MAKING OF THE ALBUM: Aerosmith – Pump

1987′s Permanent Vacation had been more than just another album for Aerosmith. Each band member had undergone intensive treatment for drug addiction, frontman Steven Tyler had discovered that he was the father of a nine-year-old girl and the band had already failed with their supposed comeback album, Done With Mirrors, two years earlier. But the surprise success of Permanent Vacation, coupled with the support of MTV and the band’s involvement in the feature documentary The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years had once again raised their profile and soon Aerosmith faced the challenge of recording a suitable follow-up. Unlike their earlier albums, Permanent Vacation had employed the assistance of professional songwriters, something that fellow seventies survivors Heart had also used for their acclaimed comeback.

Desmond Child, who had been responsible for the Bon Jovi‘s hits You Give Love a Bad Name and Livin’ on a Prayer, and Jim Vallance, a collaborator of Bryan Adams on his 1984 classic Reckless, had both helped to craft radio-friendly songs for Aerosmith which had resulted in the MTV sensations Dude (Looks Like a Lady), Angel and Rag Doll. Due to this impressive track record, it made sense that the band should once again work with Child and Vallance on their next album. Out of the ten tracks that would appear on Pump, only six were written solely by members of the band. Of the songs that were written in collaboration with outside composers, Vallance had worked with Tyler on what would become the opening number Young Lust, as well as The Other Side, the latter of which would later be included on the soundtrack to the 1993 cult flick True Romance.

Child’s involvement would include F.I.N.E. (which, as the album cover would indicate, stood for Fucked Up, Insecure, Neurotic, and Emotional) and the power ballad What It Takes, while the same year he would also work with Alice Cooper on his best-selling album Trash. With new material starting to take shape, Aerosmith began rehearsals in early 1989 in their hometown of Boston. Among the songs that would eventually be included on the album was a riff-laden upbeat number called Love in an Elevator and a funky track entitled Voodoo Medicine Man, which recalled some of their earlier work. With the band finally sober and focused, they approached their new album with a more positive attitude and this was represented in the songs.

Confident that their music was taking shape, Aerosmith relocated to Vancouver, Canada, to commence work on recording their album. Sessions would take place at Little Mountain Sound Studios, which had also been the home for not only Permanent Vacation but also Bon Jovi‘s Slippery When Wet and New Jersey. Working with producer Bruce Fairbairn once again, the recording of Pump was in turn enjoyable and frustrating for the band, with their label Geffen Records offering suggestions, particularly with regards to some of Tyler’s lyrics. With little interest in pleasing radio stations, Tyler often explored sex in occasional explicit detail (“I’ll chase you all the way to the stairway, honey, and kiss your sassafras” he sang on Love in an Elevator), while Janie’s Got a Gun told of a young woman who finally stands up to her abusive father (“What did her daddy do? What did he put you through? They said when Janie was arrested they found him underneath a train”).

Recording would finally come to an end in June and the album would be released three months later. The first single from Pump was Love in an Elevator, an edit which was trimmed down by almost two minutes to make it more accessible for radios. The song became a huge hit and would help the album go Platinum before the end of the year, while the solo would later be used for the opening credits of the UK music show Raw Power. Pump would eventually spawn four hit singles, three of which would reach number one on the US Billboard (Love in an Elevator, What It Takes and The Other Side), while Janie’s Got a Gun would land on the second spot. It would be a further three years until Aerosmith recorded their next album, 1992′s Get a Grip, which would prove to be their last for Geffen.