Honkin' On Bobo [Limited Edition]

Aerosmith | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 30, 2004)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Limited Edition
• Label: Sony
• ASIN: B0001FR8H2
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (261 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #31,324 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Aerosmith are one of the few arena-sized bands still capable of playing it down-to-earth when the occasion calls. For Honkin' on Bobo, the boys return to their bar band roots (and fire a warning shot at Jack White) with this set of classic blues and soul covers generously peppered with harmonica, horns, and boogie-woogie piano. For years, Aerosmith sprinkled similar ditties on their LPs, but devoting a whole disc to material associated with John Lee Hooker, Mississippi Fred McDowell, et al? That takes chutzpah--and they've got it to spare here. "Shame, Shame, Shame" is a finger-waggin', hip-shakin' romp, while "Baby, Please Don't Go" starts out spooky, then escalates as Steven Tyler builds to a full-throttle holler with Joe Perry's guitar blazing his backside all the way. Tyler even snatches one signature song ("Never Loved A Girl") away from the Queen of Soul...at least for a few minutes. --Kurt B. Reighley

Product Description

This package will have a special keychain with a harmonica.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Blues-Rock, that is, July 29, 2004

By 

Christopher Bushman (Portland, OR USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Honkin' On Bobo (Audio CD)

I think it is funny that the record company and the band promoted this as a Blues record prior to its release. This is a blues record only in the sense that Disraeli Gears by Cream or Beck-Ola are blues records.

Honkin on Bobo is a Blooze-Rock record that Rocks with a capital R and would not have been out of place in the early 70's. This is a stunning return to rock and roll form for a band that has made way too many trips to the power-ballad ATM in recent years. Keep it coming guys, I love it.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars God, I've been waiting for this, October 23, 2004

By 

V. Shekinah - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Honkin' On Bobo (Audio CD)

Back in the day, I was a humongous Aerosmith fan. Around the time that Pump and Get A Grip came out, they were my favorite band. I loved all their old records. Yeah, I also loved the Chili Peppers and Pearl Jam and all, but there was just something so great about Steven Tyler's voice, and Joe Perry's guitar style, that was and is still unique. Unfortunately, starting with that terrible "Armaggeddon" song, their music became buried in overproduction, overdone vocals, flat lyrics, pop cheese. They just weren't the same band--they just didn't have the same magic, the same glorious immediacy and mischievous fun. I don't know what they were thinking, and I feel sorry for people who only really know them from thin, pop-innuendo songs like "Jaded".

I'm not sure if this album is just a fun side project for them, or if it represents a return to their original energy. If this is the direction they're going in, it's been a long time coming. They really needed to stop being a tame old amusement, and get up and start kicking some s--t around again. Sounds like they have. I personally love this record, especially "Road Runner" and "Grind". It has the old Aerosmith touch, but is really creative and different, in comparison both ot their old work and what they've been putting out in the last decade.

Finally, I can start listening to the Bad Boys again.

And for everyone out there dissing the recent music as "crappy chick ballads", you can stop now! Chicks like rock too. ;)

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars + 1/2 stars...Ranks Among the Band's Best Albums, April 9, 2004

By 

Steve Vrana (Aurora, NE) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Honkin' On Bobo (Audio CD)

While this is not a blues album in the traditional sense (like Clapton's ME AND MR JOHNSON, which was released the same day), HONKIN' ON BOBO is Aerosmith's hardest rockin' album since such mid-Seventies' classics as TOYS IN THE ATTIC and ROCKS.

The album kicks off with the Bo Diddley classic "Roadrunner" and doesn't look back. The heavy riffs, snarling guitars and larger-than-life vocals grab the listener and don't let go for the next 44 minutes. Of the more familiar covers, Aerosmith turn in a rendition of "Baby, Please Don't Go" that rivals Them's British top 10 version of Joe Williams' "Baby, Please Don't Go." And as they tear through a rousing version of Mississippi Fred McDowells' "You Gotta Move," you're left puzzled that this is the same song the Stones covered on STICKY FINGERS.

Things slow down a bit on the cover of Aretha Franklin's "Never Loved a Girl" and the Joe Perry vocal on "Back Back Train" (Perry also does lead vocals on the Peter Green original "Stop Messin' Around," an obscure song from Fleetwood Mac's second album from 1968). The album closer is the traditional "Jesus Is on the Main Line." Throughout, there is plenty of harmonica, Dobro and slide guitar, and Chuck Berry sideman Johnnie Johnson shows up on piano for a couple songs ("Shame, Shame, Shame" and "Temperature") to remind listeners that this is, after all, a blues album--at least Aerosmith's version of the blues. And you know what? It works. It's one of the strongest albums of their career. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED