Aerosmith - Get A Grip (1993)

Bucket Foot · 09-13-2009, 06:19 PM

Aerosmith - Get A Grip
(1993)

“GET A GRIP” is the eleventh studio album by American rock band Aerosmith. Released in 1993, it was Aerosmith’s last studio album released by Geffen Records.

THE BAND: To be completely honest, I never listened to Aerosmith as much as I should of until they announced that there tour would be coming through PEI. Our small province doesn’t get many big time acts and Aerosmith would be the biggest to ever play in PEI to date. So, when I heard; I bought tickets and bought an album. I had no clue of what of there albums were great and what weren’t. I picked up “GET A GRIP” because of its unique artwork, and my brother picked “PUMP” because of its.

THE ALBUM: I have now heard Aerosmith live and have heard, what I think, is every Aerosmith song to be recorded. “GET A GRIP” would have to rank on the very top. Its got everything a great Aerosmith album should sound like and sums up a great rock n’ roll record. For me anyway.

1. Intro - I’ve always loved intro’s to albums; if done correctly. This introduction does just that in leading into the best song on the album and possible the best Aerosmith song ever.
2. Eat The Rich - Like I said, the strongest track on the album. You won’t find Aerosmith come together any nicer than this. The guitar work of Joe Perry had me speechless the first listen; and does exactly that 100 plays later. The vocals/lyrics are badass, and are direct. Steven Tyler delivers it perfectly. From Joey Kramer’s heavy drum beat, to Brad Whitfords clear and crisp 2nd guitar, straight to Tom Hamilton’s strong and steady bass, the song is perfection.
3. Get A Grip - The title track, “Get A Grip” keeps the album moving very smoothly. The drums fill in a small gap, much like a live concert and Steven brings the house down again. Joe and Steven remain on the same page here as both team up too make a bluesy like verse and chorus. Brad Whitford remains perfect backing up an amazing Joe Perry.
4. Fever - Moving along, this album gives you no breaks and does not let up. Together, Steven and Joe/Brad have your ears overwhelmed. “Fever” adds no flash but is a straight forward track, filled with guitar and snare drum.
5. Livin’ On The Edge - Now, the album finally does slow down a bit. Enough for you to catch your breath. It turns from a heavy sound to a more melodic and from proving a point to spreading the word. It is a message to the people about issues regarding religion and racism. Its sound is very unique but very rock n’ roll. Surprisingly, this was the first single off “Get A Grip”
6. Flesh - Another intro-like piece prelude’s the track. It returns us to that rough rock n’ roll we heard through tracks 2 and 4. One thing I love about “Flesh” is the vocal melodies.
7. Walk On Down - Being a huge GNR fan, there’s no doubt I fell in love with this. It resembles a few songs off the USE YOUR ILLUSION sets; it could very well be Duff Mckagen on vocals. Its as strong as a track Aerosmith has. Everything about it is great and its just one more great track on the album
8. Shut Up And Dance - I’m shocked that this was released as a single at all, even if it was the seventh off the album. Not that the song is weak but solely that there are better on the album like “Walk On Down” for example. One thing about the song is that its got some witty lines among the lyrics. It’s a fast-paced, loud rock song that continues the album quite strongly
9. Cryin - Another option for my favorite Aerosmith song ever is “Cryin’”. It is a beautiful song and stole the show for me live. The chorus is so simple but so effective and the verses tell that familiar story of a relationship gone bad. Bluesy guitars by Whitford and Perry keep the track rock n’ roll and Steven makes it a amazing piece of art. I’ll also mention the very fitting harmonica solo in the outro.
10. Gotta Love It - One thing I love about Aerosmith, is how live they sound on record and how perfect they sound live. This song is still an above average song but would have to be one of the worst tracks on the album. It is a nice filler that doesnt let up for a minute.
11. Crazy - A very sexy sounding song. “Crazy” has beautifully flowing vocals with nothing but perfection from Joe Perry. Another one of my favorite’s of all time.
12. Line Up - Here, we’ve got another toe tapping track. Co-written by Lenny Kravitz (who also does backing vocals), “Line Up” has everything listed above. Another good listen.
13. Amazing - I love song concepts like this. A song about Tyler’s recent sobriety. Aerosmith gets very soft on us and it definitely stands out in the album as sounding much different. Not saying it’s a good or bad change, but its very different.
14. Boogie Man - “Boogie Man” is a two minute instrumental that rounds out the album on another soft note. After such a hard rocking album, it would of been nice to end on a bang but with all the great music on here, it really doesn’t matter.

FINAL COMMENTS: Aerosmith delivers on GET A GRIP. They remain true to there roots, 20 years after the release of there debut album and still rock in this album. GET A GRIP holds some of Aerosmith’s greatest tracks, like “Eat The Rich”, “Walk On Down”, “Cryin’”, and “Crazy”. The whole band is still very together and on that same page. Seeing these guys live really puts the icing on the cake.

