My Own Worst Enemy

Spotify: https://goo.gl/npgfpZ?utm_source=phplist5522&utm_medium=email&utm_content=text&utm_campaign=My+Own+Worst+Enemy

YouTube: https://goo.gl/NwXlvr?utm_source=phplist5522&utm_medium=email&utm_content=text&utm_campaign=My+Own+Worst+Enemy

This is the best Aerosmith song in decades!

I discovered it via "Release Radar," Spotify's new, algorithm-driven, customized new release playlist.

That's right, Spotify. No, I don't get paid by them. Yes, the site is imperfect, but not only is it the best streaming service, it's got a free tier so we've all got access, we can all participate, we can all be part of the group, and in this social world that's everything.

It was a stealth release. "Release Radar" that is. There was a press release last week and then...nothing. Spotify's got some of the worst marketing of all time. But, the service...

The word is out on "Discover Weekly," the playlist custom-tailored to you based on what you've listened to. And although I've discovered a lot of good stuff via "Discover Weekly," most of it's far from brand new, and it's the new stuff I hunger to be exposed to.

And, so far, "Release Radar" is far superior to "Discover Weekly," the hit to shit ratio is so much higher. With "Discover Weekly" I just click through to find something good, with "Release Radar" almost every track has me listening through.

And my customized new release playlist started off with...

A transcendent version of "Send In The Clowns" by Bryan Ferry, who even knew it was out?

And a new cut by Jamestown Revival.

And a good Florida Georgia Line cut with Tim McGraw.

But it's the Steven Tyler cut that closed me.

I was aware the album was out, the hype reached me, Tyler's got a way of promoting without looking like he's doing so, but going country is still a cheap shot and the initial single, "Love Is Your Name," didn't reach me.

But "My Own Worst Enemy"...

You see we don't know where to start, we might not even know the album is out, and if we do, what track do we listen to?

Lord knows how the algorithm picked out "My Own Worst Enemy," but it's looking like the machine is gonna beat the humans, not for the first time, after all, didn't that IBM computer win on "Jeopardy"?

Now the haunting acoustic intro of "My Own Worst Enemy" sets the mood. This is late night swamp music, when the iPhone camera is clicked off and illicit things happen and you experience the highest highs and the lowest lows of life.

And the stunning thing is...it sounds exactly like Tyler! Like he stepped right out of "Get Your Wings."

But, the song...it's more than serviceable, but it doesn't close you.

And then... At 1:15, after the chorus, when the keyboard kicks in, when the rest of the band kicks in, this is the "Dream On" formula, the whole thing is amped up, reminiscent of what once was but without being a remake.

And the chorus could be better, but then there's that twist at the very end, when he sings he was wrong, he's his own worst enemy, you're intrigued.

And then the strings kick in, Tyler's vamping, and you're telling yourself, THIS IS GOOD!

And the accordion adds texture, but what puts it over the top is...the searing guitar solo at 3:40, just when the song fades out, just when you think it's done, this is the Guns N' Roses trick, this is what made those Aerosmith records iconic, the wailing on the six string, you'll be sitting at home blown away, this is the Aerosmith sound you LOVED!

How did this happen? How did Steven Tyler do everything wrong to do everything right? Going on "Idol" for the dough, eviscerating his credibility, his foibles now all over the tabloid press. And Hootie went country but he was so much younger, and every other rocker with a deal has gone Nashville, Tyler was through the door so late that...

Nashville is not embracing him.

But if you're an old, dyed-in-the-wool rocker...

This is a REVELATION!

Turns out "My Own Worst Enemy" was produced by T-Bone Burnett, with Tyler's help, demonstrating that the Alpha Band player via the Rolling Thunder Review movie soundtrack guy most memorable for his work with Counting Crows...STILL HAS IT!

And the song was written by Tyler with the Warren Brothers, whoever they are, it's not a complete song for hire, it's not just the Nashville formula.

And you're gonna put this on and say I'm wrong. And if you're a wanker you're gonna click off. But if you're open to being closed you're gonna let "My Own Worst Enemy" play through and...

Goddamn it, you'll discover, IT'S GOOD!

P.S. Be sure to hang on through the fade-out, all five minutes and eleven seconds of this cut, it's like "Sister Morphine," "Moonlight Mile," "November Rain," but it's BRAND NEW, and isn't that what we're looking for, a way to be turned on to the best of what's coming out, as we march forward in this incomprehensible world we inhabit?


--
Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/?utm_source=phplist5522&utm_medium=email&utm_content=text&utm_campaign=My+Own+Worst+Enemy
--
http://www.twitter.com/lefsetz?utm_source=phplist5522&utm_medium=email&utm_content=text&utm_campaign=My+Own+Worst+Enemy
--
If you would like to subscribe to the LefsetzLetter,
http://www.lefsetz.com/lists/?p=subscribe&id=1&utm_source=phplist5522&utm_medium=email&utm_content=text&utm_campaign=My+Own+Worst+Enemy

If you do not want to receive any more LefsetzLetters, http://lefsetz.com/lists/?p=unsubscribe&uid=0eecea7b60b461717065cbde887c8e25&utm_source=phplist5522&utm_medium=email&utm_content=text&utm_campaign=My+Own+Worst+Enemy

To change your email address http://lefsetz.com/lists/?p=preferences&uid=0eecea7b60b461717065cbde887c8e25&utm_source=phplist5522&utm_medium=email&utm_content=text&utm_campaign=My+Own+Worst+Enemy




-- powered by phpList, www.phplist.com --