ARKELLS – “Ticats are Hummin'” (2012 iTunes single)
Disclaimer #1: I hate all sports.
Disclaimer #2: Of all the sports, I hate football the most.
I do love the Arkells, and for them, I’ll download a song about football, and dang it, I’ll even enjoy it.
“Ticats are Hummin'” is a tribute to the Arkells home team, the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. They have a rivalry with the Toronto Argonauts. And that’s about all I can tell you about the Ticats. I do like this song. Alot! It is a bright, boppy and upbeat tune with a guitar and piano delivering the main musical hooks. Of course, there are plenty of those patented “woah, oh oh!” vocals that Arkells fans adore.
Saw some old friends, From down in T.O., But old Queen Lizzy, Will take them back home!
They look so sad, At the end of the night, Blown out like Pink Floyd back in ’75!
“Queen Lizzy” refers to the Q.E.W. – the Queen Elizabeth Way, a major highway connecting Toronto and Hamilton. I sometimes wonder if the Arkells staunch commitment to local references in their lyrics has held them back from international success. I think these references only enrich the music and add to their down-home vibe.
“Ticats are Hummin'” would have been one of the band’s first recordings with new keyboardist Anthony Carone. It preceded their excellent High Noon album by a couple years, but you can hear elements of where they were going, with the indelible pop melodies.
This track was released to iTunes with proceeds going to the Boys and Girls Club of Hamilton. It also received a physical release, on a rare 2 CD compilation called Everybody Dance Now – Songs From Hamilton, Volume 8. Be on the hunt.
When I reviewed this album six years ago, I rated it 4.5/5 stars. For whatever reason, I’ve been playing this a lot over the last two weeks. Like a lot lot. Today I’d give it a solid 5/5. High Noon by the Arkells has reached that upper echelon of albums that somehow, someway, have become so important to me that losing this album would be like losing an arm. It’s in my soul now. It’s part of me. That’s not easy to do, especially for newer music.
I love the spirit. The defiance. The anger! “Oh you’re just a boy, a little banker boy, everything’s a game and everyone’s your toy…” A pretty scathing indictment of the wealthy who prey on the vulnerable, a practice which singer Max Kerman refers to as “Fake Money”. It’s so upbeat that you don’t pick up on the anger until you actually listen to the words. But when you do? Hooboy! Though the song sounds like a celebration, the lyrics cut like razors.
Then there’s the very-80’s “Come To Light”, a brilliant rock song with a Bowie beat. There’s a tension built from synth and drums. Then the piano delivers those hooks! Kerman’s vocals are as impassioned as ever (“Impassioned” being his middle name, according to some reports). Virtually every song could be a single, and this one was the first of four. Another simply superior upbeat celebration follows, called “Cynical Bastards”. You have to love that title! Once again the keys are the dominant hook-deliverer, though the chorus itself is pretty damn awesome. Even the lyrics are catchy! “If the 80s were tough, the 90s were mean!”
Another serious favourite is track #4: “11:11”. You ever heard about that superstition that you’re supposed to make a wish when the clock shows 11:11? A slower, more contemplative song, this beauty is all about meeting a sweetie at a bar. “You made a wish at 11:11, I held your hips at 12:34,” goes the fabulous chorus. “There was a kiss just waiting to happen, a cab was waiting just outside the door.” A slower but still bright number called “Never Thought That This Would Happen” is one of most poetic yet colloquial songs about a one-nighter that I’ve ever heard. “And I never thought that this would happen, and you got all weird after the weekend. Sometimes you make out with an old friend, and I’m rounding first and I’m sliding into second…” It’s also the only song on the album that exceeds four minutes.
Sometimes I wonder if these girls that Kerman is singing about know the songs are about them.
“Dirty Blonde” is another very 80s upbeat rocker, very much like 80s Elton John, but harder. Just as many hooks though! “What Are You Holding On To?” has a completely different vibe, happy and danceable. This is followed by the uber-catchy “Hey Kids!” and the single “Leather Jacket”. “Leather Jacket” is one that strikes home lyrically in many ways. “You call me up from a pay phone, I say hang tight I can drive you home.” Been there done that! But my favourite line? “You call me up from a pay phone, and I said, ‘Who the fuck uses a pay phone?'” Regardless, “Leather Jacket” is instantaneous, flawless and passionate.
