Aerosmith have given us all plenty of entertainment over the last few years. Unfortunately, none of that has had anything to do with their day-job. Indeed the former Toxic Twins – singer Steven Tyler and guitarist Joe Perry – waged war on each other due to wagons being fallen off, and at one point the ‘Smith even considered the madness of replacing their legendary frontman with another, younger model (have we learned nothing from the Judas Priest debacle circa ’96?). Throw in Tyler’s recent turn as the leathery, letchy but lovely judge on American Idol and the tale of the States’ answer to The Rolling Stones’ has been a bit of a horror story.
And now, guess what? The oddest family since the Munsters are set to release their first new material in 11 years! The good news is that if you’re a dyed-in-the-wool Aerosmith fan, you’ll find plenty of hip-shaking, booty-wiggling old-school anthems to sate your long-suffering thirst. Opening with the bluesy bombastic boogie of ‘LUV XXX,’ the band don’t stray too far from their ballsy brand of rock ‘n’ roll. ‘Lover Alot’, ‘Legendary Child’ and ‘Freedom Fighter’ (which features vocals from Johnny Depp) all impress – but the highlight is the swaggering ‘Out Go The Lights’ which is so good is could give anything from the much celebrated 80s classic Pump a run for its money. Sadly the same can’t be said for some of the ballads and the turgid duet with country star Carrie Underwood (‘Can’t Stop Lovin’ You’) is particularly limp. But for the most part the record is a welcome addition to the wrinkly rockers’ canon.