And…hello. In “honor” of (ie- to capitalize on) the end of Steven Tyler’s debut season of American Idol, I offer you this – Aerosmith’s last (and possibly final?) studio record. I somewhat think we’ll probably never see another record from these guys, especially after last night, when Tyler took the AI stage to bang out a (very) abbreviated version of “Dream On” without his bandmates. Not sure what the odds truly were when this season started, but I think a number of folks – including myself – envisioned a finale that would end the stalemate between Tyler and, well, everyone else in the band. Instead, I watched with visions of the other guys sitting at home smashing in the screens of their plasmas. While I will say that the vocal was better than I would have expected (little pitchy in places, natch), it was just wrong to do that without Joe Perry and the rest of the “boys” standing alongside him. Instead, we got actual boys. Kinda lame. And kinda sad. And kinda hard to imagine that it didn’t widen the chasm between Tyler and the rest of the band to a potentially irreparable level.
But hey, if 2004’s “Honkin’…” is remembered as the band’s last studio effort, they could have gone out on a far worse note. Like, um, any of records they released in the decade preceding it. While it’s billed as the band’s “blues” record, at the end of the day, it’ still a rock & roll record. And it was produced by Jack Douglas, the legend who twiddled the knobs for all of the band’s epic early stuff. And Johnnie Johnson shows up on piano for for a song or three. Which is/was way cool. So yeah, while it’s not “Rocks”, it’s also not “Press To Play”.
The last sealed copy I saw on eBay closed at $117. And I gotta say, it’s not an easy find in any condition, especially sealed as this record saw one smallish pressing and that was it. Original factory seal with custom sticker on shrink, and the jacket is pretty much perfect. No dents, creases or other such things that will harsh your mellow like seeing Tyler do Aerosmith without Aerosmith.
Available for a Franklin at the following authorized Graypunk outlets…
Discogs…http://www.discogs.com/sell/list?release_id=2129175&ev=rb
Musicstack…http://www.musicstack.com/item/49093768
Gemm…http://www.gemm.com/item/Aerosmith/Honkin’–On–Bobo/GML1451038707/
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