But it's pretty great and made me think that I should do one of these for the Aerosmith solo albums, as there are quite a few.
Update 30/01/2018: Added Joe Perry's Sweetzerland Manifesto.
So, here we go:
Joe Perry, The Joe Perry Project & The Hollywood Vampires
Let The Music Do The Talking (1980)
Joe Perry is the lead guitarist for Aerosmith and, along with Steven Tyler, one half of the infamous Toxic Twins. During the recording of Aerosmith's Night In The Ruts, Joe quit the band after an argument involving several band members and their girlfriends/wives - often referred to as the 'Spilled Milk' incident. Look it up.
So, Joe left and formed the first iteration of the Joe Perry Project (JPP). They recorded 3 albums before Aerosmith got back together, and this first one is probably their best. Unlike Tyler, Perry is not a fan of ballads, so these albums are almost all hard rocking.
The album opens with the title track: Let The Music Do The Talking. If you've read my Aerosmith post, then you may remember that this song was reworked for Aerosmith's reunion album Done With Mirrors. The later version is much better, but this original has loads of life to it. As does the instrumental Break Song: a blistering 2 minute blues rock jam.
The other stand-out to me is Rockin' Train. Quite long for an Aerosmith-adjacent song at 6 minutes, and it does get a bit repetitive near the end, but on the whole it's a fun bluesy rocker.
As Perry had just started to flex his vocals in Aerosmith before quitting, he also takes lead on a few of these songs. Never a fantastic vocalist, but better than I think many give him credit for. Conflict Of Interest is a good example, it's a pretty simply vocal line but he does it well.
Unfortunately, as with the next two JPP albums, most of the songs aren't fantastic and kind of all blend in to a vague blues-rocky mess with little identity. The Mist Is Rising tries to buck this trend by going for a psychedelic/stoner vibe, but it doesn't work at all.
I've Got The Rock 'n' Rolls Again (1981)
Of these first three albums, their release order coincidentally coincides with their quality. IGTRnRA is the second best JPP album from the 80s. It's a shame that every JPP album has a different vocalist, because the one from their first album was probably their best of the 80s, but the one on this album is fine.
East Coast, West Coast, the title track and South Station Blues are obvious highlights. All three could slip in to an Aerosmith album from the 70s without too much bother. South Station Blues was almost an actual Aerosmith song, a jam version of the riff called Shit House Shuffle can be found on the Aerosmith compilation Pandora's Box.
And... that's about it. The other 7 songs are mostly fine, but aren't worth your time really. Buzz Buzz deserves a mention as possibly the worst song the JPP ever recorded, though there's some stiff competition from their third album...
Once A Rocker Always A Rocker (1983)
Look at that picture of Joe on the cover. That hair, the eyeliner. What was he thinking?! The 'glam' look unfortunately translated to their sound as well.
My attitude to this album is completely coloured by the vocalist, whose voice I hate. I literally can't listen to any of the songs he sings on... which is ALL of them. Perry doesn't have any solo vocals on this album, which is a shame, because I'm sure the majority of the songs would have been improved by him.
I just hate it so much.
Joe Perry (2005)
Following Aerosmith's Honkin' On Bobo was almost 10 years of inactivity other than the occasional tour. Tyler went off to judge on American Idol, Brad Whitford became the guitarist of a Jimi Hendrix tribute band. Perry, on the other hand, recorded some more solo albums. This is probably his best.
Not a JPP album, but a Joe Perry album. Joe played every single instrumental part, except for the drums which were done by his producer, and sang every vocal. And boy, does he let rip.
Shakin' My Cage is one of the heavier songs Joe has ever been involved with, and it's probably my favourite song on the album. A fantastic riff, a blistering solo. You get the impression that Joe has had such a build up of frustration from not playing good old rock 'n' roll in Aerosmith since Nine Lives, that he just wanted to have fun and show off.
The closing (instrumental) song, Mercy, is in a very similar vein. It's a showpiece for Joe's guitar skills, and just made you wish that some of this playing would feed back in to a new hard-rocking Aerosmith album (spoilers: it didn't).
It's not all heavy though. Pray For Me and Ten Years are attempts at love songs, the latter being much more effective. It's on these tracks in particular that the limits of Joe's voice are most apparent, but I don't care. The slight cracks make it sound even more sincere.
There are a handful of covers too. Crystal Ship is an old Doors song. I've never been a fan of The Doors, but having listened to both versions, I prefer Joe's. The tempo is upped a tad, and I prefer the guitar solo over the original keys solo.
There's also a cover of a very old blues song: Vigilante Man by Woody Guthrie. Joe's version has the amps turned right up, and it's given a much more sinister feel.
I love this album, and I think it's probably the best solo album of an Aerosmith member, and perhaps even better than Music From Another Dimension!
