Aerostar, a band for the people
By now you may have heard that Steven Tyler and Aerosmith are on the Rocks (Aerosmith joke.) If you haven’t heard this then cheers to us for breaking the “Aerosmith is looking for a new singer” news.
To recap: Aerosmith had been falling apart health-wise, the biggest headline coming when Steven Tyler fell off the stage and the band had to cancel shows. Behind the scenes Tyler had apparently distanced himself from the band so much that the other members of the band didn’t see or hear from him until they hit the stage. After his most recent show with Aerosmith, Tyler mentioned that he was going to focus on “Brand Tyler” for a bit. This prompted guitarist Joe Perry to hit the Twitter with complaints of how Steven Tyler hung up on him and other maybe-this-shouldn’t-be-publicly-broadcasted things. Joe Perry then went on to tell journalists that he doesn’t want to wait for Steven Tyler to be ready to play with Aerosmith again, and that they’d look for a new singer if that’s what it took to make the train keep a-rollin’ (another Aerosmith joke.) After this made it’s way into the news, Steven Tyler jumped on stage at a Joe Perry solo show in New York and declared that he’s not leaving Aerosmith and then proceeded to sing Walk This Way with the band. This seemed like the end of the story, but Joe Perry seemingly immediately told any journalist that he could find that they’re still considering getting another singer. This led people to start suggesting possible replacements for Tyler.
Here’s my thinking Aerosmith: You guys are old. Yes it is frustrating that your literal mouthpiece wants to take some time off to focus on himself, but I think it’s worth it for “Brand Aerosmith” to wait it out. Do some kinda Temple Of The Dog thing or some experimental side project thing for a couple years and then get back to doing what you’re best at. I know you’re looking around at bands like Van Halen or AC/DC thinking “they pulled it off” but in reality that decision will just lead to uncomfortable times in the future where you reunite with Steven Tyler and you can’t play any of the songs off your Josh Todd-era albums. Then the whole relationship gets rocky and Steven agrees to come back to the band only if Liv Tyler can play bass. It’ll make fans uncomfortable. Let me reiterate: You guys are old, your fans are old dogs, don’t try to teach us new tricks.
At the same time, how fun would it be to hit the road and studio with a younger fresh singer that brought new life to the band? I say do it up. Grab that Josh Todd guy from Buckcherry (seriously he’s the only good suggestion I’ve heard and I suggested it in the Rolling Stone comments section so I expect full credit.) Go with AeroCherry, AeroTodd, Joshosmith, Aerostar, yeah go with Aerostar. Look how much fun Jimmy Page had on that Coverdale/Page joint. He scooped up a whole new generation of fans (read: a few of my high school friends) and boosted Led Zeppelin and Whitesnake to new levels of popularity (in my high school).
So Joe Perry and the gang, hook up with Josh Todd and rev up Aerostar. Write your own songs, play smaller venues, become one with the people again. I’m so used to seeing the Bad Boys From Boston simultaneously 50 yards away and on a big lcd screen when I see you live that it’d be great to see your wrinkles up close and personal. Just don’t go soiling the Aerosmith name with a new singer this late in your career. There’s too much history there and Aerosmith is a sum of it’s parts. You can’t take Voltron and replace his head with a giraffe robot head, it would just look ridiculous. You know Voltron, right Joe?
