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The\u00a0title of Aerosmith<\/a>‘s\u00a0Done With Mirrors<\/a><\/em>\u00a0alluded to magic tricks and newfound sobriety. While\u00a0the reunion of the band’s classic lineup certainly did feel miraculous, the latter reference was a bald-faced lie \u2014 and it helps explain why\u00a0Done With Mirrors<\/em> failed to pull Aerosmith out of their yearslong tailspin.<\/p>\n The first half of the ’80s\u00a0was not kind to the Boston rockers. After conquering the previous decade with their\u00a0signature\u00a0brand of sleazy, monolithic hard rock,\u00a0Aerosmith was\u00a0torn apart by a cocktail of drugs, infighting and dwindling commercial fortunes. Guitarist Joe Perry<\/a> quit in 1979 and guitarist Brad Whitford<\/a> followed suit in 1981, leaving Aerosmith \u2014 to\u00a0paraphrase\u00a0the title of their 1982 album<\/a> \u2014 caught between a rock and a hard place.<\/p>\n Fast-forward a few years, and the members of Aerosmith realized they hated being failures more than they hated each other. Perry and Whitford rejoined the fold, and Aerosmith set out to make a new\u00a0album that would return them to their former glory.<\/p>\n READ MORE:<\/strong> When Aerosmith Launched Their Back in the Saddle Tour<\/a><\/p>\n There was just one problem: Aerosmith was unwilling to relinquish the old habits that had gotten them into\u00a0such a\u00a0mess in the first place. Consequently,\u00a0Done With Mirrors<\/em>\u00a0vastly undersold expectations. But musically, it\u00a0marks a fascinating inflection point in the band’s career \u2014 one\u00a0last gasp of hellacious blues-rock boogie before they pivoted to MTV-friendly pop-metal and rocketed into the stratosphere.<\/p>\n Done With Mirrors<\/em> gets off to a rip-roaring start with “Let the Music Do the Talking,” a\u00a0revamped\u00a0version of the 1980 Joe Perry Project single with new lyrics from Steven Tyler<\/a>. The\u00a0Demon of Screamin’\u00a0sounds\u00a0more robust than he had in years,\u00a0buoyed by Perry’s sizzling slide guitar and Joey Kramer’s athletic drumming.<\/p>\n READ MORE<\/strong>: Aerosmith Album Opening Songs Ranked Worst to Best<\/a><\/p>\n “My Fist Your Face,” “Gypsy Boots” and “The Hop” are similarly high-octane rockers that find the whole band chugging like a freight train, getting by on sheer muscle memory. The batshit lyrics are beside the point \u2014 it’s just great to hear Aerosmith lock into their one-of-a-kind groove again.<\/p>\n Other tracks, such as “The Reason a Dog” and “She’s on Fire,”\u00a0take a more languid, blues-based approach. They’re not\u00a0quite hooky<\/em> in the conventional sense, but they bristle with a dark intensity that was fairly\u00a0uncommon for Aerosmith. Tyler and Perry were still\u00a0rediscovering their rhythm as cowriters,\u00a0but they tossed off some interesting (if not top-tier) ideas in the process.<\/p>\n A few crucial elements prevented\u00a0Done With Mirrors<\/em> from becoming a bona fide Aerosmith classic. Primarily, their\u00a0partnership with Van Halen<\/a> and Doobie Brothers<\/a> producer Ted Templeman<\/a> sounded better in theory than in practice.<\/p>\n Although reports of the album’s dismal production are greatly exaggerated,\u00a0Done With Mirrors<\/em> does lack the clarity and bite of\u00a0early Van Halen records\u00a0or Aerosmith’s peak ’70s work with producer Jack Douglas. And because the band was writing and recording on the fly, some songs lack the sonic bells and whistles\u00a0to send them over the top. They have great bones but lackluster aesthetics.<\/p>\n READ MORE:<\/strong> Top 15 ’80s Aerosmith Songs<\/a><\/p>\n Done With Mirrors<\/em> also had to compete with hot new releases from the likes of Motley Crue<\/a> and Ratt<\/a> \u2014 bands massively influenced by Aerosmith, who, ironically, now made them seem tragically unhip by comparison. Glam metal was approaching its zenith in late 1985, and\u00a0the mid-tempo blues-rock jams on\u00a0Done With Mirrors<\/em>\u00a0didn’t stand a chance against “Lay It Down”\u00a0or “Home Sweet Home.”<\/p>\n After\u00a0Done With Mirrors<\/em> stalled around a meager 400,000 copies, it was clear Aerosmith desperately needed to change tack. Buoyed by their “Walk This Way” collaboration<\/a> with Run-D.M.C.<\/a>, Aerosmith teamed up with producer Bruce Fairbairn and\u00a0a team of outside songwriters for 1987’s\u00a0Permanent Vacation<\/a><\/em>. (They also finally got sober.) The album\u00a0sold 5 million copies and reinvented Aerosmith as pop-metal pinups, and they never looked back. Pop hooks and power ballads were the price of enduring success, and Aerosmith was happy to pay.<\/p>\n READ MORE:<\/strong> Top 20 Aerosmith Songs<\/a><\/p>\n As a result, Done With Mirrors<\/em>\u00a0remains the last vestige of Aerosmith’s no-frills hard rock era. If it had\u00a0performed\u00a0better \u2014 an implausible scenario\u00a0given the\u00a0environment into which it was released \u2014 Aerosmith’s story might have veered in a wildly different direction. Instead, it remains a very good, occasionally great curio in their catalog that fans overlook at their own peril.<\/p>\n Any worst-to-best ranking of\u00a0Aerosmith\u00a0must deal with two distinct eras: their sleazy ’70s work and the slicker, more successful ’80s comeback. But which one was better?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Gallery Credit: Ultimate Classic Rock Staff<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nAerosmith’s Train Keeps A-Rollin’ on ‘Done With Mirrors’<\/h3>\n
Aerosmith Could Still Rock \u2014 But They Sounded Tragically Unhip<\/h3>\n
How the Failure of ‘Done With Mirrors’ Forced Aerosmith to Change<\/h3>\n
Aerosmith Albums Ranked <\/h2>\n