New Tour for Aerosmith, Album to Follow

A couple of months back, Aerosmith were on a roll: The band was in the studio with Bruce Springsteen producer Brendan O’Brien, laying down song after song for its first album of original material since 2001 ”“ the plan was to bang out the record in time for a summer tour.

Weeks before the amphitheatre tour (which kicks off June 10), the album is nowhere in sight. “It’s just been one thing after another,” says guitarist Joe Perry. In January, Perry needed surgery after his knee replacement became infected (“they had to open up the whole knee”), and in March, sessions halted after singer Steven Tyler, who battled hepatitis C in recent years, was diagnosed with pneumonia. Now the album is slated for 2010, at the earliest, and Perry is working on a solo album that may come out first.

Still, Aerosmith are excited about the tour, which is likely to include rarities from their early days ”“ they’re debating whether to perform one of their first few albums in its entirety. “We know that there’s a big percentage of our fan base that would love that,” says bassist Tom Hamilton. “And there’s a percentage of the fan base that might not love it ”“ and we’re not the kind of band that likes to force material on the audience.”

ZZ Top are opening, and the idea of touring with their fellow Seventies survivors ”“ and maybe indulging in an onstage jam or two ”“ is a thrill. “I’m a huge Billy Gibbons fan,” says Perry. “It’s gonna be a kickass show.” Adds Gibbons, whose band is working on a new album with Rick Rubin, “We used to cross paths all the time, but this is the first official conglomerate together. Since we’ve been pals for so long, we might as well do it ”“ it’s the A to Z tour.”

Aerosmith aren’t ruling out the idea of playing material from their album in progress, which Perry hopes will maintain the stripped-down vibe of 2004’s blues-covers collection, Honkin’ on Bobo. “That one brought us back down to earth after putting out records like [2001’s] Just Push Play. Sometimes I listen to that record, and I’m not sure that it’s my band.”

Judging from the material they’ve cut so far, the new album is leaning in a more uptempo, hard-rocking direction than the band’s past few. “We’ve got some melodic rockers and some nasty, you know, energy songs,” says Hamilton, who’s particularly enthused about a new funk-rock song that shows off the band’s “old James Brown roots” and another new track called ”˜Innocent Man.’

The group is convinced that radio hits ”“ which it pulled off as recently as 2001’s ”˜Jaded’ ”“ may be less important in the internet age. But Tyler is still pushing for pop tunes. “It’s not a bad thing to try for that,” says Perry. “But all I want to do is make a record that sounds like Aerosmith.”