With Aerosmith preparing for liftoff on their ‘Global Warming’ summer tour with Cheap Trick, they’ve been doing a lot of press to talk about both the upcoming trek and their highly anticipated new album.

Guitarist Brad Whitford says that even after more than four decades, there are still plenty of surprising moments. “I never imagined [we’d be on ‘60 Minutes’ unless] maybe in handcuffs,” he says, while noting that it was a cool moment for him personally, having grown up as a fan of the show.

The forthcoming ‘Music From Another Dimension’ album scales unforeseen heights with the band members saying that believe it or not, they’ve captured the classic Aerosmith sound, reaching with producer Jack Douglas all the way back to the ‘70s when they were doing some of their best work.

Whitford tells the Youngstown Vindicator that he believes that the competition and internal strife within a band like Aerosmith often helps many groups produce the desired results. “It has to be this competition, and this rivalry and also this stuff going on to create a kind of furnace that burns at a really high temperature. That’s when you get the passion and everything. That’s what makes for great music.”

In a separate interview, bassist Tom Hamilton told Billboard that the new album is a true band effort. All five band members contributed to the writing and he says its 14 span the range of their entire career.

“I think it just kind of reflects all the eras of our career, everything we’ve learned over the centuries — the 70s era, just all-out riff rock songs, and then the later stuff that’s more melodic, ballady stuff so that we can have girls in our audience. It’s all there.”

Not everything is set in stone quite yet. Hamilton says that it’s possible that some special guests might show up on the album. “Everything is not 100 percent definite at this point. There’s still decisions to be made, so it’s just a little early to talk about that.”

One thing that appears a bit more definite: Hamilton says that fans coming out to see Aerosmith this summer will hear music from the album. “We’re chomping at the bit to play a bunch of these live. We haven’t had an album of new material in a long time, so it really makes you feel like you’re walking out there with a loaded weapon.”

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