Zack: I’ve never been the biggest Aerosmith fan,
mostly on the grounds that they’re kind of annoying. They may be called
“America’s Greatest Rock and Roll Band,” but I’ve never heard any evidence to
support that claim. Now I haven’t listened to Aerosmith’s complete discography,
but I have listened to their biggest album (Toys in the Attic) and I’ve now
listened to their comeback album as well. And I couldn’t help but feel
underwhelmed both times. They’ve just always struck me as a band trying to be
as great as their predecessors. Like they’re chasing the legacies of other
great blues rock and hard rock bands but all they can produce is a cheap
imitation. Just look at Slash’s tribute to them as the 59th best
musical act ever; he is forced to quantify them in the terms of the Rolling
Stones. Those two bands are natural comparisons, with their blues influences
and all, but Led Zeppelin seems to me to be the closer link. Zeppelin came
immediately after the British Invasion had lit the world on fire, but they
became big by doing it their own way. Aerosmith started around the same time,
but they just seemed (at least to me) to put out record after record of
hackneyed, formulaic stuff. It takes a special kind of group to see the shadows
of the greats, dutifully pay their respects, and then go on and become their
own entity. As far as I’m concerned, Aerosmith has never done that. You could
listen to an Aerosmith album, or you could go make a mix from the Stones,
Zeppelin, AC/DC, and maybe a bit of the Yardbirds and get something a lot
better that doesn’t feel like a knockoff.
Emily: Zack is not exactly an Aerosmith fan, as you can tell. I'm not really either, but I can't really think of bad things to say about Pump. Then again, I can't really think of many good things either. Everything about Pump just sounded generic to me. That's how Aerosmith is seen too, so it makes sense. After all, Steven Tyler ended up on American Idol 20 years after this - generic pop-rock breeding more generic pop-rock. Anyway, Pump takes blues rock, hard rock, and pop influences and blends them together into radio-friendly hooks and riffs. It's consistently upbeat and rocking, but scaled down for a mainstream audience. Perhaps watered down is a better way to describe it. There's nothing really to set it apart. Aerosmith does best when they do something unique, like collaborating with Run-DMC on Walk This Way. Unfortunately, unique doesn't really come through on Pump.
Favorite Tracks: Love in an Elevator; Hoodoo/Voodoo Medicine Man; Janie's Got a Gun
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