Done With Mirrors - Aerosmith (CD 1997)

This marks a return to my reviews of Aerosmith albums following the big rush of enthusiasm I received when Aerocat invited me to comment on the band s work with her write-off. I reviewed nearly every album that the band ever released on Columbia Records then and now, and did a review of the Geffen Records release PUMP from '89. Now, I owe it to myself to write some more about these guys.

Thus, I begin where the early 80s left me, with the band s reuniting and recording of DONE WITH MIRRORS. The time is 1984, and it s Valentine s Day. Aerosmith had lost Joe Perry and Brad Whitford in 1979-1980, and picked up new guitarists Rick Dufay and Jimmy Crespo. The gig the new Aerosmith was performing was at Boston s Orpheum Theater, a show which I believe was the basis for songs released on CLASSICS LIVE! later. Steven Tyler and Joe Perry s estrangement had garnered heavy attention, and it was actually Rick Dufay who suggested that the band try to heal old wounds and reform. In April, it was official: the Aerosmith of yore (Tyler, Perry, Whitford, bassist Tom Hamilton and drummer Joey Kramer) was coming back for more.

But you know how f*cked up on the hard drugs they were, either by myth or VH1. And Aerosmith hadn't even considered rehab before they kicked into the recording of an album. Their rehearsals in Millis, MA, were reportedly strong and everybody was so hyped up about how good Aerosmith were with new material. In July of 1985, they teamed up with producer Ted Templeman, whose previous credits included Sammy Hagar, The Doobie Brothers, and both Van Morrison and Van Halen. In November 1985, the resulting album was released to the world: DONE WITH MIRRORS, packaged in an LP sleeve with mirrored cover font. The album peaked at a dismal #36 and spawned a couple of minor mainstream rock chart hits with "Let The Music Do The Talking" and "Shela."

Now, opinions are divided when faced with this album: a lot of people give it the good rep and a lot of people want to discredit this one. And seeing as how my devotion towards the music of the band caused me to rock a write-off, I would like to keep tally of the moments I consider disappointing, and the moments that are better.

Let The Music Do The Talking has a flawless production and down-and-dirty blues groove which rolls along with reckless abandon, and Joe Perry seems to smoke the lead guitar in the opening solo. Steven Tyler's vocals are also more assured than before, improving upon the inaudible, mumbling delivery he often gave on ROCK IN A HARD PLACE. This song was obviously a number written by Joe Perry around the time he left the band, and was eventually recorded by his other band, The Joe Perry Project. If you listen close, though, you can hear a bit of the riff from "Draw The Line" in the bridge. Steven Tyler yowls, raps, and spits out in verses with wild flair, thus providing an opening song that really tries to hint at good things coming. And how about these assured, lawdy lyrics that prove maybe these guys are back in the saddle again:

"Cheesecake maybe if I take another bite
I'm a real fat city, I'm an aero delight
Threw out my pipe and my alkaline
Got a squeaky clean body and a dirty mind
I got one for the money, two for the show
Three for my honey and four to let you know that I...
Let the music do the talking."

Well, I think that track is a scorcher, but then we move on to number 2: My Fist Your Face. Sounds like an angry, relentless rocker from the good old days, doesn t it. The music is up to speed, with crunching guitars and clashing Kramer drumbeats, but Steven Tyler is hardly menacing and giving his sneering attitude, thus making the numerous crafty insults and put-downs seem obligatory and dead. And it s also a very catchy number, which is hardly a problem with these guys, but it sounds not as full-blooded as it could have been. Disappointments: one, successes: one. Even so far.

"East house pinball wizard, fll tilt bozo played
Second floor trekkie makin' warp speed out the door
Julio Anpacolucci, he the only one who stayed
Countin' up the days, please no more
My fist your face, that's for sure"

A sole credit to Tyler, Shame On You opens with licks and beats a la ZZ Top s seminal "Just Got Paid," and offers some ballsy rocking beats. But yet again, the floozies are really starting to get to Steven Tyler's head, and I don t mean orally. The lyrics are nearly groan-inducing and the chorus is lackluster, with the exception of a few okay verses, one of which I will quote here and the rest I will spare you the indecency of seeing.

"Seven or eleven, got to roll the dice
Am I in heaven or am I in Miami Vice
Shame shame shame on you babe."

