20 Most IMPORTANT Classic Rock Albums Ever Made

For almost all of the classic rock and roll bands, the real rock swagger has always come from the blues. Though the blues influenced hard rock of the late 60's set the world on fire, it all originated from the gutteral howls of Howlin Wolf and Muddy Waters. While most of the great blues rock of the day had to be imported from England, Aerosmith helped turn the blues into something much different on Toys in the Attic.

Whereas the band was known as a ripoff of the Rolling Stones in the early part of their career, this record saw them really finding their groove as originals by putting some boogie into their sound. Most bands coming out of England at the time usually had a certain rhythmic structure to their tunes, but Aerosmith's mix of funk drumming with the sounds of hard rock gave each song a certain swing, like on the irresistible "Walk This Way."

Outside of even music, the band's mannerisms as hard rocking badasses ended up having a huge impact on the impressionable kids of California, who combined the band's sound with glam rock to create what became known as hair metal. They may have been called copycats of the British blues bands, but Aerosmith found out quickly that the strength behind the blues is putting your own heart and soul between the riffs.