Get a Grip
Get a Grip is the eleventh studio album by American rock band Aerosmith, released in April 1993 by Geffen Records. Get a Grip was the band's last studio album to be released by Geffen before they returned to Columbia Records.
Get a Grip featured guests including Don Henley, who sang backup on "Amazing", and Lenny Kravitz, who offered backup vocals and collaboration to "Line Up". As on Permanent Vacation and Pump, this album featured numerous song collaborators from outside the band including: Desmond Child, Jim Vallance, Mark Hudson, Richie Supa, Taylor Rhodes, Jack Blades, and Tommy Shaw.
Get a Grip became Aerosmith's best-selling studio album worldwide, achieving sales of over 20 million copies. The album became the band's first album to reach number one in the United States and tied with Pump for their second best-selling album in the U.S., selling over 7 million copies as of 1995. This also made it their third consecutive album with U.S. sales of at least five million. Two songs from the album won Grammy Awards for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal, in 1993 and 1994. The album was voted Album of the Year by Metal Edge readers in the magazine's 1993 Readers' Choice Awards, while "Livin' on the Edge" was voted Best Video.
Production
The album originally had 12 songs and was scheduled to be released in the third quarter of 1992, but Geffen A&R executive John Kalodner listened to what had been recorded and thought it lacked variety and a radio-friendly song. So the band went back to write more songs with collaborators such as Child.Regarding songs that reflect on the band's history with drug abuse such as "Get a Grip" and "Amazing", Steven Tyler declared: "We were saying you can point it back to some of those old beliefs about the crossroads and signing up with the devil, that you can look at the drugs as that: It can be fun in the beginning but then it comes time to pay your debt, and if you're not sharp enough to see that it's taking you down, then it really will get you."
Many songs were written and recorded for the album that were either used as B-sides or never released. "Don't Stop" and "Head First" were released as B-sides, as well as "Can't Stop Messin'", which also appears on several special editions of the album as an addition in the track list. Other songs were listed on the official Aerosmith website in the late 1990s. "Black Cherry", "Devil's Got A New Disguise", "Dime Store Lover", "Legendary Child", "Lizard Love", "Meltdown", "Rocket 88", "Wham Bam", and "Yo Momma" were listed on the lyrics page of the website.
In 2005, Kalodner confirmed the existence of several of the songs above, as well as "Trouble", "Strange", "13", and "Keep On Movin'". "Deuces Are Wild" was possibly recorded again during these sessions. Several songs are also listed on copyright repertoires, including "Ain't Gonna Break My Heart", "Good Thang", and "Jake". These songs can be traced to the year 1991. Reworked versions of "Devil's Got A New Disguise", "Deuces Are Wild", "Lizard Love", and "Legendary Child" have since been released on various albums and soundtracks.
First digital download
On June 27,1994, Aerosmith became the first major artist to release a song as an exclusive digital download, making the unreleased track "Head First" available as a 4-megabyte WAV file to Compuserve subscribers. Around 10,000 users downloaded the song in the first few days, even though at the time, most users accessed the service with a modem, meaning the download would have taken several hours."Head First" was later used as the B-side for "Blind Man," released in November that year.
