I was never a great Aerosmith fan either, but I appreciated that they kept their original line-up thru decades and that they forged their own sound, especially in their CBS years. To me, they sounded very American (even with all that Yardbirds and Beatles influence in their sound) without being too hamfisted (they were nuanced) or too smooth (they were raunchier in sound than almost anything else as popular at the time, those Jack Douglas productions did not emasculate them). Plus they were neither Southern Rock nor West Coast, their music was very urban. After their 80ies reunion, all these outside writers and the ballads came in, but even that did not dilute their sound beyond recognition.
Tyler's voice has held up well (he has an amazing range) and I prefer Whitford's more terse playing (his work with Derek St. Holmes is a gem, they have a new album out too) to the more flamboyant, yet obvious Joe Perry. The rhythm section is vastly underrated and actually really smart. Tom Hamilton undersells himself, which is nice of him, but not warranted.
They are not a metal band, not even a heavy rock one, just a hard rock outfit with (live) a slightly frantic air to them (a similarity to fellow Bostonians J. Geils Band). And for all their sartorial splendor, they were never LA Glam either though later Mötley Crüe certainly took them as a musical inspiration in a dumbed down way.
They're touring Germany this year, I bought tickets as a last hurray.