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Rock in a Hard Place

 
Album Review: Rock in a Hard Place

  • Artist: Aerosmith
  • Rating: StarStar
  • Release Date: 1982 08
  • Total Time: 40:16
  • Type: Contains explicit content
  • Genre: Rock

Review

Rock in a Hard Place is the sound of Aerosmith at their most "out of it." Not to say it's a horrible album by any means -- in fact, there are more than a few pleasant surprises -- but without the guitar team of Joe Perry and Brad Whitford, it didn't possess the magical chemistry of their '70s classics. Jimmy Crespo and Rick Dufay filled in for the departed duo, and it turned out to be the group's most studio-enhanced and experimental record up to this point. To keep up with the then-current musical climate, vocoders and synthesizers can be subtly detected, as heard on the space-age "Prelude to Joanie" and in the beginning to the otherwise tough rocker "Lightning Strikes," which served as the album's lone single/video. "Jailbait," "Bitch's Brew," "Bolivian Ragamuffin," and the title track showed the band could still rock out despite their three-year layoff between albums, a cover of "Cry Me a River" showed their gentle side, while the psychedelicized "Joanie's Butterfly" was the album's surprise highlight. But it didn't take an expert to know that Aerosmith was not the same after the loss of the aforementioned members. And so did the band, who welcomed Perry and Whitford back into its ranks two years after Rock in a Hard Place. ~ Greg Prato, All Music Guide

Tracks

Track TitleComposersPerformersTime
Jailbait Steven Tyler, Jimmy Crespo Aerosmith (4:38)
Lightning Strikes Richard Supa, Richie Supa Aerosmith (4:26)
Bitch's Brew Steven Tyler, Jimmy Crespo Aerosmith (4:14)
Bolivian Ragamuffin Jimmy Crespo, Steven Tyler Aerosmith (3:32)
Cry Me a River (Lyrics) Arthur Hamilton Aerosmith (4:06)
Prelude to Joanie Steven Tyler Aerosmith (1:21)
Joanie's Butterfly Steven Tyler, Jack Douglas, Jimmy Crespo Aerosmith (5:35)
Rock in a Hard Place (Cheshire Cat) Jimmy Crespo, Steven Tyler, Jack Douglas Aerosmith (4:46)
Jig Is Up Jimmy Crespo, Steven Tyler Aerosmith (3:10)
Push Comes to Shove Steven Tyler Aerosmith (4:28)

Credits

Joey Kramer (Vocals), Brad Whitford (Guitar), Steven Tyler (Producer), Jack Douglas (Engineer), John Turi (Saxophone), Steven Tyler (Percussion), Tom Hamilton (Bass), John Lievano (Guitar), Tony Bongiovi (Engineer), Reinhard Straub (Violin), Rick Dufay (Guitar), Jimmy Crespo (Guitar), Steven Tyler (Harmonica), Josh Abbey (Engineer), Paul Harris (Piano), Zoe Yanakis (Engineer), Brad Whitford (Guitar (Rhythm)), Garry Rindfuss (Engineer), Tom Hamilton (Guitar), Godfrey Diamond (Mixing), Jim Sessody (Engineer), Steven Tyler (Keyboards), Steven Tyler (Bass), Steven Tyler (Vocals), John Agnello (Engineer), Jack Douglas (Percussion), Godfrey Diamond (Engineer), Jack Douglas (Producer), Steven Tyler (Piano), Joey Kramer (Drums), Malcolm Pollack (Engineer)
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Wikipedia: Rock in a Hard Place
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Rock in a Hard Place
Studio album by Aerosmith
Released August 1, 1982
Recorded 1981-1982
Genre Hard rock, heavy metal[1]
Length 52:19
Label Columbia
Producer Jack Douglas, Steven Tyler
Professional reviews
Aerosmith chronology
Night in the Ruts
(1979)
Rock in a Hard Place
(1982)
Done with Mirrors
(1985)
Singles from Rock in a Hard Place
  1. "Lightning Strikes"
    Released: 1982
  2. "Bitch's Brew"
    Released: 1982

Rock in a Hard Place is the seventh studio album by American hard rock band Aerosmith, released on August 1, 1982 on Columbia. It is the only Aerosmith album to not feature guitarist Joe Perry. The band spent 1.5 million dollars on the recording of this album.[2]

Rhythm guitarist Brad Whitford left the band during its recording in 1981. Whitford is billed as an "additional musician", and can be heard playing rhythm guitar on "Lightning Strikes." This was also Aerosmith's last studio album released on Columbia Records until 1997.

Despite the album's negative reviews, drummer Joey Kramer asserts in his 2009 autobiography, Hit Hard: A Story of Hitting Rock Bottom at the Top: "the record doesn't suck. There's some real good stuff on it. But it's not a real Aerosmith record because it's just me, Steven, and Tom - with a fill-in guitar player. [...] It's Jimmy Crespo doing the guitar work."[2]

Contents

Track listing

# Title Music Length
1. "Jailbait"   Steven Tyler, Jimmy Crespo 4:38
2. "Lightning Strikes"   Richard Supa 4:26
3. "Bitch's Brew"   Tyler, Crespo 4:14
4. "Bolivian Ragamuffin"   Tyler, Crespo 3:32
5. "Cry Me a River"   Arthur Hamilton 4:06
6. "Prelude to Joanie"   Tyler 1:21
7. "Joanie's Butterfly"   Tyler, Crespo, Jack Douglas 5:35
8. "Rock in a Hard Place (Cheshire Cat)"   Tyler, Crespo, Douglas 4:46
9. "Jig Is Up"   Tyler, Crespo 3:10
10. "Push Comes to Shove"   Tyler 4:28

Personnel

Band

Additional musicians

Recording personnel

  • Jack Douglas - producer, additional engineer
  • Steven Tyler - producer
  • Godfrey Diamond - chief engineer
  • Tony Bongiovi - additional engineer
  • John Agnello - assistant engineer
  • Bruce Hensal - assistant engineer
  • Jim Sessody - assistant engineer
  • Gary Rindfuss - assistant engineer
  • Josh Abbey - assistant engineer
  • Malcolm Pollack - assistant engineer
  • Zoe Yanakis - assistant engineer
  • George Marino - mastering

Artwork

  • Gerard Rozhek - photography, visual direction

Charts

Album - Billboard (North America)

Year Chart Position
1982 The Billboard 200 37

Singles - Billboard (North America)

Year Single Chart Position
1982 "Lightning Strikes" Mainstream Rock Tracks 21

Certifications

Organization Level Date
RIAA - USA Gold[3] November 10, 1989

References

External links

Rock in a Hard Place at MusicBrainz


 
 

 

Copyrights:

Album Review. Copyright © 2009 All Media Guide, LLC. Content provided by All Music Guide ®, a trademark of All Media Guide, LLC. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Rock in a Hard Place" Read more