In my opinion, Aerosmith hasn’t put out anything worth listening to since Get A Grip ten years ago. Now I’ve read that Aerosmith is talking about this as if it’s a Toys In The Attic reincarnation. That was a long time ago, like twenty-five years long, but somehow these granddaddies of rock are still around and kicking as high as ever.
What sets Aerosmith apart from the likes of the Rolling Stones is that Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler and Joe Perry still write their own songs, and they do it well. I don’t think the Stones have written a good song since the seventies whereas Aerosmith not only write hits, but good songs. And I’m going to give my two cents and say both don’t always go hand in hand. I think I should also mention that Tyler and Perry also co-produced the album with Mark Hudson and Marti Frederiksen.
The first single is the honey tinged “Jaded”, a song that would have been just as easy on the ears were it sung by any pop band. Aerosmith adds the necessary licks to make it all theirs. “Just Push Play” finds me wondering if you like rock with that sugar. “Drop Dead Gorgeous” plants Joe Perry in front of the mic and surprisingly it’s one of the songs I enjoyed most. It’s not overdone with all the screeches and yowels we are used to. Well, it is, but Tyler doesn’t completely get his ya-yas off like usual. As much as Aerosmith desires to sound totally modern, this is the only track that sounds as if it isn’t dated.
And what Aerosmith album would be complete without a ballad? “Fly Away From Here” doesn’t reach the epic proportions of “I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing”, which doesn’t mean I can’t imagine it not being a hit. I have the video already figured out in my head, but I won’t divulge my ideas unless they want me to submit my treatment.
There are a few things that bugged me. First is the corny ’80ish cover and album title. Worst is the completely clichéd “Trip Hoppin’”, complete with boorish lyrics like “one more day with u trip hoppin’/…/cuz lovin’ u is trippin’ to me/ u got me psychodelisized”. That is their spelling, not mine.
The only track that really brings back the Aerosmith of old is “Beyond Beautiful” with its signature riffs and hardened vocals. If you gave me twelve tracks like this one, I would have been salivating all over this record. Instead I went in with really high hopes after hearing all the hype that this album was going to bring us back to Aerosmith’s roots. But Just Push Play finds them doing what they have been doing for the last ten years: sliding down from kings of rock to sultans of pop. I blame “I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing”. Ever since that song garnered such acclaim, they’ve been fighting tooth and nail to get the same sort of mountainous success across the board. Just Push Play sure won’t earn that, and at the end of their careers it isn’t going to do much more than sit quietly in one amazing discography.
+ rae gun
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