Just two more songs remain in this journey. “Crawling Through the Window” slows things down to a strong digital pulse, with dark chords backing it. Brilliant lyrics here describing a shitty old apartment. “There were carpets in the bathroom, man, what the fuck’s a vacuum?” Again it sounds like there’s a real story here. Finally the dance rock of “Systematic” ends the album on a surprising, but no less catchy note.
Mastering engineer – Harry Hess! By all means, get this album. Get it. Play it. Play it again. Fall in love. I did.
2018 was, shall we put it mildly, an interesting year. It was the summer that wasn’t. The year I spent the best months of the year driving to and from Toronto, at first waiting for a miracle, and then waiting for the inevitable. When my beloved mother in law finally passed away in September of that year, at least she left the pain behind.
Her decline at the end of the summer was rapid. Before she got too sick, she insisted that I still go record shopping with Aaron as we used to do annually. “You go and have a good time.” She had no way to know how important that was. That one record shopping excursion changed everything for Jen and I that summer. A discovery I made on that trip impacted the whole rest of the summer. That discovery was Blotto.
I’ve talked numerous times about how the skillfully comedic sounds of Blotto made the summer driving tolerable. I’ve trumpeted the merits of Blotto ad nauseum, but it cannot be overstated how important that music was to us at that time. And I had no real idea what I was buying. I just knew Blotto had one song in the 80s – “Metal Head” – that I saw on MuchMusic as a kid. But I didn’t think they were a metal band. They had a bald guy and a guy who looked like Revenge of the Nerds. They sported funny names like “Bowtie” and “Cheese”. For the sake of personal musical history, I wanted “Metal Head” in my collection. So there in the basement of BMV, with Aaron at my side, for a mere $8.99, I acquired their important album Combo Akimbo. It was the best decision I made all summer.
What I got was a nine-track comedy-rock album that kept us in positive spirits as we drove up and down Highway 401 all summer. And what is amazing is that I can play the album today and still feel the same things.
The bad memories are still there. They bubble to the surface. I can see myself behind the wheel, stopping and starting again all the way to Toronto. I hear Jen singing along next to me. But the pain is manageable, and the positive feelings outweigh the bad.
Of the nine songs, there was always one that made us laugh the most. That song was “It’s Not You”. Not only is it a catchy song with a cool guitar lick, but the lyrics are hilarious. I’m glad that Blotto was not tainted by the summer of 2018 and I can still enjoy their music with a huge grin on my face. That’s the gift. All too often, because acquires the feelings of the times you hear it, and if those times weren’t good, it’s hard to get around. Fortunately that didn’t happen with Blotto. I feel only good feelings, especially when I play “It’s Not You”. I can’t help but smile, every time.
This is something that’s not easy to do, It will hit you like a bolt from the blue, After last night, I have to tell you we are through.
When we’re alone, everything is OK, But it’s never gonna stay that way, When I take you home, your family has so much to say.
I try and I try, to be cool when they start, But girl, they’re the ones who are tearing us apart.
It’s not you! Don’t blame yourself It’s not you! No-one can help. It’s not you! I can’t be your man. It’s not you! It’s your family that I can’t stand. And it’s driving me crazy!
Your mother wants to know if I am on drugs, Your brother shows me his collection of bugs, Your aunts don’t like me and your uncles are a bunch of thugs.
Your father coughs and blows smoke in my face, He still believes in the superior race, He says if he were president, the world would be a better place.
I try and I try, to ignore them for our sake, But girl, I’m afraid it’s too much for me to take.
It’s not you! Don’t blame yourself It’s not you! No-one can help. It’s not you! I can’t be your man. It’s not you! It’s your family that I can’t stand.
There is no future baby can’t you see, Picture in your mind how it would be, All of us living in relative misery.
I try and I try, to be cool when they start, But girl, they’re the ones who are tearing us apart.
It’s not you! Don’t blame yourself It’s not you! No-one can help. It’s not you! I can’t be your man. It’s not you! It’s your family that I can’t stand.
