out cold, with the group singing the refrain, "Sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet emooooooooooooo-shuuuuuuuun", minus the familiar bass and guitar intro. And the song fades out with the repitition of the refrain rather than the guitar solo.

 

..........why?

 

Whitefang

I started out with NOTHING...and I still have most of it left!
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I don't think so. The "Greatest Hits" version I described(or, TRIED to)is one I've heard nowhere else BUT on that LP. At the time, the version heard on "Toys In The Attic" was the same one heard on the radio. Unless you're talking about the AM band, which around here quit playing popular music by that time.

 

Whitefang

I started out with NOTHING...and I still have most of it left!
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Hello? WHAT "point"?

 

OK...like Denzel said in "Philadelphia", explain it to me like I'm a four year old.

 

Just what WOULD be the point of putting a version of a song on a greatest hits album that was neither on the original album's release, nor ever had any airplay? And be the ONLY song on the greatest hits LP that was different from the original release?

 

Whitefang

I started out with NOTHING...and I still have most of it left!
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Originally posted by Bunny.:

Just because you didn't listen to AM radio doesn't mean the AM radio version didn't get any airplay. That's called "ostrich logic." ;)

Well, like I said, around this area(Detroit)AM stations had long since quit playing popular music by the time that song was released. And the FM stations were of the what was called AOR(album oriented radio)variety. Were there actually AM stations in the mid '70's that played that kind of music in this country? If so, perhaps there's some merit in the explanation.

 

Except why Columbia would put an AM version of an Aerosmith song on a greatest hits collection, but keep OTHER just-as-long or longer FM versions on the same LP intact.

 

THAT'S what I'm trying to figure out.

 

Whitefang

I started out with NOTHING...and I still have most of it left!
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Cause they're dumb?

 

Cause they needed to fit the audio data on the disc, and they happened to already have a mix that was the length they needed?

 

Cause they want to keep up catalog sales of Toys In The Attic?

 

Cause they wanted to purposefully piss you off (they are a record label, you know)?

 

Tough to say for sure. These things happen.

 

- Jeff

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Originally posted by whitefang:

Just what WOULD be the point of putting a version of a song on a greatest hits album that was neither on the original album's release, nor ever had any airplay?

Ummm...Maybe they were planning on releasing a collectors special edition DVD with deleted scenes and restored footage? Plus interviews with the roadies and a studio intern.

 

That's my guess anyway.

Super 8

 

Hear my stuff here

 

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I believe that the Greatest Hits LP was put out with no input from the band, so some record company wonk decided which versions of which songs to include, so he or she probably chose the version that was more "marketable" (i.e., he or she decided that the average record buyer doesn't want to hear solos or intros and picked the version that more closely fit the three-minute single format that was prevalent on AM radio back then). Joe Perry said that the first time he heard of the Greatest Hits album was when a fan asked him to autograph a copy. Keep in mind that at the time he was one of the Toxic Twins, though...
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Originally posted by whitefang:

Just what WOULD be the point of putting a version of a song on a greatest hits album that was neither on the original album's release, nor ever had any airplay? And be the ONLY song on the greatest hits LP that was different from the original release?

 

Whitefang

It's the carrot. The reason that Aerosmith fans who already have all the albums to begin with would want to buy a GH album. For that demographic, the record company wants to milk just a little more money, so they give them something different, something they don't already have, at a minimal investment. In doing so, you extract redundant profits out of the listener, because they've already paid for the other tunes (having purchased the album the first time around); now you're getting them to buy the same songs again.
I've upped my standards; now, up yours.
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quote:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Originally posted by E-money:

I thought I remember hearing that when Aerosmith got back together (90s?), they re-recorded a new version of Sweet Emotion. Could this new version be the one on the Greatest Hits Album?--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

The early-90s video for "Sweet Emotion" coincided with the release of the Aerosmith boxset "Pandora's Box", and I believe the version to which you are referring is the original album cut and not a remake.

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One reason some people buy a greatest hits collection is because they might not have liked many of the other songs on the albums the "hits" come from. Or maybe, in my case with this one, they can't AFFORD to buy all the albums and figure the greatest hits LP will at least give them as many of the good tunes in one package. But as "Sweet Emotion" is about my favorite Aerosmith tune, and considered one of, if not THE, most popular of their output, the version Columbia put on that LP made the whole thing a disappointment. That opening bass work is the icing on the cake, and to excise it, AND the closing guitar solo fade-out, well, it's just an abomination.

 

Whitefang

I started out with NOTHING...and I still have most of it left!
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