If only people understood, this is by far Aerosmith's most underated effort, it starts off with a straight speeding monster of a rocker in 'Jailbait' moves onto a solid thumping single in 'Lightning Strikes'... Progresses onto the edgy yet eerie and very trippy piece that is 'Bitch's Brew'.
We progress on to a solid track in 'Bolivian Ragamuffin' a steady rocker, these type of tracks are what hold albums together.
Now this is where the album moves to a whole other level, the smashing cover of 'Cry Me a River' has this very, very bitter, yet beautiful complexity to it, Tyler's vocals are so raw, and filled with pure emotion, some of his best. We move on to a strange to say the least prelude to the following track, odd vocal effects, sums up the whole cloudy mental state the band was in during recording... But the next track 'Joanie's Butterfly' is on point completely, from the brilliant lyricism to the beautiful guitar, and the build up to the section of that track that dives into pure driving Hard Rock... Love it.
Unfortunately what prevents this album from being an unsung classic are the last three, solid, yet forgettable tracks. Still this is a gem of an album often overlooked from the fact the guitar super combo we've all come to know and love in Joe Perry and Brad Whitford are nowhere to be seen, still, their replacements Jimmy Crespo and Rick Dufay do them justice, and Aerosmith justice. |