It isn’t you, It’s only your family, Don’t take it personally, It’s just all those little things, Like when I come over to your house and your father tells me “Don’t park in the driveway, ‘cause your car gets oil on the new white pebbles,” and then when I go inside the house, the cat jumps on my lap, and gets hair all over my shirt and pants, and your grandmother sits the newspaper and gets it so wrinkled and bunched up that I can’t even read it, and your sister brings out her scrapbooks and wants me to look at all of her prom pictures, I mean, who cares! And your brother wants me to help him with his science project, dissecting frogs, ick, what a mess, and I go into the bathroom to wash my hands, and all they have is soft soap, and my hands smell like coconuts, and I can’t dry them on those little guest towels, so I gotta wipe them on my shirt, which is already covered with cat hair, and then when I come outside, your father corners me, and wants to tell me all the jokes he read in Playboy magazine….
THE FOUR HORSEMEN – Gettin’ Pretty Good…at Barely Gettin’ By (Reissue with bonus demos)
By the time the Four Horsemen managed to get a second album on the shelves, it was already far too late.
It didn’t matter how good the album was; the climate was completely different in 1996. Not only had grunge come, but it had already gone! Sadly, so had original T4H drummer Ken “Dimwit” Montgomery. He was not the only casualty. Struck by a drunk driver in late 1995, their charismatic frontman Frank C. Starr fell into a coma he would never come out of. (Starr finally passed away in 1999.) The Horsemen had a second album in the can with Starr, but were all but out of action.
Even though the debut was produced by the biggest name in 90s rock, Rick Rubin, the mercurial Starr had always been the key. When the band first arrived, his shriekin’ AC/DC mannerisms earned the band some series MTV play. The frontman had a whole lot to do with that. Then he blew it. Starr wound up in jail for a year while Kurt Cobain took over, something addressed in the lyrics on several tracks. Horsemen guitarist Haggis attempted to move on with new singer Tim Beattie and, through trials and tribulations, recorded a southern rock album called Daylight Again that was not released. Then guitarist Dave Lizmi tried to give the can one more kick, and reunited with Starr for what could have been an incredible second ride. They had the tunes to back it up, and Gettin’ Pretty Good…at Barely Gettin’ By is the proof. With Canadians Randy Cooke on drums and Pharoah Barrett on bass, they finally had a second Horsemen album on the shelves. But with Starr in a coma, they were stuck in the mud once again. They toured with Little Caesar vocalist Ron Young doing an admirable job of it, but it was the end.
For shame. A forgotten album that could have been mega was largely ignored.
You can’t really tell that Gettin’ Pretty Good…at Barely Gettin’ By was made through such hardship. The songs are largely upbeat and party-hardy. The exceptions are the contemplative “Song for Absent Friends”, dedicated to the passed Dimwit Montgomery, and the angry “Back in Business Again”. This ode to Seattle was certainly not a love letter to Kurt or Eddie. Singing about his year in jail, Starr says he “heard a bunch of whining, little wussy rock n rollers, complaining about how fame and fortune’s got them down.” Ouch.
Otherwise, this a rip roarin’, liquor snortin’ good time. “Lots of whiskey and beer!” Starr’s singing style had changed too. No longer was he trying to be Brian Johnson (one has to assume doing that is hard on the voice). Singing in a more natural throat, Starr could still pull it off, just shoutin’ instead of screamin’.
Here’s something else: 13 tracks, and no filler. Not one skipper, and more variety than the first LP. Most of the tracks are fast or mid-tempo rock n’ rollers, adorned with some absolutely stunning lead guitar work from Dave Lizmi. The man has not seen a slide or a wah-wah pedal he couldn’t master, and the album is drenched in that kind of feel. It also sounds more loose. Frankie seems to crack up laughing mid-sentence on “Drunk Again”. “It’s been 40 days since I looked at my face (laughs)…ah shit…”
Some of the tunes that deviate from the norm are the highlights. “Song For Absent Friends” hits hard, right in the feels. “And I know that you all are out there somewhere, on a leave of absence from this place.” Then there’s the aforementioned “Back in Business Again”, probably the heaviest tune the Horsemen have put to tape. The anger is palpable, but it’s not without a smile and a wink. It’s more a declaration of the kind of music the Four Horsemen represent in the era of “wussy rock n’ rollers” from some “nowhere town”. As Frank sings, they’re a “trail blazin’, skin lovin’, whiskey drinkin’, motherfuckin’ rock and roll band”. The exact opposite of the kind of groups Frank seemed to despise.
