A few months ago, rumors about a new Aerosmith album were circulating the web. Now it looks like the band is indeed planning on a brand new album this summer. Steven Tyler recently tweeted the following message from his Twitter page: “Joe & I sent smoke signals... shot the shit & chewed the fat for the last year... but just smoked the peace pipe for an hour today and are on our way to rock'in your fkin worlds this summer by locking our selves away somewhere w/ guitars and drums.” Tyler also posted “AEROFREAKSREJOICE,” which sounds pretty promising!

Let’s hope this means that one of rock’s all-time best bands has patched things up for good. I have to admit that when I heard about the breakup last year, I wasn’t all that heartbroken. For one, like many fans, I didn’t think it would last forever. But I also felt that even if it did, it wouldn’t be the end of the world. Aerosmith has had such a good run—one of the best runs of any rock group, really—and to have both classic and modern hits is a pretty amazing feat in and of itself. I would be content to celebrate the group for the rest of my life with their previous albums, though live shows would certainly be out in such a world.

Knowing that they’re working things out AND making new music is very encouraging, though. I can’t think of a dozen well-known bands who’ve had as long a successful career as Aerosmith, nor as many bands from before my birth that I’d be eager to purchase new, 2011-written albums from, either.

So why the new album, anyway? Maybe it’s a peace offering. Maybe it’s just because it’s time. But many critics are saying that it’s because with Steven Tyler on American Idol every week, the band’s ability to make money is soaring. In fact, since the rock star has been on the show, their album sales have gone up a whopping 250%. It’s kind of depressing, actually; I loved Aerosmith as a kid because my dad did, and here are a bunch of kids hopping on the Dream On Wagon not because of a passing down of love from one person to another or even interest in a genre, but because they watch crappy reality television each week.

But hey, if it gets us a new album—and it’s good—then keep playing, I say.