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2 of 2 found the following review helpful:
 A collection of material that is just that...some gems to enjoy! Feb 13, 2006
With "Gems", Aerosmith gives us some more of their backlog of hits that were screaming "don't forget about us!" during the bands commercial explosiveness of the late 80's and beyond.
The songs found on this particular album are perhaps the most metal/strongest to date. Powerful, gritty and raw, yet still smoothe enough to keep up with the growling, signature screeching that frontman Steven Tyler screeches throughout the record.
"Lick and a Promise" and "Chip away the stone" are great lil rock gems that aren't to fast or to slow, and get the message across. The most prolific rock songs to me coming from this album are "No Surprize" which have an awesome sounding crescendo when Tyler speaks to us "Midnight lady,Situation fetal,Vaccinate your a** with your phonograph needle.." and WHAM in comes the signature guitar lick from Perry that I never tire of hearing! "Critical Mass" and "Nobodies Fault" are also great raw rollicking tunes as well. Gems is aptly named, as we can relish some of the bands earlier sometimes blasting rockers coupled with a Blues feel on the slower tracks.
2 of 5 found the following review helpful:
 Good, but almost useless Sep 13, 2005
Released in 1988, this compilation is a set of Aerosmith lesser known, but still excellent songs. It contains the band's selected records from their self-titled debut (1973) to Rock In A Hard Place (1982). So, You've got the no-hits, but rockin' gems here like No Surprize, Lick And A Promise, one of Aerosmith's most underrated songs Rats In The Cellar, and also the more known two, Train Kept A Rollin' and Mama Kin, just to mention a few. This album also includes very rare studio version of Chip Away The Stone. After all, there's still something to be desired. I'm a bit disappointed by the track selection. Where's Big 10 Inch Record, Write Me A Letter, Milk Cow Blues, or Reefer Head Woman? It would be better to replace weird Round And Round or the famous Mama Kin with some of those tunes.
After all, this compilation is just useless. All of those songs have been already released on the original albums. Even Chip Away The Stone has already appeared on Live! Bootleg and though version included here is a cool gem to own, You can go on without it.
So, instead of getting this, I advise getting their 70s albums instead - You won't regret the money and You'll see there are many more gems in Aerosmith's catalogue.
ONE OF THE ONLY 2 AEROSMITH CDS I OWN Aug 13, 2004
THIS IS NOT A GREATEST HITS ALBUM. BUT, AN ATTEMPT TO CASH IN ON SOME OF AEROSMITH'S 1970S SONGS. EVEN THOUGH IT'S JUST A COLLECTION OF OLD AEROSMITH SONGS WITH NO NEW MATERIAL AT ALL. BUT, IT IS A VERY GOOD CD TO HAVE FOR ANY AEROSMITH FAN. THE MOST POPULAR SONG ON THIS CD IS ''MAMA KIN''. OTHER THAN THAT, THE REST OF THE SONGS ARE JUST OLD ALBUM TRACKS THAT NEVER WERE SINGLES. THE SONGS I LIKED THE MOST ARE OF COURSE ''MAMA KIN'', ''CHIP AWAY THE STONE'', ''RATS IN THE CELLAR'', AND ''LICK IN A PROMISE''. THESE ARE ALL GREAT SONGS FROM THE BEST TIME PERIOD OF AEROSMITH'S CAREER, WHICH WAS THE 1970S. A GREAT BUY FOR ANY AEROSMITH FAN. AND TO MAKE THINGS BETTER, IT'S PRETTY CHEAP NOW.
14 of 14 found the following review helpful:
A good collection of their deep cuts Feb 09, 2004
At the end of the 1970's, Columbia Records released Aerosmith's Greatest Hits. At the time of its release, just about everyone thought their best days were behind them, thus the release of a greatest hits album. Although the album had all the hits, it didn't quite tell the whole story. The beauty of Aerosmith's '70s albums was that the album tracks were just as strong as their singles, especially on Toys In The Attic and Rocks. So with Aerosmith at the beginning of their near impossible comeback of the late '80s with Geffen Records, Columbia hopped on the money train and released Gems, a stellar collection of their best album tracks.Although this collection was released strictly for profit, it showed fans that came during the late '80s that they were more than the band that did "Dream On" and "Walk This Way." Most of the tracks here are top notch, with 8 of the collection's 12 cuts coming from their first four classic albums. These tracks are the strongest ones here, with the tracks "Rats In The Cellar", "Train Kept A Rollin", and "Mama Kin" still getting regular airplay on classic rock radio. The remaining cuts from these albums, "Nobody's Fault", "Lick And A Promise", "Round And Round", and "Adam's Apple" are also excellent tracks. The tracks "Critical Mass", "No Surprize", and "Jailbait", are all strong tracks which are salvaged from their albums after Rocks, which were progressively weaker with each release as dissention and hard living affected the band's creativity. Also featured here is the excellent studio version of "Chip Away The Stone", which was originally only available as a live track from their Live Bootleg album. This is a strong collection of their lesser known album tracks. It definitely blows away everything they recorded after Pump. If you like the tracks on Gems, I'd highly recommend Rocks and Toys In The Attic, their best albums, and some of the best hard rock recorded in the '70s.
4 of 4 found the following review helpful:
Aerosmiths greatest hits 2 Oct 18, 2003
Gems is Aerosmiths greatest hits part 2, it has everything that was left off of part one but should have really been on there. This is kinda point less cause every Aerosmith fan already owns these songs in one form or another, but I am a die hard so I had to have this. from beginning to end this is jam packed full of Aerosmith Classics 'Rats In The Cellar' 'Train Kept A Rollin' ' Lick And A Promice' and many more, this is nothing but the best of Americas, no make that the worlds greatest rock and roll band of all time! If you are a casual Aerosmith fan you might just want to get O Yeah! Ultamate Aerosmith Hits, but if you are a die hard like my self you must own Gems!
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