And I've not even mentioned Lonely, Hold On Me or Talk Talkin'; all amazing songs.
Have Guitar Will Travel (2009)
Tired of waiting for Aerosmith to get back in the studio, Joe made another album. This time not on his own, but still placed under the Joe Perry, rather than JPP, banner. As with JPP, though, there's a separate singer for most of the songs, and luckily he's not a vocalist that ruins every song he touches this time.
I'm not sure what happened on this album, but it just doesn't click for me. The opening track, We've Still Got A Long Way To Go, is fantastic and marks the first time Joe has ever used a synthesiser. But other than that... I'm not feeling it.
Somebody's Gonna Get (Their Head Kicked In Tonite [sic]) and Freedom are both OK rock songs, but don't reach the heights of anything on Joe Perry. Heaven And Hell is musically fun, but the lyrics are so repetitive and they drone on and on for 7 long minutes.
The instrumental is worth a listen, though it doesn't reach Mercy from Joe Perry: Wooden Ships is dedicated to Les Paul, and has some good soloing, but isn't bluesy enough.
On the whole I do like this album, but other than the first track there's very little that I'd go out of my way to listen to, which is a shame.
Joe Perry's Merry Christmas (2014)
Apparently Joe's wanted to record a Christmas album with Aerosmith for years, but they never went for it. So he made an EP himself.
It's a fun 4 songs. White Christmas and Silent Night are both instrumentals with guitars playing the vocal lines. The former is a rocked up version, while the latter is much more traditional and slow.
Run Run Rudolph is the best song by a mile, and it sounds like Joe was having a great time recording it. Santa Clause Is Back In Town is an old Elvis song, and Joe's version is pretty faithful to the original.
It's a fun EP, but it would have been nice for it to be longer, or to have included maybe an original.
Hollywood Vampires (2016)
Post-Music From Another Dimension!, Aerosmith have seemed to hit a lull in activity again (which only recently ended as they started what may be their last global tour). So Joe helped start a new band.
Hollywood Vampires is a super-group with Joe on lead guitar, Johnny Depp on rhythm and Alice Cooper on vocals. Drums and Bass were filled in (for the most part) by members' of Alice Cooper's touring band, although there are guest players all over the album including: Zak Starkey, Slash, Paul McCartney, Brian Johnson, Dave Grohl and many more.
It's basically a covers' album, sandwiched by two originals: Raise The Dead and My Dead Drunk Friends. Both of the originals are great (classic horror Alice Cooper lyrics), and actually make you want to hear what else this group could write if they made a whole album of originals.
It's a pretty rocky album with only Come And Get It, an old McCartney-penned/Badfinger-recorded song, to break up the unrelenting guitars.
Most of the covers stick reasonably close to the originals, but usually played a bit heavier. Whole Lotta Love is very strange: Cooper and Brian Johnson trade vocals and the guitar solo is replaced by a Cooper harmonica solo... It kind of works?
There are a few mashups as well. The best being a mix of School's Out and Another Brick In The Wall - a mashup that Cooper had been using to close his shows for a few years prior to the Hollywood Vampires.
It's an odd album, and I like it a lot.
Sweetzerland Manifesto (2018)
So, where does this sit in the Joe Perry catalogue? For me, it's on par with the second JPP album. In that there's the odd spark, but other than that... (whisper it) it's not very good.
Lets start with the vocals. Once again, Joe has just got it wrong. Terry and David simply don't work with the type of music Joe is making. David is way too punky (in that he can't sing), and I just don't like Terry. He's gravelly, and whimpery. It's just not pleasant.
On the other hand, Robin is great because he is actually a decent rock singer with a pedigree. His song, Aye Aye Aye, is billed and advertised as the best thing on the album. The 'single' if it had one. The music is good, and vocals are good, but the lyrics are awful. So close.
I'm not alone in thinking this, I had a quick look around some reviews and they agree that, in all honesty, this would have been a whole lot better if Joe had done all the vocals himself (and he's not even that good).
Musically, the riffs are all there. But there is a bit of odd genre-hopping. The opening instrumental is a bit spacey, a bit 'out there'. Then we have some fast-paced blues rock for a few tracks, before hitting the wall of harmonica fuelled, leg-slappin' blues for Haberdasher Blues. It's fine, but what's it doing here?
Spanish Sushi is a standout, if only because as an instrumental there is less to distract you from the (genuinely good, for the most part) music.
A Perry-sung cover of Eve Of Destruction (a classic anti-war anthem) is also a highlight. It's very different from the original and most well-known versions. Being stripped of country, slowed down, and given a more sinister sound. I like it a lot.
The final two songs are back to the usual hard blues rock, but the singers still ruin it.
I wouldn't have expected the worst Aerosmith solo-effort post-MFAD! to be from Joe, but there's no denying that Reunion and We're All Somebody From Somewhere are just more pleasurable listening experiences. A missed opportunity.
