It’s time for another series here at mikeladano.com! It’s been a while since I’ve tackled something this big, but for the last two weeks I’ve been writing and listening to a band that I hadn’t been spending a lot of time with in recent years. That band isAEROSMITH and it’s time to look at every original classic Aerosmith album on Columbia Records. The scope of the series is really simple: I’m reviewing all 13 discs in 1994’s massive Box of Fire collection — the entire box set from start to finish!
If you’re not into Aerosmith, I apologize, but that’s what I’ve got for the next couple weeks. To use the words of my friendAaron, I just had to give’r.
You ready? As Steven Tyler might say, “Oooh-wha-ga-ga-ga-GOW!” Let’s go!
AEROSMITH – Aerosmith (1973 Columbia, 1993 Sony remaster)
Who woulda thunk that the band of young kids on this shitty album cover would become one of the biggest rock bands in history? Nobody, that’s who!
I love this album. I love its simplicity, its raw sound, basic production and youthful glee. I love the built-in musical maturity that seemed to bloom fully formed. I love the interplay of the whole band, their chemistry already intact. Everything you love about the way that Perry and Whitford make their guitars mesh with bassist Tom Hamilton, and how Hamilton syncs in with Joey Kramer on drums — it’s already here. Meanwhile, Steven Tyler had yet to discover all of his sass, but he was well on his way. All Aerosmith (1973) is missing is great production, something the band would develop with Jack Douglas on the next album Get Your Wings.
It’s easy to draw comparisons between Aerosmith’s and Kiss’ first records. Both records exhibited a more “rock n’ roll” vibe, and tame production values, with a band straining at the leash to really play like they do live. Ultimately it took both bands a few years to capture that.
The two massive hits on Aerosmith are two of their best known and beloved: “Dream On” and “Mama Kin”. Think about that for a second. One album with both “Dream On” and “Mama Kin”! What more do you want?
You’ll also get six other great early Aero-gems. “Walkin’ the Dog”, a Rufus Thomas cover, is one that Aerosmith still drags out in concert occasionally. A decade later Ratt covered Aerosmith’s version, well before Guns N’ Roses made covering Aerosmith the cool thing to do, as they did with “Mama Kin”!
Hidden gem: “Movin’ Out”, based on a couple really cool Joe Perry riffs. There’s also a killer, even more raw alternate version on the Pandora’s Box set. Aerosmith recently dusted this one off again, and it sounded amazing.
I don’t think there is a weak song on the album. There aren’t a lot that are “greatest hits”, but each one is great in its own way. “Write Me”, “Somebody”, “Make It” and “One Way Street” are all catchy little blues rock tunes, nothing to write home about but plenty to shake your ass to.
Incidentally, with the benefit of 20/20 hindsight, Aerosmith also contains the greatest opening line of any debut album ever: “Good evening people welcome to the show…”
Long story short: Aerosmith is a tasty blend of all the great Aerosmith ingredients that I love. Electric rock and blues form a perfect blend, and Steven Tyler was the perfect singer to front this band. Throw in some of his harmonica, piano and mellotron and you have a potent mix. But keep in mind, greater things came in very short order. Aerosmith, solid as it is, was only a precursor to true greatness.
I sure hope I don’t get “trashed” for this review! Incidentally, this is the first CD I ever bought, in December of 1989. I still have it.
ALICE COOPER – Trash (1989 Epic)
After the strictly heavy metal n’ horror sounds of the previous two albums, Constrictor and Raise Your Fist And Yell, Alice decided it was time to get back to more diverse hard rock sounds. This time, he immersed himself in everything that was cool in the late 80’s, and created a “theme album” about sex. Cooper albums usually have themes — Alice Cooper in school (School’s Out), Alice Cooper in hell (Goes To Hell), or Alice Cooper insane (From The Inside). Sex was a new theme for this character.
Alice teamed up with Desmond Child, champion of many Bon Jovi and Aerosmith discs, as well as Mr. Jovi and Mr. Tyler themselves, among others. The result is unfortunately what I consider to be a weak disc, dated to the times, and with only a few strong songs that have held up over the years. It is certainly a creative low, though it did sell oodles of copies and was a sort of “comeback” album for Alice.
