Customer Reviews

Done With Mirrors

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

1985's Done With Mirrors was the first album released by a then freshly reunited Aerosmith, the first featuring the original lineup since Night In The Ruts in 1979 (Joe Perry left during the band during the recording of that album and Brad Withford left a little later in 1981). This is also the first album the band released under their new label Geffen Records. Done With Mirrors was intended to be Aerosmith's comeback record but that didn't happen until their next album Permanent Vacation and then continued with Pump. Done With Mirrors sounds a lot more like the classic 1970's Aerosmith than its successors Permanent Vacation (1987) and Pump (1989). Those two albums went on towards a more commercial and an ultimately more successful approach. DWM is very much the album between the band's classic 1970's era and the successful 1980's era. It's a bridge between those two eras as it has the 70's sound yet has 80's influences and hints at what was to come just around the corner.

Opening the album, 'Let The Music Do The Talking' is a re-recording of The Joe Perry Project with slight differences. It's one of the best songs here and this take on the Joe Perry original is pretty good. 'My First Your Face' is one the highlights of Done With Mirrors, it's a good and fun rocking track. The lyrics are little immature but this is Aerosmith we can all get over that, besides the song works fine. 'Shame On You' is hate to say it, not much more than 'filler' material. It just never really gets started and doesn't go anywhere. 'Shela' is a bit repetitive but it's not a bad song, features some interesting guitar work and Steven Tyler's energy carries this song. 'She's On Fire' is often pointed out as being a highlight for DWM by other reviewers. 'The Hop' has good groove, the rhythm section does its job once again and Joe Perry's guitar playing is amazing, plus Steven's harmonica works surprisingly well on this one! The album closes with 'Darkness' a song that I feel is one of the best songs here. It begins with a piano part that carries the song, in fact the piano work is one of the best thing about this song. I feel it's an underrated, very melodic and great track that doesn't get the attention it deserves. Closes the album nicely.

I can't say that Done With Mirrors is an awful album or that it's horrible because while it's obviously not Aerosmith at their best, there is still some good stuff here. Most Aerosmith fans will find a few songs they like on this one so it's not all bad. Yet I also can't give it five or even four stars because what's here is really not great, at least not compared to what fans had come to expect from Aerosmith. I think somewhere around three stars is the right rating for this album but that's just my opinion, some fans liked this album a lot more than I did and some like it a lot less. I feel it's not as bad as some reviewers claim it is but it's not one of Aerosmith's better album either. To me this one earns 3/5 stars.

Why this album wasn't a hit, I don't know. It didn't have any pop tunes on it. People may think I'm crazy when I say it, but this cd is great. Certainly worth the pick up for the price. Aerosmith went pop after this. This cd kicks ass!

On February 14, 1984, Joe Perry and Brad Whitford visited Steven Tyler and the rest of their former Aerosmith bandmates. The meeting begat a reunion and the Back in The Saddle Tour. After the tour, Aerosmith signed with Geffen Records and hired Van Halen Producer Ted Templesman as the producer. The album is decent, but you have to keep in mind that the band wouldn't enetr rehab until a year later. It seems unpolished and raw as Templesman supposedly recorded Aerosmith's performances, only letting them no later that he got everything taped. It's certainly not Toys in the Attic, Rocks, or Pump, but it builds a bridge between their 70's heydays and the 80's and 90's heydays.

While Done With Mirrors is one of my least favorite Aerosmith albums, it's not a bad album. "Let The Music Do The Talking," "The Reason A Dog," and "My Fist Your Face" are great songs. But tracks like "Shela" and "She's On Fire" are a little on the weak side. Plus, the production on this album was horrible. It also lacks the energy of albums like Rocks or Pump.

first, this gets a strong 3.5 stars from me. i am by no means a big aerosmith fan. in fact, of all the songs on this album, i only knew "let the music do the talking" prior to picking it up. after the first spin, i really couldn't believe how good this album was! simply put, it is just a really great slab of raw and bluesy, no-frills rock 'n roll. the majority of the tunes are quite solid, my favourites being: "let the music do the talking", "my fist your face", "gypsy boots" and "she's on fire". to be honest, the album kind of hits a lull here and there, but there are no absolute stinkers on this by any stretch. overall, my cd collection is better for it's inclusion!! for anyone who is a fan of straight-ahead hard rock, pick it up, you will not regret it!

