CD Reviews

Aerosmith | Music From Another Dimension

Columbia (2012)

By SEAN CORBETT | October 31, 2012

1.5 Stars

Don't let Aerosmith's Music From Another Dimension confuse you. It was produced inside the normal, predictable dimension where all Aerosmith songs since Armageddon sound pretty much alike. And with tracks like "LUV XXX," "Beautiful," and "Lover Alot," everyone's favorite dude-looks-like-a-grandma just can't let go of that screechy horndog rock. The band really rips it, but the best vocals come in the form of neo-"Dream On" harmonies. Less predictable numbers include "Freedom Fighter" (sung by Joe Perry and Johnny Depp), the single "Legendary Child" (one of the few respectable tracks), and some shitty ballads that Kid Rock might have written. Lively licks on "Out Go the Lights" do not save the hilariously poor lyrics: "Roses are red, violets are you/You couldn't tell by the things that we do/Things that we see are so out of sight/We'll have to see when we turn out the lights." Try to find an instrumental version.

Review: Joyful Noise
There's not much joy but there's plenty of noise of the rafter-rocking gospel singing variety in Tony Graff's musical dramedy.
Alex Chilton | Free Again: The ''1970'' Sessions
Post–Box Tops and pre-Big Star, Alex Chilton was an 18-year-old Memphis boy on his way to his dual identity: former #1 pop hitmaker, perpetual underground hero.
Cardinal | Hymns
After a nearly two-decade silence, chamber-pop duo Cardinal emerge from their near-mythic hibernation with the sleepy-eyed, Beatles-underwater gem "Northern Soul," which crawls out of the speakers as if to say, "Yeah, we've been gone since 1994 — but really, don't mind us!"
Snow Patrol | Fallen Empires
Word on the street had Snow Patrol looking to change up the big anthem sound for their sixth release.
O'Brother | Garden Window
O'Brother's bio for their debut album, Garden Window, reads in part: "Native American tradition believed taking a picture of someone also took a piece of their soul. O'Brother views this album in the same vein. It captures a piece of them at a time in their lives that they will never get back."
Guided by Voices | Let's Go Eat the Factory
The GBV name on Let's Go Eat the Factory' s label indicates two things to those fans: this is the first record to feature the "classic" Bee Thousand/Alien Lanes line-up since 1996, and this is the first Pollard album to deserve the GBV moniker since the break-up.
Brite Futures | Dark Past
A few years ago, the cutesy teens in Natalie Portman's Shaved Head slid out of Seattle on the hot pink shoulders of robo-bounce kinda-hit "Me + Ur Daughter" and the cheap intrigue of a ridiculous moniker.
A Place to Bury Strangers | Onwards to the Wall
Onwards to the Wall clocks in at 16 minutes and 35 seconds, and it could shatter into smithereens at any moment.
Cloud Nothings | Attack on Memory
With Attack on Memory , the third full-length from Cleveland-based Cloud Nothings, 20-year-old frontman Dylan Baldi approaches new, drastically darker material with the same empty-bottle angst that made his previous releases so appealing.
You Me at Six | Sinners Never Sleep
Sinners Never Sleep is a transitional album, though such efforts rarely bode as well for the future as this does.
Imperial Teen | Feel the Sound
Like its title, fifth album Feel the Sound is as generic as doubters have probably always assumed — they sound both relaxed and exhausted.
Less

Topics: CD Reviews , Music, Aerosmith, Aerosmith, More

| More

Most Popular

The Current Issue

Table of Contents

Cover Archive

Masthead | Authors | Contact us

Blogs

Where To Follow Me
Talking Politics | March 24, 2013 at 11:09 AM

Mo Takes His Turn
March 21, 2013 at 12:59 PM

[Q&A] KMFDM's Sascha Konietzko on art, Columbine and having balls
On The Download | March 18, 2013 at 3:22 PM

See this film series: The Belmont World Film Series @ Studio Cinema in Belmont
Outside The Frame | March 18, 2013 at 11:00 AM

See this film: This is Spinal Tap [with post-film talk by expert from Acoustical Society of America] @ the Coolidge
March 17, 2013 at 12:00 PM

ARTICLES BY SEAN CORBETT

FREE ENERGY | LOVE SIGN | January 08, 2013
For some context on how to approach the Philadelphia-based Free Energy as a classic-rock revival band, turn to their recently released video for "Dance All Night," one of the best tracks off sophomore album Love Sign .

AEROSMITH | MUSIC FROM ANOTHER DIMENSION | October 31, 2012
Don't let Aerosmith's Music From Another Dimension confuse you. It was produced inside the normal, predictable dimension where all Aerosmith songs since Armageddon sound pretty much alike.

BAND OF HORSES | MIRAGE ROCK | September 12, 2012
Mirage Rock kicks off with an oddly agreeable "wooo-ooo" from singer/guitarist Ben Bridwell on "Knock Knock," a fun and energetic opening song for this mostly gentle album.

DEERHOOF | BREAKUP SONG | August 28, 2012
Jammy San Francisco art-noise rockers Deerhoof got us going with the clever online "Jingletron" last month and left fans jittering with excitement for Breakup Song.