The first track and first single, “Poison”, is by far the best song. It is strong because it is based on the riff, and though it is commercial it is not blatantly so. It has a unique vibe to it, something authentic that other bands couldn’t touch. Sadly it’s mostly downhill from there. “Spark In The Dark” is unremarkable (though it does boast a killer riff), and so is the second single “House of Fire”. “House of Fire” at least has a catchy chorus, but it is simply too cookie-cutter. You could exchange it with virtually any single from any band’s albums in 1989. Just look at the writing credits: Desmond Child, Joan Jett, and Alice. Who was this song written for?
“It’s Only Heart Talking”, which was not written by Alice, is a decent ballad made more special with Steven Tyler’s duet. Otherwise, it is forgettable and inferior to later Alice ballads such as “Might As Well Be On Mars” and “Stolen Prayer”. Smash hit, though, so there’s that.
The lyrics to “Trash”, a duet with JBJ himself, are so bad it’s not even funny. “If my love was a lollypop, would you lick it?” Did Jon Bon just say that? “I’m Your Gun” is hardly better. I just can’t bear to listen to those songs. If you’re in the mood for some absolute dreck, check out “This Maniacs’ In Love With You”.
One of the more interesting songs that didn’t make the album was “The Ballad Of Alice Cooper”, written by Jon Bon Jovi. There is a poor quality demo of Bon Jovi doing it in his best Alice voice out there. I think it might have been better than most of the tracks on the CD. The Japanese version, however, does have great live versions of “Cold Ethyl” and “Dwight Fry” recorded during this era. (They can be found on the Alice Cooper Extended Versions CD today.)
This album like its sequel Hey Stoopid was loaded chock full of cameos. Just scanning the credits, besides Bon Jovi and Steven Tyler, I see: Kip Winger, Hugh McDonald, Joe Perry, Richie Sambora, Steve Lukather, Joey Kramer and Tom Hamilton. I think these cameos are very little more than hype.
Cooper’s albums tend to go in similar pairs (Nightmare/Goes To Hell, Constrictor/Raise Your Fist, Brutal Planet/Dragontown). Trash is no exception. Although Cooper realized that Trash was too soft and weak, Hey Stoopid is essentially a brother record to this one. I find it to be much much stronger by comparison.
I would tell casual fans instead of picking up this CD, to pick up something like Cooper’s Classicks. You’ll get the major tracks from this as well as some rare live ones.
Welcome to theWeek of EPs! No sooner do I finish the Record Stores Tales before I’m off on yet another series! Each day this week, I’ll be checking out a variety of EP releases, both famed and obscure. Let’s start with a major band: Aerosmith.
AEROSMITH – The Other Side (1990 Geffen EP)
The first time I bought this, it was on cassette in a mall in Calgary, Alberta in August of 1990. I also bought Judas Priest’s Hero Hero at the same store, also on cassette. A completist even then, there was no way I was leaving without The Other Side. Of all my finds on that trip, this one I had never seen before. I later replaced it on CD while working at the Record Store.
The Pump CD is a great album, probably my favourite. The two songs from Pump that are on this single are “My Girl” and “The Other Side”, neither of which are really as great as the rest of Pump. That’s in my opinion; “The Other Side” was a popular hit. Notably, “The Other Side” lacks its intro, “Dulcimer Stomp” which may make it interesting for some.
The CD also has two useless remixes of “The Other Side”. The “Matt Dike ‘Honky Tonk’ Version” is just as offensive as the “Club Mix”. Maybe the Matt Dike version is slightly less offensive, but the added backing vocals and dance vibe is just crap. Neither mix adds anything of value to the song, but they are dragged out to 5:09 (Matt Dike mix) and an agonizing 7:04 (Club mix).
