Of all of the arena rockers whose best albums hit shelves 40 years ago, no one kicks out the jams quite as badassedly and seemingly authentically as Aerosmith… Sure, more than half a decade ago when The Stooges reunited and Steven Tyler admitted that of himself, Mr. Jagger, and Mr. Pop, Iggy was certainly the most Rock’N’Roll of the three, I couldn’t agree more… But Aerosmith do manage to out-do all of their honky-blues-rock peers to a pretty astonishing degree… I may have given up going to see the Bostonians, surrounded by upper-middle-class suburban execs in sheds and arenas a handful of years ago (after having several dozen Toxic Twins shows under my belt), but seeing them live, even in their beyond-middle-aged, contemporary state, still rocks my socks pretty fucking hard. Is it because they don’t pander to audiences with “greatest hits” sets every night? Sure. Is it because they don’t seem to simply be going through the motions? Yeah. And is it because Steven Tyler is, short of the aforementioned Mr. Pop and Morrissey, the greatest frontman to ever live? Abso-fucking-lutely. (In fact, I’m currently considering reinstating a number of the gaudier, cross-dressinger, recently-retired pieces of my youth’s wardrobe.)
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This Tuesday Eagle Rock Entertainment releases Aerosmith: Rock for the Rising Sun, a concert film and documentary about Steve, Joe, Joey, Brad, and Tom touring Japan in 2011, shortly after the nearly apocalyptic earthquake and tsunami the country experienced. The release documents the band’s relationship with and love for the eastern world, in addition to some of their best sets since… well, possibly the 1970s. Not only does the DVD include recent performances of ticket-and-DVD-sellers like “Love in an Elevator,” “Livin’ on the Edge,” and “Walk This Way,” but album tracks from four of the ten greatest Rock’N’Roll albums ever recorded, including “Movin’ Out,” “S.O.S. (Too Bad),” “No More, No More,” and “Rats in the Cellar.” In addition, the sixtysomethings seem to have made some deal with Satan (something that’s not at all surprising) because their fashion, style, and licks still feel chicly dangerous and their live performances look as if they’re grabbing the world’s largest dive bar by the balls and telling them they’re there to excite, arouse, and shock with the sheer audacity of their surprisingly organic spectacle. I’m not sure that it would be possible to convince today’s hippest rock transgressors that Aerosmith still have some poignant and brilliant subversions to them… but Aerosmith: Rock For The Rising Sun is a really decent shot at it…
