Song of the Week – Trip Hoppin’, Aerosmith

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Great bands are capable of putting out very good music throughout their careers. For some reason most fans latch on to the first few albums by most groups and then move on. There are exceptions of course. I can happily listen to any album by the Beatles all the way through and most any by the Stones or Springsteen. But there are records by some of my favorite bands, like the Kinks for instance, that get a little tired late in the discography. However, even their worst is pretty damned good and probably has at least one or two gems hidden within.

That brings me to today’s SotW – “Trip Hoppin’” by Aerosmith.

Aerosmith had a great run of 4 or 5 classic hard rock albums in the 70s then let substance abuse run them off the rails. By 1980 band stalwarts Joe Perry (lead guitar) and Brad Whitford (guitar) had left the band.

In 1984 the original band members reunited and found their second wind with another group of commercial and critical successes including Permanent Vacation (1987), Pump (1989) and Get a Grip (1993).

The band’s biggest hit (measured by sales) was the single “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing.” This 1998 power ballad was from the soundtrack to the movie Armageddon. It was written by Diane Warren and was Aerosmith’s first #1! (Frankly I find it an embarrassment to their roots.)

In 2001 Aerosmith released Just Push Play that included today’s SotW – “Trip Hoppin’.” Although the album reached #1 and had a Top 10 hit with “Jaded”, it wasn’t a huge critical success. (The Blue Army loved it but I doubt it brought in any new fans.)

“Trip Hoppin’” kills it! It’s a typical Aerosmith rocker but with a bit of a 60s era psychedelic twist (especially in the chorus). They even pull out the psych phasing trick. The title and lyrics are a throwback to the 60s too.

And if my karma suits you
Cross the line into another place and time
Tell me how pretty she is
When she turns the colors of the rainbow

One more day with you…trip hoppin’… yeah
One more night with you…no stoppin’
Ain’t no smokin’ fantasy
‘Cuz lovin’ you is trippin’ to me
You got me psychadelicized
You got my situation bone-a-fide

So keep on digging. You can find gems hidden everywhere in their catalog that includes 12 multi-platinum, 18 platinum, and 25 gold status albums.

Enjoy… until next week.

2 thoughts on “Song of the Week – Trip Hoppin’, Aerosmith

  1. Sounds like Dude Looks Like A Lady with a Bon Jovi chorus. Although it seems like most of their later stuff has horns (I’m no expert), I think they should’ve left them alone.

    Here’s a (surprising) vote for Stick To The Early Stuff – Debut album through Rocks.

  2. I remember this album now. When it came out I played the shit out of it. But I also remember hitting the skip button a lot on some songs. This one I cranked. Fly Away was a dive for the skip button. This album and Nine Lives and Dimension I’ve always felt needed a strict editor to say yes to the rawk and no to the schmaltz. There’s still good stuff in their entire catalog you just have to dig for it. Isn’t digging for the good stuff what got us into music in the first place?

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