The main track that I bought the disc for was “Theme from ‘Wayne’s World'”. I actually had no idea what Wayne’s World was, although my cousin Geoff apparently did. Back then, I wondered what the hell this was. There were no liner notes to help either. This track is a mere 1:29, and it’s a straight up recording of the Saturday Night Live performance by Aerosmith of that song. I didn’t give a shit, I love it now. Perfect filler for the end of a mix CD!
Since this CD consists of two album tracks, two pointless remixes and a 1:29 song, you must be sure not to pay too much for it. As a kid I rarely played it, and the same can be said of the adult version of me.
AEROSMITH – Devil’s Got A New Disguise – The Very Best of Aerosmith (2006 Sony BMG)
Aren’t contracts a bitch? Aerosmith thinks so too. Eager to complete their contract with Sony, but sidelined by Tom Hamilton’s throat cancer, the band chose to release yet another greatest hits album. This being their third since the release of their last original studio album, Just Push Play.
Devil’s Got A New Disguise is nice in one respect. It’s one of only a few compilations that covers the “old days”, the 80’s, and the 90’s. It also contains a number of single versions that aren’t on the studio albums. There have been so many Aero-collections, however, that I’ve lost track of where else you can get these single versions.
From the early days, only five songs are included, from three albums. It’s a shame that somebody thought this was a good idea. Where’s “Same Old Song and Dance”? Then the Run DMC hit collaboration “Walk This Way” is up, in its familiar single edit. The Geffen years follow, which were chock full of hit after hit after hit. I am so, so sick of the Geffen years from sheer overplay, although “Angel” is conspicuous by its absence. (It is on the UK version of Devil’s Got A New Disguise, which had five different songs.)
The rarities here include single edits and remixes. “What It Takes” (one of the songs I’m not sick of) is present in edited and remixed form, the same version you probably heard on the radio. “Crazy” and “Livin’ On the Edge” are also single edits, and a “pop mix” of “I Don’t Wanna Miss A Thing” is included. Whoopee! I really don’t know if I had these already or not, to be honest. I have a lot of Aero-singles.
The bait to buy this is two new songs: “Sedona Sunrise”, and “Devil’s Got a New Disguise”. Both are actually songs that were written 15 years prior for Pump, and reworked several times, so you can’t even accuse Aerosmith of writing new songs. Since “Devil’s Got A New Disguise” (formerly known as “Susie Q”) failed to make Pump, Get A Grip, Nine Lives, Just Push Play, or any of the hits albums featuring two news songs previous to this one (Big Ones and O, Yeah!), then you know it can’t be very good. And it’s not. The modern production on it is shit. “Sedona Sunrise”, a soft one, is a bit better.
For your money, a better Aerosmith compilation with the exact same span of coverage but with two CDs of music is O, Yeah! Ultimate Aerosmith Hits. It too had its own duo of new songs, more classics and double the playing time.
AEROSMITH – Permanent Vacation (1987 Geffen, Japanese import)
Ahh, the much-ballyhooed Permanent Vacation! Granted, it was a step up from previous two studio albums (Done With Mirrors and Rock in a Hard Place) but it’s nothing compared to Toys or even Draw The Line. This is the birth or the new pop Aerosmith, the Aerosmith guided by David Geffen and John Kalodner. This is the new Jim Vallance and Bruce Fairbairn Aerosmith. On the whole, it’s not bad and it sure was a big hit in the late 80’s. But let’s be fair — if Aerosmith had come out with Rocks in 1987, would it have gotten airplay? Of course not – Rocks was far removed from what was happening in 1987. This was Aerosmith in survival mode, employing outside writers, the biggest producers, and going for broke. If we’d known back then that Aerosmith would never be able to return to their old school ass-kicking rock and roll (aside from the awesome Pump of course), I think we would have been a lot less excited.
“Heart’s Done Time”, the opener, ain’t bad. In fact it’s one of the best tunes, Joey’s traps reminding us that this was still Aerosmith. The song has some rock to it, while remaining accessible. The next track, “Magic Touch” is more of the same: strong chorus, fairly hard rocking guitars and drums. I prefer both songs to the well-known hits. Then it’s “Rag Doll”. Damn, I’m so sick of that song. I never liked it even when it was new. I think it’s filler. I’m glad for them that it was a huge hit, but I never felt the need to put it on a mix tape.
