“Avant Garden” cherishes life and love. On “Fly Away From Here,” lead singer Steven Tyler refuses to give up on romance (“It’s never too late to start again . . . say another prayer and fly away from here”).
These aging playboys frolic in adolescent fantasies. Tyler confesses a drug-like addiction to a woman’s body (“Trip Hoppin’”). He screeches about “full-on lust” (“Beyond Beautiful”), cruising bars (“Outta Your Head”) and a girl who “makes love like a rabbit” (“Drop Dead Gorgeous”). “Under My Skin” and “Jaded” also have sexual overtones. On “Sunshine,” the band borrows images from Lewis Carroll to explain why “heaven lies at hell’s back door.” “Luv Lies” preaches, “To fall in lust, not love, ain’t no sin at all.” Drug references infect several tracks. Aping modern rebels, the 52-year-old Tyler (father of actress Liv) blurts the f-word on “Just Push Play” and “Beyond Beautiful.”
Nearly 30 years after Aerosmith’s first record, the group continues to position itself to new generations of rock fans. Cameos in youth-skewed movies. Appearances on Saturday Night Live. Sharing the halftime stage at the 2001 Super Bowl with teen faves Britney Spears and ‘N Sync. These guys may look a little more haggard, but it’s the same old Aerosmith on the erotically puckish Just Push Play.
