Part 1: 2001-2005: The Struggle for Direction
From the release of “Just Push Play” in 2001, Aerosmith faced a challenging period marked by critical reception issues and evolving musical directions. A follow-up album using leftover songs was discarded in 2002 due to poor reception. Instead, the band recorded “Girls of Summer” and “Lay it Down” for a Greatest Hits compilation, “Oh Yeah.” These tracks were laid down during studio sessions in Maui in 2002 after the completion of their tour.
In 2003, Aerosmith collaborated with producer Jack Douglas, aiming to create a blues/rock album of originals and covers. This effort shifted into the “Honking on Bobo” album in 2004, a blend of blues covers and new tracks. This move was intended to quickly produce an album and kickstart another tour. In 2005, Joe Perry released a self-titled solo album, which included songs initially offered to Aerosmith but not used by the band.
Early in 2006, Aerosmith began re-recording old outtakes, hoping to craft a new album. However, Tom Hamilton’s need for cancer treatment and Steven Tyler’s throat issues in March 2006 delayed these plans. Instead, the band released two reworked tracks in their “Devil’s New Disguise” compilation album, including “Devil’s Got a New Disguise” and “Sedona Sunrise.” Fans were promised a full album of new tracks in 2007, but these plans were again interrupted by a tour and the necessity to re-record tracks for the Guitar Hero game released in 2008.
Part 2: Official Announcement of Production Work with O’Brien and Band’s Optimism
In early 2009, Aerosmith officially announced their collaboration with producer Brendan O’Brien. Joe Perry expressed his excitement: “We started rehearsing last week,” Perry revealed. “The band’s been all gathered back together. And we’ve been at it and going over some of the new stuff. We’re real excited about it; we’ve wanted to work with him for a long time” .
Tom Hamilton shared his optimism: “The big news is that we had our first meeting and strategy session with our producer Brendan O’Brien. We’ve been wanting to work with him for a while. The meeting came on the heels of the band all working together for the first two weeks. Things are moving along and it’s now on the fast track” .
Joey Kramer added in a video update: “Rehearsals for the new record. We are working with Brendan O’Brien, it’s going really good, and I’m here to report that we are going to have a new Aerosmith record really soon” .
The pre-production and rehearsal sessions took place in February 2009 at Vindaloo Music Inc, also known as “Pandora’s Box” studio in Boston, MA. Perry recalled: “We began working up some of the rough riffs that would form the backbone of the new record. We moved ahead. The material was getting strong. I felt like I had a tank of high-test gas in a sixties muscle car. I was ready to rock. Plans were made to record in New York. The studio was booked, a schedule blocked out” .
Steven Tyler also expressed his optimism in a radio interview in May 2009: “There’s a couple of songs that I wrote that I wanted to give the time they deserve. I played him a couple of songs at the end, and he said ‘holy shit, you’ve got a couple of hits here,’ and I said, ‘from your lips to God’s ears.’ We’ll see what happens; don’t want to jinx anything” .
Brad Whitford also shared the band’s enthusiasm: “We had this one song we were going to put on the new album and are thinking in the next couple weeks of making a mix of it and posting it as a download. If that all comes together, we’d include that in the set. That’d be fun for us, too, to have something new that people would be familiar with” . Whitford explained the band’s process: “There is quite a library of songs, probably going back into the ’90s, that we either passed on or weren’t entirely finished [with]. We’d been working on a lot of those songs and hoping quite a few of those would be on the new album when we do finish it”. Referring to the outtake-based nature of the original approach of these sessions.
Part 3: Pausing Sessions Due to Lack of Time, But With a Hopeful View to Finish Record After the Tour
As the band’s 2009 summer tour with ZZ Top approached, it became clear that they needed to pause the recording sessions. Health issues, particularly Joe Perry’s knee replacement surgery, and the need to prepare for the tour led to a temporary halt in recording. Steven Tyler remained hopeful: “We’ll pick up the recordings from where we left off, we started recording with Brendan O’Brien, and we had a blast” .
Joe Perry echoed this sentiment in an April 2009 interview: “The time we had allotted to make this record, we couldn’t do it. But it’s a work in progress, and we’re gonna shoot for it when we finish with this tour” . Brad Whitford added: “We were hoping to have it done before the tour, but we had several setbacks with scheduling and health issues. We didn’t have time to finish it. We had to start getting ready for this tour as well” .
Despite the setbacks, the band was optimistic about resuming the sessions after the tour. Steven Tyler shared his perspective in a May 2009 interview: “We’ll probably go back in the studio after this tour” . Joe Perry provided a timeline in June 2009: “Looking at the calendar, we’ll probably be going into the studio sometime around the holidays or maybe in the beginning of next year” .