There are a couple singalongs (“My Song” and “Hit the Road”) and the traditional Horsemen album closing epic. Seven minutes long, Frankie asks “What the Hell Went Wrong”, and I’m sure there are many different answers to that question. A slow blues rocker with some sweet organ, it’s kind of like two songs in one. They pulled a similar trick on the debut album with a track called “I Need a Thrill / Something Good”. Regardless, when Lizmi starts soloing it goes into epic territory.
Like other Horsemen releases, Gettin’ Pretty Good was reissued on CD by the band with bonus tracks. These are 1995 demos for “Livin’ These Blues”, “Keep Your Life” and “Hit the Road”. All three tracks differ in some ways from the album versions, either in lyrics or solos. These feature Canadian Ken Montgomery’s brother, Chuck Biscuits, on drums.* Surprisingly, the soulful backing vocals on “Livin’ These Blues” was there from the demo stage. The demo of “Hit the Road” is even looser than the already pretty lubricated album version! More twangy, too, with a wicked dobro solo. The demo of “Hit the Road” is probably the superior take for its genuine party atmosphere.
These albums are finally available from the Horsemen shop on CD once more. You know what to do.
To go along with the occasional Sunday Screenings and Sunday Chuckles, it’s the Sunday Song Spotlight! With all due respect to John at 2Loud2OldMusic, who has been doing a feature called My Sunday Song for years now. I’m going to try and spotlight songs that I have loved for a long time, but have not written about in recent years. Hoping to shine a light on some great music that you missed.
For the debut Sunday Song Spotlight, I want to talk about a tune that I first heard in 1986. All I had was a taped copy of a taped copy of an original cassette, but the power of the song remained among the hiss: “Shadows” by Rez.
Rez were a Christian rock band (Resurrection Band) and that was all I knew. I had no other information. I’d never seen a picture of them. But I loved “Shadows”! And you don’t have to be Christian to love it. There’s only a hint of religion in the words. A warning tale of drugs and suicide, “Shadows” is a power ballad with emphasis on power. It resonated with us as kids. Singer Glenn Kaiser has the rasp of Rod with lungs to spare. What a singer! The way his voice powers through the song takes it to another level. Add in a cool guitar solo and relentless rock beat. “Shadows” kicks ass. The most powerful power ballad you’ll hear today. Truly an awesome song, and the words still give me chills.
In the words of his mama, “He was my only son.” In the words of his sister, “He was on the run.” In the words of his girl, “How could it end this way?” In the words of his daddy, “Well he never had much to say.”
Goodbye Kathy and goodbye Mom, there’s voices in my head Angel dust and tortured dreams say I’d be better dead
You, you chased the shadows because your hopes And dreams have been lost to the night
Hey, Billy, did you hear the news? Johnny’s gone for good They say his mama’s all broke up They found him in the woods Kathy just couldn’t understand Sheriff, he just looked tired Some will play and some will pay And Johnny played with fire
Goodbye Kathy and goodbye Mom, there’s voices in my head Angel dust and tortured dreams say I’d be better dead
You, you chased the shadows because your hopes And dreams have been lost to the night
You, you chased the shadows because your hopes And dreams have been lost to the night
Johnny’s dead and buried now out on the edge of town Drove by his grave the other day, that’s when the fear came down I hate the night that took his life, but now it’s haunting me I may be young, may be confused but I gotta be free
God, are You there, can You hear me now? Show me how to hope Lost in the dark on a dead end road, please save me from myself
Lord, You, You took the shadows All my fears and doubt and brought me out of the night Lord, You , You take the shadows Give me hope and love and turn my darkness to light
Lord, You, You took the shadows All my fears and doubt and brought me out of the night Lord, You , You take the shadows Give me hope and love and turn my darkness to light
Aerosmith enter the stage as the sun at Donington makes its final descent. Opening with the stalwart “Train Kept-A-Rollin'”, Steven Tyler leaps, covered by a traditional native headdress. (Strangely nobody screamed “cultural appropriation!” in 2014.) It’s off before he can start twirlin’ across the stage anyway. Though desiccated, the band are cookin’ like a group 1/3 of their age. Brad Whitford takes a welcome solo on “Train” and the band look happy to be up there.
