Aerosmith says new album brings "a little of 1975 back"

Joe Perry (L-R), Steven Tyler, Joey Kramer, and Tom Hamilton of the band Aerosmith answer questions during an announcement of their Global Warming Tour in Los Angeles on March 28, 2012. [Photo/Agencies]

LOS ANGELES -- Veteran rock band Aerosmith said on Wednesday they were bringing "a little of 1975 back" on a long-delayed album of new material to be released this summer to coincide with a U.S. tour.

The band said they were working on finishing up the album - the first of new material since 2001's "Just Push Play" - ahead of the tour, but kept the title under wraps.

"The camaraderie's there, there's some songs that are new rock, and old rock and middle-of-the-road rock, and blues, piano. Joe Perry singing a couple of songs, I'm playing the drums, Joey sings, just all kinds of stuff," frontman Steven Tyler told Reuters.

Aerosmith, whose previous attempts to make a new album were dogged by a litany of health problems and internal strife, said they had been working with their long-time producer Jack Douglas to bring "a little bit of 1975 back."

The band will kick off their North American "Global Warming Tour" on June 16 in Minneapolis, playing 18 cities from Toronto to Oakland, California and Atlanta, Georgia. Tickets go on sale from Friday.

"You're going to get some new songs from the new album and some old songs from the old albums and you're going to get new us and old us, and we're just going to go out and rock your world," Tyler, 64, told Reuters.

The volatile singer and "American Idol" judge was greeted by dozens of fans as the band swept into a Los Angeles news conference in flamboyant fashion - Tyler on a motorbike, drummer Joey Kramer in a white Lamborghini, guitarist Joe Perry in a taxi and bassist Tom Hamilton in a rickshaw. Guitarist Brad Whitford is currently on tour with another band.

"We've been known to set the world on fire with our type of music...so we decided to call this The Global Warming Tour," Tyler told journalists.

COMING BACK HOME

Formed in Boston in the 1970s, Aerosmith has sold over 150 million records worldwide and had hits like "Walk This Way" and "I Don't Want to Miss A Thing".

But they said playing at home was the biggest thrill.

"Coming back to American fans, that's my favorite part, because being on stage and getting the response that we're going to get hopefully from these new songs from American fans is something I really look forward to and something that has always held us together," said Kramer.

Aerosmith's last North American tour, in 2009, had to be scrapped midway through after Tyler, who had a history of drug addiction, fell off the stage and broke his shoulder. He later entered rehab for addiction to prescription painkillers.

Last year, he fell in the shower during Aerosmith's South American tour after passing out with stomach flu, but was back performing two days later.

"I'm going to be in a sling all night to hold me up!" Tyler joked on Wednesday of the upcoming gigs.

"It's all ludicrous, we've played...almost 5000 times now. I've fallen of the stage four times, so it's alright, it gets a lot of press...I'm just an overactive kid that gets into a lot of trouble. Let's wait to see what happens next," he said.

Tyler's decision in 2010 to join "American Idol" as a judge ruffled some feathers among his bandmates. But Tyler said his role on the TV singing contest had brought Aerosmith a whole new audience.

"The music that we write, fortunately it's been seductive to all genres of people. There's going to be kids who are going to get introduced to Aerosmith all over again, and there's a bunch of new music that we're taking a risk and putting out. It's kind of futuristic rock, all the way across the board, we're just good for that," said the rocker.