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| Aerosmith - Nine Lives Band: Aerosmith Tracks: - Nine Lives - Falling In Love - Hole In My Soul - Taste Of India - Full Circle - Something's Gotta Give - Ain't That A Bitch - The Farm - Crash - Kiss Your Past Goodbye - Pink - Attitude Adjustment - Fallen Angels A Blast FROM THE PAST, AND MAYBE THE FUTURE? Along with the Rolling Stones, no-one defines what rock n roll should be better than Aerosmith, and (like the Stones) these guys have been at it for more than 30 yrs. Recorded at a time in their lives when normal people think about slowing down, this is a stunningly fresh and energetic album that rocks possibly harder than they ever have done. Could this mark a new direction for Aerosmith...? This album spawned two hit singles which now sit comfortably alongside the rest of their back catalogue in their Live shows ("Hole In My Soul" and "Falling In Love"). Even better are the rest of the tracks, especially "Nine Lives", "Taste Of India", "Kiss Your Past Goodbye", "Get me to the farm"(with the fun 'Alice In Wonderland' sound-bites), the innuendo-ridden "Pink" and the lighter-waving anthemic "Fallen Angels" to close. What strikes most is that this album is not overshadowed by their more famously good albums ("Pump", "Toys In The Attic" etc) - the sound is unmistakably Aerosmith, but somehow different, more experimental, and even heavier than earlier efforts. A more convincing return to form than The Rolling Stones "Bridges To Babylon", this album shows the extent of the Toxic Twin's rock n roll committment and determination to continue creating. On this evidence their relevance to rock-music will only increase with age. They might be over 50, but they DEFINITELY still know how to rock. Archaelogists take note: these dinosaurs ain't extinct (listen to the excellent "A Little South Of Sanity" for further evidence). May the AeroForce remain with Aerosmith... long may they prosper and make fantastic records like this. If you're an Aerosmith fan, why haven't you got this already? Aerosmith suck-punches back into the scene . . . Just when the music climate started to become a conglomerate of intangible tunes of gloom, Aersomith breezes back to Earth, sucker-punching the world with their newest release, Nine Lives. It's been four long years since the public has heard some new noise from the Boston Bad Boys. The wait may have been a long one, but the rewarding end result has been sweet. Nine Lives begins it's musical Journey with a meow (literally). The heavy-hitting, ***-kicking, Aerosmith-licking title track sets the stage for what's left to come. The first single, Falling In Love (Is Hard On The Knees), a rocking number jammed packed with plenty of amusing, tongue-in-cheek lip, follows. Things slow down a pace with Hole In My Soul, an aesthetically written ballad with a haunting, splendid melody, hearkening to the more classical-sounding Aero ballads of yesteryear. Next up at the plate is the rhythm-grooving tune, Taste of India (and Mr. Tyler ain't talking about the country, folks). With it's funky, driving beat and hypnotic lyrics, this one proves to be a unique gem. Full Circle, a swing ballad-type, is brimming with clever sing-along lyrics that you can easily sing to while sitting around a campfire, chugging a brew. A cool-sounding drum beat opens Something's Gotta Give, a hard-rocking tune that jams ("Does the noise in my head bother you?"). Ain't That A Bitch starts out slow and mellow, kicking into a straight ahead upbeat song, full of clever hooks ("Love is like the right dress on the wrong girl"). A bit of experimenting on the next two songs, The Farm and Crash, end in pleasing results. The Farm starts out with bits of dialog from The Wizard of Oz, providing a whimsical touch, telling a tale of jest (and it's not Kansas). A bit different, but easily likable. Crash is a furious-sounding, fast-paced rocker with an awesome harmonica and drum solo that totally jams. Two more ballads, Kiss Your Past Good-bye and Fallen Angels, add to the collection of ballads on this album. Kiss Your Past Good-bye has some well-penned prose, making it one of the most meaningful songs on the album. The song starts with simple vocals and guitar, and the melody builds with euphonious keyboards and some beautiful guitar work. Fallen Angels, the finale, sounds much like the ballads from Get A Grip, with the exception of the instrumentation at the beginning and end of the song. Tin-sounding drums, tambourines, a flute, and some other horns supply a vastly cultural sound to the song. Lyrically, it's one of the deepest songs on the album, which makes up for a drawn-out ending that could have been a tad shorter. Pink and Attitude Adjustment are sandwiched between the last two ballads, continuing the well-planned song placement on the album. Pink is extremely sexy, with Okay, folks... Here we go. Quick lesson. Hold your arms out, hands balled into fists... got that? Now, slowly, raise both thumbs up in preparation for this album. If bands tend to get old and tired over time, then Aerosmith is breaking the mold. They're just as good as they were in their prime days of "Dream On" and "Sweet Emotion" and in their awesome late '80s comeback of "Janie's Got A Gun" and "Livin' On The Edge." "Nine Lives" is every bit the awesome comeback it should have been. The title track, well, rocks. It's not a frequent term for me, but it's the only one for that particular song. "Falling In Love (Is Hard On the Knees)" seems like a anti-love song, but the brash tone isn't there and neither is there any Talk of condemning your ex to the fiery pits of Hell. It's very catchy. "Hole In My Soul" slows down the pace a bit for a lamenting Love song with an edge ("Tell me how it feels to be the one who turns the knife inside of me") and is effective -- especially near the end, when you're wondering if Steven Tyler still screams like he used to. "Taste of India" is a rhythmic tune, an experimental one for the group, and one of the best songs on the album. "Full Circle" harkens back to the anthems, and is consequently another of the best songs on the album, with the ever-present clever Aerosmith lyrics. "Something's Gotta Give" is another of those 'rockin' tunes that stick in your brain. ("Does the noise in my head bother you?") Directly following this track is "Ain't That A Bitch," an extremely clever song which starts out slow and then moves into a more fast-paced (and wonderfully written) chorus. There's the wild 'n crazy "Crash," the song-length Double entendre "Pink," and the 'other' ballad on the album, "Fallen Angels." Worth your money? Oh, yeah. Sure, there's no "Dream On" on the album, but go buy "Greatest Hits," "Gems," and "Big Ones" and Call me in the morning. Buy Aerosmith Nine Lives at Amazon.com Buy posters at Allposters.comJamster - the latest ringtones for your phone! |
