A to Z

Though they formed towards the end of 1970, Aerosmith wouldn’t release their self-titled debut album until early 1973. That set kicked off a run of albums, to 1979’s Night In The Ruts, that’s unimpeachable as far as smart-yet-dumb rock’n’roll goes; if you’ve ever wondered what was at the core of Aerosmith’s music, though, The Road Starts Hear is the motherlode. Documenting a rehearsal from 1971, when the band was still playing bars around their hometown of Boston, it’s a thrill to hear their songs so denuded, their playing so rough. There’s a formative version of “Dream On”, the song that kicked off the legend, but the magic really happens in a prowling, stealthy “Walkin’ The Dog” and a brutally efficient “Mama Kin”.

Extras: None. JON DALE

One of the highlights of the first Habibi Funk compilation was “Ayonha”, a radiofriendly mix of soft rock guitars, synths and harmony vocals recorded by Libyan-born Hamid Al Shaeri in Egypt in 1983 before he become a major pop star across the Arabic-speaking world. Now we get 10 tracks taken from a series of cassettes he recorded for Cairo’s Slam! label around the same time. “Ayonha” – which evokes Laurel Canyon transplanted to the Nile Delta – takes pride of place again, but there’s plenty more to entice. The synths squeal and squelch thrillingly on “Yefkini Nesma’sotak”, and the gentle funk of “Reet” even has a touch of the Isleys’ “Summer Breeze” about it. The style is highly westernised, the vocals almost the only signal that we’re listening