Type: Lyrics are included with the album, Enhanced CD-ROM
Genre: Rock
Review
Give Aerosmith credit for not only realizing something was wrong after Nine Lives relatively flat-lined, but deciding to do something about it. Ditching the outside producers who initially liberated but eventually straitjacketed them, Steve Tyler and Joe Perry seized control of the boards, working with the assistance of Mark Hudson and Marti Frederiksen. (Forever the Stones fanatics, Tyler and Perry dubbed this crew the Boneyard Boys, just like how Mick-n-Keef are the Glimmer Twins.) So, this isn't really a full-fledged band affair and Hudson and Frederiksen's fingerprints are all over the place, but that doesn't matter since the end result is tighter, savvier, and better than anything since Pump. It's still far from perfect, however, since it suffers from a surfeit of memorable material, and the group members' steadfast refusal to act their age results in a couple of embarrassing slips into stodginess (the "f*ckin' A" chorus on the title track, a song improbably titled "Trip Hoppin'," or the ludicrous "Avant Garden"). These mean that the record doesn't come close to matching the twin comebacks of Permanent Vacation and Pump, but it's a sleek, classicist hard rock record that sounds good -- better than Aerosmith has sounded in nearly a decade, as a matter of fact, particularly when the group gets a hook as tuneful as that of "Jaded." Aerosmith sounds good enough on Just Push Play that it almost makes you forgive the Heavy Metal refugee on the front cover, a sexy robot illustration that looks far more out of date than the music sounds. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
Hudson (Producer), Paul Santo (Engineer), Marti Frederiksen (Engineer), Joe Perry (Hurdygurdy), John Bionelli (Music Assistant), Liv Tyler (Whisper), Tony Perry (Guitar), Jeff Burns (Mixing), Tower of Power (Horn), Steven Tyler (Percussion), David Paul Campbell (Strings), Steven Tyler (Vocals), Steven Tyler (Drums), Joe Perry (Vocals (Background)), Paul Caruso (Loop Programming), Brad Whitford (Guitar), Tony Perry (Vocals (Background)), David Frangioni (Digital Editing), Marti Frederiksen (Producer), Mark Hudson (Producer), Tony Perry (Slide Guitar), Steven Tyler (Conga), Richard Chycki (Engineer), Joey Kramer (Drums), Stephen Saper (Author), Tony Perry (Scratching), David Paul Campbell (String Arrangements), Jim Survis (Equipment Manager), George Marino (Mastering), Paul Caruso (Engineer), Tom Hamilton (Fretless Bass), Jesse Henderson (Engineer), Kevin Reagan (Design), Steven Tyler (Harmonica), Keith Garde (Coordination), Leslie Langlo (A&R), Mark Seliger (Photography), Kevin Reagan (Art Direction), Scott Gordon (Engineer), Tony Perry (Hurdygurdy), Trudy Green (Management), Steven Tyler (Producer), Allen Sides (Engineer), David Campbell (String Arrangements), Melissa Rogers (Make-Up), Jim Cox (Piano), Richard Chycki (Recording), Tony Perry (Pedal Steel), Tony Perry (Vocals), Paul Santo (Organ (Hammond)), Jim Survis (Instrument Technician), Mike Shipley (Mixing), Marti Frederiksen (Recording), Tony Perry (Producer), Steven Tyler (Vocals (Background)), Steven Tyler (Squeezebox), Paul Santo (Kurzweil Synthesizer), Steven Tyler (Lead), Dan Higgins (Saxophone), Keith Garde (Special Projects Coordinator), Tom Hamilton (Bass), Jim Cox (String Arrangements), Howard Kaufman (Management), Joe Perry (Slide Guitar), Steven Tyler (Guitar), Brian Carrigan (Engineer), Dan Higgins (Clarinet), Rob Gil (Assistant Engineer), Matthew Lindauer (Design), John Bionelli (Tour Manager), Jim Cox (Horn Arrangements), Steven Tyler (Piano), Joe Perry (Pedal Steel), Fran Flannery (Assistant Engineer), Jimmy Eyers (Tour Manager), Joe Perry (Guitar), Joe Perry (Vocals)
Just Push Play is the thirteenth studio album by American rock band Aerosmith, released in 2001 (see 2001 in music). Helping Aerosmith in the studio were coproducers and song collaborators Marti Frederiksen and Mark Hudson.
Just Push Play features the same slick pop production that Aerosmith had been using in recent albums, though this time there was more of a vintage-era edge to most of the tracks.
The album's first single, "Jaded", became a major Top 10 hit in the U.S. and around the world. As a result, Just Push Play was certified platinum within a month of its release. Subsequent singles "Fly Away from Here", "Sunshine", and "Just Push Play", though garnering some airplay, failed to impact the Hot 100 much, although the latter two charted on the U.S. Mainstream Rock chart and the former charted on the Adult Top 40.
The eight-month long Just Push Play Tour, which ran from June 2001 to January 2002 was launched to support the album. The tour received much success with the only major problems on the tour being cancellations due in part to the September 11 terrorist attacks.
