Photo: WireImage
In the new issue of Rolling Stone, we go inside the rift that threatens to tear Aerosmith apart, as Steven Tyler has openly stated he wants to take two years off to work on “Brand Tyler,” leaving the remaining members of the band to ponder recruiting a new lead singer for their upcoming 40th anniversary. In Aerosmith in Turmoil: Behind the Story, Rolling Stone interviews Joe Perry, Joey Kramer, Brad Whitford and longtime A&R rep John Kalodner to get their take on the state of Aerosmith, the hunt for a new singer and whether Tyler’s sobriety is to blame.
The roots of the band’s fallout stem back to when Tyler fell off the stage during a concert in Sturgis, South Dakota, this past summer, but Whitford tells Rolling Stone “there’s been a serious lack of commitment on [Tyler's] part for a while. We’ve been trying to make an album for a few years and he’s been the guy that suddenly one day he just doesn’t show and the next thing we know he doesn’t want to work, he doesn’t like the producer, whatever.”
The band has also been divided regarding the sound of their next album. While Tyler prefers the more radio-friendly pop hits, Perry is in favor of a sound closer to ’70s Aerosmith. Perry admits that he’s “not a big fan” of the band’s last album of original music, Just Push Play, and Kramer tells RS that the tracks the band had been working on with producer Brendan O’Brien “were probably closer to old school Aerosmith stuff like Toys or Rocks.”
Perry, Kramer and Whitford all tell Rolling Stone that they haven’t had any direct communication with Tyler — the last time Perry called Tyler personally, the singer hung up on him — and instead rely on talking to Tyler’s management to relay messages to the frontma...
Article Source: Rolling Stone : Rock and Roll Daily