Without missing a beat, Aerosmith travel forward in time two decades to “Eat the Rich”. At first it sounds as if Tyler’s voice can’t hack it but then he’s right back in the game. Nice to see Joe employing a whammy bar, but has the young crowd any idea what Grey Poupon is? Tyler throws down a solid burp before the skippable “Love in an Elevator”. His older, rougher voice gives it a tougher vibe but it’s overplayed radio filler now.
It’s a string of Geffen hits during this portion of the show. “Cryin'”…interesting only because the band thought they had to play it for the millionth time. “Jaded” has the stage bathed in purple but it’s Aero by the numbers. Tyler spends the end of the song hanging out with some girls in the front row. But when Joe Perry starts the growling drone of “Livin’ on the Edge”, things come back to life. The song still has teeth.
The Geffen hits are interrupted by the legendary funk of “Last Child”, and then we see why this band is really special. It’s not just Tyler and Perry, but it’s the sweet jam that the five of them make together when they really get down. Brad Whitford is the captain of this particular ship, taking us to the green waters of Mt. Funk with Mr. Joey Kramer in the engine room. Highlight of the show.
Aerosmith couldn’t have shown less enthusiasm for their newest album Music from Another Dimension. “Freedom Fighter” with Joe Perry on lead vocals is the only new song presented. Tyler’s not even on stage for it, but he’s back for “Same Old Song and Dance”. Kramer’s absolutely the backbone, with his pal Tom Hamilton on bass. That necessary piano part is provided by Buck Johnson near the back of the stage. But they just can’t keep playing oldies without giving the kids a hit, it seems. “Janie’s Got a Gun” is overdue to be retired. It’s not the band, who are at 110%, it’s just the song and the years.
“Toys in the Attic” is like a sudden wake-up! Second best tune of the night and no small thanks to Tommy and Joey on rhythm. Unfortunately all this momentum is spent by playing “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing”, which should be buried and never resuscitated. But what do we know, Doningon goes absolutely nuclear for the movie hit ballad. Fortunately, Steven’s favourite Aerosmith song, “No More No More” is just what we needed to keep the train a-rollin’. You just have to listen to the guys play and interact with each other to appreciate what makes ’em special, but it’s trippy seeing a big passenger jet landing in the middle of the song.
“Come Together” belongs to Aerosmith as much as it belongs to the Beatles now. Their version is their own jam. Unfortunately this perfect moment is ruined by the robotic “Dude Likes Like a Lady”. Moving on to “Walk This Way”, an oldie but surely just as familiar. It’s certainly just as cool, especially when Tyler starts playing loose with the words.
The first encore is also the only serious deep cut of the night, an abbreviated “Home Tonight”, followed by “Dream On”. It’s kind of cheesy when Steven changes the words to “Cream on, cream until your jeans are blue.” “Sweet Emotion” (with Tom bass solo) and “Mama Kin” complete the night, with the ravishing applause from a crowd of 80,000, breaking curfew to do it.
After a chant of “fuck curfew!” the band launch into “Mama Kin” with the energy of a first song instead of an after-hours closer. And that’s the proof that there’s nothing wrong with Aerosmith aside from some question of how many hits you need to play vs. deep cuts. The engine still motors ahead like they haven’t been through multiple splits and illnesses. Long live Aerosmith!
The concert is well edited with excellent camera angles, relying on minimal slow-motion gimmicks.
THE FOUR HORSEMEN – Death Before Suckass – Live at Miami Arena (DVD – Version 2.0 sourced from original 8mm tape)
The Four Horsemen were so fucking good, and this DVD really is the proof. Man, how cool did they look? Frank C. Starr, rocking the stage all confident in his pirate shirt, black gloves, and white sneakers. A look I admittedly tried to emulate in the 1990s. Haggis wonders how this “guido car mechanic from Long Island” managed to end up opening for Lynyrd Skynyrd? Because he was born to be there!
The video quality is surprisingly good for an audience bootleg. The camera is high in a balcony, but close enough to the stage to get some great shots. The camera moves around and zooms in from its vantage point, getting clear images of pretty much the whole band except the “big fucking Yeti” behind the drum kit. The video isn’t all that grainy, and there’s a consistently entertaining commentary by guitarist Haggis! He’s very grateful to whoever smuggled a suitcase-sized video camera into the arena to film the band with such care.
