We're All Somebody From Somewhere, by Steven Tyler. Dot Records via AP
We're All Somebody From Somewhere, by Steven Tyler. Dot Records via AP
We're All Somebody From Somewhere, by Steven Tyler. Dot Records via AP
We're All Somebody From Somewhere, by Steven Tyler. Dot Records via AP

Album review: Steven Tyler’s debut country album plays to his strengths

We’re All Somebody from Somewhere might not return Tyler to the top of the charts, but it suggests that he does at least still have a few tricks tucked into his velvet boots.

Associated Press

July 18, 2016

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We’re All Somebody from Somewhere

Steven Tyler

(Dot/Big Machine)

Two and a half stars

There are those who see the ­Aerosmith veteran’s ­embrace of Nashville as a ­desperate attempt to stay relevant.

Those naysayers would be wrong. We're All Somebody from Somewhere – Tyler's first solo album – plays to his strengths: inventive melodies, ­angelic harmonies, a juxtaposition of swagger and sensitivity, and room for that acrobatic voice to soar and strut.

He wraps his scarves around a few Nashville tropes: Banjos, fiddles, ­mandolins and steel guitars populate several songs, including It Ain't Easy, a clever ballad about life's struggles, while the philosophical I Make My Own Sunshine would fit on a Kacey Musgraves album.

Some tracks display very little Nashville influence: Hold On (Won't Let Go) returns Tyler to an early influence, the Jeff Beck Group, but that won't bother older fans or young country rockers. Only on Red, White & You does Tyler stoop to corny bro-country banalities.

We're All Somebody from Somewhere might not return Tyler to the top of the charts, but it suggests that he does at least still have a few tricks tucked into his velvet boots.

artslife@thenational.ae