Part 4: The Real Reasons the Sessions with Brendan O’Brien Not Working Out
As the tour approached, the band’s working relationship with O’Brien became increasingly strained. Joe Perry explained: “He has a way of working that’s good for some bands, but it just didn’t click with us. He was a big help to me when I recorded my last solo record. I borrowed one of his engineers, and I went down to Atlanta to check out his studio. But with the band and him, it just didn’t click. And I don’t think we were ready; we didn’t have the material” .
Brendan O’Brien’s approach was not aligning with the band’s expectations. Tyler, dealing with personal struggles, did not appreciate O’Brien’s methods. “He [came] into our session and set up a piano,” Tyler recalled. “Trying to come up with parts on songs I wrote” . O’Brien, reflecting on the sessions, remarked: “Joey seems to be an awesome guy. How about that? Let me just say that I really enjoyed hanging out with Tom [Hamilton,] Brad [Whitford] and Joey. They were great. They were awesome”. Hinting to the true difficulty to working with Steven.
Tyler says he did drugs with Perry for the first time in years. “It was just like 30 years before,” Tyler says. “I whipped out mine, he whipped out his and we got high together again. I say to Joe, ‘Wow, man, how you been, it’s been, what, 17 years since we got high together? Joe, you’ve been fucking running away from me ever since.’ ” Bonding aside, the album sessions didn’t go well. “Joe was high and he couldn’t play,” says Tyler. “I couldn’t sing, really, because I was snorting everything, and it fucks up your throat. It was the wrong time.”
Perry further explained: “A week before we were due to start (recording in New York), Steven withdrew. He said he had pneumonia, which would require three weeks of rest. Scratch New York. Nothing could be done until the following summer” .
Brad Whitford reflected: “I don’t think it lasted more than two, three weeks. And he bent over backwards to do whatever he could to make Steven comfortable”. The band’s former A&R rep John Kalodner added: “In the brief conversation I had with Brendan, he said it was a nightmare,” Kalodner told Rolling Stone. “He couldn’t believe I worked with them for all those years”.
Joe Perry summed up the frustration: “Brendan, who was waiting for us to get something together, ran out of time and went off to produce Pearl Jam who got a number one record,” Perry said with a grimace. “Steven didn’t want to work with him – that was the vibe I got. It was like, ‘Let’s go into the studio and we can finish the record in a month with Marti Frederiksen, then we can be off Sony and take two years off.’ I wanted the last record on Sony to be at least as fucking good as it could be, so why wouldn’t you want to work with a Brendan O’Brien or Rick Rubin? We hadn’t done a studio album for about eight years, and I felt it was time to make a real Aerosmith record. Steven just wanted to get off Sony so he could do his solo album” .
Part 5: Joe’s 2009 Solo Album “Have Guitar, Will Travel”
Frustrated with the stalled sessions, Joe Perry channeled his creativity into a solo project. “Well, I had all this creative energy inside me. I had to bust loose. It had been four years since my Joe Perry album. So I did what I’ve always done. Rather than drive myself crazy waiting on Steven, I started making new music” . Perry utilized some of the material initially intended for the Aerosmith album, including the song “Do You Wonder,” originally written in 1996 and considered for the 2001 album “Just Push Play” and the 2009 pre-production sessions. When work on the Aerosmith album stalled, Perry decided to include the track on his solo album. “And when work on the album went down I thought, ‘Fuck it! It’s been almost 10 years, Brendan thinks it’s got potential, I think I’ll put it on my record’” .
Part 6: Aftermath and Eventual Release of New Album
The sessions with Brendan O’Brien were ultimately abandoned, and the material was either discarded or repurposed for Aerosmith’s subsequent album. The band faced numerous personal and professional challenges throughout 2009, including Steven Tyler’s relapse into drug use and various health issues among the members.
During the 2009 tour, Aerosmith encountered significant difficulties. Tom Hamilton was still undergoing cancer treatment, which he had started in 2006, and was replaced by David Hull for the tour. Brad Whitford suffered a head injury and was replaced by his guitar tech for several dates. The tour was also plagued by cancellations due to Tyler’s health issues. Internal tensions reached a peak after Tyler’s fall, which resulted in serious injuries and the subsequent cancellation of the remaining tour dates.
The band members were deeply frustrated. Joe Perry channeled his creativity into a solo project, “Have Guitar, Will Travel,” which included some material initially intended for Aerosmith. “Well, I had all this creative energy inside me. I had to bust loose. It had been four years since my Joe Perry album. So I did what I’ve always done. Rather than drive myself crazy waiting on Steven, I started making new music,” Perry recounted .
