My Amazon Reviews: Vince Neil "Tattoos & Tequila"

Platinum Roots
3 Out Of 5 Stars

Motley Crue started life as glam-metal before morphing into hard rocking, and "Tattoos and Tequila" is front-man Vince Neil's tribute to the bands and songs that helped formulate his contributions to the band, While it's not terribly inspiring or all that original, it is in good fun and Neil acquits himself just fine. It's also a pretty interesting look into the guy's pysche; just what was he listening to while he was dreaming little rock star dreams?

Some of the choices are obvious. I'd easily guessed Scorpions and Aerosmith, and perhaps Elton John's "The B---- is Back" given Elton's omnipresence on seventies radio. A bit more interesting are Sweet ("Ac/Dc") and a selection from the first Cheap Trick album, "He's a Whore." Then you get the oddballs. I wouldn't have pegged Vince for a fan of Elvis or Creedence Clearwater Revival, but they both turn up with "Viva Las Vegas" and "Who'll Stop The Rain," respectively. And how about them Sex Pistols?

As to the performances, they are spotty. He's got a basic three piece combo backing him for the bulk of the disc, and they bludgeon their way through just about everything here. Drums are pumped to arena boom levels and the drenching of reverb over everything (especially Vince's vocals) doesn't allow the songs much room to breathe. The couple moments of subtlety ("Who'll Stop The Rain" and new song - one of two fresh cuts - "Another Bad Day") unmask the fact that Vince isn't much of a singer these days, which is why he blasts his way through most of the CD. Frankly, the CCR track is painful to listen to.

But this is Vince Neil we're dealing with here. If you were expecting "Sgt Pepper," you were gonna get snookered anyway. "Tattoos and Tequila" is Neil have a good laugh with a night of oldies at the local pub. It's also tied into a book and Vince's own brand of Tequila, so it's just one prong in a three point marketing strategy. He's not taking it all that seriously (I have a hard time listening to him trying to snarl like Johnny Rotten on "No Feelings" without imagining him cracking up), so take "Tattoos and Tequila" for what it is; a bit of a lark and a savvy piece of salesmanship. To assume more would be exaggerating your expectations.

     

My Amazon Reviews: Aerosmtih "Pump"

Pump Up The Volume
4 Out Of 5 Stars

Aerosmith continued their unlikely comeback with a second powerful album, "Pump." Working off the momentum supplied by "Permanent Vacation" and still collaborating with a few hired guns (Jim Vallance and Desmond Child snag a few songwriter credits), the Toxic Twins of Steven Tyler and Joe Perry were back in a groove that rivaled their heyday. "I'm a .38 Special on a Saturday night," growls Tyler on "F.I.N.E." and he means every word of it.

Not only did they have their groove back, they were also now MTV darlings. It turned "Love In an Elevator," "Jamie's Got a Gone" "The Other Side" and the power ballad "What It Takes" into hit singles. But it's the unlikely turns that made "Pump" into a little extra. There's a Sgt Pepperish middle section on "Elevator" that comes from outside the band's usual meat grinder. And would you have ever expected Aerosmith to pick up a Dulcimer and rock out with it (as does the "Dulcimer Stomp" that precedes "The Other Side." Despite "Pump" being a through-and-through Aerosmith album, they were stepping outside their box.

"Pump" was the peak of Aerosmith's second act. The outside influences began to overrun the band come "Get a Grip" and soon after that, the usual rock and roll demons took control. However, for sheer song for song bang, "Pump" offered conclusive proof that Aerosmith were one of America's classic rock bands that had the goods to outlast many of their 70's peers.

     

Vacation to Florida Sunshine

After all the work Joel and I did in the aftermath of his father's passing, we made a decision to take a break for a week. Thanks to a week in a time share courtesy of one of my Aunts and AAA, we settled on Orlando and Disneyworld, with a side trip to Universal Studios.

The weather was very cooperative, with highs in the mid-70's and not to chilly at night. I was able to take my fill of roller coasters (Joel doesn't like thrill rides), with the exception of the Harry Potter rides at Universal. Seems they have size restrictions on these rides and I have a bit too much in the waist to fit the chairs. But the Aerosmith Rock and Roller Coaster (Disney) was a wild trip (one of the indoor - in the dark rides that really whips you around), and the Incredible Hulk (Universal) with some wild corkscrews and open air loopers.