This is followed by some filler, “Simoriah”, one of the many tunes on this album that were never played live (Joe Perry’s big beef with the album is that half of it wasn’t played live). “Dude (Looks Like a Lady)” is probably the most overplayed singles of Aero-history. I know it’s a huge hit, but come on…the Aero of old never would have written this. However it’s the kind of Aerosmith song that people today know, therefore, people want to have it. Shame it’s not “Coney Island Whitefish Boy”….
“St. John” – more filler! “Hangman’s Jury” is good though, a nice bluesy swampy acoustic number. This is the kind of thing from Aerosmith’s roots and it comes off as the most sincere. This is followed by “Girl Keeps Coming Apart”, a song which, aside from some killer playing by the boys in the backline, is skip-worthy. The song keeps falling apart! Up next is the last of the singles, “Angel”, a song which I actually like a lot. I like the lush production; I love the choruses, the verses, and the guitar solo. I think this song is still pretty excellent.
The title track is next, a catchy number with no outside writers, and co-written by Brad Whitford. This is proof that Aerosmith are at their best when they are just five guys writing and playing together. There’s some embellishment with jungle noises and tropical sounds, but the song is a winner. Another winner is the Beatles cover “I’m Down”, but I don’t know why they needed to pad an already long album with a cover. Still, totally listenable. The final track is a lame instrumental called “The Movie”. Honestly, most Aerosmith instrumentals are boring. They’re just not that kind of band. This ends the album on a decidedly dull note.
I give the band credit for sobering up, and working hard on this album. Fairbairn (rest in peace) was known as a bit of a taskmaster, he made his bands work hard, and I’m sure Kalodner did too. I think that they were so intent on a charting hit that they lost sight of the roots of Aerosmith. Songs like “No Surprize” or “Nobody’s Fault” sound like a completely different group of guys than the band on Permanent Vacation. As a result, I rarely play this album today. After all, when I can’t turn on the radio without hearing “Dude” and “Rag Doll”, why would I want to?
AEROSMITH – “Dude (Looks Like A Lady)” (1987 Geffen 12″ single)
There was an old Canadian magazine called Music Express that was…well, it was OK. Back in 1987 they did a spread on the new Aerosmith (Permanent Vacation), including a really cool caricature of Steven Tyler that I cut out and kept. This Aerosmith article contained what I now consider to be a myth, although one that led me on a wild goose chase for years.
Music Express
The magazine claimed that one of the new Aerosmith B-sides was a song called “Once is Enough”, a collaboration with Willie Nelson. Not only did I believe this to be true, but it was seemingly confirmed by an old customer of mine who insisted she had this Willie Nelson tune. Now I’ve finally acquired the “Dude (Looks Like A Lady)” 12″ single with “Once is Enough”, and there is absolutely no indication that Nelson had anything to do with it. I wonder if the confused writer thought that John Kalodner in the music video for “Dude (Looks Like A Lady)” was Willie Nelson? That’s as much insight as I can offer on this strange myth.
As it turns out, “Once is Enough” is an outstanding song, and no wonder: It was written by Richie Supa, who also wrote three of my personal Aero-faves: “Chip Away the Stone”, “Lightning Strikes”, and “Amazing”. Supa has a certain magic in his melodies, rooted in old time rock n’ roll. When Aerosmith record a Supa song, the results are seldom disappointing (“Pink” being the only letdown I can think of). It does have a country twang to it, particularly the intro, but otherwise this is a rock n’ roller.
Although “Once is Enough” is instantly likeable and arguably an unknown classic, it was never released on any of the numerous Geffen Aerosmith compilations. I think it’s stronger than much of the material on Permanent Vacation itself. I can only assume it did not make the album because it’s too different from the songs that did. In fact it probably would have fit better on Pump, which also had some twang on the hit “What It Takes”. The country vocal harmonies are really sweet, and Joe Perry lays on some awesome slide. When it takes off into full-on rocker mode, it’s irresistible. Why a great tune like this remains so hard to get more than 25 years after its release, I don’t know.
