Aerosmith Needed This Album to Restart Their Careers

By the mid-'80s, Aerosmith had become a cautionary tale; a washed-up group of almost legends reduced to stumbling drunks and drug abusers who couldn't keep it together. Then the original lineup was reunited, Steven Tyler and Joe Perry were writing together again, and the surprise success of Run-D.M.C.'s remake of "Walk This Way" had put the band onto MTV for, truly, the first time. But one hit collaboration wasn't enough to erase years of declining album sales, disastrous or canceled concerts, and the feeling that one of America's biggest rock bands already had its moment.