Aerosmith, ‘Legendary Child’

Aerosmith have released the first single, ‘Legendary Child,’ from their upcoming disc ‘Music From Another Dimension,’ after performing it last night (May 23) on the 'American Idol' season finale – seizing the opportunity to make the most of Steven Tyler’s judging job on the talent show.

Since the band hasn’t released an album of new material in eight years, fans have been chomping at the bit to hear anything new from Boston's bad boys and if ‘Legendary Child’ is any indication of what’s in store for the rest of the disc, they’re headed in the right direction.

While the band took a more commercial approach on their last few discs, ‘Legendary Child’ feels like a return to form for Aerosmith and their gritty rock roots. While it’s not possible to travel back in time, this song does a good job of reminding us of where Aerosmith came from.

Perry and Tyler, although sometimes at odds, are one of the best songwriting duos in rock history and knowing what each one does best seems to play a big role in that. Guitarist Joe Perry gets to flex his guitar chops on this tune providing a blues infused rock riff that carries the song. Steven Tyler’s strengths come with taking a simple lyric and spinning it into an unforgettable tongue-twister, he also takes advantage of calling on past hits throughout the song with lines like, “I took a chance at the high school dance, never knowing wrong from right” – can you name that tune?

Even more interesting is the message behind the lyrics – a band that’s seemingly seen and done it all, still having the hunger to extend their career rather than rest on their laurels, it's chock full of attitude.

The chorus soars with the title of the song being crooned out, as Steven Tyler and Aerosmith makes a game out of extending the five syllables into a marathon verse ‘Legeeeennndarrryyyy Chilllld' right before the chorus opens up for Joe Perry to break out into a guitar solo.

After all of the drama leading up to the new disc with reported infighting and bickering it’s great to hear that none of that impacted the music in the slightest. Let’s hope this is not just a small taste of what’s in store on disc ‘Music From Another Dimension,’ but a promise of more to come.

'Music From Another Dimension' is due out Aug. 28.