| Just Push Play | |
| Type: | studio |
| Artist: | Aerosmith |
| Cover: | Aerosmith - Just Push Play.JPG |
| Released: | March 5, 2001 |
| Recorded: | April–December 2000[1] |
| Genre: | |
| Length: |
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| Label: | Columbia |
| Producer: |
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| Prev Title: | Nine Lives |
| Prev Year: | 1997 |
| Next Title: | Honkin' on Bobo |
| Next Year: | 2004 |
Just Push Play is the thirteenth studio album by American rock band Aerosmith, co-produced by song collaborators Marti Frederiksen and Mark Hudson and was released on March 5, 2001. Just Push Play debuted at No. 2 within the Billboard 200, selling over 240,000 copies in its first week,[3] and was certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America within a month of its release.
The album's first single, "Jaded", became a Top 10 hit in the US and around the world. Subsequent singles "Fly Away from Here", "Sunshine", and "Just Push Play", though garnering some airplay, failed to impact the Hot 100, although the latter two reached the US Mainstream Rock chart and the former appeared within the Adult Top 40.
The album's cover, which was designed by Hajime Sorayama, features a gynoid resembling Marilyn Monroe.[4] The illustration had already been used for the cover of a compilation album of various artists hits called Video Sound, released in 1985, and which did not include any Aerosmith songs.[5]
Several songs were recorded for the album that went unused. "Ain't It True", "Easy", "Innocent Man", "I Love You Down", "We Love To Say This", "Sweet Due" and "Zorro" can be linked as originating from these sessions. "Angel's Eye" was used for the soundtrack to the 2000 film Charlie's Angels. "Face" and "Won't Let You Down" were issued as bonus tracks on later pressings of the album. The track "Do You Wonder" was supposedly recorded for this album, as well.
In 2010, guitarist Joe Perry criticized the album:
Metacritic gave the album 65 out of 100 based on 14 generally favorable reviews.
For his review of Just Push Play for Allmusic, Stephen Thomas Erlewine said that it was their best-sounding album in the past decade, as well as "tighter, savvier, and better" than anything since their 1989 album Pump, but it was not much compared to Pump and its 1987 predecessor, Permanent Vacation. He felt it lacked anything memorable, and the band's "refusal to act their age results in a couple of embarrassing slips into stodginess".
Darryl Stredan strongly disliked the album, to the point that he considered it proof that Aerosmith should stop making new music. Chris Willman of Entertainment Weekly called the album "good but not great". NME said that while most of the album is not new, it was their first to feature rap metal with songs like "Just Push Play" and "Outta Your Head".
David Fricke of Rolling Stone said that Just Push Play was the closest Aerosmith had come to a "great album" since 1976's Rocks, despite the "weak spots" of the album's power ballads. Robert Christgau picked out the album's lead single, "Jaded", as a choice cut.
The album was nominated for three Grammy Awards in 2001, including Best Rock Album (Just Push Play), Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group ("Jaded"), and Best Short Form Music Video ("Fly Away from Here").[6]
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" and on the Japanese version after "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing".
Aerosmith
Additional musicians
Production
Aerosmith recorded Just Push Play from April to December 2000 at:[1]
| Chart (2001) | Peak position | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Japanese Albums (Oricon)[7] | 4 | ||
| Polish Albums (ZPAV)[8] | 24 | ||
| Spanish Albums (AFYVE)[9] | -- | access-date=2011-01-26--> | 20 |
| Chart (2001) | Position | |
|---|---|---|
| Canadian Albums (Nielsen SoundScan)[10] | 101 | |
| Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[11] | 68 | |
| US Billboard 200[12] | 89 | |
| Worldwide Albums (IFPI)[13] | 33 |