The new Aerosmith album isn’t so much “music from another dimension” as it is an attempt to produce music for another generation while trying to appease fans from another era.

Steven Tyler’s duet with Carrie Underwood in “Can’t Stop Lovin’ You,” on Music From Another Dimension is, no doubt, an example of Aero-creativity geared towards a younger demographic. Even solid hard rockers like “Legendary Child” and “Luv XXX,” are digitally in-tune to a 2012 audience.

But it’s the meatier, classic-sounding, hard driving rockers like “Street Jesus” and “Lover Alot” that really make the grade. These are the small gifts to those retro-dreaming of the Aero-’70s. In fact, “Lover Alot” may remind fans of something that could have been on Toys in the Attic. Seriously. It’s that good. And “Street Jesus” is a track that has a ‘can’t resist’ quality with a classic Toxic Twins salvo. And “Out Go the Lights” … well, this is Joey Kramer’s best use of cowbell since “Walk This Way.”

It’s the ballads — and there are six (!) of them — that weigh the album down. They range from power ballad to the (preferred) blues ballad. But soft-tossers can be the first things listeners skip over. They can really suck the momentum out of an album that’s in a strong groove. That being said, no one does hard rock ballads better than Aerosmith. Aero-ballads may be sentimental and even sensational at times but they have a longer shelf life than the perishable sap the likes of  Motley Crue, Skid Row and Poison (to name only a few) dished out in the late-’80s. Unfortunately for Aerosmith, there are no ” I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing” winners on Music From Another Dimension. In the end, it’s the hard rockers that save the day.

The one true misfire, it must be pointed out, is the song “Beautiful.” It’s quite an odd marriage of awkward rapping and an overproduced, Def Leppard-ish chorus. Steven Tyler does play a mean guitar on it but nothing can help this freak of nature called a song.

Joe Perry claims that “This is the album we wanted to make since the band got back together in 1984.” And that may be about right. There aren’t any annoying “hits” like “Love in an Elevator” or “Dude (Looks like a Lady)” on here — Thank God — and the Joe Perry and Brad Whitford team is as fantastic as ever; the rhythm section perfect as always; and Steven Tyler voice is very appealing as an older and gruffier and smokier addition to the classic band.

Label: Columbia (can purchase CD format here).