AEROSMITH 'Music from Another Dimension!' (2012)

12 November 2012
news page

'I'm baaack! Baaack in the saddle again!' - Steven Tyler's roar from the opening track of 'Rocks' (1976), Aerosmith's last truly great album, has been stuck in my head for weeks.

The reason is that the band that created the perfect rock'n roll mix of Led Zeppelin's epic neo-blues riffs and the Rolling  Stones' pop sensitivity, managed to survive yet another troublesome period in its carrier and is back with a bang.

And the brand new album, 'Music from Another Dimension!,' is the closest you could've hoped Aerosmith would ever get to rediscovering the sound and values of their 1970's heyday.

The band is once again working with producer Jack Douglas and songs like 'Luv XXX' reek of the same gritty rock'n roll that would have been at home on 'Toys in the Attic' (1975).

This continues in 'Oh Yeah,' 'Tell Me' and songs where Aerosmith have abandoned the radio format and have fun for over six minutes – 'Out Go the Lights' and 'Street Jesus.'

The best tracks here are the ones who were penned by Tyler and Joe Perry. This brings back the sense you may have lost after the 80's – that you're dealing with a true rock band instead of pop music performers who work with outside songwriters.

Aerosmith worked that way since 'Permanent Vacation' (1987) and they do it again.

But it is exactly the songs that Marti Frederiksen wrote – and just for comparison, he co-authored every single one on 'Just Push Play' (2001) – are the moments when 'Music from Another Dimension!' falls on its nose.

'What Could Have Been Love' is a way too predictable power ballad that just fails to move you the way the other similar songs on the album do – the cover of Diane Warren's 'We All Fall Down' and 'Another Last Goodbye.'

And then 'Lover Alot' is what usually comes out when a pop producer tries to write a rock song – a dull chorus that seems to repeat on forever, killing any momentum the song had built in the meantime.

And this is exactly the best thing about 'Music from Another Dimension!'

You rarely come across an album where you can witness how rock beats the hell out of pop. Usually they just aren't in the same place. Here they are. And it is a sweet victory to listen to.

And when you come to think that just two years ago Tyler and Perry couldn't stand each other and the band was auditioning for a new singer...
 

Source: radiotangra.com