Album Review: Steven Tyler - We’re All Somebody From Somewhere

We review the solo debut from Steven Tyler, the Aerosmith frontman who has released a genre-bending collection that will suit longtime fans and new ones alike.

It is easy to be skeptical of Steven Tyler trying a late career move to country music as a solo artist yet with 9 of the 15 tracks co-produced by T-Bone Burnett (Dann Huff, Marti Frederiksen and Jaren Johnston co-produce the other 6 with Tyler), We're All Somebody From Somewhere feels like a modern rootsy, rockin’ record that longtime fans probably hoped Steven Tyler would release. There’s a bit of country sounds to the project yet it’s still very much a Steven Tyler record. Songs like “It Ain’t Easy,” written with Hillary Lindsey, Cary Barlowe and Nathan Barlowe, showcase a sturdy heartfelt approach to songwriting and allows room for Steven Tyler to sing the lonesome lyric with verve and aplomb. The title track, the lone song co-produced by Jaren Johnson (who also serves as the co-writer), is very much in the “Honkin’ On Bobo” era mold from Aerosmith. That is to say that it’s a heavily bluesy rocker. Top 40 hit lead single “Love Is Your Name” (written by Eric Paslay and Lindsey Lee) is a sweet and soulful slice of country pop and it works.

There’s a jovial feel to “I Make My Own Sunshine,” a song heavy on ukulele and acoustics. This one’s a great mantra for people to hear and I’m actually surprised it wasn’t released to country radio as a single. It could probably do very well (if not there then certainly on Adult Pop stations). It’s upbeat and fun. “Gypsy Girl” is another potential radio hit from the project with a modern acoustic thread underpinning the song with some programmed drum loops also in the mix. Lindsay Buckingham from Fleetwood Mac plays guitars on the track.

“Only Heaven” is a a strong mid-tempo ballad and it sits in the latter half of the album and, quite honestly, this song rivals Aerosmith’s greatest power ballads, even if it has a bit of a country thread running through it with slide guitars, dobro and ganjo. “The Good, The Band, The Ugly & Me” is a bluesy romp of self-awareness. “What Am I Doin’ Right” is another self-aware song about a man who can’t believe he’s got the woman he does. Longtime fans will likely want to know how Steven Tyler acquits himself on a revamped version of the Aerosmith classic “Janie’s Got A Gun” and the answer is that it’s a haunting MTV Unplugged-like version of the tune. The closer is a cover of the Janis Joplin track “Piece Of My Heart.” The band backing him up is The Loving Mary Band, a new band of familiar faces including Jennee Fleenor, Rebecca Lynn Howard and Marti Frederiksen.

Featuring a generous 15 tracks, We're All Somebody From Somewhere, Steven Tyler’s long-gestating solo debut, is pretty much what we would’ve expected from a Steven Tyler album. It’s bluesy, it’s soulful and it showcases his ability to sing strongly. Add in the rootsy elements that the Country/Americana genre allows for and what we have is a really strong effort.

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