In a stunning change of direction, Eugene picked a band and album with which I’m more than a little familiar. Aerosmith’s Pump has several songs that anyone around in the late 80s or early 90s would have heard on their favorite FM station or blasting from the tape deck while tooling around in their buddy’s ’83 Toyota, including Love in an Elevator, F.I.N.E., Janie’s Got a Gun, What it Takes and The Other Side.
So yeah, I’d heard every one of these tracks at some point in my hazy past – a first for any of Eugene’s selections – and so I wasn’t expecting to learn a whole lot when I sat down to listen. Of course, I was wrong.
I was wrong because I forgot that I’ve never really before done what I’m doing with Eugene’s list: I’m reading about the band and the album as I listen. Because I haven’t spent any time around the music business, whether it be working at a record store, a radio station, bar or concert venue, I’ve never really spent any time learning what goes into the making of an album or getting it released. So what did I learn? Well…
- They recorded in the same studio that Bon Jovi recorded Slippery When Wet
- They didn’t include lyrics in the album booklet because they were worried that the Parents Music Resource Center (remember those tools?) would protest the sex and drug references in the lyrics. Go figure.
- F.I.N.E. is an acronym for “Fucked Up, Insecure, Neurotic, and Emotional”
“So enough with the history lesson,” you’re saying. “How’d you like it?” you’re wondering. Well, I’ve always liked this album, but even for someone who doesn’t mind hearing a 40-song rotation over and over at the store, many of these tunes were overplayed. Janie’s Got a Gun was a song, that by the end of 1990, I thought I never wanted to hear again. Since it’s been a while since I’d heard any of the tracks from the album (except for What it Takes) I found myself enjoying them all again, and I also rediscovered some deeper tracks that I’d forgotten about and really liked – Hoodoo/Voodoo Medicine Man being the best example.
All in all, this is a great album and I recommend it for anyone who likes some good old fashioned hard rock with a tinge of blues.
Links & Notes
Befuddled 