Just Push Play

Just Push Play
Studio album by Aerosmith
Released	March 6, 2001 (2001-03-06)[1]
Recorded	The Boneyard & The Bryer Patch, Long View Farms Studio, Ocean Way Studios, Sound Techniques, Village Recorders, Pearl White Studios, Whatinthewhatthe Studios, The Studio in the Sunset Marquis[2]
Genre	Heavy metal, Hard rock
Length	48:56
Label	Columbia
Producer	Steven Tyler, Joe Perry, Mark Hudson, Marti Frederiksen[2]
Aerosmith chronology
Nine Lives (1997) Just Push Play (2001) Honkin' on Bobo (2004)
Singles from Just Push Play
"Jaded" Released: December 21, 2000 "Fly Away from Here" Released: June 2, 2001 "Sunshine" Released: Mid 2001 "Just Push Play" Released: September 2001

Just Push Play is the 13th studio album by American rock band Aerosmith, released on March 6, 2001, therefore the first Aerosmith album of the 21st century. The album was co-produced by song collaborators Marti Frederiksen and Mark Hudson. The album's first single, "Jaded", became a major Top 10 hit in the U.S. and around the world. As a result, Just Push Play was certified platinum within a month of its release. Subsequent singles "Fly Away from Here", "Sunshine", and "Just Push Play", though garnering some airplay, failed to impact the Hot 100 much, although the latter two charted on the U.S. Mainstream Rock chart and the former charted on the Adult Top 40.

In 2010, guitarist Joe Perry revealed his distaste for the album, stating that:^[3]

In 2011, drummer Joey Kramer during a fan "Q & A" answered some questions about the album, in the Q&A it is revealed that he does not like the cover, and he thought the playing was superb on the album.

The album's cover features a gynoid resembling Marilyn Monroe and was designed by Hajime Sorayama.

A poster of the album cover is shown in the boys' room in the TV series Drake and Josh.

Reception

Metacritic gave the album 65 out of 100 based on 14 generally favorable reviews.^[4] For his review of Just Push Play for Allmusic, Stephen Thomas Erlewine said that it was their best album since Pump in 1989, but he criticized them "for not acting their age" and said the album was not much compared to Pump and Permanent Vacation. He compared their production name, "The Boneyard Boys", to Mick Jagger and Keith Richards' production name, "The Glimmer Twins."^[1] Ben Mitchell of Blender magazine said the album was better than Nine Lives by a little bit and feels the album was not with the times and was rather poor.^[5] Darryl Stredan had a very strong dislike for both the album and the artist saying that they weren't a band anymore, that they were instead a marketing company, and was of the opinion that they should stop producing new music.^[6] Chris Willman of Entertainment Weekly said that songs to not listen to on the album are "Fly Away from Here", "Luv Lies", "Avant Garden", "Just Push Play", "Drop Dead Gorgeous", and "Outta Your Head", but the rest of the songs on the album are tolerable including several with string sections ("Jaded", "Beyond Beautiful", and "Sunshine") and thinks the album overall is good but not great.^[7] In the NME magazine review of Just Push Play said that most of the album is not new, but the album was Aerosmith's first album to feature rap metal with songs like "Just Push Play" & "Outta Your Head".^[8] David Fricke of Rolling Stone magazine said that they are still a good band and it is lucky for them to still be around, but he also said that they haven't made a "great album" since Rocks, although it came close as did Pump. He compared "Jaded" to an Electric Light Orchestra song and said that the weak spots on the album were the power ballads.^[9] Robert Christgau picked out one song from the album, "Jaded", as a choice cut.^[10]

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	65/100[4]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]
Blender	[5]
Canoe.ca	unfavorable[6]
Entertainment Weekly	B[7]
NME	6/10[8]
Robert Christgau	[10]
Rolling Stone	[9]

Track listing

NB: On the original version, roughly 45 seconds after "Avant Garden" a hidden track entitled "Under My Skin Reprise" plays for about one minute. On the International Version, the track is roughly 40 seconds after "Face".

Personnel

Per liner notes^[2]

Aerosmith

• Steven Tyler – lead vocals, mixing, production
• Joe Perry – guitar, backing vocals, mixing, production
• Brad Whitford – guitar
• Tom Hamilton – bass
• Joey Kramer – drums

Additional musicians

• Jim Cox – piano on "Fly Away From Here"
• Paul Santo – Kurzweil on "Fly Away from Here", Hammond organ on "Avant Garden"
• Tower of Power – horns on "Trip Hoppin'"
• Dan Higgins – clarinet, saxophone on "Trip Hoppin'"
• Chelsea Tyler – backing vocals on "Under My Skin"
• Paul Caruso – loop programming on "Drop Dead Gorgeous"
• Liv Tyler – whispers on "Avant Garden"

Production

• Marti Frederiksen – production, mixing, recording
• Mark Hudson – production, mixing
• Mike Shipley – mixing
• Richard Chycki – recording
• Paul Caruso – engineering at the Boneyard
• Paul Santo – engineering at the Bryer Patch
• Bryan Carrigan – additional engineering
• David Campbell – strings arrangements, except on "Sunshine", "Luv Lies", and "Avant Garden"
• Jim Cox – string arrangements on "Sunshine", "Luv Lies", and "Avant Garden", horns arrangements
• Alan Sides – engineering on strings
• Scott Gordon – engineering on horns and strings
• George Marino – mastering
• John Kalodner: John Kalodner
• Lesie Langlo – artist and repertoire coordination
• Kevin Reagan – art direction, design
• Matthew Lindauer – design
• Mark Seliger – photography
• Hajime Sorayama – illustrations

Charts

Album

Singles

Billboard (North America)

Certifications

References

External links

• Just Push Play at MusicBrainz (list of releases)
• Just Push Play at Metacritic