10 Greatest Vocal Performances In Rock Music History

There has always been a lot of debate around why Steven Tyler sounds the way he does on the first Aerosmith record. Being nervous about getting into the studio with the band's first real record contract, Steven wasn't all that confident in his signature voice just yet, leading to songs like Mama Kin and Movin Out staying in a fairly low register, more in line with what blues frontmen like Howlin Wolf and Muddy Waters would have done back in the day. The Demon of Screamin was hiding in there somewhere though, and Dream On was the first time he made his true appearance.

Stemming from a melody that Steven had worked out at the piano, this is one of the more heartfelt tunes that he's had a hand in writing, talking about the passage of time and working as hard as you can to make your dreams a reality. Throughout most of the song, Steven seems to be trying out different spaces in his own voice, like slowly rising up to the note on the line "The past is gone" before eventually exploding into the chorus as he asks the rest of the crowd to sing right along with him.

The main event comes in the breakdown section though, going through one run of the chorus before Steven climbs to the top of his register and screams his heart out, all while staying completely on pitch. Aerosmith had gotten the bad wrap of being considered a second rate Rolling Stones in the early days, but there was no way you were going to catch Mick Jagger ripping off something like this any time soon.