Musicians:
Steven Tyler - Lead Vocals, Keyboards,
Piano, Hammer Dulcimer, Percussion, Hand
Organ, Harmonica
Joe Perry - Guitar, Dulcimer, Slide Guitar,
Background Vocals
Brad Whitford - Guitar, Acoustic Guitar
Tom Hamilton - Bass, Chapman Stick
Joey Kramer - Drums
Tracks Listing:
1. Nine Lives
2. Falling In Love
3. Hole In My Soul
4. Taste Of India
5. Full Circle
6. Something’s Gotta Give
7. Ain’t That A Bitch
8. The Farm
9. Crash
10. Kiss Your Past Good-bye
11. Pink
12. Falling Off
13. Attitude Adjustment
14. Fallen Angels
15. I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing
The trouble is when you’re
a classic rock band riding on the crest
of a second wave with all the trappings
of being a rock star still regarded as
cool, regardless of obvious wealth, and
showing the odd sign of wear and tear,
and a huge recording contract round your
neck that you have to produce albums every
three years whether you want to or not.
Quite clearly, in 1996 the Boston Bad
Boys were not really ready. I wouldn’t
dare presume this is not a good album,
by any other band perhaps great, but for
Aerosmith it is just ordinary.
From the opening squally feedback and
Steve Tyler’s trademark caterwauling,
there’s no mistaking whose album this
is; there are some true stormers here.
The first single from the album was the
tongue-in-cheek “Falling In Love” with
it’s smirk some bracketed suffix “(is
so hard on the knees)” is pure vintage
Aerosmith. It’s all sex, heavy innuendo,
with a swaggering horn section. Joe Perry’s
sultry guitar poking out a nifty riff
to hang the whole thing on.
Though its not all straight ahead Rock
‘n’ Roll as Aerosmith enjoy themselves
in the studio with dulcimers, fiddles,
and a bevy of Indian influences. And while
it’s not exactly as overt as the Beatles
transformation to all things mystic in
the mid-sixties, it does seem that the
boys have been listening to a great deal
more than a few old Rolling Stones albums
for inspiration.
Sometimes all this experimentation works
like in the title track, where Perry’s
main riff is enhanced by a sitar sound,
whereas “A Taste Of India” seems to have
been recorded for the sake of having a
George Harrison sounding track on the
album, and comes off sounding like a gimmick.
As a complete piece of work “Nine Lives”
is not as immediately accessible as it’s
predecessors “Permanent Vacation”, “Pump”
or “Get a Grip”, nor did it have the hit
singles. How many songs will remain in
the live set for another tour remains
to be seen. However, it’s an album that
is rewarding with repeated listening as
it all hangs together rather well as a
whole. Well, that is until it was re-released
this year with the added inclusion of
their monster hit “I Don’t Want To Miss
A Thing” (all thanks to the ham fisted
movie “Armageddon”, where Bruce Willis
saves the world….. again). Obviously the
inclusion of this song will boost sales,
but I have always felt at odds with this
song as an Aerosmith fan as it’s a shame
that this slushy ballad, written by Diane
Warren, was the song to finally take them
to number one, not one of their own songs.
For those lulled into a false sense that
Aerosmith have lost their rockin' bottle
and gone all soft, fear not, there is
no need for alarm. We get the riotous
“Crash” which is as close as punk rock
as the Toxic Twins are ever likely to
get, while “Pink”, with the kind of over
the top lyric only Tyler could get away
with, is simply outrageous and sees the
vocalist breakout the blues harp for a
bit of good old bar room boogie.
Remarkably, considering the band had been
together (on and off) for well over a
quarter of a century when “Nine Lives”
was released, it’s still the sound of
a band firing on all cylinders.
Not a classic album, but it is Aerosmith
and you’ve just got to love ‘em.
