"What It Takes" is a song 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 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...

, 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 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 1990

1990 in music

This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1990.-Events:*January 21 – MTV's Unplugged premieres on cable television with British band Squeeze...

 as the third single from Aerosmith's critically and commercially successful 1989

1989 in music

This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1989.-Events:*January 14 – Paul McCartney releases Снова в СССР exclusively in the USSR...

 album Pump

Pump (album)

*After the end of "What It Takes" there is a brief, untitled, instrumental hidden track composed and performed by Randy Raine-Reusch. This was not included on all the releases in all countries.-Bonus track :-Lawsuit:...

. In the video The Making of Pump

The Making of Pump

The Making of Pump is a video and DVD documentary about the making of the Pump album by Aerosmith. It also features interviews with the band.-Personnel:*Tom Hamilton*Joey Kramer*Joe Perry*Steven Tyler*Brad Whitford*Bruce Fairbairn-See also:...

, A&R man John Kalodner

John Kalodner

John David Kalodner is a retired American A&R executive. His achievements included signing Foreigner, AC/DC, Peter Gabriel and Phil Collins to Atlantic Records in the seventies....

 described the song as "a masterpiece". During live performances, Tyler sings the first verse acapella and belts out one of his signature screams right before the chorus.

The album version of the song is followed by an untitled hidden track.

Chart performance

The single reached #9 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...

 and #1 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks

Mainstream Rock Tracks

Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks is a ranking in Billboard magazine of the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations, a category that includes stations that play primarily rock music. Modern rock tracks are counted in the Alternative Songs chart.This chart began with the March 21, 1981, issue...

 chart.

End of year charts

End of year chart (1990)	Position
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	91

Music video

There are two videos for the song. One features the band performing in a bar. The other is culled from scenes from The Making of Pump

The Making of Pump

The Making of Pump is a video and DVD documentary about the making of the Pump album by Aerosmith. It also features interviews with the band.-Personnel:*Tom Hamilton*Joey Kramer*Joe Perry*Steven Tyler*Brad Whitford*Bruce Fairbairn-See also:...

, a film which documented the recording process of the Pump album. The latter received much greater airplay, and was also the version the band chose to include on their video collection Big Ones You Can Look At

Big Ones You Can Look At

Big Ones You Can Look At is a VHS and Laserdisc featuring music videos by the American hard rock band Aerosmith. It was released on November 4, 1994. In addition, there are outtakes and band interviews. Running time is 100 minutes...

.
The videos were directed by Keith Garde & Martin Torgoff.