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Pump

Aerosmith - Pump Audio CD

A fair review of the Aerosmith "Pump" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Aerosmith reviews here, or go back to the Aerosmith tabs.

Band: Aerosmith
Title: Pump
Rating:

Release Date: 1989-09-08
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Young Lust 2: F.I.N.E. 3: Love in an Elevator 4: Monkey on My Back 5: Janie's Got a Gun 6: The Other Side 7: My Girl 8: Don't Get Mad, Get Even 9: Hoodoo/Voodoo Medicine Man 10: What It Takes

Now it's rainin' all the time...
Raw but refined, `Pump' continued the formula on the prior hit but also allowed Aerosmith to use more of what made the band so important in the Seventies. Continuing the comeback that began on `Permanent Vacation', Aerosmith solidified their renewed superstar status with an even bigger hit and a better record, 1989's `Pump'. No fewer than four huge hit singles flew off the record, "Love in an Elevator", "Janie's Got a Gun", "What it Takes" and "The Other Side" and those songs are fine but were ridiculously overplayed. Best songs include the one-two punch of "Young Lust" and "F. I. N. E. ", true confessional "Monkey on My Back" and "Don't Get Mad" as far as the rockers go. "Voodoo Medicine Man" is also interesting as well. Some critics feel that this album is as good as their best from their earlier era, but I don't agree. . . . maybe if they had MTV in the seventies, they would have killed those songs too. What can't be denied though is that Aerosmith was back with a vengeance. . . happy as can be in lust. . . . never gonna eat no dust.

The second coming - 4.5 stars
And this album truly shows their class in terms of showing that if you've got the fire and the passion, a couple of extra years under your belt are no reason why you can't rock out with aplomb. In the annals of blues based hard rockers Aerosmith are right up there.

This album of hard rock staples are smothered lovingly in a high sheen production job courtesy of Bruce Fairbairn and the budget certainly sounds like it was impressive. Luckily the band paid back such faith from the record company execs. What the band produced here was state of the art party hard rockers with more genuine blues infused into their structures than all the Poisons combined (ya gotta remember that discovering the blues was the in thing to talk about in interviews circa the late 80's).

The album kicks off witha number of rockers in the form of Young Lust, FINE and Love In An Elevator. The first two have a very bouncy party rocker party blues style to them with the former having a particularly lothario bent. Love In An Elevator has more space in it's arrangement with big dollops of roll with it's rock and was one of the major hits of the album festooned as it was with big harmonies and a somewhat bizarre video clip to help propel it up the charts. Rather than take their foot off the accelerator as per the usual rock album script Aerosmith then dive into Monkey On My Back which is a worthwhile rocker with a histrionic Steve Tyler vocal treatment.

Next up we get another big hit at the time, Janies Got A Gun. A thought provoking song and lyrically mature in the same way that Livin' On The Edge from their next album was. Unless you've lived under a rock for the last however many years you know this song, and if you don't I won't spoil it for you by discussing the songs meanings. Suffice to say it's a mid paced rocker propelled by gentler music with Tylers vox up front.

After that we get a whole slew of party rockers, just about every one hitting the mark to some extent. The Other Side sports a funky, jangly vibe as does My Girl making them excellent bed fellows on the track listing, bouncy tunes great for stress relief as your sitting in a traffic jam. Or whatever. Don't Get Mad, Get Even is musically similar with lyrics that have a twinkle in their eye, Aerosmith enjoying themselves on this track and most others on the album for that matter - you can just feel the enthusiasm of a rejuvenated band.

Voodoo Medicine Man was always one of my favourites off this album, a dark horse of a track that was tacked on towards the end of the album. But it's somewhat menacing rhythm than Aerosmith were wont to use makes it stand out for me and the studio trickery used on this track also makes it a breed apart from so many of the light hearted hard rockers on this album.

And finally we have What It Takes, a great song that was also blessed with a good MTV adored video clip. An alt-country rocker of a love song so much better than much of this bands latter day ballads that you just wanna cry.

And that pretty much sums up the album. Pretty much the perfect, well played and cleanly produced hard rock party album, great for road trips or for chillin' out at home. Five stars all the way for this foundation of Aerosmiths second coming. .

Great Rock And Roll Lives Forever
I give credit to Aerosmith. . after so many years of writing by themselves to realize that in order to stay on top of the game they needed some outside contributions I'm sure was not an easy thing to admit
but thankfully they did and the results were some of the greatest music not only of the late 80s early 90s but possibly some of the best in rock

I know,I am in the minority liking this period of Aerosmith far more than classic 70s era Aerosmith but I'm sorry the classic stuff was full of hit or miss albums,usually 2 or 3 great songs and 5 or so ho hum cuts. . . not so on Permanent Vacation,Get A Grip,Nine Lives or this one Pump. . . this is pure songwriting genius,and Steven Tyler and Joe Perry and the rest of the band function perfectly when in the framework of very well written song structures
Young Lust - a great rocking tribute to the best thing about being young
F. I. N. E - this one is awesome,should have been a single,great lyrics too
Love In An Elevator - yeah it was overplayed,but there's a reason,it is that darn good! This song rocks and to all the Desmond Child haters out there I say this,in 50 years his songs will STILL be appreciated and sung and how many Nirvana songs will anyone remember? Enough said. . Love In An Elevator has clever lyrics and a melody so powerful it will stick with ya for days
Monkey On My Back - a bit more of the classic sounding Aerosmith,good tune
Janie's Got A Gun - Great song,very filled with atmosphere
The Other Side - Filled with hooks and grooves,you gotta at least respect 'em for that. . this song rocks
My Girl - The weakest song. . a bit on the simple side
Don't Get Mad Get Even - I LOVE these lyrics. . . one of my favs from this CD
Voodoo Medicine Man - it took me a few listens to get into this song,but it's cool and it has atmosphere and personality
What It Takes - Absolutely beautiful,this is how to write a great rock love song!

The Upside - Great Songs,great production (far better than done with mirrors),the band sounds awesome and the vocals are amazing

The Downside - I can't think of any

The Bottom Line - This many great songs on one CD is not easy to find. . . you should run out and buy this now. . especially with a starting price of 1 penny used. . . holy smokes this is definitely worth that!!! This is Aerosmith in their prime. . . Donutman says so!!!.

Excellent...Almost TOO excellent
Pump treats us to such classics as Love In An Elevator and Janie's Got A Gun, but this is also brings us wonders like Young Lust (with its air of youthfulness), Don't Get Mad, Get Even (with Tyler working some magic on the harmonica), and What It Takes (with its melancholic tune of bad break ups and moving on). Few musicans can produce works that leave their audience speechless, and Aerosmith is one of them. Get this CD and you'll see what I mean. If you enjoy it, then good for you. If you don't, then you might need to seek some sort of psychiatric help. If you do get psychiatric help and still don't like this album, then I suppose that Aerosmith just isn't your thing.

EVERY SONG WINS!
Aerosmith has never been better than this. What an awesome album!! Every song is so great. You definitely NEED this album. There are so many songs you'll find catchy and funny. The other cool thing about this album is that it's after steven tyler quit drugs so it should be interesting to anyone. Buy this album PLEASE!

2 best songs: My Girl & What it Takes.

You can see a complete list of all Aerosmith discography, or go back to the Aerosmith tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.