I was also seriously impressed by the new 3-D technology. The Disney feature "Mickey's PhilharMagic" and Universal's Amazing Spiderman ride put the images right in front of you, along with effects like waterspray and heat blasts to add to the experience. Along with the new animatronics (the Aerosmith Coaster had the full band performing a skit before you boarded the cars) made the fantasy all the more realistic. It was a week to make my feet ache and give us many smiles. It was a real bummer to have to come back to snow and sub-freezing temperatures!

More pictures and amusing stuff here.

My Amazon Reviews: Aerosmith "Music From Another Dimension"

Aerosmith 2012
3 Out Of 5 Stars 

The newest incarnation of Aerosmith (it's been a decade since "Just Push Play") finds them almost in a parallel universe with the Rolling Stones. "Music From Another Dimension" is a confident and competent album, but no great shakes in the pantheon of Aerosmith. Like the Stones, they seem incapable of cutting a truly bad album in their golden years, but anyone expecting "Rocks" is stuck in a dimension all their own.

You're also stuck with the outside songwriter syndrome, with Desmond Child, Jim Vallance, Diane Warren and M. Moir (is that Monte Moir of The Time?) all sharing credits with the Aerosmith members. As usual, the Warren ballad "We All Fall Down" is commercial knockout (I'm going to bet on this as the single), while the Jim Vallance number "Legendary Child" is actually one of the better cuts. However, it's the Tyler/Perry songs that are the meat of "Dimension." The opener "Love XXX" is better than anything on "Just Push Play," and Tom Hamilton's "Tell Me" is an acoustic standout.

The lone curveball is the duet with country superstar Carrie Underwood. "Can't Stop Loving You" sounds like a song from the "Pump" period, even with Underwood's considerable pipes chiming in. It doesn't necessarily 'rock,' but it's no Nashville weeper, either. Add a bonus song from Joe Perry singing "Freedom Fighter" and you round out a decent Aerosmith album. "Music From Another Dimension" isn't going to convert any old fans, but at least it's not "Done With Mirrors."

     

My Amazon Reviews: Aerosmith "Greatest Hits (1980)"

A Calling Card for early Aerosmith
4 Out Of 5 Stars

When this came out in 1980, Aerosmith were still one of the hottest rock bands in the world. The slippage of "Night In The Ruts" had just been released and the backlash (or the public breakup between the band and Joe Perry) hadn't happened yet. That meant the public's appetite for a Greatest Hits was still hot, and this ten song package filled in nicely. It collects songs from the debut to "Ruts," skips the "Live Bootleg" and adds one soundtrack single Beatles Cover from the camp classic movie "Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" (in which Aerosmith played the villains!).

The main reason to won this is the 1978 version of "Come Together" from Sgt Pepper. This has been the only CD you can find it on (unless you want the SPLHCB soundtrack, and you probably don't). It also doesn't bother with the Run-DMC version of "Walk This Way" which tends to show up on other discs. The two best songs from "Draw The Line" are hear and the goofy cover of "Remember Walking In The Sand" are included. The down side is that several of the tracks are single edits ("Same Old Song and Dance," "Sweet Emotion" and "Draw The Line," to name three) and "Train Kept a Rollin'" could have easily been included among the single releases.

Other than "Oh Yeah," which culls both the CBS and Geffen years onto two discs, "Aerosmith's Greatest Hits" is about as good a bang for the buck as you'll get from this band.

     

My Amazon Reviews: Starz "Starz"

You say You Want Action?
4 Out Of 5 Stars

The 1976 debut album from Starz is one of those great bands that somehow came inside of inches before missing the great brass ring, even though this and the follow-up album, "Violation," were as good as or better than the bulk of hard rock in the period. And having recently noted the passing of seventies Hard Rock Guru/Manager extraordinaire Bill Aucoin, it's also worth mentioning that he and his partner/lover Sean Delaney were the ones who discovered and nurtured Starz (then The Fallen Angels).

They pulled in production legend Jack Douglas and the band set about recording the kind of album they wanted to play along with Aerosmith's "Get Your Wings." They had a pair of hard-riffing guitarists (Richie Ranno and Brendan Harken) a Charismatic lead singer in Michael Lee Smith, a mad-cap mustachioed drummer in Joe X Dube and a solid bassist in Pete Sweval. They already had honed their live act to a point where they were the object of a bidding war, so when it was time to lay the tracks down, the only difference between the album and the demos here as bonus tracks is more weight to the sound and some judicious editing.

