Ten Comeback-Era Aerosmith Songs

Listing my favorites from the comeback/MTV era of the late 80's and into the 90's

10. "Janie's Got A Gun" (Pump)
This is one of the first Aerosmith songs I can remember hearing and the video always stood out to me as well, from back in that era of having very cinematic music videos. After looking it up for this brief little blurb, I discovered the video was directed by David Fincher, famous for movies such as Seven, Zodiac, one of my favorites The Game, and maybe more infamous for Alien 3. That certainly does explain the more cinematic tone of the video. As for the song itself, it seems like a rarity for this era of the band, as it is credited to Tom Hamilton and Steven Tyler, without the help of hired songwriters.


9. "Heart's Done Time" (Permanent Vacation)
From the comeback album, Permanent Vacation, even though Done With Mirrors was technically the "reunion" album. They made that album with Van Halen producer Ted Templeman, which failed to do much for their career, so here they are now with Desmond Child and Bruce Fairbairn, post-Run DMC's "Walk This Way." Honestly, I think I might like this album the least of the big three records (Vacation, Pump, Get A Grip), but it does have it's share of good tunes. I'm not sure why this one wasn't a single.


8. "Darkness" (Done With Mirrors)
I feel like while this song should lose points for sounding similar to Lord Of The Thighs, it does feature that prayer "lay me down to sleep" as part of the lyrics. I read that some of the band members think this album wasn't finished for various reasons, and maybe that's true, cause I feel like this song just kind of fades out as soon as the band starts to cut loose. Either way, it's still a cool enough song to be among my favorites of later-Aerosmith.

7. "Livin On The Edge" (Get A Grip)
When looking up this song, I seriously thought this would have featured a Desmond Child co-writing credit. It sounds a lot like peak 80's Bon Jovi. What puts the song on this list for me is that pause in the song between the final verse and the chorus, then it comes in with that drum beat.

6. "The Other Side" (Pump)
Fitting this song is on Pump... cause it never fails to pump me up when I hear it!


5. "Jaded" (Just Push Play)
Revisiting this song after not hearing it for quite a while, it sounds like it was influenced by Stone Temple Pilots, with that laid back style that would fit in quite well on Tiny Music. Usually it seems like Aerosmith took their cues from blues bands but this is unique to me for being a bit more psychedelic-leaning.

4. "Deuces Are Wild" (Big Ones/Beavis And Butt-Head Experience)
I feel like any time I choose favorite songs, if a band was on a soundtrack, usually that one is gonna make the Top Ten. (See also Megadeth- Beavis And Butt-Head Experience/Last Action Hero, Alice In Chains- Last Action Hero, Stone Temple Pilots- The Crow, Dio- Vision Quest.)

3. "Fallin' In Love Is Hard On The Knees" (Nine Lives)
I feel like a majority of these songs from Permanent Vacation through Nine Lives are full of horns. That's more of an observation than a complaint... is this a Bruce Fairbairn staple of producing albums?

2. "Dude Looks Like A Lady" (Permanent Vacation)
A lot higher than most would have this, I'm certain, but this is such a fun song! It has scatting Steven Tyler, horns, was inspired by Motley Crue, and was featured in the Mrs. Doubtfire movie. That's enough for me!


1. "Hole In My Soul" (Nine Lives)
I know it's probably a manufactured love ballad that really doesn't have much emotion behind the lyrics, but damn, does Desmond Child know how to craft a song! And Steven's delivery really does feel like he has a hole in his soul the size of the Grand Canyon.