Aerosmith Bassist Hopeful About Recording

Steven Tyler's new gig as a judge on American Idol won't keep Aerosmith from recording a new album — or so bassist Tom Hamilton tells The Boston Herald . "Steven's been very emphatic in saying that the way his time is arranged on the show leaves room to work on a record," Hamilton says. "He's been taking great pains to remind everybody of that, so hopefully that's the way it will come out." But how Tyler will actually spend that extra time remains unclear. He recently released his first-ever solo single "Love Lies," a step toward the independent career he has expressed interest in pursuing. Meanwhile, Tyler and Joe Perry have disagreed on the direction for their next album: The singer wants to make a pop album, in line with hits like "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" and "Jaded," while the guitarist would rather return to the classic rock sound of Rocks and Toys in the Attic.

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"There's a lot of not knowing what's going to happen, but that's how it's always been for us," Hamilton says in the Herald article. "I'm not sitting here thinking that [Tyler on Idol] is not going to work for us. Steven is an incredible I-can-do-anything kind of guy. But he's taken a big bite, and I'm looking forward to seeing him chew it."

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Song Stories

“Helen Wheels”

Paul McCartney | 1973

A rollicking good-time hard rocker, "Helen Wheels" was not about a woman but about Paul McCartney's Land Rover, the anthemic chorus voicing the vehicle's reckless joy as "she" took to the road. The song was added to the U.S. version of Band on the Run but was issued only as a single in McCartney's native U.K. "I like that because it's a British road song and there's not many of those around," said McCartney. "It's always Route 66. But Carlisle? How many songs have got Carlisle in them?"

More Song Stories entries »

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