Rock in a Hard Place

Rock in a Hard Place is the seventh studio album by American hard rock band Aerosmith, released on August 1, 1982 on Columbia. It is the only Aerosmith album to not feature guitarist Joe Perry. The band spent 1.5 million dollars on the recording of this album.

Rhythm guitarist Brad Whitford left the band during its recording in 1981. Whitford is billed as an “additional musician”, and can be heard playing rhythm guitar on “Lightning Strikes.” This was also Aerosmith’s last studio album released on Columbia Records until 1997.

Despite the album’s negative reviews, drummer Joey Kramer asserts in his 2009 autobiography, Hit Hard: A Story of Hitting Rock Bottom at the Top: “The record doesn’t suck. There’s some real good stuff on it. But it’s not a real Aerosmith record because it’s just me, Steven, and Tom - with a fill-in guitar player. It’s Jimmy Crespo doing the guitar work.”