Aerosmith Prepping New Album

Aerosmith is getting back in the saddle eight years since the release of their last studio album.

Aerosmith is finally getting back in the saddle, eight long years since the release of their last studio album.

After being hobbled by various health problems, the Bad Boys of Boston are planning to return to the studio to finish up work on their first batch of original material since 2001's platinum-selling Just Push Play.

"We're sitting on a bunch of music we've already recorded for a new album," guitarist Brad Whitford tells Billboard.com. "We haven't gone back into the studio to put the final touches on it and get it done, and still don't know when we're gonna do that. Hopefully it'll be sooner rather than later."

Talk about a sweet emotion when they do.

Aerosmith started laying down tracks as early as summer 2006, after singer Steven Tyler underwent throat surgery and prompted the band to scrap a tour earlier that spring. But work was postponed after bassist Tom Hamilton was diagnosed with throat cancer and underwent successful radiation treatment, forcing him to sit out Aerosmith's Route of All Evil tour in the fall with Mötley Crüe.

During that jaunt, the "Livin' on the Edge" rockers issued a greatest-hits set, Devil's Got a New Disguise—The Very Best of Aerosmith, which included two outtakes from previous studio sessions that were rerecorded for the compilation.

Aerosmith returned to recording in 2007 but got sidetracked teaming up with the makers of Guitar Hero to develop Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, which hit stores last June.

The new disc suffered further delays this year when ax man Joe Perry underwent a successful knee reconstruction operation in March and Tyler checked into rehab to help him deal with a dependency to pain killers and sleep medication prescribed to him after having foot surgery.

"You'd think it was a football team or something," joked Whitford. "You have more than average concerns about it, I guess, but you can't do anything about it. Like a lot of other things in life, you don't get to call the shots on these things, do you? We're just...getting older."