I always looked at Aerosmith -- when they were at their best, in the mid '70s, as trying to bridge the gap between the Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin; the Stones in their look and attitude, and raunch, and Zeppelin in their melodies (Dream On, Joe Perry's style of play).
I don't dislike Aerosmith (I have one of their greatest hits albums, with their '70s stuff, which is enough for me), but I was a little dismayed when I saw in the Guiness record book a few years ago that the top five album-selling bands in the U.S., according to the RIAA (Recording Ind. Assn. of America), are (in order) the Beatles, Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, the Eagles, and AEROSMITH!
I was shocked that Aerosmith has outsold the Stones (at least in terms of albums) in the U.S. I know they had their big comeback in the '80s (actually they got way bigger than they ever were in the '70s), but still! I was slightly less surprised by the high rankings of Floyd and the Eagles, though in their cases each band had a couple of albums that are in the top 5 or 10 biggest sellers ever. The Stones don't have that one Godzilla-type album like The Wall, or Dark Side, or Eagles Greatest Hits -- their stuff sold steadily but in smaller numbers. I still think of the Stones as being bigger than all other bands except for the Beatles and Zep, but maybe they're not as popular as I think.