Search - Joe Perry :: Have Guitar Will Travel

What Aerosmith Could Have Been

Teriek Williams | New York, NY | 11/03/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"One cannot listen to Joe Perry's fifth studio album Have Guitar, Will Travel without thinking what could have been of Aerosmith. Since 1987, Aerosmith has utilized professional songwriters or "song doctors" to author much of their musical output. It can be argued that Desmond Child, Mark Hudson, Jim Vallance, Taylor Rhodes, Glen Ballard, Diane Warren, Jack Blades, Tommy Shaw and Marti Frederiksen (who co-wrote "Do You Wonder?" on this album) have been the driving force behind Aerosmith's musical direction for over two decades. In 2004, Aerosmith seemed to make a much needed change by reuniting with producer Jack Douglas who produced many of their 1970s efforts to record an album of blues covers foolishly titled Honkin' on Bobo. While some songs seemed a little stale, Aerosmith's ditching of the song doctors except on ("The Grind" written with Frederiksen) was successful idea and practice. However, Aerosmith would suffer many setbacks and injuries along the way afterward.



Instead of resting from their hard touring schedule since their late-1980s comeback, the band needlessly toured with nothing new to offer fans set-list wise. From 2005 to 2009, Aerosmith continued to exhaust themselves with every single member of the band (except for Steven Tyler) missing shows due to injuries ranging from knee surgery to head injuries. Then the band suffered a setback they couldn't move on from: Steven Tyler falls off a stage effectively ending a tour that should not have been in the first place. With Aerosmith seemingly fracturing, Joe Perry used the downtime to return to solo work. Unlike his self-titled solo album in 2005, Have Guitar Will Travel is a looser affair with a band-like atmosphere particularly with the addition of German vocalist Hagen, bassist David Hull, guitarist Paul Santo, and drummer Marty Richards. The first song and single "We've Still Got a Long Way to Go" opens with an electronic synth beginning that almost scared me into thinking Joe Perry went the Chris Cornell route and was working with Timbaland. However, Hagen's vocals start and Perry rips his guitar. What is being heard is Joe Perry being imaginative with such a guitar riff and he seems like he's having fun with a vocalist committed to a project.



At first I thought Hagen was contributing vocals to the entire album but Perry sings as well. However, Hagen is heard on "Do You Wonder," a song Perry hoped to record with Aerosmith and it would have worked perfectly. Still, Hagen does a good job with the song and even reminds you of Steven Tyler at times. Hagen also appears on "No Surprise," another song that would have been well suited for Aerosmith. Perry highlights his own playing on "Heaven and Hell" and the superb instrumental "Wooden Ships," which has their share of valuable guitar riffs. Through the album, Perry sounds classic yet new at the same time with his use of professional songwriters kept to a minimum and a stripped-down production style that Aerosmith long abandoned for over-produced efforts like Nine Lives (1997) and Just Push Play (2001). With the musical breakthrough Perry has hit with Have Guitar Will Travel, one would hope that Perry can knock some sense into Steven Tyler, the man he hasn't written a song with in the same room for over a decade. Have Guitar, Will Travel should serve as a glimpse of what Aerosmith could be as well as starting point of the talents of the brilliant vocalist in Steven Tyler, Perry's rhythmic counterpart Brad Whitford, the "Sweet Emotion" bassist Tom Hamilton and the straightforward drumming of Joey Kramer.



With this album, Joe Perry realizes that it's about the music. At age 59, there's no need for another hit. He knows that he can stay true to himself with a body of work that speaks for itself. Aerosmith is running on 40-years in 2010 and such musical honesty as heard on Have Guitar, Will Travel would do the band and their fans the justice they've deserved for several years now.

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