Around the time of pre-production for Draw the Line, Aerosmith took a bit of a rest coming off of the successive releases of Toys in the Attic and Rocks and the slew of touring that they had undertaken in support of those efforts. The band rented an ex-nunnery house in Armonk, NY and set up shop for rehearsing, writing and recording the new record at their leisure. Unfortunately, the time spent during the first few months, found the band in a certain state of shock; most of the time spent, particularly from the band's creative duo in Steven Tyler and Joe Perry, was clouded by excessive and indulgent behavior, while the creative process took a secondary back-seat. Despite the debauchery and fragmented state the band were caught up in, by the time Draw the Line hit the shelves in Dec of '77, it revealed a finished record that, though had a somewhat blurred and unfocused feel throughout, still proved that the band had plenty of fire and magic within itself.

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The roaring title track kicks things into high gear with Joe Perry's wicked slide guitar riff and Tyler's anxious vocal delivery and the band's performance is nothing short of magnificent energy. I Wanna Know Why slides in and is the first indication of losing focus as the track has a feel of complacent indifference in the songwriting dept.; piano and saxophone are added to the loose vibe of this inferior number, attempting to veil its sub-par quality. Critical Mass keeps things on an even keel however, with a driving riff and rhythm that establishes a typical Aerosmith rocker with breaks in between from Steven howling on the harmonica. Get It Up, The Hand that Feeds and Sight For Sore Eyes are the sleaze rockers of this set and lyrically expose a bit of the drug excess that the band were now experiencing first hand; strong tracks they are, nevertheless and Perry and Whitford's guitars accordingly, have a moment to display their collective and prolific playing styles.

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Bright Light Fright features Joe Perry on lead vocals and is a number that has a complete rave-up quality and chugs along like a locomotive train, replete with a wild saxophone part matching nicely with Perry's forceful slide guitar. It's seemingly out of place on the record, yet shows another frantic, rocking side to band that succeeds in its diversity. Kings and Queens is a bit of the anomaly of the finished record as its composition and arrangement contains a labored and consciously constructed piece. Steven Tyler's lyrical scheme of the tune is his writing achievement of the album and musically, is equally the gem of its issue as well.  The album closes with an old blues number by Kokomo Arnold "Milkcow Blues", popularized by the Kinks in 1965(and most likely was their point of reference) and dates back to Aerosmith's earliest days as a band . The treatment given here is a smoldering performance and ends the record on a solid note with the chugging harmonica of Tyler and Perry and Whitford's whiplash guitar tones. Joe Perry calls this record their "blackout" album wherein by this point the band were caught up in the excessive trappings of fame and fortune. In some respects, I can understand where he's coming from, but with the gift of hindsight, Draw the Line still remains a ragged, yet solid release that captures the band still alive and cooking no matter how much the group were slowly fragmenting on the inside.

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Rating Grade- B+