The rest of the songs on the single are Permanent Vacation album tracks: “Dude”, “Simoriah” and “The Movie”. I’ll be honest, I never thought much of “Dude”. It was originally titled “Cruisin’ For A Lady”, but obviously the new words (supposedly inspired by Motley Crue) have become a Tyler landmark. So, good on them. It’s been used in numerous movies and is a radio staple today. With that Bruce Fairbairn horn section in there, I just thought it was too pop. No matter how I feel about this commercial rock song, Joe Perry’s solo smokes.
Both “Simoriah” and “The Movie” are filler as far as I’m concerned. For its merits, Permanent Vacation had a bit too much filler on it. I’m more of a Pump guy myself. As filler goes, “Simoriah” has a speedy groove going for it, but it’s not an outstanding song. “The Movie” is just an atmospheric instrumental. I’ve never felt that Aerosmith compose the most interesting instrumentals in the world.
Just 3/5 stars for this one…but 5/5 stars for “Once is Enough”!
One last thing: I also have a CD single for “Dude (Looks Like A Lady)” completely different from this. It was obviously a later release, since one of the B-sides was “Love In An Elevator” live. “Once is Enough” was not on that CD single.
As an Aero-accolyte, I thought Pump was a great album. All killer no filler, just like they made in the early to mid 1970’s. Permanent Vacation, while laden with huge hits, also had a lot of filler. I think Get A Grip falls somewhere between those two albums. It’s heavier than Vacation, but suffers from filler syndrome.
Witness: “Gotta Love It”. “Shut Up And Dance”. “Boogie Man”. Crap, crap, and crap!
I think Get A Grip has some of the best Aerosmith tunage of the past 20 years though: “Eat The Rich” is absolutely brilliant. “Fever” as well, musically and lyrically: “The high you be gettin’ from the crack don’t last, I’d rather be OD’ing on the crack of her ass.” That is the Steven Tyler I love! I could do without two of the ballads: “Cryin'” (which maybe is more of a blues?), and “Crazy” I could do without. Even if I liked those two songs, they’ve been so overplayed. “Amazing” on the other hand is string-laden Aero-brilliance, a worthy successor to tracks like “Angel” or even dare-I-say-it, “Dream On”. I also enjoyed “Line Up”, with Lenny Kravitz’ cameo. “Come on, Joe!”
The crown jewel of this album is the lengthy “Living On The Edge”. What a great song, and adventurous too. It wasn’t commercial but became a massive hit. Maybe the last time Aerosmith did a really adventurous single that really wasn’t very single-like.
I think production-wise, this album didn’t shine like Pump did. Fairbairn produced both and Get A Grip was considered by the band to have a better sound, but I don’t know. I think Pump rocks harder and cleaner. On the plus side, Get A Grip has good separation between Joe Perry and Brad Whitford, so you can really hear them playing and meshing. Same with Tom Hamilton’s rolling bass, you can pick it out and listen to the notes rather than just the groove. And, of course, Joey — Joey Kramer is one of the most underrated drummers in rock. His thrift is Bonham-esque and his groove is legendary.
I hate the standard album cover, it’s dated and stupid. It was even stupid in 1993, let alone now. Much better is the “cowhide” cover. There are no bonus tracks on that version, but it looks cool sitting in my collection (right next to my faux-leather edition of Pump).
There were numerous notable B-sides and other tracks available elsewhere, now all very easy to get on assorted Geffen compilations. Noteworthy, and worth tracking down, are “Deuces Are Wild”, and the two bonus tracks from the “Living on the Edge” single (“Don’t Stop” and “Can’t Stop Messin'”). There was also a good song called “Head First” that was an early attempt at digital distribution and song downloading!
3.5/5 stars. I wish it were better, but I think it’s too long and loaded with filler. I think it could have been 10 songs, like the Aero-classics of old.
