GUITAR WORLD'S 30 COOLEST GUITARISTS - NO IOMMI?

As I've mentioned before, I love lists.  I just caught up with last month's issue of Guitar World, and they feature a list of the "30 Coolest Guitarist of All Time" which is a weird thing for a magazine like that to have. Don't get me wrong, I love Guitar World, I buy it all the time and I don't even play guitar. They do great interviews that you don't have to be a musician to appreciate. Anyway, no reason to overthink it - it's a fun piece. The list contains a lot of who you would expect: Joe Perry (who is on the cover with "Synyster Gates" of Avenged Sevenfold who also made the list), Jimmy Page, Jimi Hendrix, Keith Richards and Eddie Van Halen. Plus guys who really belong there, like Buddy Guy, Chuck Berry, Muddy Waters, Frank Zappa and T-Bone Walker (but no John Lee Hooker!). And there were some less obvious choices, like Brian Setzer, Joe Strummer, Mike Ness and James Williamson of The Stooges (but not Ron Asheton!).  The one thing I really couldn't get over was that Tony Iommi wasn't included.  He has the best riffs, and he is the coolest! But that's the fun thing about lists I guess, arguing about them!

JOE PERRY'S AEROSMITH SPIN

In a new interview with Reuters, Joe Perry says that Steven Tyler is "stronger than ever" after a(nother) stint in rehab, which is great to hear. A cynic would say, "Of course he'd say that!" But the fact is, Joe and the other guys from Aerosmith were essentially kicking Tyler out of the band, so the fact that they took him back must mean something. The problem with this interview is that he also says that Steven "didn't really leave the band" and that "The press kind of twisted it around to sell papers, but you know the bottom line is I just knew things were going to work themselves out." I don't really belive that, but whatever.  I'm glad that they are doing a European tour and that they are playing Fenway this summer with The J. Geils Band. Tickets sold out really quickly: now I have to figure out how to get a pair of them! Hopefully they'll add a second date.

AEROSMITH'S NEW SINGER: STEVEN TYLER!

Aerosmith just posted this video on their website yesterday, along with European tour dates. So, at least we know that they aren't going to "replace" Steven Tyler with another vocalist. It would never have worked. And I guess that this means that they aren't suing each other anymore.

So, you know that I'm a huge fan of the band, and I'm glad they are back together so they, and we, can celebrate their 40th anniversary in style. But Joe Perry doesn't look too comfortable in this video. He's generally a pretty reserved guy, and he gets more reserved around Tyler (who has incredible charisma). I'm sure they haven't resolved all of their personal issues, but here's hoping that this works out. (By the way, Brad Whitford isn't in the video probably because he is on a Jimi Hendrix tribute tour).

AEROSMITH - THE FULL AEROSMITH - TO PLAY DOWNLOAD?

The Download Festival is a big UK festival, and they've just announced via their website that Aerosmith will be one of the headliners this year (along with AC/DC and Rage Against The Machine). The website is very careful to specify that this won't be the Aerosmith guys with another singer: "Last playing as headliners of the Donington Monsters Of of Rock Festival in 1990 and 1994, Steven Tyler, Joe Perry et all return with their legendary juggernaut performance..." Great! I wonder if Joe Perry knows? Download takes place June 11 - 13 at Donington Park in the UK.

STEVEN TYLER ENTERS REHAB

Rolling Stone reports that Steven Tyler just entered rehab for "painkillers." Last time I wrote about Aerosmith, the band members were questioning his sobriety, and also questioning whether he was still in the band, even after he joined The Joe Perry Project onstage at a New York show. He says in the statement, exclusive to RS, that rumors of him wanting to take a two year break from the band are false.  Earlier this week, Tyler left his management company (which is different than Aerosmith's management company) for a different firm. It seems like he is in freefall, and probably the last straw would be if he saw Aerosmith touring to celebrate their 40th anniversary with a different singer. Here's hoping rehab "takes" this time, and he rejoins the guys in 2010. Good luck Steven.

AEROSMITH: IT *REALLY* AIN'T GOOD AT ALL

It's really sad to watch this all go down. In my last post about Aerosmith, I wrote that singer Steven Tyler's behavior is kind of classic drunk/abusive (ex-) boyfriend. I kind of wondered if he's sober at all these days; it has long been rumored that he has fallen off the wagon. Today, in a preview of a story that is being published in the next issue of Rolling Stone, the other guys from the band questioned his sobriety as well, and said they will not wait two years for him to finish his memoirs and solo album. They're going to work with another singer, at least for the time being. I'll ask the question again: would you guys go see The Stones if someone other than Mick was singing? It's a bitter pill, but one you're gonna have to try to swallow.

AEROSMITH: IT AIN'T ALL GOOD

I was pretty excited earlier this week when I posted about Steven Tyler joining Joe Perry onstage at the Joe Perry Project's NYC show. Steven claimed that he wasn't leaving Aerosmith, making lots of people happy. In a recent interview with Rolling Stone, though, Joe says that he didn't know Tyler was showing up, didn't really get to talk to him much, and Tyler left right afterwards. Watching the video, it comes off like Tyler is the abusive ex-, not being respectful to Joe or his band, and referring to himself as "the motherfucking rainbow," whatever that means. Joe says that the band's troubles are far from over. I do think most of the blame for this falls on Tyler, as he seems to be acting erratically. But if he wants to take two years off from the band, but not quit, the other members should respect that. On the other hand, they're all pushing 60, I can see where they wouldn't want to wait two more years to start working again. It's been eight years since their last album of new material. But no matter what, I don't think Aerosmith should try to replace Steven Tyler.

