"Angel" is a song performed by American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 hard rock

Hard rock

Hard rock is a loosely defined genre of rock music which has its earliest roots in mid-1960s garage rock, blues rock and psychedelic rock...

 band Aerosmith

Aerosmith

Aerosmith is an American rock band, sometimes referred to as "The Bad Boys from Boston" and "America's Greatest Rock and Roll Band". Their style, which is rooted in blues-based hard rock, has come to also incorporate elements of pop, heavy metal, and rhythm and blues, and has inspired many...

. It was written by lead singer Steven Tyler

Steven Tyler

Steven Tyler is an American singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist, best known as the frontman and lead singer of the Boston-based rock band Aerosmith, in which he also plays the harmonica, and occasional piano and percussion. He is known as the "Demon of Screamin'", due to his high screams...

 and professional songwriting collaborator Desmond Child

Desmond Child

Desmond Child is an American musician, songwriter, and producer. He is a member of the Songwriters Hall of Fame.-Career:...

. It was released in 1988

1988 in music

This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1988.-January-March:* January 1 – André Rieu's Johann Strauss Orchestra plays its first concert....

 as the second single from the band's massively successful 1987

1987 in music

This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1987.See also:Record labels established in 1987-January-February:*January 3 – Aretha Franklin becomes the first woman inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame...

 album Permanent Vacation

Permanent Vacation (album)

Permanent Vacation is the ninth studio album by American rock band Aerosmith, released in August 1987 by Geffen Records.The album marks a turning point in the band's career. It is their first album to employ professional songwriters, instead of featuring material solely composed by members of the...

. It quickly climbed to #3 on the Billboard Hot 100

Billboard Hot 100

The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...

, the second highest chart performance for any Aerosmith single.

Song structure

A power ballad style, it incorporates many of the characteristics of rock ballads, including driving electrical guitar riffs by Joe Perry

Joe Perry (musician)

Anthony Joseph "Joe" Perry is the lead guitarist, backing and occasional lead vocalist, and contributing songwriter for the rock band Aerosmith. He is influenced by many rock artists especially The Rolling Stones and The Beatles...

 and Brad Whitford

Brad Whitford

Bradford Ernest Whitford is the rhythm guitarist for the hard rock band Aerosmith. He graduated Reading Memorial High School in 1970.-Career:...

, pianos and violin sounds (from a keyboard), an emotional delivery of lyrics by Steven Tyler, a strong rhythm by bassist Tom Hamilton

Tom Hamilton (musician)

Thomas William "Tom" Hamilton is an American musician, best known as the bassist of hard rock band Aerosmith. He has co-written two of Aerosmith's hits, "Sweet Emotion" and "Janie's Got a Gun". Hamilton occasionally plays guitar and sings backing vocals Thomas William "Tom" Hamilton (born...

, and well-placed steady drum beats by Joey Kramer

Joey Kramer

Joseph Michael "Joey" Kramer is the drummer for the American hard rock band Aerosmith....

.

Charts

End of year chart (1988)	Position
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	34

Music video

The music video for "Angel" focuses primarily on a character played by Steven Tyler who is hypnotized by an intangible angel, presumably his ex-lover. There are also scenes of him playing the piano.

The other band members can be seen playing their instruments on city streets, and there is a notable guitar solo by Joe Perry on a rural highway. The video was directed by Marty Callner

Marty Callner

Marty Callner is a director. His primary work is with music videos. Marty has directed work from such popular artists as Cher, The Rolling Stones and Aerosmith and has work recorded back as far as 1977 and as recent as 2009. He has been nominated for 7 Emmys, 3 DGAs, and 1 CableACE Award...

.

Current status

Steven Tyler has publicly spoken against the song on numerous occasions. He was quoted saying on a radio interview in 1990 "The song was beautiful. It made me cry. But I heard it so damn much it drove me crazy! It became overplayed and at this point I'm so sick of it I never want to hear that song again". Since the Pump Tour

Pump Tour

The Pump Tour was a concert tour by American hard rock band Aerosmith that lasted twelve months, from mid-October 1989 to mid-October 1990. The tour was put on in support of the band's second consecutive multi-platinum album Pump, released in September 1989....

in 1989-1990 the song has become somewhat of a rarity only being played once in the last 10 years.

External links

• http://www.setlist.fm/stats/aerosmith-3bd6b8fc.html