It’s always great to have a contrasting point of view when it comes to a new release. So, my buddy Tommy Morais, one of the top-rated reviewers on the Canadian Amazon site, is back to give us his two cents. Tommy got the standard edition of the new ‘Smith, while I got the deluxe. Neither of us had read the others’ review when we did this.
I’ll go first. Here’s my take on the deluxe:
AEROSMITH – Music From Another Dimension! (Deluxe Edition)
When an album is a decade or so in the making (hello, Axl!), it is only certain to create one thing: expectation. And it’s difficult to approach the new Aero-platter without expectation, seeing as the pre-release hype was absolutely gonzo. “Sounds like our old stuff! Sounds like Rocks!” Etc. etc. etc.
The truth of the matter is, on Music From Another Dimension! there are elements that sound like classic Aerosmith. Mostly, it’s in Joe Perry’s riffs. Otherwise, this album is firmly in Get A Grip territory, minus Bruce Fairbairn’s trademark flourish.
The opening track, the dumb-titled “Luv XXX” contains one of those vintage 70’s sounding Joe Perry riffs, as does the next song “Oh Yeah”. Both are really decent songs, with “Oh Yeah” getting points for cool female backing vocals. Perhaps if “Oh Yeah” had been on Pump rather than this album, it would have been a hit single.
“Beautiful” is the first song that I strongly dislike. Not only does it have a dull chorus, but Tyler thought it would be a good idea to spend the verses rapping. Not exactly a return to Rocks, is it Steven? There is seldom anything as embarrassing as a rock band attempting genre-hopping into rap, unless that’s already your modus operandi, like Rage Against the Machine for example. Rush pulled it off once (“Roll the Bones”) but Aerosmith come off as desperate.
The first ballad, “Tell Me”, is up next. An acoustic ballad along the lines of a song like “What It Takes”, this is an acceptable song, but it lacks a decent chorus. Nothing outstanding. I enjoy Tom Hamilton’s rolling bassline underneath.
Then comes “Out Go the Lights”, which captures the Aerofunk of old. It has some funky harmonica and the return of the girls on backing vocals. Joey Kramer’s unmistakable drums sound absolutely massive. I think this one must be one of the oldest tunes on the album. It shares one section with “My Girl” from Pump, indicating a probable genesis back in 1989. It also shares a melody with the next song, the overrated single “Legendary Child”. “Legendary Child” is overproduced with too many layers of vocals, but Tom’s bass just kicks you in the nuts. It’s strange to hear one melody used more than once on an album, but that is perhaps because of the patchwork nature of the recording, and the fact that Aerosmith dug back into the archives for unfinished songs.
Let’s just skip “What Could Have Been Love”, which is basically the same as any Aero-ballad since Get A Grip. Instead, go straight to “Street Jesus”, an monolithic slab of riffery. This one could have been on Rocks or Toys. The whiplash-inducing tempo will leave you out of breath!
But why, oh why Aerosmith, did you bookend that awesome song with another typical Aero-ballad? And this one a duet with Carrie Underwood? So contrived. I really can’t see Brad Whitford, Joey Kramer and Tom Hamilton (who co-wrote the song) sitting around at home going, “You know, we really need to get a country singer on our album.” Nothing against Carrie Underwood, I would have jumped at the chance to record with Aerosmith too.
“Lover Alot” is another single, and even though it’s uptempo, it suffers from lack of melody and really dumb repetitive lyrics. Tyler’s normally a very clever lyricist. This is just below him.
Ah don’t you know that she loves you a lot
Why don’t you know, don’t you know what you got
I even know that she loves you a lot
Why don’t you know that she loves you a lot
Ah don’t you know that she loves you a lot
Why don’t you know, don’t you know what you got
I even know that she loves you a lot
Why don’t you know, don’t you know, don’t you?
Seriously.
“We All Fall Down” is the fourth ballad, but a decent one. I can hear some serious emotion coming out of this one. Like “Amazing” from Get A Grip, this one has something special to it that speaks to me, be it the melancholy melody or the lyrics, I don’t know.
