Straight from the top drawer of hard rock, Aerosmith set the mid-seventies alight with a Stonesy swagger and the finest collection of greasy riffs in musical history.

Having cut their teeth in their hometown, it was the 1975 album, Toys in the Attic that marked the Bad Boys from Boston’s stratospheric breakthrough. Driven by guitarist Joe Perry’s virtuosity and vocalist Steve Tyler’s raunchy delivery, tracks such as ‘Sweet Emotion’ and ‘Walk This Way’ combined a funk-laden strut with the spirit of the blues. The classic and aptly-named Rocks released a year later would lead Aerosmith to be dubbed America’s Greatest Rock ‘n’ Roll Band.

Perry and Tyler’s songwriting chemistry propelled Aerosmith to stadium-filling domination. That said, their shared love of chemical indulgence almost led to the band’s destruction. “The Toxic Twins” split, Perry walked and Aerosmith limped wounded through the early eighties.   But then came the turnaround.  Hot on the heels of Perry’s return came the Run DMC collaboration: that seminal moment when the walls between rock aristocracy and hip-hop culture literally came crashing down. The multi-platinum selling Permanent Vacation would follow, making Aerosmith the go-to rockers for the MTV generation and beyond. With Steve Tyler’s magnetic showmanship centre stage, the images of Aerosmith tell of a band whose influence on rock is indelible.