5 Feet of Fury

Unpopular Opinion: ‘Get a Grip’–Era Aerosmith Is Actually Pretty Great

Nicholas Pell agrees with me:

It’s schlock, but like Mommie Dearest and Andy Warhol paintings, it’s some beautiful schlock that’s not without artistic merit. (…)

The band then proceeded to make a zillion dollars and a bunch of incredibly clever videos with a little album called Get a Grip. From the second you see the cover featuring a pierced cow udder, you know you’re in for a whole lot of silliness. “Eat the Rich” is a bit … well, rich, coming from guys with money coming out of their ears, but it’s a solid rock song hearkening back to the band’s earliest work. Only two songs, “Fever” and “Walk on Down,” didn’t receive ample massaging from song doctors. But when you’re listening to the triumvirate of songs that featured Alicia Silverstone in the videos (who, as far as I and every other 13-year-old boy I knew at the time was concerned, was the hottest woman who had ever lived), “Crazy,” “Cryin’” and “Amazing,” you probably think it’s for the best that they hired some heavy guns to help get this stuff on MTV.