Joe Perry’s first lead vocal of the album, “Freedom Fighter”, is a surprisingly strong tune. I really like this one. Granted, it has the vibe of something that could have been on Joe’s last solo album, but that’s not a bad thing. It’s a great song even if Joe ain’t the greatest of singers.
“Closer” isn’t really a ballad, more of a blues, featuring some smokin’ Joe guitar. It’s good to have some Aero-blues on a well balanced album, although I think the melody leaves a bit to be desired. This goes straight into the organ intro of “Something”, which is another bluesy number, and Joe’s second lead vocal. Better than “Closer”, this one really hits the spot.
“Another Last Goodbye” is the fifth ballad. It’s a basic Steve piano ballad, and I don’t mind this one either. It sounds sincere and has a live vibe. This is what a song like “I Don’t Wanna Miss A Thing” should have been.
That ends the album proper, but the deluxe edition has a cool bonus disc. A really cool bonus disc, well worth buying.
“Up on the Mountain” is a great little number featuring Tom on lead vocals with Steven backing him. Then Joe gets a third lead vocal on the incredible “Oasis in the Night”. Lots of lap steel here. This sounds like something that Joe might play on his front porch on a hot summer night. Just a cool tune. Finally, “Sunny Side of Love” is a melodic Aerosmith tune that probably should have been on the album proper, replacing some of the weaker songs.
Aside from Carrie Underwood, there are a slew of guest appearances that you can’t even hear — Johnny Depp, Julian Lennon, and so on. Who cares? Nobody buys an Aerosmith album because Johnny Depp is on it.
There’s a DVD too with live stuff on it. Typical live Aerosmith, it’s nice to have something recent, this is just an added bonus. Nothing really “must-have” here.
I think Music From Another Dimension!‘s biggest weakness is its length. 15 songs (+3) could easily have been trimmed to 10 (or 13). When you trim the fat though, it’s a solid…
4/5 stars
And now, without further delay, here’s Tommy!
AEROSMITH – Music From Another Dimension! (standard edition)
It’s been eleven years since the last Aerosmith studio album, 2001’s Just Push Play (and there’s also been the 2004 covers album Honkin’ On Bobo) which was really a product of its time with the band collaborating with producers that gave them a clean modern pop sound. This time around they brought back producer Jack Douglas who worked on some of the band’s best albums in the 1970’s. With the inner problems in the band and the near breakup, Steven Tyler doing American Idol fans were beginning to wonder if there was any recording going. It took a long time but Aerosmith’s 15th studio album, Music From Another Dimension is here. Initially the band said it would be a throwback to Toys in the Attics (1975) and Rocks (1976) and there are glimpses of that, but there’s also glimpses of the 80’s and 90’s Aerosmith too and a LOT of ballads. It’s as if all eras of the band are blended in one album and that’s their sound in 2012. I got to hand it to them, for a band of men in their 60’s there’s some pretty rocking material here, and I find that the band does vocal harmonies quite a lot this time around and it’s working rather well (actually they sound like they wouldn’t be out of place on a Def Leppard album). There’s some good but to me it’s an overall underwhelming Aerosmith album.
The ups with MFAD are the strong rock tracks. In fact the album starts off rather with a string of three solid rock songs. “LUV XXX” starts out with a spoken intro before kicking it into high gear, I wish the entire album was like this, it’s genuinely one of the best Aerosmith songs that’s been done since the 1970’s. It has that vibe from Toys/Rocks era and it’s fantastic. “Beautiful” is commercial Aerosmith at its best, it’s catchy, the vocal harmonies are excellent and the songs is very likeable as a whole. “ Legendary Child“ is a Grip a Grip era song that never saw the light of day. I was intrigued at first and when I listened to it I thought to myself “this could work”, and it does it rocks and it’s catchy enough I really like this one. “Can’t Stop Loving You” with Carrie Underwood is puzzling, having her on an Aerosmith album is obviously not going too well with some of the fans and it’s just not that good of a duet. “This Could Have Been Love” was chosen as the single and no surprise, it’s a ballad. I actually like this one, even if it’s a 1990’s Aero ballad rehash sounding or cheesy or sappy, I can acknowledge all of this but it still works for what is. “Street Jesus” has more of a classic rock edge to it, with even some jamming parts and the result is a longer, more vintage sounding track that works fairly well, it’s one of those the hardcore fans will enjoy the most. The Joe Perry sung track “Freedom Fighter” is one of the best songs on this album for me, it’s got a good Perry riff and even thought his voice isn’t particularly great the song manages to rocks.”Another Last Goodbye” is a fitting ballad to end the album with but it’s overshadowed by the fact that there are too many other ballads to truly stand out.