Arena ready rockers like "Boys In Action," "Detroit Girls" and "Live Wire" still sound as catchy now as in 1976, and their first attempt at a hit with "She's Just a Fallen Angel" was their attempt at a "Dream On" ballad. "Pull The Plug" was a faux-controversy-bait song that fantasized what Micheal Lee Smith would do if he was Karen Ann Quinlan's boyfriend. (Which got the predicted response from rock haters and defenders of decency everywhere; more press for the group.)

And like so many bands from that stable, they sported a killer logo. Rumor even has it that Kiss pressured Aucion to not sign Starz to Casablanca because they were worried about the competition (and causing a rift between Kiss, Casablanca and Aucoin, but made Ranno and Gene Simmons into admirers of each other - Ranno is on Simmons' solo album). "Starz" is a minor gem of 70's hard rock that, if you have admiration for any of the parties mentioned in this review, should make you happy.

     

My Amazon Reviews: Aerosmith "Nine Lives"

8 Down and 1 to Go
4 Out of 5 Stars

Of the two studio albums Aerosmith put out in the 90's, "Nine Lives" was the superior of the two. It was the follow-up to "Get A Grip" and a return to their original home label, Columbia. They gave their old/new home a vibrant and exciting album, the way "Get a Grip" sounded calculated and atypical of an Aerosmtih album. The title track opens as a statement of purpose; as Joe Perry's guitar twangs from below, Steven Tyler lets loose with a batch of cat-calls before caterwauling into a major rock and roll scream. Aerosmith isn't just letting you know they were back, but they were ready for a fight.

"Nine Lives" put out. The initial single, "Falling In Love Is Hard On The Knees" kicked with a catty sense of humor (Tyler singing "don't give me lip, I've got enough of my own"), punchy horns, and Perry's lick-happy solo. Just what you'd want in an Aerosmith single. Same with "Pink," which needs no explanation to it's catchy double entendre. "Hole In My Soul" (co-written with hit-miester Desmond Child) continued Aerosmith's string of power ballads, but even with the expected, the band was willing to play around with the typical sounds.

"Taste of India" takes on a cool middle eastern vibe, and gives Tyler a chance to stretch out vocally. I also loved the drum line from Joey Kramer in this particular song. Nor was the band adverse to pointing out the way their own past had battered them, like the rehab diary of "The Farm," followed intentionally by a punky "Crash." Obviously, Aerosmith was - despite the internal battles going on at the time, this was one of those periods where the band was on the brink of breaking up - wanting to prove they could conquer without dividing. Tyler liked the album so much as to steal the line "Does The Noise in my Head Bother You" for the title to his book (from the song "Something's Gotta Give"). "Nine Lives" remains the last peak in Aerosmith's long career, and certainly out-classes the 2001 follow-up, "Just Push Play."

   

My Amazon Reviews: Aerosmith "Permanent Vacation"

One Sober Comeback
4 Out Of 5 Stars

Despite the fact that the newly sobered Aerosmith released "Done With Mirrors" to a collective yawn, the band knew they were on to something when their guest appearance on Run DMC's cover of "Walk This Way" got the band back on the radio and MTV. In fact, if you read Steven Tyler's biography "Does the Noise in My Head Bother You?: A Rock 'n' Roll Memoir," he barely even mentions "Mirrors." The reason might just be that "Permanent Vacation" both buried "Mirrors" in its wake and took advantage of nostalgia the Run DMC turn had ginned up for the group.

"Permanent Vacation" pulled all the stops: hot producer Bruce Fairbairn came into the studio to slicken the band up, hired gun songwriters Desmond Child and Jim Vallance (who usually wrote for/with Bryan Adams) churned up the hooks, and both Tyler and Joe Perry were in top form. They also entered the world of 80's power ballads with "Angel," which put them back into the top ten for the first time in over a decade. The band had sharpened up considerably since going sober, with songs like "Hangman's Jury" and the cover of The Beatles' "I'm Down" taking the band back to their roots.

More to the point, Aerosmith was no longer afraid of an obvious hit single. Both "Rag Doll" and "Dude Looks Like a Lady" kicked out of any radio station with ear-shattering force. Their willingness to also embrace some fresh quirks (the Caribbean goofiness of the title track or the slick horns and strings that pop up throughout the disc) made clear that Aerosmith was both back and hungry to establish themselves back at the top of the American Rock Heap. "Permanent Vacation" was the first half of a mammoth one-two punch that "Pump" completed the clobbering (and became their first top ten album since the classic "Rocks").