STEVEN TYLER JOINED JOE PERRY ONSTAGE

Steven Tyler joined Joe Perry's band onstage last night, denying rumors that he is quitting Aerosmith. Billboard has more.

AEROSMITH : PLEASE DON'T DO THIS

Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry has been really prolific on twitter lately. It's cool that he is talking a lot about his tour with The Joe Perry Project, which sees him playing small clubs. But what a bummer that he is airing his grievences with Steven Tyler in such a public way.

Some samples:

"Read on line st left band to do "brand Tyler"? That's all I know but like I've said hasn't called me in months.a bit cold forget us 4 guys"

"What about fans? The people that also love him and put him where he is.after 40 years? And I gotta read it on line? I still got major jetlag"

"Last time I phoned him he hung up on me"

This one made me feel a bit better: "Aerosmith is definetly NOT breaking up. One of the members is doing his own thing and said so in the press. That's all I know" I interpreted it as, "OK, I'm doing a solo thing, so is Steven, it's all good." And then...

"Inthe meantime aerosmith is positivly looking for a new singer to work with. You just can't take 40 years of expiriance and throwitinthebin!"

and

"Aerosmith not splitting up. Promise that's the last you'll hear from me on the subject till we gear up again."

To be clear, I'm not totally mad at Joe Perry. It seems like this is caused by Steven Tyler's erracticness. It seems like maybe he isn't in a good place in his life. And it must be hard to watch this guy who you've worked with for 40 years decide that you need to "call my manager" to speak to him. Joe isn't ready to let Aerosmith go. I admit, if I was in a band like that, I wouldn't be either. But again, Joe: would you go to see The Rolling Stones if Mick Jagger wasn't the singer? It was a mistake for Aerosmith to continue on after Joe quit in the '70s, and it would be just as bad for them to try and replace Tyler and call it Aerosmith.

It's a bummer. And, OK, there are people still losing their homes, people without health insurance, and people fighting in the desert and dying every day. This isn't the most important thing to focus on at the moment. But I am curious to see what the fan reaction will be to this. It makes me wonder: what do we actually see when we look at a rock band that we've loved for decades. How invested are we, really?

AEROSMITH: NO. NO. NO.

I am a huge Aerosmith fan. I'll try not to get too emotional or crazy about this. I've written about how things aren't great in Aerosmith lately. Steven Tyler has his own manager, and is talking about a solo album. Joe Perry is on a solo tour for his new solo album. But England's Classic Rock magazine has some ridiculous news. Aerosmith just did a show in Abu Dhai, and before the show Tyler told Classic Rock that, after that concert was over, he's going to start to work on his own "brand." Aerosmith guitarist (the one that isn't Joe Perry, he's great as well though), Brad Whitford told the magazine that in a few weeks, the other four members of Aerosmith would be getting together to decide on their next move, which would possibly be without Tyler. One word: No. I'll repeat it: No. Break up the band, fine. Hiatus, even better. Don't get a new singer. And don't get the guy who sounds like Tyler who is singing in Joe Perry's solo band. None of you guys would go to see The Stones without Mick. Think about it.

TOMORROW ON OUTQ: KISS, ACE FREHLEY AND JOE PERRY

Tomorrow on OutQ, I'll be talking about
some '70s hard rock legends who are still doing it today.

As I just mentioned, I enjoy the new KISS album, Sonic Boom, way more than I expected to. With KISS, it's not just about the music, but the spectacle and what kind of splash it makes. Well, the album is really good, but to make sure it gets the right push, KISS (who don't even need to deal with record labels anymore) made a deal with Walmart, f- the middleman. It's only available there, the chain is supposedly pushing it hard, and it may result in the band's first ever #1 album in the U.S. (Although as Gene will tell anyone in listening distance, "KISS have more gold albums in the U.S. than anyone, The Beatles, The Beach Boys...") I hope they get it.

Coincidentally, former KISS guitarist Ace Frehley has just his first solo album, Anomaly. The songs that I heard were pretty good. Some people don't think it is KISS without Ace, and I get that: he adds a weird quirkly element to the band, that they lack without him. Anyway, what I've heard from this album is cool, including a cover of Sweet's "Fox On The Run."

Finally, Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry has a new album, Have Guitar, Will Travel. I've always been a fan of his singing voice - at least in doses - and I think it's weird that he's working with another singer on this album. The guy, whose name is Hagen, sounds a lot like... Steven Tyler. Weird. But Joe does sing on a bunch of the songs, and those are the better ones. It's cool that Joe is doing his own thing, but I hope that Aerosmith get it together. They had a disabled list that looked like a baseball team's this summer, Tyler revealed that he has a seperate manager from the rest of the band, and they ended up cancelling thier tour. Hopefully next year they will reconvene and get back with Brendan O'Brien to start working on thier next album (which supposedly will be a Columbia distributed Walmart exclusive, a la AC/DC 's Black Ice).

At my day job, I recently got to talk to Joe, who is always cool, and he told me that not only was Aerosmith planning on playing Toys In The Attic start to finish at their shows, but they were going to learn a bunch of other entire albums.

AEROSMITH CANCELS SUMMER TOUR

It's a real bummer that Aerosmith had to cancel their summer tour. It hasn't been going well - bassist Tom Hamilton (who missed a tour a few summers ago due to chemo) was missing a few shows due to surgery, and Brad Whitford was missing some shows due to a head injury. Some shows were cancelled earlier this summer with Steven Tyler hurt his leg, but his more recent accident when he fell off the stage, injuring his shoulder and slashing his head sort of put a fork in the tour. Hopefully everyone will recover in the next few months, and the band will regroup to work on their next album. Meanwhile, Joe Perry is going to work on his next solo album.