FROM THE CRYPTS - CELEBRATING PAST ALBUM RELEASES in the HISTORY of HARD ROCK & HEAVY METAL…
The album that helped bring Aerosmith back to the big time was released 37 years ago yesterday, proving that, unlike the title of their album, the bands success was not all an illusion... Done With Mirrors!
On November 9, 1985, Aerosmith released their eighth full-length studio Done With Mirrors.
It marked the return of guitarists Joe Perry, who had left in 1979, and Brad Whitford, who had left in 1981. The band's first album on Geffen Records, it was intended as their "comeback". However, despite good reviews, it did not live up to commercial expectations.
Background:
Let the Music Do the Talking was a rerecording of the title track from the first release by the Joe Perry Project, with altered lyrics and melody.
Brad Whitford revealed that producer Ted Templeman wanted to capture the band's aggressive, "out of control freight train" sound by removing the red light indicating that recording was underway (a technique he had used to capture Van Halen's sound). Templeman told the band to run through the songs in the studio and recorded them without their knowledge. Whitford referred to the nerves generated when knowingly recording songs as "the red light blues".
"I had a great time making that record," Templeman told the Washington Post's Geoff Edgers, while going on to say;
"...and Steven was one of the most amazing guys. But we had to do that record in Berkeley because they didn’t want those guys to score (drugs). They didn’t want them to be in L.A. or San Francisco. I wasn’t familiar with the board. As a producer, if you know your room and the mic preamps, you know how things are going to sound. I don’t think I made Joey’s drums sound as good as they could have, or Joe’s guitar."
On VH1 Classic's That Metal Show, Joey Kramer expressed his dislike of Done with Mirrors, claiming that the band "never really finished it".
Joe Perry was similarly dismissive:
"Done with Mirrors, as far as I'm concerned, is our least inspired record. But I've heard fans really like it, so I'm not gonna stand there and tell 'em, 'No, it sucks.' We had to do that record to get to the next one, so it served its purpose. I just don't think it's up to the standard of some of our others."
Viacom (MTV & VH1) executive Doug Herzog recalled that, after this album, "Aerosmith was done… They were a little bit of a joke." However, they would revive their career in 1986 with a landmark remake of 1975's Walk This Way with hip-hop group Run DMC, followed by an album that would eventually go 5× Platinum – Permanent Vacation – in 1987.
(Steven Tyler & Joe Perry with Run DMC.)
Despite the band's views, the album earned mostly positive reviews, and is a cult favorite among fans.
To date, Done with Mirrors is the last Aerosmith album written without the aid of outside songwriters.
(Tyler and Perry with Aerosmith at Manning Bowl, Lynn, MA in 1985.)
Album Title & Cover Art:
In keeping with the title, all the text (bar the catalog number and UPC) on the original releases were written back-to-front – to be read by holding it to a mirror. Rereleases flip the artwork so it can be read without a mirror, and add the band's logo. As a result, the original CD (which came in a longbox) is collectable. (All text in the booklet of the first CD pressing is also back-to-front.)
The title refers both to illusions that are "done with mirrors", and the laying out of drugs such as cocaine, traditionally snorted off a mirror.
(Aerosmith at The Paradise Rock Club in Boston in 1985)
Critical Reception:
As stated earlier, Done With Mirrors received mostly positive reviews from fans and some critics. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic wrote;
“Joe Perry returned to the fold in 1985, and Aerosmith turned out their finest record since Rocks. Unlike the records that preceded it, Done with Mirrors is powered by the same smart-assed lyrics and filthy guitars that formed the core of Aerosmith's best songs. It didn't receive the commercial or critical attention that Permanent Vacation did two years later, but Done With Mirrors is the better album; it marks the beginning of their remarkable comeback.”
Note: The reviews shared here are for historical reference. The views and opinions expressed within are not always supported (in full or in part) by Into the Wells. — E.N. Wells
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