Steven Tyler
We’re All Somebody from Somewhere
Dot Records

After nigh on 50 years as the flamboyant hollering frontman of veteran rockers Aerosmith, Steven Tyler has finally got around to recording a solo album. For his debut, the 68-year-old has turned to the mega-unit-shifting machine of mainstream country music. Make no mistake, this is not about Tyler finally finding his country roots, but an orchestrated launch of a breakaway solo career. The acoustic opener My Own Worst Enemy kicks things off nicely, a slow-burn rhythm and blues number allowing Tyler’s inimitable rasp to grab at the heartstrings, as he does on Janie’s Got a Gun, though that’s hardly surprising as its a cover of his band’s own damn song.

Possessing one of the most iconic voices in rock music, the former American Idol judge may have belted out the blues on those early Aerosmith albums, but as he sings “Bang bang baby like the 4th of July” on the cringingly inappropriately titled Red, White & You, it doesn’t matter how much slide guitar and how many whoops he throws at it, it lacks the authentic soul of his former glories and screams of a country cash-in.