Just Push Play

Man, you just have to love those Aerosmith guys. Suppliers of endlessly entertaining 'out of it' stories and more than a handful of classic tunes during the seventies, their post-Run DMC collaboration comeback has been the stuff of legend. They had it, they blew it and now they definitely have it again. Just Push Play presents them with another role, that of the plucky musical underdogs producing their own album in the face of record company pressure (although given their licence to print money in the States, you have to wonder just how much of a risk Columbia were really taking). In truth, there isn't much to distinguish JPP from any of its predecessors. The blue print that they established with 1987's fantastic Permanent Vacation remains largely untampered with - a little bit of funk here, a dash of Stonesy guitar there, a brass section, a couple of power ballads thrown in for luck. First single 'Jaded' is very new Aerosmith, a big chorus for an even bigger song that would appear to attempt to right Tyler's wrongs to his daughter Liv, while 'Fly Away From Here' would look to be a sure bet to cash in on the success of that awful Armageddon thing. Just Push Play itself is entertaining enough, a brash and colourful number that has more than a little of 'Walk This Way' to it (even namechecking that particular song) and recaptures much of the spirit that has made Aerosmith so much fun over the years, even if the sleevenotes do feel the need to point out the vocals are supposed to be Jamaican patois. For much of its fifty odd minutes though, the album is more than a little flat. Until you reach it's finale, that is.

'Avant Garden' finds them in a relaxed, almost whimsical (not a very Aeros word) mood. It's by far Tyler's best vocal performance of the whole album, uplifting and quite touching, a million miles away from his usual double entendre cracking persona. If someone had the guts to put it out as a single a lot of people's preconceptions would take a battering. They follow it with the largely acoustic bonus track 'Faces', which closes the album in a wash of Sgt Pepper style vocals, strings and brass.

A brave new dawn for Aerosmith? On the strength of those last two tracks, stranger things have happened. Push play by all means, but have that fast forward button close to hand.