Night In The Ruts 1979 Album

Aerosmith

A right confounding record to hear from a number of perspectives. Aerosmith at the end of the 70's were on the ropes - the very process behind making this record was tumultuous, to say the least, with Joe Perry leaving the group mid-record in the midst of a public on-stage row during a summer show - leaving Tyler and the rest of the band to complete the record later in the year with fill-ins (Richie Supa and Jimmy Crespo). The actual album cover photo was shot way back in early 1978, which tells you how long the band had this in the works. Whatever the case, the finished product does feel like a bits-and-pieces affair, even though Perry laid down most of his guitar parts before he left. The junkie feel from Draw The Line has faded away a bit (although still noticeable, mainly in Tyler's vocals), replaced by a more manic, edgy sort of driving feeling, as if the band was on a mission to recapture past glory. However, on the faster, or heavier tracks, there's something missing. Probably the best of these - and we are splitting hairs here - is the opener "No Surprize", which roughly tells the story of how the band made it big. But strangely enough, it feels like they are more reliant than ever on ear-splitting volume than gut-wrenching tone, and it starts to wear on the listener a bit by the time you get to covers like "Reefer Headed Woman" and "Think About It". Where I think the band comes up relative aces is on their reading of the Shangri-La's "Walking in the Sand" and the ending ballad "Mia". With the group in the broken state that they were at the time, the spooky reminiscence of the former track - and Tyler really going for it vocally at certain points - along with understated pathos of the latter track, earns the band a few sympathy points as a token return for the bridges and paths broken at this point in their careers. Fun times were not ahead, although without Perry, Tyler and the rest gamely kept the thing running on fumes, as we shall soon see….