"Amazing" is a song by American

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a loosely defined subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the garage, psychedelic and blues rock movements. Some of the earliest hard ...

band

Aerosmith Aerosmith is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Boston in 1970. The group consists of Steven Tyler (lead vocals), Joe Perry (musician), Joe Perry (guitar), Tom Hamilton (musician), Tom Hamilton (bass), Joey Kramer (drums) and Brad Whi ...

Don Henley Donald Hugh Henley (born July 22, 1947) is an American musician and a founding member of the rock band Eagles. He is the drummer and one of the lead singers for the Eagles. Henley sang the lead vocals on Eagles hits such as "Witchy Woman", "Despe ...

lends his vocals, shadowing lead singer

Steven Tyler Steven Victor Tallarico (born March 26, 1948), known professionally as Steven Tyler, is an American singer, best known as the lead singer of the Boston-based rock band Aerosmith, in which he also plays the harmonica, piano, and percussion. ...

in parts of this song. The

rock ballad A sentimental ballad is an emotional style of music that often deals with romantic and intimate relationships, and to a lesser extent, loneliness, death, war, drug abuse, politics and religion, usually in a poignant but solemn manner.J. M. Cu ...

was written by Tyler and longtime band friend and collaborator Richie Supa. It peaked at number 24 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100, number three on the ''Billboard'' Album Rock Tracks chart, number nine on the ''Billboard''

Mainstream Top 40 Pop Airplay (also called Mainstream Top 40, Pop Songs, and Top 40/contemporary hit radio, CHR) is a 40-song music chart published weekly by Billboard (magazine), ''Billboard'' Magazine that ranks the most popular songs of pop music being played o ...

. The song was also successful abroad, peaking at number two in Iceland, number four in Canada, number five in Norway, and the top 20 in the Netherlands and Switzerland. On the album ''

Get a Grip ''Get a Grip'' is the eleventh studio album by American rock band Aerosmith, released in April 1993 by Geffen Records. ''Get a Grip'' was the band's last studio album to be released by Geffen before they returned to Columbia Records. ''Get a Gr ...

'', as soon as the song ends, a radio is heard being tuned into a recording of " Who Threw the Whiskey in the Well", recorded by

Lucky Millinder Lucius Venable "Lucky" Millinder (August 8, 1910 – September 28, 1966) was an American swing and rhythm-and-blues bandleader. Although he could not read or write music, did not play an instrument and rarely sang, his showmanship and musical ...

. Tyler says, "So from all of us at Aerosmith to all of you out there, wherever you are, remember: the light at the end of the tunnel may be you. Good night." Millinder's orchestra plays as the music fades out.

Lyrical content

It is written by Steven Tyler, with assistance from the professional songwriter and former bandmate Richie Supa. It tells about his troubled life and drug abuse after the band broke up. The 1987 comeback album, '' Permanent Vacation'', and its title track were mentioned in the lyrics for "Amazing".

Critical reception

Pan-European magazine ''

Music & Media ''Music & Media'' was a pan-European magazine for radio, music and entertainment. It was published for the first time in 1984 as ''Eurotipsheet'', but in 1986 it changed name to ''Music & Media''. It was originally based in Amsterdam, but later ...

'' commented, "Hold your lighters into the air and do the wave, because this is the ultimate stadium

. You will still be singing it when you drive home." Leesa Daniels from ''

Smash Hits ''Smash Hits'' was a British music magazine aimed at young adults, originally published by EMAP. It ran from 1978 to 2006, and, after initially appearing monthly, was issued fortnightly during most of that time. The name survived as a brand fo ...

'' gave "Amazing" five out of five, writing, "The 'Smith have yet again come up with another anthem rock ballad that'll have you screeching in full rock god style until your lungs explode."

Music video

The accompanying

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

for the song, directed by

Marty Callner Marty Callner (born 1950 in Cincinnati, Ohio) is an American television director, who has made music videos, comedy specials, concert specials, and television shows, in a career spanning from 1977 to present day. He is the creator of HBO's '' Ha ...

, is well known for its depiction of digital technology and was the second appearance of

Alicia Silverstone Alicia Silverstone ( ; born October 4, 1976) is an American actress. She made her film debut in the thriller ''The Crush (1993 film), The Crush'' (1993), earning the 1994 MTV Movie Award for Best Breakthrough Performance, and gained further prom ...

in the band's videos. Paired with her was

Jason London Jason Paul London (born November 7, 1972) is an American actor, known for his roles as Randall "Pink" Floyd in director Richard Linklater's film '' Dazed and Confused'' (1993), as Jesse in '' The Rage: Carrie 2'' (1999) and as Rick Rambis in '' O ...

, star of '' Dazed and Confused'', a film which was released in the same year as ''Get a Grip'' and which memorably made numerous references to Aerosmith. The characters appear in the music video as two cyberspace kids who escape to a world of

virtual reality Virtual reality (VR) is a simulated experience that employs pose tracking and 3D near-eye displays to give the user an immersive feel of a virtual world. Applications of virtual reality include entertainment (particularly video games), educ ...

together, neither realizing the other is also in virtual reality. The head-mounted display worn by London in the video was manufactured by

Liquid Image Liquid Image Corporation was a Winnipeg-based company that manufactured head-mounted displays. The company formed in 1992 by Tony Havelka, David Collette and Shannon O'Brien. Liquid Image was started in Winnipeg, MB in response to the emergence of ...

, who was contacted by the production crew and asked to provide a head-mounted display system for the VR sequence. Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry suffered a slight head injury during the making of the video, and it was extended by 52 seconds at the end, where two loops were inserted. In the virtual dream world, the two embark on a motorcycle journey and sky-dive, as well as engage in a steamy makeout session. One part of the video shows the characters boarding and taking flight in a

biplane A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two main wings stacked one above the other. The first powered, controlled aeroplane to fly, the Wright Flyer, used a biplane wing arrangement, as did many aircraft in the early years of aviation. While ...

which, combined with the digital technology, creates what is often regarded as a fascinating dichotomy between antiquated and modern technology, in some ways presenting a parallel for the characters. Meanwhile, members of the band perform in various parts throughout the song, including in a tunnel, as well as solo shots of

in a room by himself and Joe Perry playing a guitar solo with a cityscape in the background. At the end of the video, it is discovered that it was Silverstone who was engaging in the virtual fantasy.

Track listing

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Release history

References

{{Authority control Aerosmith songs 1990s ballads 1992 songs 1993 singles Geffen Records singles Music videos directed by Marty Callner Rock ballads Song recordings produced by Bruce Fairbairn Songs written by Richard Supa Songs written by Steven Tyler