Friday, April 7, 2017

Permanent Vacation and Pump (1987–1991)

Permanent Vacation was released in September 1987, becoming a major hit and the band's bestselling album in over a decade (selling 5 million copies in the U.S.),[39] with all three of its singles ("Dude (Looks Like a Lady)", "Rag Doll", and "Angel") reaching the Top 20 of the Billboard Hot 100.[50] Steven Tyler reveals in his autobiography that the album was "...the first one we ever did sober."[72] Part of Permanent Vacation's commercial success involved producer Bruce Fairbairn whose production touches (such as sound effects and high-quality recording) added interest to the album and the use of outside songwriters such as Desmond Child, Jim Vallance, and Holly Knight who assisted the band with lyrics. While the group was initially hesitant to using outside songwriters, including Tyler being furious for Knight getting songwriting credits for changing one word ("Rag Time" became "Rag Doll"), the method paid off, as Permanent Vacation became the band's most successful album in a decade. The group went on a subsequent tour with labelmates Guns N' Roses (who have cited Aerosmith as a major influence), which was intense at times because of Aerosmith's new struggle to stay clean amidst Guns N' Roses' well-publicized, rampant drug use.[73]
Aerosmith's next album was even more successful. Pump, released in September 1989, featured three Top Ten singles: "What It Takes", "Janie's Got a Gun", and "Love in an Elevator", as well as the Top 30 "The Other Side",[50] re-establishing the band as a serious musical force.[74] Pump was a critical and commercial success, eventually selling 7 million copies,[39] spawning several music videos that were in regular rotation on MTV, and achieving four-star ratings from major music magazines.[75] Pump ranked as the fourth-bestselling album of 1990.[76] The band also won its first Grammy in the category of Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal, for "Janie's Got a Gun".[77] In addition, the video for "Janie's Got a Gun" won two Video Music Awards and was ranked as one of the 100 greatest videos of all time by Rolling Stone, MTV, and VH1. Like Permanent Vacation, Pump was produced by Bruce Fairbairn, who added production touches such as instrumental interludes that provided transitions between songs to give the album a more complete sound, as well as the Margarita Horns, who added horns to tracks such as "Love in an Elevator" and "The Other Side". Rock critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine claimed that Pump "revels in [pop concessions] without ever losing sight of Aerosmith's dirty hard rock core", going on to say that, "such ambition and successful musical eclectism make Pump rank with Toys in the Attic and Rocks."[78] The recording process for Pump was documented in the video The Making of Pump, which has since been re-released as a DVD. The music videos for the album's singles were featured on the release Things That Go Pump in the Night, which quickly went platinum.[39]
Aerosmith appear in a "Wayne's World" sketch on Saturday Night Live in 1990.
In support of Pump, the band embarked on the 12-month Pump Tour, which lasted for most of 1990.[79] On February 21, 1990, the band appeared in a "Wayne's World" sketch on Saturday Night Live, debating the fall of communism and the Soviet Union, and performed their recent hits "Janie's Got a Gun" and "Monkey on My Back".[80] The appearance of the band in the "Wayne's World" sketch was later ranked by E! as the number-one moment in the history of the program.[81] On August 11, 1990, the band's performance on MTV's Unplugged aired.[82] In October 1990, the Pump Tour ended, with the band's first ever performances in Australia.[83] That same year, the band was also inducted to the Hollywood Rock Walk.[84] In November 1991, the band appeared on The Simpsons episode "Flaming Moe's"[85] and released a box set titled Pandora's Box.[86] In coordination with the release of Pandora's Box, the band's 1975 hit "Sweet Emotion" was re-mixed and re-released as a single, and a music video was created to promote the single. Also in 1991, the band performed their 1973 single "Dream On" with Michael Kamen's orchestra for MTV's 10th Anniversary special; this performance was used as the official music video for the song.[87] In 1992, Tyler and Perry appeared live as guests of Guns N' Roses during the latter's 1992 worldwide pay-per-view show in Paris, performing a medley of "Mama Kin" (which GN'R covered in 1986) and "Train Kept-A Rollin".[88][89]
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