Opening for Skynyrd, Dimwit Montgomery (the aforementioned Yeti) swiftly kicks things into motion with “’75 Again”. According to Haggis, the band were practising their “big stage rock star posing”, something he learned from the Cult. Onto “Let It Rock”, the groove is honed and the band is synced up like conjuring “the ghost of Bon Scott”. Frank Starr and Dave Lizmi are the most mobile of the band, moving from one side of the stage to the other, back and forth, while the others tend to stay put. Haggis wonders how Lizmi could hear himself solo when his amps were on the opposite side of the stage! Though the tune starts as a groove, it quickly turns into a blitz.
Onto “Hothead”, a track partly stolen from Humble Pie, says Haggis. Apparently nobody noticed. Frank’s in total rock star mode, just killing it vocally. Then a cover of Savoy Brown’s “Can’t Get Next to You”, the band settle into a low groove. An excuse for Lizmi to show off his stuff, but any excuse is a good excuse. When he solos, he owns the stage. You can see him break a string mid-solo; he just sweeps it out of his way and keeps going.
Moving on to “Wanted Man” (the first song recorded for Nobody Said It Was Easy). Frankie is just fun to watch. He truly was a great frontman. Lizmi’s solo is out of this world, completely different from the album version. A shirtless and tattooed Haggis is so skinny he looks like he should be hooked up to an IV instead of a guitar. But enough with the deep cuts. It’s time for the hits: “Nobody Said It Was Easy” and “Rockin Is Ma Business”. Why was this band not huge? They were so fucking good and their songs were fucking brilliant!
Ironic fact I learned: the man named after a pudding made of a sheep’s innards was a vegetarian.
This DVD can be acquired directly from the Four Horsemen store. It is certainly worth it, even if you already own the Death Before Suckass CD. It’s a different show with a similar setlist, but the audio seems superior. The commentary seals the deal. Essential Four Horsemen buy.
In honour of our special surprise guest yesterday, Mr. Dave Lizmi! One of the truly greatest hits 30 years ago in 1991 was “Nobody Said It Was Easy” by The Four Horsemen. Its dirty rock and roll sound clashed with everything going on at the time. They were rock, they were punk, they were southern, they were screaming, and they were truly special. “Nobody Said It Was Easy” is the song that hooked us.
Sometimes we take one for the team. For no reason other than to get it done, we take out albums we strongly dislike just for the sake of writing them up. Sometimes there are pleasant surprises and time has been kinder than our memories have been. And sometimes you’re just Honkin’ on Bobo, whatever the fuck that means. It could be code for Sucking the Big One.
Necessary background: After 2001’s putrid Just Push Play, Aerosmith were eager to strip it back to basics and record an album live in the studio. They returned to producer Jack Douglas and picked an album’s worth of blues covers to Aero-fy. This is a formula that rarely works out well for rock bands, and Aerosmith fell into the blues cover trap with both feet.
The only exception is one new original, a ballady blues called “The Grind”. It happens to be one of the best tracks, though firmly within that Aerosmith bluesy ballad niche that they carved out for themselves in the early 90s with “Cryin'” and “Blind Man”. That this is an album highlight is a warning as sure as a watchman yelling “iceberg dead ahead!” We’re about to take on water, and there aren’t enough lifeboats.
One of Aerosmith’s issues since the mid to late 90s is how they’ve become a caricature of themselves. Bob Diddley’s “Road Runner” is thick with Aerosmith clichés to the point that it sounds like an Aerosmith covers band filling their set out with standards. “Road Runner” isn’t limber, it’s thick in the thighs with thuddy rock tropes. Joey Kramer injects some life into “Shame, Shame, Shame” but it only makes you wish Aerosmith had tackled the track in 1974 instead of 2004 so it wouldn’t sound so contrived. “Eyesight to the Blind” (Sonny Boy Williamson) isn’t convincing, as Tyler huffs through the song like a burlesque singer. “Baby Please Don’t Go” makes you crave AC/DC’s superior version, although the groove on this one is positively unearthly. It’s an unbelievable groove that perhaps should have been made into an Aerosmith original rather than a throwaway cover.
