Aerosmith - Just Push Play

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After their initial mid-70's run as a secondhand U.S. version of the Rolling Stones, Aerosmith's career might as well have been affixed with a toe tag. However a funny thing happened on the way to the morgue and later on tonight the band will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Aerosmith's career was beginning to disintegrate under the weight of all their drug 'n' alcohol abuse. The band's career was jump started in 1986 when they collaborated with rap act Run-D.M.C. on the track "Walk This Way" and haven`t looked back since. Twenty years later it's now Jagger and Richards who seem old and in the way, while Aerosmith's popularity seems to grow and their music seems to get more in your face with each passing fad.

The Toxic Twins front man Steven Tyler and guitarist Joe Perry have become part of the production team known as the Boneyard Boys. Along with fellow Boneyarders, Mark Hudson and Marti Frederiksen they produced the bands 13th studio album Just Push Play. In the bands long career this marks the first time we get Aerosmith as produced by Aerosmith. Their approach doesn't stray too far from the polished commercialism introduced by its big-name producers of the '80s and '90s, but does have a detectably harder edge than its predecessors of those eras.

The album opens with Steven Tyler's signature wail driving the swaggering hard rocking track "Beyond Beautiful." The title track comes in with Tyler's voice cutting in and out and uses backwards masking, distorted vocals, and hip-hop pacing that makes the first few seconds sound a lot like 90's funk rockers the Red Hot Chili Peppers. The track is laced with hip-hop/electronica and with boastful lines like "We're comin' at u anyway, Fuckin A" and tongue and cheek shouts of "Walk this way."

The track "Jaded" follows up next with a guitar riff that bears a passing resemblance to that of Led Zeppelins "Dancing Days." The track is the lead off single for the new album and showcases the typically wistful melodic rock ballad that jump-started Aerosmith's career way back when. "Fly Away From Here" is not for those who cringed when they heard Aerosmith's power ballad "I Don't Want to Miss a thing" for the millionth time. The song tries a little too hard to recreate the "Dream On" vibe. However don't worry that much it's the only sappy ballad on the album and it's not half as bad as you would think. The horn laden "Trip Hoppin'" which details love as a drug with such lines as "Ain't no smokin' fantasy/ 'Cuz lovin' u is trippin' to me." The psychedelic "Sunshine" is backed by a soaring string section as the song references Alice In Wonderland. Tyler's vocals are amazing on this track with shards of backwards guitar from Perry surfacing throughout the song.

"Under My Skin" brims with the group's patented macho guitar posturing, unfortunately it doesn't have much else to it. "Luv Lies" recalls all of the bands mid-90's hits that were accompanied by video's that featured Tyler's daughter and Alicia Silverstone. The difference is the song avoids the sonic sheen of those songs for a gritty, soulful delivery that's topped by a biting mid-song guitar solo. The track "Outta Your Head" finds Tyler "rapping" the verses. Which comes out sounding fairly similar to that of Debbie Harry on Blondie's "Rapture." The track continues with crunching guitars before hitting a soaring chorus of Tyler repeating "Outta your head", before switching back to the verse, then back to the chorus before hitting a crescendo of swirling guitars and vocals to close out the track. "Drop Dead Gorgeous" features Joe Perry singing the verses and Tyler picking up the chorus. The track embraces techno elements without either pandering to the club crowd or compromising Aerosmith's grit. "Light Inside" shows off the drawn-out chords of an anthemic power ballad, and features some strong bass lines from Tom Hamilton. "Avant Garden" is an acoustic driven rootsy song, that extols the virtues of the redemptive power of love. Tacked on the end is a hidden bonus track that offers a harder, lo-fi version of the title song.

There is a special limited edition CD that you can only purchase at Best Buy that features the previously unreleased track "Face." The bouncy acoustic track finds Tyler singing about a girl who has a "face without a name" that is driving him crazy. As a whole the album flat out rocks. On first listen I wasn't terribly impressed with it, but on the second and third listen it starts to hit it`s stride. Just Push Play is an expert balance of vintage Aerosmith and more contemporary stylings.


