(Credits: Far Out / Joe Perry)
Sun 9 November 2025 18:30, UK
It’s strange to think of all the musical ‘what ifs’ that could have been. The course of history itself may well have been changed if certain artists had made certain moves different, or if certain bands had chosen different paths. Take Aerosmith as an example.
Love them or loathe them, it doesn’t really get any bigger than Aerosmith. They’ve sold over 150 million records worldwide. In America alone, their sales make them the all-time bestselling hard rock band, and they hold the record for the most total certifications by an American group.
That covers the sales, but they have cultural capital too. Aerosmith are a household name; their songs grace countless movie soundtracks, bringing them into the world of Hollywood, too, and for crying out loud, the band had a literal rollercoaster dedicated to them at Disney World in Florida. Is that not the epitome of fame and success?
However, it took them a minute. After launching in 1970 as a bunch of friends in a garage, it took them some time to hit those levels, and it relied on one huge breakthrough hit.
‘Dream On’ was that track, but its story wasn’t a typical one. When it was first released in 1973, it landed at number 59 on the chart and really only made any level of splash in the band’s hometown of Boston. However, after a reissue in 1975, it broke into the top ten in early 1976, suddenly making the band’s name in a battle of endurance and perseverance.
But all of that might not have happened if Joe Perry had his way. For the guitarist, he would have never put that track out.
“I wasn’t crazy about the song—mainly because it was slow,” he said. To him, it wasn’t representative of the band at all, as he explained, “I had mixed feelings because I didn’t see the song as emblematic of the band. It was soft and we were hard. Yet the song hit the pop charts and started moving up.”
He begrudged it to an extent, adding, “I would have been happier if our first hit had been hard-core rock and roll, but a hit is a hit. A hit meant we’d have a better shot at survival.”
It existed in a confusing vacuum to him as he added, “My attitude was simple: The only good slow song was a slow blues. ‘Dream On’ was hardly a blues. It was a slow song in a genre that didn’t excite me.” Caught between the world of electrifying hard rock that the band typically existed in and the world of slower ballads or somewhat blues, Perry didn’t think the song made a lot of sense.
Luckily, though, his opinion wasn’t followed, and the track came out, allowing the band that breakthrough moment. While Perry might have liked to have retired the song before it even really got started, even he could admit that the band did make it into something special, holding his hands up to add, “The five of us worked that song to the point where it became a live show-stopper with the right dynamics.”
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