Published on Apr 2, 2004
So, after a 30-year career, Steven Tyler and Aerosmith decided
to pay tribute to their blues roots and record an album consisting
primarily of their takes on these old standards.
The question I found myself asking was, “Why?” Funny thing,
though — I was asking this out loud months before the release of
Aerosmith’s latest disc,
Honkin’ On Bobo. I’m still asking that question.
Let’s be brutally frank here: as a force to be reckoned with in
the rock world, Aerosmith has been slipping for some time now — in
fact, you could probably point to their chart-topping hit “I Don’t
Want To Miss A Thing” as the start of the decline.
Just Push Play seemed to confirm the obvious.
So maybe it could be argued that
Honkin’ On Bobo is really meant as a disc that allows
Aerosmith to keep working on new material while staying in the
public eye. The returning to their roots might help spark the ol’
creative juices again, and return the band to the salad days of
Permanent Vacation and
Get A Grip. This is all possible — but this release doesn’t
do a whole lot to boost the faith of the Aerosmith fan.
In a sense,
Honkin’ On Bobo feels like already plowed ground. Remember
that Aerosmith had previously covered “Train Kept A-Rollin'” and
“Big 10-Inch Record” to show their knowledge of their roots. Did we
really need a whole disc’s worth of tracks like that to remind
us?
Granted, there are some winners contained herein. I have yet to
hear a bad version of “Baby, Please Don’t Go,” and guitarist Joe
Perry does a great job on lead vocals on “Stop Messin’ Around”. And
you do have to kind of admire the almost gospel-like qualities of
the disc’s closer “Jesus Is On The Main Line” — finally, there’s a
song that is a stretch for the group, but one that works.
The remainder of
Honkin’ On Bobo is rather hit-or-miss in terms of quality
and excitement. The band sounds like it’s going through the motions
on tracks like “Road Runner” and “Eyesight To The Blind,” but they
turn around and deliver respectable performances on other numbers
like “Shame, Shame, Shame” (which has that “Big 10-Inch Record”
vibe to it) and “I’m Ready” (which almost sounds like Willie Dixon
himself was channeled by Tyler).
The difficulty with this album is that it doesn’t challenge the
listener or the band like it should. Even the one original number
on the disc, “The Grind,” sounds like a second-rate “Jaded” or “I
Don’t Want To Miss A Thing”. And while one could question the
sensibility of doing an album like this at this stage in
Aerosmith’s career, one couldn’t be faulted for being disappointed
by the overall experience. The good moments on this disc make the
listener know that it’s worth the time to find them, but the lesser
material makes them wonder whether or not Aerosmith’s “second
coming” is finally running on fumes.
Honkin’ On Bobo is still worth a listen or two, if not only
for curiosity’s sake but also to re-expose yourself to the work of
some artists who may be unknown to the present generation. If only
Aerosmith had made a disc that made listeners want to discover more
about people like Sonny Boy Williamson, Ellis McDaniel (Bo Diddley)
and Mississippi Fred McDowell.