

Yet the most historically interesting track here is the early take of “Dream On,” which was already in its finished form. And even in 1971, Steven Tyler was Steven Tyler, whooping and yelping and screeching and wailing on his harmonica like the classic lead singer he was rapidly becoming. Guitarists Joe Perry and Brad Whitford and bassist Tom Hamilton mesh together like a single instrument, forming a Stones-like, bluesy groove driven by drummer Joey Kramer, who shows off the swing he developed in his years playing in R&B bands also like their heroes the Stones, the band is loose but tight, moving as a unit and stretching out the songs at will.

Wherever it was recorded, the band clearly felt a hell of a lot more comfortable than they did later in a formal recording studio: Despite the informality of the recordings here, nearly all of the songs crush the versions recorded for the first album.