Aretha’s “Never Loved a Man” is transformed into “Never Loved a Girl”, and with the Memphis Horns on board there’s some value to it, but compared to Aretha they sound like rookies. Like an amateur artist copying a master with crayons. “Back Back Train” is actually OK, and it might be that Joe Perry is a more appropriate vocalist for a blues classic. Tyler’s histrionics wear thin on this album, but Perry’s laid back singing works better. Tyler surely doesn’t aid the sluggish “You Gotta Move”.
A dreary “I’m Ready” (Muddy Waters) is still a long way from the end. “Temperature” also drags along, Tyler turning it into a parody. Fleetwood Mac get the Aero treatment on “Stop Messin’ Around”, at least the second Mac cover that Aerosmith have done after “Rattlesnake Shake”. Please welcome Joe Perry back to the microphone on “Stop Messin’ Around”, and please keep Tyler away! Unfortunately it’s a boring tune (blazing fretwork aside), and so is the closer “Jesus is on the Main Line”.
Even the most stalwart defender must concede that Honkin’ On Bobo isn’t a blues album for a blues lover. It’s a blues-rock forgery that occasionally captures the odd highlight for posterity, but is otherwise expendable. In other words if you’re in a Zombie apocalypse looking for CDs to chuck at the undead, Honkin’ On Bobo can be flung guilt-free.
1.5/5 stars
And once again, it’s the return of the dreaded flaming turd!
AEROSMITH – Just Push Play (2001 Sony Japan 2 CD set)
Funny thing about some pretty bad albums: sometimes the bands con you into buying them twice. They do this with bonus tracks you may need and can’t find elsewhere. Aerosmith have been guilty of this on multiple occasions. You know what they say about fools and money.
In 2001, Aerosmith did it with Just Push Play. They placed a bonus track on the European CD (“Face”), and a completely different set of bonus tracks in Japan…but excluding “Face”. As one of the looser songs on a pretty stiff album, “Face” is pretty enjoyable. So what about Japan’s exclusive song, “Won’t Let You Down”? Well, for one it’s heavy. For Aerosmith, it’s really heavy. You could picture it on a better album like Nine Lives. Though not perfect it’s a damn fine latter-day Aerosmith track. It just needs another hook.
“Won’t Let You Down” and its associated Joe Perry guitar wizardry is the most interesting of the bonus tracks, but that doesn’t mean the rest are not. Though “I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing” is more than slightly boring today, it was Aerosmith’s biggest hit to date. This was the first time it appeared on an Aerosmith album, and only in Japan.
The second CD has a diverse stew of bonuses. The first is a 3:17 radio remix of “Just Push Play”. It’s mostly a matter of making the guitar, drums and other elements more prominent in the mix. It’s quite a bit better than the album cut, though just as silly. You gotta wonder if anybody in the studio told Steven to try it without the rasta accent. That’s the remix I want to hear, because the chorus is great.
Moving on to live rarities, Aerosmith included a handful of previously released tracks that weren’t necessarily already in your collection. First up: California Jam II. “Same Old Song and Dance”, “Draw the Line” and “Chip Away the Stone” were all available on the various artists album California Jam II. If you have this, you don’t need to buy that. The year was 1978 and Aerosmith were still cooking live. Whether it comes from youthful or chemical energy, these tracks are faster than their studio counterparts. Rough and dirty live Aerosmith without the backing tapes and fixes: what’s not to love? “Draw the Line” has more…definition?…than the original. Still, smoking so hot that Joe Perry probably melted his strings. It’s just plain great to any live version of “Chip Away the Stone“. Top five Aerosmith song? Welcome to the collection.
That’s not all folks, as we stick to 1978 and the famous Texxas Jam. “Big Ten-Inch Record” and “Lord of the Thighs” would be familiar if you own Pandora’s Box. Strange they included two tracks that were readily available, but here they are and there’s nothing wrong with ’em.
A brief word on the album Just Push Play itself. We’ve already reviewed it in full, so let’s not rehash. Joe Perry’s least favourite Aerosmith albumy panders for hits in the most embarrassing ways. Hi-tech recording and outside songwriters watered it down. The old Tyler/Perry combination was not to be found on a single track. The other three guys have not a single writing credit between them. It’s a sad state of affairs.
If you’re a masochist like me, you’ll want to get this one for the bonus tracks. If not, just stay away.
ARKELLS – “Ticats are Hummin'” (2012 iTunes single)
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