Введение
Night in the Ruts — шестой студийный альбом американской рок-группы Aerosmith, вышедший 16 ноября 1979 года на лейбле Columbia Records. Гитарист Джо Перри покинул группу в процессе записи альбома. Изначально альбом записывался в репетиционном пространстве группы «Wherehouse» под руководством Джека Дугласа, который ранее спродюсировал четыре предыдущих альбома Aerosmith, но впоследствии Columbia Records пригласила Гэри Лайонса на замену Дугласу в качестве продюсера.
Запись и композиция
Летом Aerosmith провели время в студии Mediasound в Нью-Йорке, пытаясь завершить альбом с продюсером Гэри Лайонсом. Группа обрела второе дыхание, когда Тайлер написал текст песни, которую он сочинял вместе с Перри, и которая "рассказывала историю группы". Так появилась "No Surprize" – песня, которую Тайлер называет своей любимой. В мемуарах группы 1997 года издания "Walk This Way" Тайлер поделился своими мыслями о нескольких треках альбома:
"No Surprize" "For two months, I'd been totally blocked, writing lyrics for this track we had done with Joe. 'My name is nah nah nah, I come from Yonkers High, and I get drunk at night.' One night I had such a revelation to write the story of the band, how Aerosmith got started I was so excited to be back on track." "Reefer Headed Woman" "'Reefer Head Woman' was a 1940s blues record. I had the lyrics in a notebook that got stolen, and I had to call Dr. Demento from the Record Plant, where we finished the album, and the Doctor read the lyrics to me over the phone." "Bone to Bone (Coney Island White Fish Boy)" I had to explain to the press that a Coney Island whitefish is a used rubber." "Mia" "It was a lullaby I wrote on the piano for my daughter, but the tolling bell notes at the end of the song and the end of the album sounded more like the death knell of Aerosmith for people who knew what was going on." Also included on the album was a cover of "Think About It," a Yardbirds B side from 1968 that Aerosmith had occasionally played live through the 70s. Promo videos for "No Surprize" and "Chiquita" were filmed (featuring Jimmy Crespo). "Chiquita" is available on the band's Video Scrapbook VHS and laserdisc release. The album title is a spoonerism for the phrase "right in the nuts," which is alluded to on the album's rear cover artwork.
"No Surprize": "В течение двух месяцев я был в творческом тупике, пытаясь написать текст для этой песни, которую мы записали с Джо. 'Меня зовут на-на-на, я из Йонкерсской средней школы, и я пью по ночам'. Однажды ночью меня осенило написать историю группы, как начинался Aerosmith. Я был так рад вернуться в рабочее русло."
"No Surprize" "For two months, I'd been totally blocked, writing lyrics for this track we had done with Joe. 'My name is nah nah nah, I come from Yonkers High, and I get drunk at night.' One night I had such a revelation to write the story of the band, how Aerosmith got started I was so excited to be back on track." "Reefer Headed Woman" "'Reefer Head Woman' was a 1940s blues record. I had the lyrics in a notebook that got stolen, and I had to call Dr. Demento from the Record Plant, where we finished the album, and the Doctor read the lyrics to me over the phone." "Bone to Bone (Coney Island White Fish Boy)" I had to explain to the press that a Coney Island whitefish is a used rubber." "Mia" "It was a lullaby I wrote on the piano for my daughter, but the tolling bell notes at the end of the song and the end of the album sounded more like the death knell of Aerosmith for people who knew what was going on." Also included on the album was a cover of "Think About It," a Yardbirds B side from 1968 that Aerosmith had occasionally played live through the 70s. Promo videos for "No Surprize" and "Chiquita" were filmed (featuring Jimmy Crespo). "Chiquita" is available on the band's Video Scrapbook VHS and laserdisc release. The album title is a spoonerism for the phrase "right in the nuts," which is alluded to on the album's rear cover artwork.
"Reefer Headed Woman": "‘Reefer Headed Woman’ – это блюзовая запись 1940-х годов. Текст песни был записан в блокноте, который украли, и мне пришлось позвонить доктору Дементо из Record Plant, где мы закончили альбом, и он прочитал мне текст по телефону."
"No Surprize" "For two months, I'd been totally blocked, writing lyrics for this track we had done with Joe. 'My name is nah nah nah, I come from Yonkers High, and I get drunk at night.' One night I had such a revelation to write the story of the band, how Aerosmith got started I was so excited to be back on track." "Reefer Headed Woman" "'Reefer Head Woman' was a 1940s blues record. I had the lyrics in a notebook that got stolen, and I had to call Dr. Demento from the Record Plant, where we finished the album, and the Doctor read the lyrics to me over the phone." "Bone to Bone (Coney Island White Fish Boy)" I had to explain to the press that a Coney Island whitefish is a used rubber." "Mia" "It was a lullaby I wrote on the piano for my daughter, but the tolling bell notes at the end of the song and the end of the album sounded more like the death knell of Aerosmith for people who knew what was going on." Also included on the album was a cover of "Think About It," a Yardbirds B side from 1968 that Aerosmith had occasionally played live through the 70s. Promo videos for "No Surprize" and "Chiquita" were filmed (featuring Jimmy Crespo). "Chiquita" is available on the band's Video Scrapbook VHS and laserdisc release. The album title is a spoonerism for the phrase "right in the nuts," which is alluded to on the album's rear cover artwork.
"Bone to Bone (Coney Island White Fish Boy)": "Мне пришлось объяснять прессе, что белая рыба с Кони-Айленда – это использованный презерватив."