The Reason A Dog, written by Tyler/Hamilton, has a slower tempo and doesn t even try to go all the way. It feels more like something best suited for a mid-80s Van Halen album. The lyrics have gotten reasonably better than the last song, and it's delivered in a manner best suited for an arrangement like this. Faced with what Aerosmith can do as a band, though, the production sinks this one, bringing the score to a lackluster 3-1 lead for the disappointments.

"Lord you gimme the bends
Your head's in jail, I'll call out the law
Like the reason a dog has so many friends
He wags his tail instead of his tongue"

Tyler and Whitford wrote Shela, which rides cymbal patter in the beginning before sharp arpeggios/bass lines and smoking lead licks come in to bring some sharp musical grace. It is not a bad song, come to think of it, and the groove is consistent throughout as Steven Tyler falls in what feels like more than lust for him to go through:

"Shela, Shela, she like a hurricane
Shela, Shela, she like a ball and chain...
She said she could do it, love she could fulfill
There ain't nothin' to it, backbone gets a chill."

The score went up one point in favor of the strong songs, and now it s four more to go. Gypsy Boots is really hard to peg, because the song has a neat guitar hook and rocks with gusto, and yet sounds stylistically different from what good Aerosmith party rockers truly sound like. The chorus is really a downside to this song, and belongs foisted upon some other band who deserves worse (any of a dozen hair bands can take it). But the verses seem to have some steam in it, a wild high school love paean that s miles away from the teenage travails in "Walk This Way," but not shameful and weak enough to get caught in. But hearing the chorus three times is kind of bothersome, and yet the verse lyrics and the musical arrangements are refreshingly raw and meaty. A step above disappointment territory, bringing the score even 3-3.

"High school lover with ya corpse undercover
Gettin' high jack Lebanese
Hey mama choosed it y'all all been through it
Or be fallin' off you right to your knees
Pair a shades... shotgun... rock on... chewing gum
Take it to the dance tonight
Your a love hate child with wild child smile
And you don't care wrong from right."

She's On Fire has some sweet acoustic twanging for its rhythm, which is supported by thick bass and thumping drum beats. Joe Perry's guitar catch enough fire in the end, and Steven Tyler does some alright vocal delivery here, although the lyrics aren t as good as they could be. But I can't complain with this songs smoky, surprising guitar work. Now, it s 4-3.

"Hot to trot she's a bit insane
Little bit a pleasure with a little bit a pain
I got to be smokin' so I know without a doubt
Where there's smoke there's fire so I gotta boot it out."

The Hop is a blend of 60 s sock hop grooves/dynamics with Aerosmith s usual ferocity on the musical and lyrical ferocity. Aerosmith are just so damn enthusiastic and superb here that you d have a liquid heart not to have this one get you up on your feet. The coda blows the groove away with the best guitar solo of the entire album, a hurricane of high notes, but rarely has an Aerosmith number been as irresistible a dance song as this one is. It's official...the good outnumber the bad.

"My old boot heels be smokin', you really got to understand
We're burning down the town tonight
When the new sh*t hits the fan
So y'all best watch out what you do and who you do it with
'Cause you'll be kickin' a** tonight
With the boys in Aerosmith, yeah."

Finally, the album concludes with the snappy piano-led ballad Darkness, which shows Steven Tyler testing his range for this one, and getting a C, forcing the already stellar, ominously upbeat arrangement to somewhat work around it. Not that he s bad, but when he tries to bring his pitch up, it can get unsatisfying. The song says it all, "God, I'm in love, I'm in love, I'm in love, I'm in love, I'm in love, I'm in love..." Definitely a great closing number, and a highlight of the band's earlier 80s period.

"She like a book, she holy roller, love me like a song
She like a lightnin', she roller coaster 'til the break of dawn
She like a shadow, she all around me, nasty hearted dream
She got the sexy, she do it to me, wake me when I scream."

So the resulting and final score of the album are: 6-3, there are more greater moments than gaffer moments. And yet, my final verdict on this album is three stars, and yet a recommendation. Aerosmith needed the rehab, the Run DMC, and the outside songwriters to help reinvent their career, but I think Aerosmith s Geffen debut is often solid and consistent, with only a few bad songs and a couple of so-so ones, the rest being prime cuts. Ted Templeman, however, is no Jack Douglas, and the album isn't one of their best, and I thought NIGHT IN THE RUTS was a good album. I would recommend it be the eleventh Aerosmith title you pick up, because it sadly can not belong in the top 10. And that is kind of sad.