10 Hard Rock Bands That Totally Sold Out
2. Aerosmith
Looking back on the 70's hard rock scene, Aerosmith were really the faces of everything great about rock and roll, with catchy hooks and infectious riffs. It may have been a cop out to call the band blues rock wannabes, but their way of combining the sounds of the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, and a healthy dose of funk led to albums that hold up as classics like Rocks and Toys in the Attic.
Though the band had weathered some staggering low points like the departure of guitarist Joe Perry, they seemed to be on the upswing once the original lineup patched up their differences. Thanks to the help of some professional songwriters, the band were back to their hard rock selves in the late 80's. Then things started to unravel...
At the dawn of the 90's, it seemed that the band's reliance on outside writers had led to them sounding more like pop stars than your typical rockers. This was pushed to 10 with their poppiest release Just Push Play as well as Steven Tyler being a judge on American Idol for a while. It may have been a long road to get up to the rock mainstream, but it ended up costing the band some of their rootsy hard rock foundations.