Get a Grip (1992)


1.Intro
2.Eat the Rich
3.Get a Grip
4.Fever
5.Livin' on the Edge
6.Flesh
7.Walk On Down
8.Shut Up and Dance
9.Cryin'
10.Gotta Love It
11.Crazy
12.Line Up
13.Amazing
14.Boogie Man

 

After releasing their second comeback monster Pump, it was clear that their refound success was no fluke. Success had returned in a big way - very big. After listening to this album, it almost seems as though their newfound success was too big. This album seems to fit the old cliche "weighted down by its own ambition". It's not that this release is bad, in fact it's quite good. It just almost sounds as though the band is trying too hard to replicate their recent success.

Of course, it couldn't have helped when prior to working on the album, they signed a multi-million dollar contract with another (their first) record label, especially since they still were contracted to put out a few more releases with their current label, Geffen. So it could have been that there was tension in the studio. The interesting thing is that when you listen closely, it definitely sounds like their copying their last album. They start out with the thundering Eat the Rich that pounds at you like their last opener from Pump, Young Lust. Further down the set list, it seems as though the boys are saying "Hey, let's copy Janie's Got a Gun", so they break out an eerie intro to the sleazy Flesh. Then, of course, they close with a power ballad (again, like on their last release) in which Steven Tyler croons about how is life is a mess, and how thankful it is that he's now seen the "light" (Amazing).

Sadly,none of the above songs can match the tracks they're trying to copy. The remainder of the album is filled with songs like only Aerosmith can do, but at times it sounds like their trying to put as many hit songs on the record as possible, rather than just being themselves and let the hits come without any "help". The song Fever is done well, and is a good listen, but you have to raise your eyebrows a bit when Garth Brooks covered the song in a country-western fashion (his was more successful, too). Then you have plenty of power ballads. The above mentioned Amazing, along with Crying and Crazy. They all sound good, made even better music videos, but let's face it - all three almost sound like the exact same song.

They do try to break the mold a bit on some of the more obscure cuts - some better than others. Shut Up and Dance is not anything special, neither is the Joe Perry sung Walk On Down. All in all, this record may have been more successful then their last two records, it certainly had more singles and we all heard the album enough to get quite tired of it. It was now just getting a little tiring and old to hear Aersosmith.

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