The first half of the album, I have generally good things to say about and it sounds promising and it makes you think that yes, maybe Aerosmith has some of the old rock sound we love back and it’s going to be an entire album like this. Then there’s the second side, filled with ballads and it really breaks the album’s flow. A big part of the problem is that the album suffers from the too much ballads syndrome that was present on albums like Get A Grip, and they sound mostly like 1990’s Aerosmith ballads. Six/seven (depending on who you ask) ballads on an album is just too much, and I like ballads but these are for the most part just sappy and rehashed songs that they’ve already done, except not as good or passionate. There’s just no overlooking that many ballads is overkill. The worst part is a duet with Carrie Underwood, no offense but what’s she doing on an Aerosmith album? Especially one which was reported as “back to their roots”. I found some of the lyrics here to be the band’s most juvenile yet, which is rather humorous coming from men in their sixties. Then again the album has 15 tracks, maybe a little too much and if they removed some of the ballads and Diane Warren songs (still using outside writers it seems) it would have come across as a tighter effort, it comes across as a modern version of Get A Grip (some good rock songs, plenty of ballads and it has over 14 songs and an outtake from that album as well) . Most of those ballads sound like they’re trying to be part II of “Amazing”, “Crying” or “Don’t Wanna Miss A Thing”. 15 songs may just be a little too much, if they cut some of it down it would have made for a shorter, tighter more Rock album, that’s my take on it.
Like many fans, it’s hard for me to hide my disappointment. Still better than Just Push Play that’s for sure, but I expected more from the hype Aerosmith had around this release. There are things to like but some that . I listened to it a few times by now and I can honestly say my rating is a 2 ‘ out of 5. Some of the Rock tracks are reminiscent of classic Aerosmith and energy charged tunes but overall it comes off as an album that didn’t know what direction it wanted to take. There have been some great releases by Classic bands this year, but sadly Aerosmith’s is not one of them I’m afraid.
The year: 2003. Aerosmith were in town, playing a private party for Research in Motion. I know a few people who went. But I also know someone who ran into Steven Tyler downtown that day. (As an historic footnote, the opening act for that party was Barenaked Ladies. Thanks to Melvin Lapandano for that information.)
The person who bumped into Tyler was “Dandy”, one of the biggest assholes I’ve ever worked with. And that doesn’t even bother him, he used to be proud that he was a dick. Once he dropped his façade and showed his true colours, I had no use for the guy. He was the kind of lazy disinterested employee who knew when he was safe to screw the pooch and when he had to work, and who to kiss ass for brownie points. He was an expert at keeping up appearances.
The only time Dandy did anything (arguably) funny was the time met Steven Tyler downtown. But he was still a dick.
Aerosmith’s last album, Just Push Play was pretty dismal, loaded with pop, ballads and samples. Even Joe Perry says it’s his least favourite album.
So, Aerosmith are in town to play the private party. Dandy’s walking downtown, acting like a douche (that part is speculation, but it’s probably true), when he bumps into Steven Tyler. The conversation went like this.
Dandy – “Hey! You’re in Aerosmith, right?”
Tyler – “That’s right, how are you doing man?”
Dandy – “I’m OK. You guys kind of suck now don’t you?”
Tyler – (frowns and walks away)
Dandy – “Cheers.”
Then, to conclude the story, Dandy told me, “Later on I saw the bass player too. But I didn’t say anything to him. He’s just the bass player, so it already sucks enough to be him.”
AEROSMITH – Aerosmith (1973 Columbia, 1993 Sony remaster)
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