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However a funny thing happened on the way to the morgue and later on tonight the band will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Aerosmith's career was beginning to disintegrate under the weight of all their drug 'n' alcohol abuse. The band's career was jump started in 1986 when they collaborated with rap act Run-D.M.C. on the track "Walk This Way" and haven`t looked back since. Twenty years later it's now Jagger and Richards who seem old and in the way, while Aerosmith's popularity seems to grow and their music seems to get more in your face with each passing fad. The Toxic Twins front man Steven Tyler and guitarist Joe Perry have become part of the production team known as the Boneyard Boys. Along with fellow Boneyarders, Mark Hudson and Marti Frederiksen they produced the bands 13th studio album Just Push Play. In the bands long career this marks the first time we get Aerosmith as produced by Aerosmith. Their approach doesn't stray too far from the polished commercialism introduced by its big-name producers of the '80s and '90s, but does have a detectably harder edge than its predecessors of those eras. The album opens with Steven Tyler's signature wail driving the swaggering hard rocking track "Beyond Beautiful." The title track comes in with Tyler's voice cutting in and out and uses backwards masking, distorted vocals, and hip-hop pacing that makes the first few seconds sound a lot like 90's funk rockers the Red Hot Chili Peppers. The track is laced with hip-hop/electronica and with boastful lines like "We're comin' at u anyway, Fuckin A" and tongue and cheek shouts of "Walk this way." The track "Jaded" follows up next with a guitar riff that bears a passing resemblance to that of Led Zeppelins "Dancing Days." The track is the lead off single for the new album and showcases the typically wistful melodic rock ballad that jump-started Aerosmith's career way back when. "Fly Away From Here" is not for those who cringed when they heard Aerosmith's power ballad "I Don't Want to Miss a thing" for the millionth time. The song tries a little too hard to recreate the "Dream On" vibe. However don't worry that much it's the only sappy ballad on the album and it's not half as bad as you would think. The horn laden "Trip Hoppin'" which details love as a drug with such lines as "Ain't no smokin' fantasy/ 'Cuz lovin' u is trippin' to me." The psychedelic "Sunshine" is backed by a soaring string section as the song references Alice In Wonderland. Tyler's vocals are amazing on this track with shards of backwards guitar from Perry surfacing throughout the song. "Under My Skin" brims with the group's patented macho guitar posturing, unfortunately it doesn't have much else to it. "Luv Lies" recalls all of the bands mid-90's hits that were accompanied by video's that featured Tyler's daughter and Alicia Silverstone. The difference is the song avoids the sonic sheen of those songs for a gritty, soulful delivery that's topped by a biting mid-song guitar solo. The track "Outta Your Head" finds Tyler "rapping" the verses. Which comes out sounding fairly similar to that of Debbie Harry on Blondie's "Rapture." The track continues with crunching guitars before hitting a soaring chorus of Tyler repeating "Outta your head", before switching back to the verse, then back to the chorus before hitting a crescendo of swirling guitars and vocals to close out the track. "Drop Dead Gorgeous" features Joe Perry singing the verses and Tyler picking up the chorus. The track embraces techno elements without either pandering to the club crowd or compromising Aerosmith's grit. "Light Inside" shows off the drawn-out chords of an anthemic power ballad, and features some strong bass lines from Tom Hamilton. "Avant Garden" is an acoustic driven rootsy song, that extols the virtues of the redemptive power of love. Tacked on the end is a hidden bonus track that offers a harder, lo-fi version of the title song. There is a special limited edition CD that you can only purchase at Best Buy that features the previously unreleased track "Face." The bouncy acoustic track finds Tyler singing about a girl who has a "face without a name" that is driving him crazy. As a whole the album flat out rocks. On first listen I wasn't terribly impressed with it, but on the second and third listen it starts to hit it`s stride. Just Push Play is an expert balance of vintage Aerosmith and more contemporary stylings.