Maps of Music

Rock in a Hard Place (1982)

Where the lyrics of Rock in a Hard Place take you, and where it was really made.

It is Aerosmith's only album without Joe Perry, and guitarist Brad Whitford also left the band during its recording.

Key places

Recording at The Power Station in New York (1982)

Recording site Power Station Studio — The album was recorded in New York at The Power Station during sessions that ran through 1981 and early 1002. The studio is listed as Power Station at BerkleeNYC. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Recording at Criteria Studios in Miami (1982)

Recording site Criteria Studios — Part of the album was recorded in Miami at Criteria Studios during the sessions that ran through 1981 and early 1982. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Rock in a Hard Place: seventh studio album by American hard rock band Aerosmith
• Released 27 August 1982 by Columbia Records
• Certified gold on 10 November 1989
• Only Aerosmith album without guitarist Joe Perry
• Band spent $1.5 million on the recording
• Reunited with producer Jack Douglas on this album

Background

• Aerosmith released six studio albums during the 1970s
• Joe Perry left in 1979 after incidents at the World Series of Rock in Cleveland, Ohio, and was replaced by Jimmy Crespo
• Steven Tyler's drug abuse increased as the decade ended
• Guitarist Brad Whitford also left Aerosmith in 1981 and was replaced by Rick Dufay

Recording

• Sessions ran through 1981 and early 1982
• Recorded in New York at The Power Station and in Miami at Criteria Studios
• Whitford played only on the single Lightning Strikes
• Dufay did not play on the album, joining after recording was finished
• Joey Kramer wrote that the guitar work was by Jimmy Crespo

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

• Rolling Stone (J. D. Considine): regrets that the band kept its old sound as mainstream rock grew heavier, saying fast power chords had made their bluesy boogie almost obsolete
• Rolling Stone: praises the guitar playing of the Perry lookalike Jimmy Crespo, but finds much of the LP rocks by rote
• The Philadelphia Inquirer (Ken Tucker): gives the album one out of five stars
• Classic Rock magazine: calls it a disaster in theory but an unlikely triumph in practice

Reappraisal

• AllMusic (Greg Prato): says the band lacked the magical chemistry of its 1970s classics without Perry and Whitford, but still rocked out with its most studio-enhanced record so far
• Martin Popoff: calls it a bit patchy, with Jailbait, Lightning Strikes and Joanie's Butterfly as highlights
• Popoff: concludes that Aerosmith never made a bad record

Records

• Certified gold on 10 November 1989
• Sold a little over 500,000 copies, about half of the previous album (French Wikipedia)
• Reached number 32 on the Billboard 200 (French Wikipedia)

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

Trivia

• Dufay recalled that the band spent two or three months nursing Tyler back to health while making the album
• Jack Douglas suggested Dufay, having produced Dufay's album Tender Loving Abuse in 1980
• An outtake titled Riff & Roll was released on the 1991 box set Pandora's Box
• Joey Kramer's 2009 autobiography called it not a real Aerosmith record, since only he, Steven and Tom Hamilton were on it with a fill-in guitarist
• The album was originally issued in 1982 with catalog number FC 38061 and reissued in 1984 with the prefix PC 38061

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

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