Fantasy and reality collide in Aerosmith's first big song, and in general whenever Steven Tyler is involved. It's in his vocal style, his lyrics, his whole presentation, this blend of the unreal and the down-to-Earth: the haunted past and the hope for the future. The song begins with that mesmerizing piano.guitar harmony, then climbs hand-over-fist as Steven's voice goes from a spaced-out rumination to a yowl of release. After all this time I'm not sure I've heard anything like it.
As anyone who's been paying attention knows, Aerosmith is my favourite band. Sometimes it feels like I have to actively suppress this fact, and I always feel like people confuse what they actually sound like with some of their more generic, less interesting contemporaries. "Dream On" isn't a power ballad: it isn't "Here I Go Again" or "I Can't Fight This Feeling." There's nothing smoothed over or evened-out about it. It's "Stairway To Heaven" in microcosm. It's a trip up and down the spectrum, from the intimate to the gigantic, in pianos and sweeping gutitars. Bitch, this is rock and roll!
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