Unlike many of their contemporaries, Aerosmith became a vital part of an ever-changing musical landscape. Fans, young and old, anxiously would await their next move — whether they were cutting a track for a movie soundtrack, making an appearance on Saturday Night Live, or showing up on the fifty yard line for the half-time show at the Super Bowl — Aerosmith wasn’t about to end up in the where-are-they-now bin anytime soon. Given their continuing popularity, many of the band’s handlers found it necessary to bring in additional songwriters and producers to supplement the Aerosmith sound. And while the bean counters rubbed their hands with glee, listening to a sanitized band that made its mark for being nasty and naughty and writing their own tunes left a very bad taste in your mouth. At the dawn of the new century, the Boston quintet attempted to wash their hands of any corporate intervention by turning in a solid collection called Just Push Play.
Well, let’s just say it was a step in the right direction. There were still too many hands in the candy jar, but at least the Toxic Twins — vocalist Steven Tyler and guitarist Joe Perry — playfully evolved into the Boneyard Boys (add producers / songwriters Mark Hudson and Marti Frederiksen), without giving away too much of the store. The bottom line is that Just Push Play was the best album Aerosmith had made since 1989’s Pump.
It starts off ordinarily enough with “Beyond Beautiful,” but picks up steam with the mischievous title track and the contagious single, “Jaded.” From there, the album manages to toss and turn a mish mash of styles — from syrupy ballads (“Fly Away From Here”) to pulsating hip-hop work outs (“Outta Your Head”) to sonic trance-like shuffles (“Light Inside”) — while staying within the band’s own zone of predictable, but always exulting drive and beat. And let’s not forget: Tyler screaming out like a pair of high beam headlights mounted on the front of a musical train.
In the same year they are being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for over 25 years of service, Aerosmith — its original lineup of Tyler, Perry, guitarist Brad Whitford, bassist Tom Hamilton, and drummer Joey Kramer — flexed their muscles and pulled out a plum. The overall production on Just Push Play is far more realized, less generic than their previous outing, 1997’s Nine Lives. Some hardcores from the 70s would argue that Whitford or Hamilton should be writing more, and that pinch-hitters like Hudson and Frederiksen should stick to doing albums with Cher and Celine Dion; however, you can’t argue with the end result.
As if by instinct, Aerosmith returned to a more organic and rugged stance in 2001. In the process, they took side trips that bands of their status should always indulge in. Just Push Play was their last big seller, a tip of the hat to the salad days before delivering 2004’s Honkin’ On Bobo, an half-hearted effort at covering blues standards, and 2012’s Music From Another Dimension!, seemingly the band’s final gasp in the midst of internal upheaval. Twelve years later, Aerosmith’s touring days are over, though the door is ajar for another studio album. The question remains: is it just a matter of pushing play? We shall see.
~ Shawn Perry