I wouldn't have expected the worst Aerosmith solo-effort post-MFAD! to be from Joe, but there's no denying that Reunion and We're All Somebody From Somewhere are just more pleasurable listening experiences. A missed opportunity.
Brad Whitford & Whitford/St. Holmes
Whitford/St. Holmes (1981)
When Joe Perry left Aerosmith, Brad Whitford (rhythm guitarist) also left soon after. He then teamed up with the vocalist for gun-toting Republican madman, but annoyingly good guitarist, Ten Nugent: Derek St. Holmes. This was the album they recorded together.
Personally, I think that this is a much better album than any of the JPP albums from the same period. Partly because St. Holmes is a fantastic vocalist, and partly because, unlike the JPP, Whitford/St. Holmes tried to make their own sound rather than emulate Aerosmith or Ted Nugent.
The sound they went for seems to be just straight up 70s/80s rock. It's no nonsense, verse-chorus-verse-chorus-solo-chorus stuff. I'm thinking of bands like Cheap Trick, Def Leppard and Poison.
Sharpshooter is usually thought to be the standout song from the album, it being included on the Pandora's Box compilation of Aerosmith rarities. It is very good, but is perhaps a bit too Ted Nugent-ey.
Every Morning is a riff-heavy AC/DC-like song. Does It Really Matter and Hold On are the more ballad-like songs, and both are fine.
On the whole though, this is just a good rock album.
Brad was to later join the JPP for some live gigs, and reunited with Aerosmith along with Joe Perry for Done With Mirrors.
Derek sporadically toured as a solo artist and has been back with Ted Nugent a number of times afterwards.
Reunion (2016)
So 35 years later, and during another lull in Aerosmith activity, Brad and Derek decided to get back together and see what happened. And damn, this is a good follow up.
Derek's voice is just as great, and Brad has always been able to play lead when he wants to. Like their first album, there's nothing particularly complicated about these songs, but they all rock hard. Even the more ballad-ey songs like Catch My Fall don't slow down the pace of the album that much.
Shapes and Shake It are highlights for me. Both turn the volume up and hit that heavy rock sweet-spot.
Like with some of Joe Perry's solo stuff, you can't help but wonder where all of this rockiness and song-writing goes when Brad is with Aerosmith?
Because the songs are pretty simple, there's not a whole lot more to say here. On the downside, the lyrics are a bit cliché and simple, but that doesn't bother me so much when the music is this fun.
Steven Tyler
We're All Somebody From Somewhere (2016)
It's shocking, really, that it took Steven Tyler until 2016 to record a solo album. He released his first solo single in 2011 titled (It) Feels So Good, which if I remember correctly was a reworked version of a discarded Aerosmith demo called Oxygen. That was a very poppy song. And so you might expect that Tyler's first solo album would have followed in that vein, but not quite. Instead Tyler recorded a country album...
Or at least, Tyler bills it as a country album. I'm not so sure. There are certainly country influences, and songs like Gypsy Girl, Somebody New and Sweet Louisiana could probably be called country. But the rest of the album is a weird mix of pop, blues and country-ish-but-not-quite.
As Tyler always pushed ballads more than other Aerosmith members, it's unsurprising that there are loads here. It Ain't Easy is a great vocal performance, and My Own Worst Enemy sounds like it could slip on to Nine Lives with its pseudo-Eastern influenced bridge and solo section.
It's not all soft, though. The title track is pretty bluesy, though you just know Tyler came up with the title as a weird saying and tried to work a song around it. The lyrics aren't great: 'And cornbread? Damn, I love that stuff'.
The Good, The Bad, The Ugly & Me is the only song which could claim to be rock, but barely. Red, White & YOU is one of the rockier ballads, in that it could be an Aerosmith song if you squint your ears.
Ending the album are two peculiar covers. Janie Got A Gun, the Aerosmith song about domestic abuse from Pump, is stripped back and slowed down. I wonder if it was done to coincide with Tyler's promoting his charity for victims of domestic abuse? Obviously it's a good cause, but I just can't get to grips with this version of the song.
Finishing off the album is the classic Piece Of My Heart. It's a decent version.
I didn't think I'd like this album, and I didn't buy it until months after it came out. But actually, it's pretty good. It's a very summery album. Actually that's a much better label than country: this is a 'summer' album.
----------------------------
It's a testament to each individual member's talent that all three of these Aerosmithians have produced good solo albums. Joe Perry has been the most prolific, but Brad and Steven have both made some very good music away from the band. I wonder why Tom Hamilton hasn't tried his hand at a solo album, especially given that he did vocals for an Aerosmith song on Music From Another Dimension! for the first time.
And to end this post, I'd encourage anyone and everyone to listen to Joe Perry (2005).