RATING: 8.5/10

Antonio · 09-13-2009, 08:45 PM

i have this album, had it for several years, and for the longest time i avoided playing it like the plague. while i do agree that there are definately standout tracks (Eat The Rich, Walk on Down, Amazing) there were simply too many filler and lackluster songs for me to really like it(Get a Grip, Line Up, Flesh, Fever).

as for the songs Cryin' and Crazy, in short, they pissed me off. not that i hate ballads or whatever, but they just rubbed me the wrong way.

also, have you checked out Toys in the Attic? in my opinion it's their best album to date.

Bucket Foot · 09-13-2009, 09:09 PM

Ya TOYS IN THE ATTIC is pretty rockin too. Sweet emotion is killer aswell as walk this way of course. But "You See Me Crying" might be my favorite off this album. It definitely doesn't get enough listen.

All early Aerosmith all have amazing writing from when these guys lived on the streets. I think there first 4 albums have that feel, and yes. TOYS is pretty amazing. I don't own it, however, so I can't review it.

Rickenbacker · 09-13-2009, 09:45 PM

I'll be honest, I think that Aerosmith are largely a waste of space of a band. That said, I sort of like Get a Grip and Pump, the latter of which is a pretty respectable album. They can't fall back on lyrical content, vocal prowess, or instrumental skills (Joe Perry is just a weak guitarist like all hell), so usually they have to rely on originality. Obviously this record doesn't display anything new - you mention that they "remain true to their roots" - it's always bull**** when bands do that - but there is some pretty good pop songwriting here. That's all.

storymilo · 09-13-2009, 10:05 PM

Nice review, but like Antonio and Rickenbacker I can't say I'm a huge fan of Aerosmith. I find them to be pretty overrated by a lot of people.

Rickenbacker · 09-13-2009, 10:09 PM

I don't really feel like it's always possible to only review an album track by track.

Antonio · 09-13-2009, 10:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rickenbacker

I don't really feel like it's always possible to only review an album track by track.

true, idk if you guys actually remember but i had my own album review thread a few months ago, and i did the track by track thing. let me see if i can find it

here it is

http://www.musicbanter.com/album-rev...m-reviews.html

but yeah, long story short, it just became tedious and with things like school and my band in the way i couldn't keep updating it track by track, so now it's kind of in limbo atm.

Bucket Foot · 09-14-2009, 06:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rickenbacker

I don't really feel like it's always possible to only review an album track by track.

how would you do it?

Rickenbacker · 09-14-2009, 06:19 PM

Take a look at the album as a whole. Talk about recurring themes musically or lyrically. Analyze track flow, the pace of the album, etc. But hey, that's just me, and some albums aren't meant to be looked at from that angle.

**Janszoon** · 09-14-2009, 06:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bucket Foot

how would you do it?

There's a number of ways to do it. The way I've usually gone with when I've written reviews is a first paragraph that talks about the band in general and the context of the album, then a middle paragraph or two discussing specific things about the album such as particular songs or the production, and lastly finishing it off with a closing paragraph that sums everything up and makes some general comments about the album's strengths and weaknesses.