Original lead guitarist Joe Perry re-joined Aerosmith in 1985, and this album marked the beginning of their hugely succesful late-eighties comeback. It didn't get nearly as much attention as "Pump" or even "Permanent Vacation", partly because it lacks the obvious pop hit, I suppose, but it is actually a very solid hard rock record, perhaps Aerosmith's best since "Rocks".

The production is excellent, the riffs are big and dirty, the arrangements lean and mean, and "Mirrors" opens with one of Aerosmith's best songs of the 80s, the high-energy "Let The Music Do The Talking".
Other highlights include the funky, mid-tempo swagger of "Shame On You", the wonderfully titled groove of "The Reason A Dog", and the gritty, riff-driven two-guitar onslaught of "My Fist Your Face", a superb slice of melodic hard rock.

And yes, Steven Tyler's lyrics are immature and chauvenistic...although it's not nearly as bad as some of these reviewers will have you believe. But if you're going to take that kind of stuff seriously, you have no business listening to Aerosmith in the first place. Better stick with the Osmonds.

When the best song here is Joe Perry's rescued "Let The Music Do The Talking," which he wrote during the "Night In The Ruts" period, you know something's amiss in the Aerosmith attic. While not as bad as "Rock In A Hard Place," the reunited Toxic Twins got a label deal on the strength of the very profitable reunion tour that Aerosmith staged themselves. Geffen signed them, not because they were ready to make a new album, but because they saw the profit margin of the concert trek. "Done With Mirrors" proves that Aerosmith were just not ready to go back into a studio.

"My Fist Your Face" is wretchedly misogynist, even by Aerosmith's sleazy standards. (Think "Uncle Salty" or "Lick and a Promise.") The remaining songs sound like they needed some woodshedding, though "Shela" came pretty close to sounding competent. Even the sound quality sounds off. It's a good thing they took a two year break before getting "Permeant Vacation" out, because this is the kind of album that could have killed the band off for good.

In 1984 the original members of Aerosmith reunited and entered the studio to record an album that would make them good again. They hadn't had a monster smash album since 1976 (Rocks, pick it up). Draw the Line went platinum but most fans thought it was a let down. Night in the Ruts flopped even though it was pretty good. Then came Rock in a Hard Place which is one of the worst albums ever. Things were not looking good as they entered the studio. When they emerged they had an album that sounded like the Aerosmith of old but yet just couldn't capture their old magic. This album failed to sell and their comeback prospects seemed even darker than before.

1. Let the Music Do the Talking. 7/10 Pretty good tune that they still play in concert. Best song on the album.

2. My Fist You Face. 5/10 Has some funny lyrics but just isn't very memorable.

3. Shame on You. 3/10 Not very good, fortunately it is very forgettable.

4. The Reason A Dog. 6/10 Good rock song with good lyrics.

5. Shela. 1/10 I always skip this one. Really bad song.

6. Gypsy Boots. 3/10

7. She's On Fire. 4/10 The chorus isn't that bad.

8. The Hop. 1/10 Just makes you scratch your head cause it's so bad.

9. Darkness. 1/10 Really bad song that closes the album softer than a pin drop.

This album is Aerosmith's second worst and should be avoided by anyone unless they are a hardcore fan or a completeist. Aerosmith is a great rock band and have many more albums that are much better. Get Toys in the Attic, or the real comeback album Permenant Vacation.

"Thirteen year old hookers
Take a sack right trough the bars
You wonder why the man's outside the door
Junior achivers, got the old bull by the horns
Back in the saddle gets you sore
My fist your face
That's for sure"

I think that's all I have to say!

I listened to this album once the whole way through and can't say there's one good song on it. "Let The Music Do The Talkin'" and "The Hop" are passable, but that's it, passable. The rest is just....terrible! Man, what a dissapointment! I'm sorry I can't seem to formulate an intellegent opinion on the music but it was such a bad listen that I think I'm still reeling from the shock. Stay VERY FAR away from this. I can't believe the band and the record company let this one slip through.