Steven Tyler steps away from Aerosmith -- hopefully temporarily -- with his first-ever solo single, '(It) Feels So Good,' and it feels, well, alright.

Don't get us wrong, Tyler's in fine voice and lyrical wit, all "oooh-la-las" and "bon soirs," and the song has a catchy melody.  Maybe we just need some more time to adjust to the diminished role of the guitar riff and the vaguely hip-hop inspired drum track in this song.

On the other hand (and making the song kind of a mash-up) it is nice to see the poppy, psychedelic influence of the Beatles pop up in his music again, what with the gentle strums of acoustic guitars and sitar-ish sounding accents. Still, it's hard not to wish for a more muscular guitarist or two to get in there and make things a bit louder and messier. Hmm, wonder who he could find to fit that bill?

One thing that doesn't seem affected by flying solo, based on the subject matter, is Tyler's libido:  "It feels so good loving you / Yeah it feels so good the way you do the do / It feels so good and I need oxygen / Little bit of heaven do it twenty-four-seven again." Figure he's probably been handling that department in his life without his bandmates all these years anyway, right?

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Listen to Steven Tyler, '(It) Feels So Good'

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