Music From Another Dimension (2012)


1. Love XXX
2. Oh Yeah
3. Beautiful
4. Tell Me
5. Out Go the Lights
6. Legendary Child
7. What Could Have Been Love
8. Street Jesus
9. Can't Stop Lovin' You
10.Lover Alot
11.We All Fall Down
12.Freedom Fighter
13.Closer
14.Something
15.Another Last Goodbye

 

You would think that a band that is arguably one of the most popular rock and roll outfits of the last forty years would have received a lot more attention and fanfare when they released their first album of original, new material in over a decade. Then again, maybe you wouldn't. Unfortunately, the popularity of this band has also turned into its Achilles Heel. We simply don't really care that much anymore. It didn't help when frontman Steven Tyler stayed in the headlines for the past decade - even serving as a judge on American Idol. What was he thinking? Well, I guess you can never have too much money....

So they manage to put out an album of original songs. And really, you could basically stop there with your assessment. They're songs. Just.....songs. Are they good? Well, some are o.k. Are they bad? Well, no, not really. Are they predictable? Oh Yeah! (Pardon the Pun). Listening to these fifteen songs (eighteen on the 'bonus' version) don't really add much to the band's catalog. In other words, it's basically completely unnecessary. A bit of a letdown since it's been so long since we've heard new material. You have to wonder if the well has run dry, or, most likely, the band just seems to want to be focused elsewhere and are wanting to make a quick buck on the side.

It doesn't help when the introduction to this album is a cheesy sci-fi 1950's-like voiceover of a Rod Serling-ish character telling you that you are about to be moved towards a new dimension! I guess it's supposed to go along with the equally hideous album cover. It's also a bit of a letdown when the best songs here are the ones without any real bite. They've been playing it safe at various times during the last twenty years, occasionally putting out a Diane Warren ballad or something that manages to shoot all the way up the charts, but leaves the faithful feeling empty. There are several such tunes here, including a duet with Carrie Underwood. Yes, you read that right. Again, it's a bit scary when these are the best things here. Are they that good? Or is it just that the rest of the album is rather unspectacular?

They try. Oh they try for that ol' Aerosmith trademark. Many times Tyler breaks off into one of his pseudo-spoken raps, or tries injecting sexual innuendo in the tracks, but it mostly comes off as uninspired. Many of the tunes have a lot of promise, and some good moments, which makes you wonder if they may have gone into a slightly different direction with say, a different producer, then some of the tracks may have ended up with a bit more bite. Joe Perry handles the lead vocals on a couple of tracks and they actually come across as the more favorable tunes on the record. You have to wonder, though, if it's just because everything else sounds so familiar. Sadly, you have to wonder if they really have any of the 'greatness' left in them, and if they'll now be forever regulated to an 'oldies' act focusing on most of their radio friendly tunes from the latter half of their career.

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