09-13-2009, 06:19 PM	#1 (permalink)
Bucket Foot Music Addict Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Prince Edward Island, Canada Posts: 126	Aerosmith - Get A Grip (1993) Aerosmith - Get A Grip (1993) “GET A GRIP” is the eleventh studio album by American rock band Aerosmith. Released in 1993, it was Aerosmith’s last studio album released by Geffen Records. THE BAND: To be completely honest, I never listened to Aerosmith as much as I should of until they announced that there tour would be coming through PEI. Our small province doesn’t get many big time acts and Aerosmith would be the biggest to ever play in PEI to date. So, when I heard; I bought tickets and bought an album. I had no clue of what of there albums were great and what weren’t. I picked up “GET A GRIP” because of its unique artwork, and my brother picked “PUMP” because of its. THE ALBUM: I have now heard Aerosmith live and have heard, what I think, is every Aerosmith song to be recorded. “GET A GRIP” would have to rank on the very top. Its got everything a great Aerosmith album should sound like and sums up a great rock n’ roll record. For me anyway. 1. Intro - I’ve always loved intro’s to albums; if done correctly. This introduction does just that in leading into the best song on the album and possible the best Aerosmith song ever. 2. Eat The Rich - Like I said, the strongest track on the album. You won’t find Aerosmith come together any nicer than this. The guitar work of Joe Perry had me speechless the first listen; and does exactly that 100 plays later. The vocals/lyrics are badass, and are direct. Steven Tyler delivers it perfectly. From Joey Kramer’s heavy drum beat, to Brad Whitfords clear and crisp 2nd guitar, straight to Tom Hamilton’s strong and steady bass, the song is perfection. 3. Get A Grip - The title track, “Get A Grip” keeps the album moving very smoothly. The drums fill in a small gap, much like a live concert and Steven brings the house down again. Joe and Steven remain on the same page here as both team up too make a bluesy like verse and chorus. Brad Whitford remains perfect backing up an amazing Joe Perry. 4. Fever - Moving along, this album gives you no breaks and does not let up. Together, Steven and Joe/Brad have your ears overwhelmed. “Fever” adds no flash but is a straight forward track, filled with guitar and snare drum. 5. Livin’ On The Edge - Now, the album finally does slow down a bit. Enough for you to catch your breath. It turns from a heavy sound to a more melodic and from proving a point to spreading the word. It is a message to the people about issues regarding religion and racism. Its sound is very unique but very rock n’ roll. Surprisingly, this was the first single off “Get A Grip” 6. Flesh - Another intro-like piece prelude’s the track. It returns us to that rough rock n’ roll we heard through tracks 2 and 4. One thing I love about “Flesh” is the vocal melodies. 7. Walk On Down - Being a huge GNR fan, there’s no doubt I fell in love with this. It resembles a few songs off the USE YOUR ILLUSION sets; it could very well be Duff Mckagen on vocals. Its as strong as a track Aerosmith has. Everything about it is great and its just one more great track on the album 8. Shut Up And Dance - I’m shocked that this was released as a single at all, even if it was the seventh off the album. Not that the song is weak but solely that there are better on the album like “Walk On Down” for example. One thing about the song is that its got some witty lines among the lyrics. It’s a fast-paced, loud rock song that continues the album quite strongly 9. Cryin - Another option for my favorite Aerosmith song ever is “Cryin’”. It is a beautiful song and stole the show for me live. The chorus is so simple but so effective and the verses tell that familiar story of a relationship gone bad. Bluesy guitars by Whitford and Perry keep the track rock n’ roll and Steven makes it a amazing piece of art. I’ll also mention the very fitting harmonica solo in the outro. 10. Gotta Love It - One thing I love about Aerosmith, is how live they sound on record and how perfect they sound live. This song is still an above average song but would have to be one of the worst tracks on the album. It is a nice filler that doesnt let up for a minute. 11. Crazy - A very sexy sounding song. “Crazy” has beautifully flowing vocals with nothing but perfection from Joe Perry. Another one of my favorite’s of all time. 12. Line Up - Here, we’ve got another toe tapping track. Co-written by Lenny Kravitz (who also does backing vocals), “Line Up” has everything listed above. Another good listen. 13. Amazing - I love song concepts like this. A song about Tyler’s recent sobriety. Aerosmith gets very soft on us and it definitely stands out in the album as sounding much different. Not saying it’s a good or bad change, but its very different. 14. Boogie Man - “Boogie Man” is a two minute instrumental that rounds out the album on another soft note. After such a hard rocking album, it would of been nice to end on a bang but with all the great music on here, it really doesn’t matter. FINAL COMMENTS: Aerosmith delivers on GET A GRIP. They remain true to there roots, 20 years after the release of there debut album and still rock in this album. GET A GRIP holds some of Aerosmith’s greatest tracks, like “Eat The Rich”, “Walk On Down”, “Cryin’”, and “Crazy”. The whole band is still very together and on that same page. Seeing these guys live really puts the icing on the cake. RATING: 8.5/10 __________________ www.myspace.com/darcycudmore

09-13-2009, 09:09 PM	#3 (permalink)
Bucket Foot Music Addict Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Prince Edward Island, Canada Posts: 126	Ya TOYS IN THE ATTIC is pretty rockin too. Sweet emotion is killer aswell as walk this way of course. But "You See Me Crying" might be my favorite off this album. It definitely doesn't get enough listen. All early Aerosmith all have amazing writing from when these guys lived on the streets. I think there first 4 albums have that feel, and yes. TOYS is pretty amazing. I don't own it, however, so I can't review it. __________________ www.myspace.com/darcycudmore

09-13-2009, 09:45 PM	#4 (permalink)
Rickenbacker / Join Date: May 2009 Location: The Conn Posts: 1,338	I'll be honest, I think that Aerosmith are largely a waste of space of a band. That said, I sort of like Get a Grip and Pump, the latter of which is a pretty respectable album. They can't fall back on lyrical content, vocal prowess, or instrumental skills (Joe Perry is just a weak guitarist like all hell), so usually they have to rely on originality. Obviously this record doesn't display anything new - you mention that they "remain true to their roots" - it's always bull** when bands do that - but there is some pretty good pop songwriting here. That's all. __________________ last.fm rym Talk About the Passion - R.E.M.'s Discography Reviewed**

09-13-2009, 10:09 PM	#6 (permalink)
Rickenbacker / Join Date: May 2009 Location: The Conn Posts: 1,338	I don't really feel like it's always possible to only review an album track by track. __________________ last.fm rym Talk About the Passion - R.E.M.'s Discography Reviewed

09-14-2009, 06:19 PM	#9 (permalink)
Rickenbacker / Join Date: May 2009 Location: The Conn Posts: 1,338	Take a look at the album as a whole. Talk about recurring themes musically or lyrically. Analyze track flow, the pace of the album, etc. But hey, that's just me, and some albums aren't meant to be looked at from that angle. __________________ last.fm rym Talk About the Passion - R.E.M.'s Discography Reviewed

09-13-2009, 10:05 PM	#5 (permalink)
storymilo Music Addict Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 1,845	Nice review, but like Antonio and Rickenbacker I can't say I'm a huge fan of Aerosmith. I find them to be pretty overrated by a lot of people.