Published on Mar 25, 2004
I remember when
Pump, the 1989 release from Aerosmith, came out. I was
working in college radio when we got a few copies in. I snagged one
of the records and slapped it on the turntable. An hour later, I
was convinced I had heard the best record Steven Tyler and crew had
ever recorded.
It’s now 15 years later. Times change, memories become cluttered
with cobwebs and halcyon dreams of what I wish had been. And, the
sorry mess known as rock radio, as always, has taken some of the
decent songs on this disc and bludgeoned listeners to death with
them. It’s gotten to the point that if I hear “The Other Side,”
“What It Takes” or “Janie’s Got A Gun” come on the radio, my hand
moves to the channel-changing buttons faster than Ben Affleck can
crank out a crappy movie.
When placed in perspective,
Pump is not a bad album, but coming off of the critical and
creative success of
Permanent Vacation, Aerosmith was going to have a hard time
topping their last effort. In fact, they don’t come close to doing
so, never mind the fact they had no less than four hits off of this
disc.
Things start off at a decent enough clip, with the one-two
kidney punch that is “Young Lust” and “F.I.N.E.” The band does seem
to be at their tightest musically, crunching through these songs
and leaving no doubt that singles like “Rag Doll” and “Dude (Looks
Like A Lady)” were no flukes. It is ironic, though, that the best
songs on this particular album are three songs which weren’t
released as singles — the previous two mentioned, and “Monkey On
My Back.”
Yet there is something different about this album – something
that is missing. Maybe it is the sense of urgency that both
Done With Mirrors and
Permanent Vacation had. Maybe it was a turn — albeit slight
— away from the blooze-rock image and more towards pop
sensibilities. How else does one explain the inclusion of a ballad
like “What It Takes” and a morality play like “Janie’s Got A Gun,”
two of the weakest tracks on this disc?
Oh, sure, there was still a lot of experimenting going on, as
can be heard on “Voodoo Medicine Man” and “Don’t Get Mad, Get
Even.” But the overall vibe that one gets off of
Pump is that Aerosmith was beginning to settle into an
almost middle-of-the-road format with their music. “Love In An
Elevator” and “The Other Side,” while decent enough, don’t really
have the snap or the edge to them like other tracks, such as “Draw
The Line” or even “Reason A Dog,” lyrically or musically. It’s that
comfort level, I think, that eats at me the most — rock and roll,
after all, should be a little edgy.
Does this mean that
Pump is a bad album? No, of course not. Maybe it’s that this
particular album just hasn’t aged as well as others in Aerosmith’s
discography. Maybe it was that Aerosmith decided to play it safer
with this one and found a comfort zone. Whatever the case,
Pump is a step backwards for Aerosmith, but not a fatal
one.