AEROSMITH - Spot The Orphan!
by Martin Popoff

Yes, we're all metalheads here, and yes, that means we've all been a little disconcerted with Aerosmith as of late. But if yer old school like me (first Aerosmith album bought as a new release - Get Your Wings), the band's new live album Rockin' The Joint should get you walkin' that way once again.

Despite there being only 11 tracks to the thing, the album goes and goes for 58 minutes, meaning some jamming ensues. And trust me, you'll be diggin' it, except (heh heh) for the "orphan," which, you know... there's that little button on your stereophonic player, the one with the two little arrows and the line: just press skip.

"Yeah, you know, it's funny," muses long blonde animal Tom Hamilton, "a lot of things you don't realize when you're in the midst of it, but just now I was sort of looking around on our site, looking at song listings, and it dawned on me (laughs), it's like, 'I Don't Want To Miss A Thing' is like this orphan, you know? (laughs). The rest of it, you know, I'm psyched - it's a headphone album."

Well, headphone album might be a little inappropriate, 'cos this is more of a drinking with your friends album. Best move is that Rockin' The Joint includes the two heaviest songs from Just Push Play, rocked up and grinding, versus the gloss put on them on that way over-commercial platter. Second best move - obscurities everywhere, including No More No More, Big Ten Inch Record and the band's best ballad ever, 'Seasons Of Wither'. Third best move - 'Draw The Line', arguably the greatest song ever written (commits me, in writing, on page 486 of my Top 500 Songs book).

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