Toys in the Attic

Their third studio album was made after months of pre-production, yet most of the material was written during the sessions, unlike the previous record. Jack Douglas produced, Jay Messina engineered, and the tape was 16-track. Tyler's vocals were often recorded first, with guitars added afterward. Walk This Way began at a soundcheck in Honolulu in December 1974, and its lyrics were written in the studio after a break to see a film. Sweet Emotion grew from a bass riff Hamilton wrote in high school. You See Me Crying is the most elaborate production, with a symphony orchestra conducted by Mike Mainieri.

Tyler and Perry wrote Toys in the Attic, Walk This Way and No More No More. Tyler and Hamilton wrote Uncle Salty and Sweet Emotion, Tyler and Whitford wrote Round and Round, and Tyler and Don Solomon wrote You See Me Crying. Tyler wrote Adam's Apple alone, and Big Ten Inch Record is a Fred Weismantel song.

Singles were Sweet Emotion (May 1975, number 36 on the Hot 100), Walk This Way (August 1975, reaching number 10 when reissued in 1977) and You See Me Crying (November 1975). The album reached number 11 in the United States, number 7 in Canada and number 7 in France, and sold nine times platinum in the United States. Reviews were divided at the time. Rolling Stone's Gordon Fletcher found some weak material but good moments, and Robert Christgau gave it a B+. AllMusic's Erlewine gave five stars, saying the band had perfected a mix of Rolling Stones raunch and Led Zeppelin riffing. Rolling Stone placed it at number 228 on its 2003 list of the 500 greatest albums, and Loudwire named it the best hard rock album of 1975 in 2024.