The Noise in Steven Tyler's Head

Sorry, but no – this isn’t going to be a break-down or revelation of why classic rocker and lead singer of Aerosmith is so “out there,” but merely a review of his 2011 autobiography, Does the Noise in My Head Bother You?

If you aren’t a fan of Aerosmith, you probably won’t be reading his autobiography. And if you are a fan of Aerosmith, you probably share some sort of brainwave with Steven Tyler, born Steven Tallarico, and will get a kick out of what he has to say. Why I throw this disclaimer in? His writing is about as “out there” as he is.

Don’t know what I am talking about? Does the Noise in My Head Bother You? is one of the most informal, conversational pieces I have ever read. Generally things like switching from first to second person or from past to present tense from one sentence to the next, things we all do in verbal storytelling, are edited out in print. But for some reason, Tyler’s editor kept it in. And in this particular book, it pays off – the sporadic writing style emits an effect like you are sitting in a room with the singer while he spends an afternoon spewing every story he remembers.

And I can honestly say that there isn’t a dull moment, because he obviously spent tedious hours editing them out, which may be why his stories of childhood are lacking, yet his musical career is both extensive… and insane. But we’ll get more into that in the next paragraph.

Unlike many autobiographies, the novel isn’t linear. Sure it starts from his childhood and goes through Aerosmith’s complete discography from Aerosmith (1973) to Honkin’ on Bobo (2004) (the other albums weren’t in existence until the book came out), but once it breaks into his music career the chapters tackle topics such as sex, drugs, and rock n’ roll in an endless cycle of whatever stories he can come up with for the decade being discussed. Want an example of the cycle? How about the hot radio DJ he bangs on air, the third trip to rehab the band made him take, and dancing around on stage to the point where his feet are trashed. Then, of course, the pain killers from the feet turn him back onto drugs, and the cycle starts over – see what I mean? There are even times when he fills in stuff that he forgot to mention earlier and never goes back to put in the right place. It’s a unique read, saying the least.

Just in case the book isn’t wild enough, it’s also a through-read of seemingly unedited thoughts. Tyler uses “writhe” mid-story, a verb meaning to twist and squirm, talks about how much he loves the word, proceeds to list other words that he loves, and then goes back to continue the story he was originally talking about. It’s like the editor didn’t want to take time to cut all the crap out because it is Steven friggin’ Tyler – legendary rock star. The novel really dives into Tyler’s crazily creative mind. Even just telling a story about Joe Perry, for instance, the bold, alliterated diction and integrated simile abundance proves that he’s a character that stands out and is used to writing songs.

For me, Does the Noise in My Head Bother You? is a four-out-of-five star read. It’s entertaining, mesmerizing, funny, sad, sometimes confusing, but nonetheless an entryway to peek at the life of a legend.