Aerosmith Pump
April 29th, 2009
After the release of the hugely successful “Permanent Vacation” album, Aerosmith again went on tour; This time with the hard rock band, Guns and Roses. Guns and Roses were always a big fan of Aerosmith and have cited the band as having a huge musical influence on their own music.
The members of Aerosmith had one big obstacle in touring with Guns & Roses however, and that was the rampant drug use amongst the band. Aerosmith was newly drug free and did not want to be drawn back into the drug scene. Fearing the temptation of easy drugs, Aerosmith reportedly forbade Guns & Roses from doing drugs or drinking alcohol in their presence. The penalty for not complying would be the departure of Guns & Roses from the tour. No incidents involving drugs were reported during the tour which ended in success for both bands.
Once the tour was over, Aerosmith got back in the recording studio to begin work on their next album. No one would have guessed that their next album could equal the success of Permanent Vacation, let alone supersede it’s predecessor, but the impossible came to fruition with the release of “Pump” in 1989. The album turned out such hits as “Janie’s Got a Gun”, “What It Takes”, and “Love in an Elevator”. The album quickly went platinum and would eventually sell over 7 million copies.
The success of “Pump” further catapulted Aerosmith into main stream music stardom, earning them top ratings from major music magazines. It also won the band it’s first Grammy Award for the smash hit Janie’s Got a Gun. Janie’s Got a Gun won Best Rock Performance by a Duo or a group.
The making of “Pump was documented on video while the band was on tour in 1990. The “Making of Pump” was released on DVD in November of 1997.
With the successful release of “Pump”, came a subsequent tour in support of the album. The tour ended in October of 1990 with the band’s first concert in Australia.
Unlike the disasterous year of 1980, 1990 brought many positives for Aerosmith. Apart from the very successful tour, The band also appeared on the Saturday Night Live television program, and was inducted into the Hollywood Rock Walk.