5 keepers
keeper avg .500
Pump is the album that made Aerosmith's 80's comeback official, selling the second-most units to date (after Toys In The Attic (1975). As on Permanent Vacation (1987), the services of Desmond Child and Jim Vallance were retained on several songs, though the album's two biggest hits ("Love in an Elevator" and "Janie's Got a Gun") are credited only to band members. But unlike its predecessor, from the first downbeat Pump lets loose with an unstoppable juggernaut of rockers that ends with the Grammy winning "Janie's Got a Gun." Eighth-note kick drum makes album opener "Young Lust"**** almost comically driving, followed by the joyous stomp of "F.I.N.E."****; the latter demonstrates Steven Tyler's legendary double entendre kung-fu (which somehow he always manages without sounding creepy), while fantastic harmonies show that at their best Aerosmith is without peer at combining Led Zeppelin's power with The Beatles' pop. "Love in an Elevator"**** took the same formula to number 5 on the US charts and made Aerosmith fixtures of pop culture in 1989. The subject on Tyler's mind is obvious and pretty consistent though he reveals the other side of the vices coin on what is for my money the album's high point, "Monkey on My Back"*****, which clearly addresses substance addiction. It's structured similarly to "Draw The Line" (1977), though Joey Kramer transforms it into something heavier here.
I'm not sure why I've never been able to stand "Janie's Got a Gun." Maybe a happy little pop song about child abuse has never sat right with me. Maybe it's the dated production (Rolling Stone noted its "kitchen sink sound") that sounded like it was remixed by Phil Collins. Well, f- me because Americans sure as hell loved it enough to push it to number 4 in 1990. Though "The Other Side" is a decent pop-rocker it's the other song on the album I don't think has aged well, sounding more like Phil Collins meets Duran Duran than Aerosmith. That is except when Joe Perry comes stuttering in with one of inimitable leads, which can rescue even the schlock-iest tracks. I can't say he's on my short list of the greatest guitar players, but he does have the ability to always make me go "what the hell did he just do there?"
"My Girl"**** seems merely like a hopped-up version of "Young Lust" until Pet Sounds harmonies reveal the Toxic Twins have some pop songwriting mojo of their own. The album starts to drag a bit by the time it gets to "Don't Get Mad, Get Even" and the monotonous "Voodoo Medicine Man." Even in their druggy days Aerosmith didn't shy away from power ballads, and as power ballads go album closer "What It Takes"****, co-written with Desmond Child surprise surprise, is simply their best one (except for "Angel" of course). Too bad they would pound its formula into the ground on every album since. Bruce Fairbairn's hand is not a light one, but between him and all the writers, they found a sweet spot between rock and pop music that made Aerosmith both the biggest and greatest rock band in the world for a little while there. The several interludes, in collaboration of musician Randy Raine-Reusch, can also be a bit much but if I listen to the whole album front to back I can't imagine removing them.
Comments