If you are a music fan who is a regular reader of magazines, websites or blogs you have probably caught wind of the Aerosmith saga breaking out this week between front man Steven Tyler and guitarist Joe Perry.
It was announced Tyler was leaving the band. It was announced Perry and the rest of the band were looking for a new lead singer. It was announced Tyler was still in the band, but wanted to do a solo record. Then it was announced Perry wasn’t going to wait around for Tyler to get his shit together.
To be honest I lost interest early, but it still remains that Aerosmith as a band is in some sort of trouble – then again what’s new.
Steve Tyler (61) and Joe Perry (59), arguably the Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, this side of the Atlantic, were once known as the “Toxic Twins” due to their excessive drug use back in their hey day of the ‘70s.
This isn’t the first time the two have butted heads. It seems they have butted heads since day one of Aerosmith. It all came crashing down in 1979 when Perry, along with the band's other gutiarist Brad Whitford, left the band for five years.
The original line up got back together in 1984, sobered up and started to put out good music again.
This is when I came to know Aerosmith with their 1985 return Done with Mirrors. If memory serves me correctly, the cassette had the title of the album printed backwards so you had to place it up to the mirror to read it correctly. The album had a few solid rockers like the Perry-penned lead off track “Let the Music Do the Talking” along with “My Fist Your Face” and “Shame on You” – all three perfectly titled considering the situation the band was going through.
I knew of Aerosmith before Done With Mirrors. I was aware of “Dream On,” “Sweet Emotion” and “Back in the Saddle” thanks to the local radio station playing them all summer long at the swimming pool. But it was Mirrors that really got me drawn in to the band. Two years later in ’87 Permanet Vacation was released and I got to see the band for the first time live.
Now I understood the devotion of the long-time Aerosmith fans and I dug deep into the band's back catalog. But something happened along the way. Aerosmith had some pretty good rocking albums through the mid 1990s, but then the band lost their edge in favor of the power ballads featuring Tyler’s daughter Liv and Alicia Silverstone scantily clad all over their videos. Sure this was great for maninstream success and a joy for horny teenages to watch, but overall their albums became shitty as a whole – remember Nine Lives or Just Push Play? Yeah me either.
Herein lays the problems of present day Aerosmith. Maybe the band has their heads to far up their ass to realize this. Aerosmith hasn’t released a studio album of orignal material in more than eight years. Furthermore they haven’t released a good studio album of original material in 16 years with 1993's Get a Grip.
Personally I could careless what Aerosmith does now because I lost interest when they lost their rock edge. But Aerosmith are in their late 50s/early 60s and they are acting like a brand new band in their 20s.
Tyler and Perry, please don’t air your dirty laundry via Twitter, press releases and blogs. It is coming off like a whole he said/she said battle….like reality television. Maybe that’s what you are going for??? Rumors have it there is a new Aerosmith album due in 2010, are you guys starting the hype machine like the Balloon Boy’s father? Is this all just fruitless fodder to build anticipation for the new album?
Either way, just shut up and take care of your disputes behind closed doors and act like established muscians. If it doesn’t work out, I am pretty sure Jimmy Crespo and Rick Dufay have plenty of time on their hands to fill in.