Tag: Wayne's World 2

Retro Review: Aerosmith – Get a Grip (Geffen Records)

By: Jesse Striewski

Shortly before Aerosmith released their fifteenth (and arguably their most commercially successful) album Get a Grip in 1993, I was introduced to the band via their classic 1975 offering Toys in the Attic when I came upon it among a pile of other cassettes in my family’s community “stash” of tapes and CD’s. I was roughly around twelve years old, and while I had already owned albums by the likes of M.C. Hammer and “Weird Al” Yankovic (naturally), Toys… was the first rock record that ever fully crossed my path. And what a game changer it was.

Not long after my discovery, the band released said Get a Grip album on April 20, 1993, and I was there for it all the way. I would actually shell out the few bucks it cost for a cassette single each and every time the band dropped a new song, slowly leading up to getting the album itself (I eventually would on Christmas morning that very same year, along with the band’s 1973 self-titled debut album along with it). By all accounts, the album was marketed perfectly, and I was just the right audience for it at the time.

Get a Grip starts off with an odd little intro that finds frontman Steven Tyler “rapping” some lyrics before kicking into high gear with “Eat the Rich,” arguably the most aggressive (and one of the best) track on the entire album. The equally fun title track and “Fever” follow before “Livin’ on the Edge,” the first single initially released from the record and one of the most unique videos made for any of the album’s singles (featuring Terminator 2 actor Edward Furlong).

“Flesh” takes things to a darker level, while the Joe Perry-penned “Walk on Down” brings a cool blues-ridden swag to things. “Shut up and Dance” was co-written by Damn Yankees bandmates Jack Blades and Tommy Shaw, and the band was also featured performing the track in the film Wayne’s World 2 (released later that same year). It’s at that point the “ballads” really start taking hold with the song and video that introduced the world (and every eager twelve-year-old boy at the time, such as myself) to a young Alicia Silverstone, “Cryin’.”

“Gotta Love It” is sandwiched between “Cryin'” and another Silverstone track, “Crazy,” which is where most of us also first caught a glimpse of Tyler’s tall glass of water daughter, Liv. “Line Up” is a catchy number co-written by Lenny Kravitz that somehow found its way into the 1994 Jim Carrey vehicle Ace Ventura: Pet Detective. Last but not least of the “Silverstone Trio” (and preceding the most forgettable track on the album, “Boogie Man”) “Amazing,” which featured a cutting-edge technology (at the time at least) virtual reality themed-video, and co-starring actor Jason London. Co-written by long time collaborator Richie Supa, the song also featured vocals from Don Henley of The Eagles.

Often when brought up today, Get a Grip is not regarded by many as one of their favorite Aerosmith albums (I can see now why some would feel this way). But the facts are undeniable; it was the band’s first release in their then-twenty plus year career to reach number one on the Billboard 200, and still their highest selling-album to date. Several of the hits are still played on rock radio stations to this day, and something tells me most bands that have not achieved the same level of success would absolutely welcome it.

Retrospective: 30 Years Since we first entered ‘Wayne’s World’ By Jesse Striewski

Before Saturday Night Live became the embarrassing mess of mean-spirited, nasty nonsense that it unfortunately has, it actually gave us some great moments and memorable characters in TV history. In the ’70s the likes of the Coneheads stood out, while Eddie Murphy dominated the early part of the ’80s with multiple personas, including Gumby, Buckwheat, and Mr. Robinson.

But by the late ’80s, we were introduced to two guys who “rocked” out in a basement while filming a public access show, Wayne and Garth, potrayed wonderfully by castmates Mike Myers and Dana Carvey. The original Wayne’s World skit officially premired on February 18, 1989, ushering in a new era of pop culture phenomion. Shortly after, I began discovering many of the bands (Guns N’ Roses, Aerosmith, etc…) the duo would reference on their “show” on my own personal journey, so it made perfect sense for me to fall for these two lovable dimwits.

It didn’t take long for Producer Lorne Michaels and co. to cash in on their newfound hit skit, and by 1991, a film version for Paramount Pictures was green lit. Veteran rock director Penelope Spheeris, who at the time was best known for her Decline of Western Civilization films, was tapped to direct.

Released on February 14, 1992, Wayne’s World was an instant hit, eventually going on to gross over $180 million at the box office. Aside from Myers and Carvey, it also starred Tia Carre as Wayne’s sexy love interest, Cassandra, and ’80s brat packer Rob Lowe as sleazy television producer Benjamin, hell-bent on exploiting the show and stealing the girl all at once.

Wayne’s World was a one-of-a-kind ride like few others that came before it, with the two heroes stumbling upon a host of colorful characters along the way, with bit parts played by everyone from Meat Loaf, Ed O’Neill, Chris Farley, to even Alice Cooper himself (I couldn’t help but think of the film when I saw Cooper perform “Feed My Frankenstein” for the first time years later in 2005).

Aside from Cooper, it’s soundtrack also boosted many others who weren’t necessarily considered “in” by 1992’s standards, including Black Sabbath and Cinderella, as well as giving Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” it’s highest ever chart position sixteen years after it’s original release (shortly before his death that same year, late Queen frontman Freddie Mercury actually gave his blessing for the song to be used in the film, reportedly loving the head-banging car scene it was used in).

I myself was not able to see the film during its original run in the cinemas; just two months after it hit theaters, I was involved in a car accident that would ultimately change my life forever and leaving me permanently disabled. But during the many months I spent recovering in the hospital, I watched the film for the first time with a fellow long-term patient shortly after it came out on video.

However, I was finally able to catch Wayne and Garth on the big screen the following year when Wayne’s World 2 was released in December of 1993. Although lacking some of the charm of the original (and the direction of Spheeris, who Myers reportedly butted heads with during production of the first film), the sequel did have some of its own memorable moments, including some stand out performances from the likes of Christoper Walken, Kim Basinger, and Oliva d’Abo, among others.

Still, even with all of its flaws, I will gladly take Wayne’s World 2 over ninety-nine percent of what passes as “comedy” these days. When the Wayne’s World films were released, there was still a sort of innocence that’s just been lost today; so much of what comes out now is either hollow, or contains a level of ugliness fueled by some need to push an agenda and/or criticize in the name of “social justice.” Society is indeed headed down an unfortunate path, and should really take a cue from Wayne and Garth, and just be “excellent” to each other again.