Maps of Music

Nine Lives (1997)

Where the lyrics of Nine Lives take you, and where it was really made.

Aerosmith's twelfth album was delayed after its first nine tracks were rejected, and rumours of a break-up spread while the drummer was away.

Key places

Early sessions in Miami (1997)

Recording site Criteria Studios — Early recordings for the album took place at Criteria Studios in Miami, Florida, where the band worked with producer Glen Ballard. The pin marks the studio's city-level location in the source data. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Rerecording sessions in New York (1997)

Recording site Power Station Studio — After the production change, the band set up at Avatar Studios in New York City, where the sessions began in September 1996 and continued to November. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Recorded at The Hit Factory (1997)

Recording site The Hit Factory — The Hit Factory in New York City is listed in the source as one of the recording places for this album. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Recorded in Los Angeles (1997)

Recording site Motown Recording Studios — The source lists The Boneyard as a recording place for the album, and the pin marks Los Angeles city centre rather than the building. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Nine Lives: twelfth studio album by American rock band Aerosmith
• Released 18 March 1997
• Produced by Aerosmith and Kevin Shirley
• First album released by Columbia Records since Rock in a Hard Place (1982)
• Peaked at number one on the Billboard 200 in the United States
• Sold over two million copies in the United States
• "Pink" won a Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal

Background

• Originally set for a summer 1996 release, but delayed
• Columbia Records was dissatisfied with the nine tracks produced by Aerosmith and Glen Ballard
• In July 1996 the band asked manager Tim Collins to step down after almost twelve years
• Joe Perry later recounted in his 2014 autobiography that the band felt betrayed by Collins
• The band then hired in-house producer Kevin Shirley
• Drummer Joey Kramer suffered depression and was unavailable for rehearsals
• Steve Ferrone played drums until Kramer could return
• Rumours of a break-up circulated while Kramer was away

Recording

• Early recordings took place at Criteria Studios in Miami, Florida, with producer Glen Ballard
• New sessions began in September 1996 and continued to November, at Avatar Studios in New York City
• After Kramer returned, the band rerecorded all completed tracks from scratch
• Kevin Shirley helped with the album's overtones and instruments, especially the guitar sounds
• John Kalodner returned to supervise and helped trim twenty-four songs to thirteen
• The working title "Vindaloo" was dropped for "Nine Lives"

Cover

• The original cover art was inspired by a painting in a book by A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
• The Hindu community protested the artwork, and the record company apologized
• Later prints removed the art from the cover and booklet
• The new cover features a cat tied to a circus knife-thrower's wheel
• The booklet's 12 pieces of album art were designed by Stefan Sagmeister

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · fr.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• Formed in Boston in 1970 by Steven Tyler, Joe Perry, Tom Hamilton, Joey Kramer, and Brad Whitford after the Jam Band and Chain Reaction merged.
• The name was suggested by Joey Kramer, who had seen the word "aerosmith" in his school notebooks.
• Their first gig was at Nipmuc Regional High School in Mendon, Massachusetts, on November 6, 1970.

Members

• Current lineup: Steven Tyler (lead vocals), Joe Perry and Brad Whitford (guitars), Tom Hamilton (bass), Joey Kramer (drums).
• Perry and Whitford left in 1979 and 1981 and returned in 1984; the original five were reunited from 1984 onward.
• Tyler and Perry are the main songwriting team, nicknamed the "Toxic Twins".

Career

• Debut album in 1973 and Toys in the Attic (1975) and Rocks (1976) established their blues-based hard rock sound.
• The 1986 Run-D.M.C. collaboration on "Walk This Way" revived their career, followed by Permanent Vacation (1987), Pump (1989), and Get a Grip (1993).
• "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" (1998) was their only Billboard Hot 100 number one.
• Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001; sold more than 150 million records worldwide.
• Retired from touring in 2024 after Tyler's vocal injury; released the EP One More Time with Yungblud in 2025.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Spin: the reviewer wrote that Aerosmith made soundtracks for videos and called the album conformable, energetic and generic
• AllMusic: Stephen Thomas Erlewine compared the album to earlier Aerosmith albums and called it overlabored, with the band trying too hard to sound hip
• AllMusic: Erlewine also said the songs were not catchy and that "Falling in Love (Is Hard on the Knees)" never develops a hook
• Rolling Stone: Elysa Gardner was more favorable in her 1997 review
• Rolling Stone: Gardner said the album would please listeners who want power ballads in an Aerosmith collection

Reappraisal

• Reviews were mixed at release, with praise from Rolling Stone and criticism from AllMusic and Spin
• The criticism centred on the production and on how the songs sounded compared with earlier albums

Records

• Peaked at number one on the Billboard 200 in the United States
• Sold over two million copies in the United States
• "Pink" won a Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · es.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• Initially the band called the album "Vindaloo", because Indian music elements were added to some songs, including a sarangi intro by Ramesh Mishra on "Taste of India".
• The band felt the title "Nine Lives" was the perfect name after completing that track, as a metaphor for the album's troubled conception.
• Each booklet picture contains a smaller version of the previous one, and the final picture is included in the first, creating an infinite loop.
• Some editions include "Fall Together", which appears on the Japanese editions and was a B-side on the first single.
• The track "What Kind of Love Are You On" was originally titled "What Kind of Lover You Want" and was an outtake from the Florida sessions.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · pt.wikipedia.org

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