The Back-Burner: Aerosmith Outtakes & Demos

In 2006, one determined Aerosmith fan travelled to Boston for what was meant to be their very first live Aerosmith concert. Fate intervened: Steven Tyler suffered a vocal cord injury, leading to a tour cancellation.

But from that setback came something extraordinary. The fan was introduced to a private collector who granted him the rare opportunity to hear several unreleased Aerosmith demos. Armed with years of prior research, a guitar to map out chords, and an obsessive ear for detail, he absorbed the nuances of these unheard tracks with remarkable dedication.

The audio lineage of the recordings tells its own story of generational wear:
Studio > Cassette tape (Gen 1) > Cassette tape (Gen 2) > 44kHz/16-bit WAV > 128kbps MP3.

That listening session sparked creative projects, including a series of “Aerosmith Outtake Covers.” Unfortunately, the actual recordings never changed hands. At BackBurner, contributors were left only with the notes, reconstructions, and fading fragments. Early sample clips—once saved on CD-Rs and hard drives—are now lost to time, victims of corrupted discs and crashed systems. What remains is research, memory, and the excitement those songs generated.

From time to time, accusations surface online that fans might be withholding the songs. In reality, the opposite is true: the full tracks were never in anyone’s possession outside that private collector. And even if they were, leaking them would run the risk of harming the band. Aerosmith has repeatedly revisited unreleased material with an eye toward official release, as proven by “Lizard Love,” “Legendary Child,” “Sedona Sunrise,” and “Devil’s Got a New Disguise.”

What fans can do is keep the discussion alive. Healthy speculation and enthusiasm may help encourage an eventual comprehensive box set release. Until then, the collector’s identity will remain undisclosed, out of respect for this person’s wishes.

#GetTheAerosmithOuttakesReleased