Rock in a Hard Place by Aerosmith (CD, Aug-1993, Columbia USA)

I bought this album recently off of Ebay and I was expecting the usual awesome dose of Aerosmith rock that accompanies an Aerosmith album. I looked at the insert and I was confused. I didn't see Joe Perry or Brad Whitford's pictures when you see the band members. I thought Aerosmith had the same lineup their entire career. I was surprised to see what I was seeing. I was also surprised that I never knew they had two different guitar players on an entire album, especially since I had read somewhere that Joe Perry may not have played on Train Kept A Rollin' (totally different album, nothing really to do with this but if I had heard of that you would've thought I would've heard that Perry and Whitford didn't play on Rock In A Hard Place). I don't know, maybe it's just me, maybe I didn't read closely enough or listen closely enough on one of those VH1 Behind The Music specials. Anyway Joe Perry and Brad Whitford are absent on this album (actually Brad plays on Lightning Strikes, but that's it). They're replaced by Jimmy Crespo and Rick Dufay on this album. I've never heard of either one, so I don't know what their credentials are besides this album.

If you like Aerosmith (old Aerosmith especially), you'll probably like this as well. Even without Joe and Brad, Aerosmith surprisingly pulls off a pretty effort with Rock In A Hard Place. It's not my favorite album, but it's still pretty good considering the change in not just one but two guitar players. The lead guitar playing isn't nearly as strong as Joe's (it's kind of weak on the guitar solo end), but the riffs and the rythem playing are all pretty good. I don't know if that's a credit to the replacements' guitar playing or a credit to the rest of the band carrying them. Who cares I guess? It's a really good album that has stood the test of time and is still relevant. Jailbait is a classic Aerosmith tune, but the rest of the album has tunes that are less known. But maybe they should be more known, especially Lightning Strikes, Bolivian Ragamuffin, and Bitch's Brew. If I hadn't known that Joe and Brad weren't on the album, I don't think I would've thought any more or less of the album. Either way, I'm glad I bought it, especially because most of the tunes aren't on any compilation album. I totally recommend this album. Even though it's only about 40 minutes in length, I think there are some pretty good songs that Aerosmith fans will listen to over and over again.