Toys in the Attic is the third studio album by American rock band Aerosmith, released on April 8, 1975, by Columbia Records.

[2] The album is the band's most commercially successful studio LP in the United States, with nine million copies sold, according to the RIAA.

In the liner notes to the 1993 reissue of Greatest Hits, it was said by an unnamed member of the group that they "nailed" the album.

"[6] In the band memoir Walk This Way, guitarist Joe Perry stated, "When we started to make Toys in the Attic, our confidence was built up from constant touring.

"[7] In his autobiography, Perry elaborated: Our first two albums were basically comprised of songs we'd been playing for years live in the clubs.

The band entered the sessions with just three or four songs, and for the first time, wrote most of the material while recording.

Steven was a brilliant lyricist, and funny, and self-deprecating and aware of what was going on in the world and what was going on in the streets, but he had set a bar for himself that was so high that it was really difficult for him.

[10] Perry continues, "It is really hard to have everything make sense, tell a story rhythmically, rhyme, fit in the fabric, and he's got his own demons that he has to satisfy.

Tyler explains, "Years ago I had this friend who would send me tapes of his radio show, and that's how we ended up covering "Big Ten-Inch Record."

"[15] Rather than produce a rock reimagining, Aerosmith's cover largely stays true to the original song, down to its jazz-style instrumentation.

"[16] Bassist Tom Hamilton came up with the main riff on "Sweet Emotion", partially inspired by the Jeff Beck composition "Rice Pudding".

[17] Hamilton explains its history: "Believe it or not, the intro to the song and the bass part that I play during the verses, were written while I was in high school.

"[18] He continues, "I wrote that line on bass, and I realized I should think of some guitar parts for it if I was ever going to get a chance to present it to the band.

I didn't think I ever would ... Steven had the idea of taking that intro riff, which became the chorus bass line under the "sweet emotion" part, and transposing it into the key of E, and making it a really heavy Led Zeppelinesque thing.

"[21] Tyler explains that "No More No More" was inspired by "life on the road: boredom, disillusion, Holiday Inns, stalemate, jailbait.

Tyler had written the opening and closing piano melody years earlier, having played it during the coda to "Dream On" on 1971: The Road Starts Hear.

Loving that band's "riffy New Orleans funk, especially 'Cissy Strut' and 'People Say'", he asked drummer Joey Kramer "to lay down something flat with a groove on the drums",[23] and the guitar riff to what would become "Walk This Way" just "came off [his] hands.

"[24] When singer Steven Tyler heard Perry playing that riff he "ran out and sat behind the drums and [they] jammed.

Douglas explains, "I told the band we needed one more up-tempo track, and Joe plays a burner, a thing so hot and hard and heavy that we're just totally blown away.

"[10] Deciding to take a break from recording, band members and producer Jack Douglas went down to Times Square to see Mel Brooks' Young Frankenstein.

Returning to the studio, they were laughing about Marty Feldman telling Gene Wilder to follow him in the film, saying "walk this way" and limping.

"[10] At the beginning of 1975, the band started working at The Record Plant in New York City for the album that became Toys in the Attic.

Once again, Douglas booked rehearsal space for the band to allow time for creativity and help them to develop material for the album before going into the studio.

Tom Hamilton explains, "We would record the tracks, and Steven and Joe would stay because they were doing most of the overdubs, and the rest of us had to go home to save money.

I guess the reason it turned out so well was because we had the perfect combination of great songs and the kind of fired-up spirit that you get after a lot of touring.

Rolling Stone's Gordon Fletcher compared the album unfavourably to Get Your Wings, which in his opinion, was "testimony to the band's raw abilities."

He criticised Douglas's production and wrote that, despite "good moments," the band did not avoid "instances of directionless meandering and downright weak material.

"[40] Robert Christgau was more positive, and remarked on the progress Aerosmith had made in a short time, musically and lyrically.

AllMusic critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine remarked how Aerosmith "finally perfected their mix of Stonesy raunch and Zeppelin-esque riffing," thanks to "an increased sense of songwriting skills and purpose," creating a new style that "fully embraced sleaziness" in Tyler's lyrics, backed by "an appropriately greasy" music.

[42] The album would gain renewed attention in 1986, 11 years after its release, when hip-hop group Run-DMC covered "Walk This Way" with Aerosmith.