Aerosmith. Steven Tyler is a fucking rock god to me. There’s a side to me where I worship 80’s rock bands with the ridiculous hair explosions, acrobatic stage antics, stadium ready music choruses, bandanas, tight leather pants and of course there life stories of fucking groupies after concert and snort cocaine like oxygen. (However, the drug part I’m disgusted.) But why does a 20 year old who proclaims his love for mainstream pop music would have this side? It’s because my dad lived through it all and passed on the torch to me mildly. I eliminated a bunch of bands like Metallica and AC/DC because I can’t stand metal screaming music like cats going on war, but Aerosmith made the final cut into my musical bible. What I love about Aerosmith is that there’s an American pop country-road melodic sensibility to them where the choruses are epically grand and makes it stuck in your brain. Songs like Walk This Way, Dude (Looks Like A Lady), Cryin’ and of course Dream On all has this magic touch to it. I personally believe that this is the vital ingredient to why people can still sing Aerosmith’s song when it comes on the radio. Other 80’s bands were too invested in creating songs for that moment, but not classic status.
Steven Tyler just like Mick Jagger has this electrifying persona on stage that gives me an adrenaline rush. Yes, those lips of them both are qualified for The Joker role in Batman. Joe Perry also has this cool-somber manner to him when we know he’s also a fucking beast. What works between Perry and Tyler is that they give space for one another to shine. Even though we hear in news stories that their relationship is infamously ego-driven, but onstage they gel well and produce a show like no other.
Going back to the music, my favorite record of them would stereotypically be the same like a million others and it’s I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing. Tyler’s vocal performance on this record broke aesthetic boundaries for me because I’ve never heard a rock record where the singer’s screaming and screeching on the top of his lungs would sound beautiful. I said beautiful. Plus, the orchestral rock epic musical production on it was breathtaking with the emotion of Tyler’s singing building up every second. This record probably has the most sentimental value to me. I remember watching Armegadon in the theatre when I was like 8 and when Bruce Willis’ character dies in front of his daughter played by Liv Tyler…it just hit me like an emotional bullet. For the first time I felt that I couldn’t lose my father. I have a really unconventional and rocky father-son relationship where there’s a love-hate feeling sometime, but when this song comes on it just makes my negative feelings towards him disappear. I’m crying writing this and listening to the song at the same time. Ok, enough of my sappy and vomit-ready melodramatic moment. But, sorry, may I just add that this song was one of the first song I performed in middle school as a duet and I remember I got quite of a reaction from the audience. What reaction? Keeping my way smaller lips than Tyler’s sealed.
When Tyler was announced to be American Idol’s new judge on season 10 I wholeheartedly supported FOX’s decision even when many critics were skeptical at first, but boy he has made me so proud. He has emitted this level of respectable musical knowledge while still being a badass with his Tylerisms comments which is now an iPad application. Pop culture moment there.
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