Tom Hamilton Announces Debut Show With New Band, Close Enemies

Aerosmith bassist Tom Hamilton has announced his first show with a new band called Close Enemies, which will take place next month in Nashville.

"Hey, I need to tell you something about a band I'm playing with called Close Enemies," Hamilton wrote on X (formerly Twitter) on Friday. "We have a bunch of good songs recorded. We're going to release one soon. Meanwhile, we're doing a show in Nashville on October 11 in Nashville at a place called Eastside Bowl. Please come!!"

Hamilton recently discussed his new project with Guitar World, where he also reflected on the end of Aerosmith's touring days. He called the news "a punch in the gut" but held out hope that "maybe someday we can do something again, but it won't be a tour." In the meantime, he said, "I've been keeping busy playing in a band we're calling Close Enemies. We've recorded a bunch of killer songs and we're getting closer to deciding how we're going to put it out. Can't wait!"

READ MORE: Tom Hamilton Recalls Aerosmith's Wilderness Years

Who Is Playing With Tom Hamilton in Close Enemies?

Hamilton isn't the only member of Close Enemies with rock royalty affiliations. "I’m also playing in a band called Close Enemies with my bass tech, Trace Foster. He plays guitar along with Peter Stroud, who’s been playing with Sheryl Crow for 25 years," Hamilton recently told AARP. "Our drummer is Tony Brock, who had a band called the Babys and then played with Rod Stewart for 12 years. We have a great lyricist named Gary Stier. Our singer, Chasen Hampton, is a gifted singer who really made the songs come to life.

"When I joined, these guys had worked up a bunch of great songs, and I was able to contribute something I had," he continued. "Hopefully, when the time comes, we’ll work up some others I’ve had in my pocket for a while. All of these guys are great musicians, and it’s an honor and a challenge to be part of it all. I’m looking forward to seeing how people like it. I think they’ll be pleasantly amazed!"

15. 'Just Push Play' (2001)

Joe Perry has said the unfocused Just Push Play was an example of how not to make an album. The garish rap-metal title track and schmaltzy, phoned-in ballads like "Fly Away From Here" and "Luv Lies" prove him right. Album opener "Beyond Beautiful" rocks formidably, and the Top 10 hit "Jaded" is an excellent slice of breezy power-pop, but these stray highlights can't salvage an otherwise disjointed, try-hard mess.

14. 'Honkin' on Bobo' (2004)

The prospect of Aerosmith returning to their blues-rock roots after the misguided Just Push Play certainly sounded appealing, if totally retrograde. But Honkin' on Bobo often sounds too clinical and big-budget to rock with abandon. Still, spirited covers of "Shame, Shame, Shame" and "Stop Messin' Around" are sweaty, booze-soaked blasts from the past that hark back to the group's bar-band days.

13. 'Music From Another Dimension' (2012)

Aerosmith's first album of original material since 2001's Just Push Play didn't answer the question of where the group was headed. They're still all over the map, still trying to be too many things to too many people – all while internal tensions pull at every corner. Joe Perry and Brad Whitford save them with a bag full of stockpiled riffs, and "Out Go the Lights" and "Street Jesus" rock harder than anything else they released in the 21st century.

12. 'Rock in a Hard Place' (1982)

It couldn't have been worse for Aerosmith, right? Joe Perry was gone, and Brad Whitford soon followed him out the door. That cover of a Julie London hit ("Cry Me a River") didn't inspire much confidence either. Funny thing, though: They experiment in ways they might not have before — see the psychedelic odyssey "Joanie's Butterfly" — and "Lightning Strikes" was as tough as anything Aerosmith had ever done.

11. 'Nine Lives' (1997)

Following a trio of multiplatinum mega-hits, Aerosmith got rawer and considerably weirder on the laborious Nine Lives. The ballads are more eccentric — from the pub singalong "Full Circle" to the blustery scat-singing of "Ain't That a Bitch" — while the title track and hyperspeed "Crash" show Aerosmith at their hard-rocking best. "Falling in Love (Is Hard on the Knees)" and "Pink" lack the transcendent catchiness of previous hit singles, but there's still a lot to enjoy on this latter-day curio.