As tensions within the band simmered, rumors circulated that Steven Tyler might be leaving Aerosmith to pursue a solo career. The band even considered replacing Tyler, leading to a period of strained communications and uncertainty. However, Tyler made a surprise appearance during a Joe Perry Project show on November 10, 2009, where he declared, “I am not leaving Aerosmith.” This unexpected move was the beginning of the reconciliation process.
The band was legally obligated to perform a series of shows in October and November 2009 due to a lawsuit they had lost. These performances were marked by minimal communication between band members offstage. However, by December 2009, the band had an internal meeting with their managers, where apologies were made, and peace was restored.
In February 2010, Aerosmith announced their “Cocked, Locked, and Ready to Rock” tour, which ran from May to September 2010. This tour helped the band regain their momentum and reconnect with their fan base.
In 2011, Aerosmith returned to the studio with producers Jack Douglas and Marti Frederiksen to pick up the pieces from the failed O’Brien sessions. Jack Douglas, who had a long history with the band, was instrumental in helping them refocus and harness their creative energy. Joe Perry noted the difference in approach, saying: “But Jack, who’s like a member of the band, he could say, ‘Hey, that bit is cool – it goes with that other part and it fits with this riff’” .
The 2011 sessions were productive, with the band working tirelessly to create new material. This period of creativity and collaboration led to the eventual release of “Music from Another Dimension!” in November 2012. The album featured a mix of new songs and reworked tracks from previous sessions, showcasing Aerosmith’s resilience and enduring legacy in rock music. Tracks like “Legendary Child,” which had origins in the scrapped sessions, were given new life and became part of the album.
The release of “Music from Another Dimension!” marked Aerosmith’s first studio album of original material in over a decade. It was a testament to the band’s ability to overcome adversity and continue creating music that resonated with their fans. Despite the turbulent journey, Aerosmith emerged stronger and more united, solidifying their place as one of rock’s most enduring and iconic bands.
References
- ABC ePrep – “Aerosmith Guitarist Joe Perry Discusses New Album Work,” February 5, 2009.
- Louder Sound – “Joe Perry Talks Brendan O’Brien and Aerosmith’s New Album,” February 4, 2010.
- Aerosmith Fan Club (AF1) – “Tom Hamilton’s Diary Update,” February 2009.
- Aerosmith Fan Club (AF1) – “Joey Kramer’s Video Update,” February 2009.
- Perry, Joe – Rocks: My Life In and Out of Aerosmith, 2014.
- Illinois Entertainer – “Brad Whitford on New Aerosmith Album,” June 2009.
- Bob & Tom Show – “Steven Tyler Interview,” May 2009.
- Rolling Stone – “Joe Perry on Aerosmith’s Recording Schedule,” April 7, 2009.
- Music Radar – “Joe Perry on Brendan O’Brien,” November 18, 2012.
- Rolling Stone – “Steven Tyler on Brendan O’Brien,” January 2013.
- Rolling Stone – “Brad Whitford on Brendan O’Brien,” June 8, 2011.
- Rolling Stone – “John Kalodner on Brendan O’Brien,” June 8, 2011.
- Perry, Joe – Rocks: My Life In and Out of Aerosmith, 2014.
- Rolling Stone – “Brendan O’Brien on Aerosmith,” January 2013.
- Perry, Joe – Rocks: My Life In and Out of Aerosmith, 2014.
- Louder Sound – “Joe Perry on ‘Do You Wonder’,” February 2010.
- Ultimate Classic Rock Magazine – “Joe Perry on Jack Douglas,” December 10, 2012.
- Illinois Entertainer – “Cover Story: Aerosmith,” June 1, 2009 (Illinois Entertainer).
- Premier Guitar – “Interview: Aerosmith’s Joe Perry and Brad Whitford Let the Music Do the Talking,” August 26, 2022.
- Rolling Stone – “Aerosmith to Start Recording First Album in 10 Years,” January 27, 2023.
- Music Radar – “Aerosmith’s Joe Perry on Recording ‘Music From Another Dimension’,” September 5, 2012.
- Ultimate Classic Rock Magazine – “Joe Perry on Aerosmith’s Future: ‘I Don’t Know If We’re Going to Make Another Record’,” April 14, 2019.
- Louder Sound – “Aerosmith: Knives Out,” April 2, 2010.
- Steven Tyler Tells All: The Real Story Behind His Aerosmith Battles and ‘American Idol’ Triumph, By Rolling Stone, April 27, 2011 https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/steven-tyler-tells-all-the-real-story-behind-his-aerosmith-battles-and-american-idol-triumph-99723/
- YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATjJi_LXSjQ
- YouTube – https://youtu.be/JUfQzuLDORE
- YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-uXRTWuk3XM
- YouTube – https://youtu.be/N5q_DVdCZ0k
- YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzzAJ1b9UQE
The Back-Burner: Aerosmith Outtakes & Demos 