Aerosmith Reacts to Steven Tyler Leaving 'American Idol'

Aerosmith performs on the "American Idol" season 11 finale.

Aerosmith bassist Tom Hamilton says singer Steven Tyler's decision to quit his side gig as an American Idol judge was a relief to the band.

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"The thing is, it turned out to be quite a demand on his time," Hamilton said in an interview with Classic Rock magazine.

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He added that the show became a bone of contention in band meetings.

"The whole plan of how we were going to deal with Idol is something we hammered out last year. It almost got to the point of using real hammers," he said.

Hamilton said that Tyler's time screening candidates and appearing on the live shows didn't necessarily hinder the recording process for their forthcoming CD, Music From Another Dimension. The CD will feature appearances by Johnny Depp and Julian Lennon.

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"What would have slowed us down is if we released the album and only had a few weeks to tour behind it," said Hamilton. "What pleases me most is that if we want to extent the tour we can now do it."  

Aerosmith is on tour this summer with Cheap Trick. The band will appear 7:30 p.m. Aug. 1 at the Pepsi Center in Denver.