10. 'Draw the Line' (1977)

Expectations were high for Aerosmith following the back-to-back masterpieces Toys in the Attic and Rocks. Unfortunately, Tyler and Perry were even higher. Consequently, Draw the Line's highlights — the slide guitar-heavy title track, the medieval prog epic "Kings and Queens" — rank among Aerosmith's best work. But its low points — "The Hand That Feeds," a perfunctory cover of the Kinks' "Milk Cow Blues" — are dismal, drug-addled slogs that foreshadow their imminent implosion.

9. 'Get a Grip' (1993)

Aerosmith followed the old adage "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" on their third consecutive multiplatinum smash, to slightly diminishing results. Ubiquitous mega-ballads "Crazy," "Cryin'" and "Amazing" are as catchy as they are cheesy, and "Eat the Rich" and "Fever" satisfy the irreverent raunch-rock quota. But at 14 songs and 62 minutes, Get a Grip runs way too long, getting bogged down by tuneless filler like "Flesh" and "Gotta Love It."

8: 'Done With Mirrors' (1985)

Don't let anybody tell you that Aerosmith's comeback started anywhere else but here. In a better world, this gloriously shambling collection of underrated gems would have brought them back to the top without synthesizers or outside writers. "Let the Music Do the Talking" is a thundering statement of purpose, and "The Hop" delivers the sorely missed bar-band boogie of Aerosmith's youth.

7. 'Permanent Vacation' (1987)

Aerosmith's comeback started with Done With Mirrors, but they didn't get going commercially until this album, which zoomed to five-times platinum sales behind a trio of Top 20 songs. Older fans may have chafed at producer Bruce Fairbairn's studio tricks, to say nothing of the arrival of outside songwriters, but there's no denying the hooks of "Rag Doll" and "Dude (Looks Like a Lady)." Aerosmith had never been bigger — so far, anyway.

6. 'Night in the Ruts' (1979)

Everything fell apart for Aerosmith in the middle of this project, as Joe Perry and longtime producer Jack Douglas both exited. Yet they somehow returned to their bedrock raunch after the mildly experimental Draw the Line, even as they hinted at a new polish that would propel them to unimaginable heights in the '80s. "No Surprize" and "Bone to Bone (Coney Island White Fish Boy)" are proper barnstormers, and a cover of the the Shangri-Las' "Remember (Walking in the Sand)" indulges Tyler's affinity for '60s pop.

5: 'Aerosmith' (1973)

The definition of a grower, this self-titled debut – and its best song, the proto-power ballad "Dream On" – went nowhere at first. That was no fault of Aerosmith's, actually. They arrived here fully formed as an American hybrid of Led Zeppelin, the Rolling Stones and your favorite bawdy bar band. Everybody finally learned that when "Dream On" went Top 10 in 1976.

4: 'Pump' (1989)

Now cleaned up and fully focused, Aerosmith combined everything that worked in their drug-addled first era with a modern hitmaking sheen. To say it worked is a wild understatement. "Love in an Elevator" blends monolithic riffs with sky-high hooks, while "What It Takes" and "Janie's Got a Gun" show the breadth of their songwriting. Toys in the Attic has sold more copies, but it took decades to accomplish what Pump did almost immediately.

3: 'Get Your Wings' (1974)

Jack Douglas provides the final piece of Aerosmith's glory-years puzzle. This is the platform from which everything followed. Steven Tyler is finally emboldened enough to proclaim himself "Lord of the Thighs," even as Aerosmith blows a hole in "The Train Kept a Rollin'." But there's also the new sense of controlled brilliance of "Seasons of Wither." The stage is set.

2: 'Rocks' (1976)

As popular as it was influential, Rocks spawned two Top 40 hits even as it constructed a foundation for next-generation bands like Metallica and Guns N' Roses. More raw and direct than the earlier Toys in the Attic, this album finishes second by a whisker – if only because, for all of its strengths, Rocks tends to sound like an echo of its predecessor rather than something entirely new.

1: 'Toys in the Attic' (1975)

Steven Tyler found his essential rock-star deviance, Joe Perry and Brad Whitford tangled brilliantly, the rhythm section played with a streetwise menace and Jack Douglas captured them just as they were. "Walk This Way" and "Sweet Emotion" established their legend, while a scorching cover of "Big Ten-Inch Record" helped complete their story. Aerosmith never had a bigger hit, or deserved it more.

Next: Underrated Aerosmith: The Most Overlooked Song From Each Album