"No Surprize" "For two months, I'd been totally blocked, writing lyrics for this track we had done with Joe. 'My name is nah nah nah, I come from Yonkers High, and I get drunk at night.' One night I had such a revelation to write the story of the band, how Aerosmith got started I was so excited to be back on track." "Reefer Headed Woman" "'Reefer Head Woman' was a 1940s blues record. I had the lyrics in a notebook that got stolen, and I had to call Dr. Demento from the Record Plant, where we finished the album, and the Doctor read the lyrics to me over the phone." "Bone to Bone (Coney Island White Fish Boy)" I had to explain to the press that a Coney Island whitefish is a used rubber." "Mia" "It was a lullaby I wrote on the piano for my daughter, but the tolling bell notes at the end of the song and the end of the album sounded more like the death knell of Aerosmith for people who knew what was going on." Also included on the album was a cover of "Think About It," a Yardbirds B side from 1968 that Aerosmith had occasionally played live through the 70s. Promo videos for "No Surprize" and "Chiquita" were filmed (featuring Jimmy Crespo). "Chiquita" is available on the band's Video Scrapbook VHS and laserdisc release. The album title is a spoonerism for the phrase "right in the nuts," which is alluded to on the album's rear cover artwork.
"Mia": "Это была колыбельная, которую я написал на пианино для своей дочери, но звон колоколов в конце песни и альбома звучал как похоронный звон для Aerosmith для тех, кто знал, что происходит."
"No Surprize" "For two months, I'd been totally blocked, writing lyrics for this track we had done with Joe. 'My name is nah nah nah, I come from Yonkers High, and I get drunk at night.' One night I had such a revelation to write the story of the band, how Aerosmith got started I was so excited to be back on track." "Reefer Headed Woman" "'Reefer Head Woman' was a 1940s blues record. I had the lyrics in a notebook that got stolen, and I had to call Dr. Demento from the Record Plant, where we finished the album, and the Doctor read the lyrics to me over the phone." "Bone to Bone (Coney Island White Fish Boy)" I had to explain to the press that a Coney Island whitefish is a used rubber." "Mia" "It was a lullaby I wrote on the piano for my daughter, but the tolling bell notes at the end of the song and the end of the album sounded more like the death knell of Aerosmith for people who knew what was going on." Also included on the album was a cover of "Think About It," a Yardbirds B side from 1968 that Aerosmith had occasionally played live through the 70s. Promo videos for "No Surprize" and "Chiquita" were filmed (featuring Jimmy Crespo). "Chiquita" is available on the band's Video Scrapbook VHS and laserdisc release. The album title is a spoonerism for the phrase "right in the nuts," which is alluded to on the album's rear cover artwork.
Также в альбом вошла кавер-версия песни "Think About It" – би-сайда Yardbirds 1968 года, которую Aerosmith иногда исполняли вживую в 70-х годах. Были сняты промо-видео на песни "No Surprize" и "Chiquita" (с участием Джимми Креспо). "Chiquita" доступна на видеосборнике группы в формате VHS и на лазерном диске. Название альбома – это анаграмма фразы "right in the nuts", на которую намекает изображение на задней обложке альбома.
"No Surprize" "For two months, I'd been totally blocked, writing lyrics for this track we had done with Joe. 'My name is nah nah nah, I come from Yonkers High, and I get drunk at night.' One night I had such a revelation to write the story of the band, how Aerosmith got started I was so excited to be back on track." "Reefer Headed Woman" "'Reefer Head Woman' was a 1940s blues record. I had the lyrics in a notebook that got stolen, and I had to call Dr. Demento from the Record Plant, where we finished the album, and the Doctor read the lyrics to me over the phone." "Bone to Bone (Coney Island White Fish Boy)" I had to explain to the press that a Coney Island whitefish is a used rubber." "Mia" "It was a lullaby I wrote on the piano for my daughter, but the tolling bell notes at the end of the song and the end of the album sounded more like the death knell of Aerosmith for people who knew what was going on." Also included on the album was a cover of "Think About It," a Yardbirds B side from 1968 that Aerosmith had occasionally played live through the 70s. Promo videos for "No Surprize" and "Chiquita" were filmed (featuring Jimmy Crespo). "Chiquita" is available on the band's Video Scrapbook VHS and laserdisc release. The album title is a spoonerism for the phrase "right in the nuts," which is alluded to on the album's rear cover artwork.
Критический прием
Альбом был разгромлен современными критиками и, несмотря на первоначальный успех, быстро покинул чарты. Писатель Rolling Stone Дэвид Фрике описал лучшие треки альбома как "вдохновленные неизданными материалами с Rocks и Toys in the Attic", демонстрируя возвращение Aerosmith к их основному звучанию; однако он посчитал "отклонения от этой нормы катастрофическими, если не по замыслу, то по исполнению", как, например, в кавер-версии баллады Shangri-Las "Remember (Walking in the Sand)", которая "неустойчиво колеблется между хард-роком и спекторианским размахом оригинала". Критик Village Voice Роберт Кристагау назвал открывающую песню "No Surprize" единственным "многообещающим" треком на альбоме. Критик Грег Прато из AllMusic предложил более снисходительный комментарий в историческом контексте, назвав его "удивительно цельным и вдохновленным альбомом. Хотя он и не дотягивает до уровня таких классических работ, как Toys in the Attic или Rocks (хотя мог бы, если бы группа не находилась в таком состоянии хаоса в то время), он определенно был более лаконичным и сфокусированным, чем [предыдущий] студийный альбом группы, Draw the Line". И загадочно поделился со Стивеном Дэвисом в 1997 году: "Героин. Кокаин. Я люблю этот альбом – Night in the Ruts. Это как чертово солнечное затмение". Перри также заявил в Guitar World в 1997 году: "Мы все еще были в ужасном состоянии, но запись звучит более цельно, чем Draw the Line. Night in the Ruts – это была крутая запись".