Album
Draw the Line
Draw the Line is Aerosmith's fifth studio album, released on 9 December 1977 through Columbia. It followed the run of Aerosmith, Get Your Wings, Toys in the Attic and Rocks, and it sits at the point where the band were firmly established as a hard rock act with a bluesy backbone and an arena-sized sound.
The record was made between June and October in an abandoned convent near New York City, an unusual setting for a band known for loud, swaggering rock. The cover is a distinctive touch too: the band portrait was drawn by the celebrity caricaturist Al Hirschfeld. It is worth hearing as the album that came directly after Rocks and before Night in the Ruts, a useful stop for anyone tracing how the group's 1970s story unfolded.
Draw the Line: tracklist, credits and charts
9 tracks · 35:09Tracklist
- 1Draw the LineJoe Perry and Steven Tyler3:23
- 2I Wanna Know WhyJoe Perry and Steven Tyler3:09
- 3Critical MassDouglas, Hamilton, Tyler4:51
- 4Get It UpJoe Perry and Steven Tyler4:02
- 5Bright Light FrightJoe Perry2:20
- 6Kings and QueensDouglas, Hamilton, Kramer, Tyler, Whitford4:55
- 7The Hand That FeedsDouglas, Hamilton, Kramer, Tyler, Whitford4:22
- 8Sight for Sore EyesDouglas, Johansen, Perry, Tyler3:52
- 9Milk Cow Blues[traditional] and Kokomo Arnold4:15
- Produced by
- Aerosmith, Jack Douglas
- Executive producer
- David Krebs, Steven Leber
- Recorded at
- The Cenacle (Armonk, New York), The Record Plant (New York City)
- Recorded
- June–October 1977
- Engineered by
- Jay Messina
- Artwork
- Leber-Krebs
- Label
- Columbia
- Length
- 35:09
Line-up
- Tom Hamilton · electric bass guitar
- Joey Kramer · percussion, drums (drum set)
- Joe Perry · electric guitar, background vocals, slide guitar, lead vocals
- Steven Tyler · harmonica, lead vocals, background vocals, piano
- Stan Bronstein · saxophone · guest
- Scott Cushnie · piano · guest
- Brad Whitford · electric guitar
- Karen Lawrence · background vocals · guest
- Jack Douglas · mandolin · guest
- Paul Prestopino · banjo · guest
Singles
- “Draw the Line” · 7 October 1977
- “Kings and Queens” · 21 February 1978
- “Get It Up” · 6 April 1978
Peak chart positions
| Chart | Peak |
|---|---|
| US Billboard 200 · 1977–1978 | 11 |
| French Albums (SNEP) · 1977–1978 | 6 |
| Japanese Albums (Oricon) · 1977–1978 | 9 |
| Canadian Albums (RPM) · 1977–1978 | 10 |
Certifications
| Region | Certification |
|---|---|
| Canada · 1977 | Gold |
| Japan | Gold |
| United States | 2× Platinum |
From MusicBrainz, Wikipedia and Wikidata. Only what the sources record is shown.
60.3
Popularity (0–100, vs the whole vault)
1.9k
ListenBrainz listeners
83k
Wikipedia views, last 12 months
5.6k
Deezer fans (all editions)
Also released on 9 December
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More from Aerosmith
Full discography →
Aerosmith
1973
Get Your Wings
1974
Toys in the Attic
1975
Rocks
1976
Live! Bootleg
1978
Night in the Ruts
1979
Aerosmith’s Greatest Hits
1980
Rock in a Hard Place
1982
Done With Mirrors
1985
Classics Live!
1986
Permanent Vacation
1987
Vacation Club
1987
Gems
1988
Pump
1989
Pandora’s Box
1991
Get a Grip
1993
Pandora’s Toys
1994
Big Ones
1994
Box of Fire
1994
Nine Lives
1997
Made in America
1997
A Little South of Sanity
1998
Classic Aerosmith: The Universal Masters Collection
2000
Just Push Play
2001
Young Lust: The Aerosmith Anthology
2001
O, Yeah! Ultimate Aerosmith Hits
2002
Honkin’ on Bobo
2004
Rockin’ the Joint
2005
Devil’s Got a New Disguise: The Very Best of Aerosmith
2006
Tough Love: Best of the Ballads
2011
Music From Another Dimension!
2012
Greatest Hits
2023
One More Time
2025
The best of 1977
All of 1977 →
Rumours
Fleetwood Mac · 1977
Animals
Pink Floyd · 1977
Let There Be Rock
AC/DC · 1977
News of the World
Queen · 1977
Sin After Sin
Judas Priest · 1977
Motörhead
Motörhead · 1977
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones · 1977
Queen’s First E.P.
Queen · 1977
The Best of ZZ Top
ZZ Top · 1977
The Best of Judas Priest
Judas Priest · 1977
More on Columbia
The label →
A Momentary Lapse of Reason
Pink Floyd · 1987
Grace
Jeff Buckley · 1994
Dirt
Alice in Chains · 1992
Alice in Chains
Alice in Chains · 1995
Black Ice
AC/DC · 2008
Power Up
AC/DC · 2020
Painkiller
Judas Priest · 1990
But Here We Are
Foo Fighters · 2023
Rock or Bust
AC/DC · 2014
Ixnay on the Hombre
The Offspring · 1997
Conspiracy of One
The Offspring · 2000
Toys in the Attic
Aerosmith · 1975
Releases and pressings
How we know the release date wikipedia + wikidata
| Source | Date | Note |
|---|---|---|
| MusicBrainz | 1 December 1977 | |
| Wikipedia infobox | 9 December 1977 | |
| Wikidata | 9 December 1977 | |
| US release | 1 December 1977 | earliest US date |
21 editions
| Date | Country | Label | Barcode | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | US | Columbia | 886972368122 | other |
| — | US | Columbia | 07464348562 | other |
| 1 December 1977 | US | Columbia | original | |
| 9 December 1977 | US | Columbia | other | |
| 1986 | US | Columbia | 074643485623 | other |
| 1987 | US | Columbia | other | |
| 1987 | US | Columbia | 07464348562 | other |
| 22 June 1988 | JP | CBS/Sony | 4988009611150 | other |
| 9 April 1990 | AU | CBS | 9399746672925 | other |
| September 1990 | XE | CBS | 5099746672928 | other |
| 1 March 1991 | JP | CBS/Sony | 4988009606521 | other |
| 1993 | XE | Columbia | 5099747496622 | remaster |
| 7 September 1993 | US | Columbia | 074645736426 | other |
| 26 August 2011 | XW | Columbia | 074645736426 | other |
| 5 September 2011 | XW | Columbia | 074645736426 | other |
| 23 November 2011 | JP | Sony Records International | 4547366062342 | other |
| 2 November 2012 | XW | Columbia | 886443704992 | other |
| 2 November 2012 | XW | Columbia | 886443704992 | other |
| 9 October 2013 | JP | Sony Records International | 4547366202120 | other |
| 7 December 2022 | XW | Aerosmith P&D – Sony | 00074645736426 | other |
| 7 December 2022 | XW | Aerosmith P&D – Sony | 00602448777898 | other |
Cover art sources
coverartarchive · native: native 3600x3600, downscaled to 3000
| Source | Size | Verdict |
|---|---|---|
| coverartarchive ✓ | 3600×3600 | native: native 3600x3600, downscaled to 3000 |
| deezer | 1200×1200 | upscaled |
| fanarttv | 1000×1000 | upscaled |