By 1979, Aeorsmith was waning in popularity, and dying off in a sea of more popular acts. By the time the 1980's rolled around, I think you'd be hard pressed to find anyone who thought the group could make a comeback. So frustrated with each other, Joe Perry had left in 79', while Brad Whitford would depart in 1981. However, their departure also served to be a blessing in disguise for Steven Tyler who was heavily into hard drugs by this point. With the help of new member, Rick Dufay, and Producer Jack Douglas, Tyler was able to kick his habits, getting back on his feet.
Clean, and reinvigorated, Perry and Whitford would rejoin Aerosmith in 1984, and with all the original members back in place, release 1985's Done With Mirrors. Despite it being considered a fan favorite, Aerosmith themselves have stated their dislike for the record. Overall its release didn't push the band back into the spotlight either. But, something was on the horizon. Something which would usher in a comeback like never before seen, and it wouldn't even be Aerosmith themselves who would lead the charge,
Go ahead and push play. You know you want to.
Enter three young men from Hollis, New York, Joseph "Run" Simmons, Jason "Jam Master Jay" Mizell, Darryl "D.M.C." McDaniels, better known as Run-D.M.C. Infusing Aerosmith's 1975 classic, Walk This Way with their style of rock and roll rap, not only propelled the young rappers into mainstream fame, but revived the classic rock group on the brink of death, introducing them to a whole new generation of fans. In truth, this was mine and my brother's introduction to Aerosmith, with my sibling getting so hooked that he would soon give me a decade more of schooling by way of playing all their albums over and over and over daily.
Let's just cut to the chase. If you haven't heard it, you're missing out. In a period of relatively new hard rockers hitting the scene, Bon Jovi, Poison, Mötley Crüe, Guns 'N Roses, and all the others, Aerosmtih stepped forward and showed all those kids how it was done. How the classic lineups are classics for a reason. They're seasoned. They've been through the ringer, the ups and downs, and they're back bigger than ever.
Pump remains Aerosmith's second biggest and best selling album to date, and there's good reason for that. It's solid from front to back. An album worthy of being played on vinyl because there's frankly no songs that should be skipped. Bottom line, you need this album in your music collection. Even if you don't have a music collection. It's as important to the 80's as Michael Jackson's Thriller, Def Leppard's Hysteria, Prince's Purple Rain, and all those other iconic albums you can think of. In fact, buy all those too!
Hot on the heals of its September release, the band embarked on a major world tour, which ran from October 18, 1989 to October 15, 1990. In total, the show encompassed nine legs, and featured one hundred sixty four shows. This tour also gave birth to the band's private Citation II airline which they named Aeroforce One.
The band would take a four year break before releasing their biggest album to date, Get A Grip (1993), and from their, only continued to boom in popularity, poised to take over yet another decade. However, from there, things seemed to slow down a bit. Not necessarily in hits, but the group's desire to release albums. The 90's saw one final release, 1997's Nine Lives, and between 2001 and 2012, they've only released three new studio albums.
Sadly, there appears to be no new music on the horizon. Joe Perry has stated many times that his focal point is on touring. That he's happier playing live for the fans. He also stated that as a whole, Aerosmith has so much music that they aren't able to play it all, so it doesn't make sense to record new material. I guess that makes sense.
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| THIS WEEK ON THE CHARTS April 10, 1982 |
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