1985 studio album by Aerosmith
Done with Mirrors is the eighth studio album by American rock band Aerosmith, released on November 4, 1985.[1] It marked the return to the band of guitarists Joe Perry, who left in 1979 and Brad Whitford, who departed in 1981. The band's first album on Geffen Records, it was intended as their ‘comeback’. However, the record failed to live up to commercial expectations despite positive reviews.
Background
"Let the Music Do the Talking" was a rerecording of the title track from the first album 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, "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."[2]
Joe Perry recalls recording the album and working with Templeman in a 2022 interview:
"We got to work with Ted Templeman, who had an amazing reputation with Van Halen, which was incredible. I mean, they sounded monstrous, not to mention all the other people he had recorded with. Looking back, I guess we were expecting more from him, and so we were kind of nervous to work with him, and I think he was nervous to work with us, which kind of surprised us. It was a funny dynamic. We just went in and straight-up recorded in the studio. It was as simple as going in, plugging in, turning the machines on, and we went from there. It is kind of rough and raw, and there are a lot of things about it that reminded me of the first couple of records. Of course, starting it off with "Let the Music Do the Talking," one of the songs that I wrote for my first solo record, was special, and we brought it up a whole 'nother level, I think. I mean, I love the way we did it on my solo record but having the band play it – having Aerosmith play it – that was like putting it into fifth gear. And with the rest of the songs, there was a vibe to them where they were just raw and dirty. I still wish I could have maybe polished a few more things or maybe put a couple more overdubs on it, but all in all, I think it did what it was supposed to do. I think it kind of showed me what we needed to do, what we were, and where we needed to be for the next one. I think we had to do that record to get to the next step and really take ourselves out of the usual way we were writing and recording."[3]
Viacom (MTV & VH1) executive Doug Herzog recalled that, after this album, "Aerosmith was done… They were a little bit of a joke."[2] 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.
Done with Mirrors is the last Aerosmith record written without the aid of outside songwriters, as of Music from Another Dimension!
Packaging and title
In keeping with the title, all the text (bar the catalog number and UPC) on the original releases, including all text in the booklet of the first CD pressing, were written back to front, to be read by holding it to a mirror. Re-releases flip the artwork so it can be read without a mirror, additionally adding the band's logo. As a result, the original CD (which came in a longbox) is a collector's item.
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.
Reception
On VH1 Classic's That Metal Show, Joey Kramer expressed his dislike of Done with Mirrors, claiming the band "never really finished it".[11]
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."[12][13]
Despite the band's views, this album earned mostly positive reviews.[14]
