What happens to a band that has said that they have tried everything and are completely satisfied with their career? If you’re Aerosmith, you return to your roots and create a blues cover album, which is what Aerosmith fans have died for is a return to their bluesy rock format. In this record, they recruited Tracy Bonham for backup vocals on a couple of songs and famous blues pianist Johnnie Johnson for piano on “Shame, Shame, Shame” and “Temperature” and lastly The Memphis Horns on brass for “Never Loved A Girl”.
While this is a return to the blues rock format, the album in large part fell flat commercially except for the diehard Aerosmith fans. The album would achieve gold status in 2004 and it showcases what could’ve been a rejuvenation in their songwriting to a band that seemed like that they were going through the motions. I expected to hear more spunk and pizzazz on these blues cover songs, however, it was a disappointment. This was a very hard album to get into as it was overproduced and I wanted to hear a more raw sound if they wanted to return to their blues roots for this album. However, due to a few listenable tracks, Madness To Creation rates this a 5 out of 10 stars. Check out the track listing below.
- Road Runner(Bo Diddley)
- Shame Shame Shame (Smiley Lewis)
- Eyesight To The Blind (Sonny Boy Williamson II)
- Baby, Please Don’t Go (Joe Williams)
- Never Loved A Girl (Aretha Franklin)
- Back Back Train (Mississippi Fred McDowell)
- You Gotta Move (Mississippi Fred McDowell)
- The Grind
- I’m Ready (Muddy Waters)
- Temperature (Charles Musselwhite)
- Stop Messin’ Around (Fleetwood Mac)
- Jesus Is On The Main Line