Reception
Mark Coleman, for his Rolling Stone magazine review of Get a Grip, said he liked the title track and he compared the album's introduction, titled "Intro", to Steven Tyler and Joe Perry's collaboration with Run–D.M.C. on "Walk This Way", but feels that most of the album lacks "adventure" and is too "somber". In his interview he compared "Livin' on the Edge" to a Bon Jovi song and feels that a problem with the album comes from the outside songwriters/collaborators. However, Robert Christgau gave the album a positive review, stating that it was their best since Rocks.Controversy
An animal rights group objected to the cover of a cow's pierced udder, but it was confirmed by the band to have been computer-generated.Track listing
Immediately after "Amazing," a snippet of "Who Threw the Whiskey in the Well," by Lucky Millinder, is heard as if being tuned in on an old radio. Tyler says, "So from all of us at Aerosmith to all of you out there, wherever you are, remember: the light at the end of the tunnel may be you. Good night." The music then fades out.Personnel
Aerosmith- Steven Tyler – lead vocals, keyboards, mandolin, harmonica, additional percussion
- Joe Perry – guitar, backing vocals, lead vocals on "Walk on Down"
- Brad Whitford – guitar, lead guitar on “Fever”, “Gotta Love It”, and “Flesh”
- Tom Hamilton – bass guitar, bass solo on “Gotta Love It”
- Joey Kramer – drums
- Paul Barontrumpet
- Desmond Child – keyboards on "Crazy"
- David Campbell – orchestra arrangements on "Crazy" and "Amazing"
- Bruce Fairbairn – trumpet
- Don Henley – background vocals on "Amazing"
- Sandy Kanaeholo – log drums on "Eat the Rich"
- Tom Keenlyside – saxophone
- Lenny Kravitz – background vocals on "Line Up"
- Melvin Liufau – log drums on "Eat the Rich"
- Wesey Mamea – log drums on "Eat the Rich"
- Ian Putzbaritone saxophone
- Bob Rogerstrombone
- Richard Supa – keyboards on "Amazing"
- Liainaiala Tagaloa – log drums on "Eat the Rich"
- Mapuhi T. Tekurio – log drums on "Eat the Rich"
- Aladd Alationa Teofilo – log drums on "Eat the Rich"
- John Webster – keyboards
- ProducerBruce Fairbairn
- EngineersJohn Aguto, Ed Korengo, Ken Lomas, Mike Plotnikoff, David Thoener
- Pre Production EngineerTony Lentini
- MixingBrendan O'Brien
- MasteringGreg Fulginiti at Masterdisk
- Mastering SupervisorDavid Donnelly
- ProgrammingJohn Webster
- Production coordinationDebra Shallman
- Guitar technicianDan Murphy
- ArrangerSteven Tyler
- Art directionMichael Golob
- Cover designHugh Syme
- PhotographyEdward Colver, William Hames
- John Kalodner
Charts
| Chart | Peak position |
| Australia | 3 |
| Austria | 3 |
| Canada RPM 100 Albums | 2 |
| France | 24 |
| Japanese Albums Chart | 7 |
| Netherlands | 2 |
| New Zealand | 9 |
| Norway | 3 |
| Spain | 15 |
| Switzerland | 1 |
| Sweden | 3 |
| UK | 2 |
| US Billboard 200 | 1 |
Singles
| Year | Single | Chart | Position |
| 1993 | "Amazing" | US Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks | 3 |
| 1993 | "Amazing" | US Billboard Hot 100 | 24 |
| 1993 | "Amazing" | US Billboard Top 40 Mainstream | 9 |
| 1993 | "Amazing" | UK Singles Chart | 57 |
| 1993 | "Cryin'" | US Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks | 1 |
| 1993 | "Cryin'" | US Billboard Hot 100 | 12 |
| 1993 | "Cryin'" | US Billboard Top 40 Mainstream | 11 |
| 1993 | "Cryin'" | UK Singles Chart | 17 |
| 1993 | "Cryin'" | Norway Top 20 | 1 |
| 1993 | "Cryin'" | Sweden Top 60 | 3 |
| 1993 | "Cryin'" | Schweizer Top 75 | 4 |
| 1993 | "Eat the Rich" | Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks | 5 |
| 1993 | "Eat the Rich" | UK Singles Chart | 34 |
| 1993 | "Fever" | Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks | 5 |
| 1993 | "Livin' on the Edge" | Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks | 1 |
| 1993 | "Livin' on the Edge" | Billboard Hot 100 | 18 |
| 1993 | "Livin' on the Edge" | Billboard Top 40 Mainstream | 19 |
| 1993 | "Livin' on the Edge" | UK Singles Chart | 19 |
| 1993 | "Livin' on the Edge" | Australian Top 50 | 21 |
| 1993 | "Livin' on the Edge" | Norway Top 20 | 4 |
| 1994 | "Crazy" | Mainstream Rock Tracks | 7 |
| 1994 | "Crazy" | The Billboard Hot 100 | 17 |
| 1994 | "Crazy" | Top 40 Mainstream | 7 |
Decade-end charts
| Chart | Position |
| US Billboard 200 | 77 |
Certifications
Awards
Grammy Awards| Year | Winner | Category |
| 1993 | "Livin' on the Edge" | Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal |
| 1994 | "Crazy" | Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal |
Metal Edge Readers' Choice Awards
| Year | Winner | Category |
| 1993 | Get a Grip | Album of the Year |
| 1993 | "Livin' on the Edge" | Best video |