Done With Mirrors - Aerosmith (Cassette 1997)

Everyone knows the story of Aerosmith. It's just one of those parts of popular culture that, like Jimi Hendrix's "Star-Spangled Banner" and the reunion of the Eagles, won't go away. It's practically the template for VH1's Behind The Music---and each band is telling their individual story on that show.

Band struggles. Band reaches top of the world. Band suffers from an artistic decline. Band either breaks up or makes a misguided attempt to continue on without founding members. Band reforms, reaches top of world and top of charts once again. So goes the story of Aerosmith. Band tensions and drug addictions came to a head in the early 80's for Aerosmith. The raucous rockers made Boston a musical mecca for a generation of long-haired, pot-smoking rock and roll fanatics in the early 70's, but after a run of successful albums, the aforementioned band tensions/rampant drug addictions forced founding guitarists Brad Whitford and Joe Perry out of the band. Lead singer Steven Tyler tried to soldier on with replacements Jimmy Crespo and Rick Dufay, but it just didn't work out, and Aerosmith soon ended up in shambles.

And so on and so forth. My point here is that Aerosmith was down the sh*tter, and they re-formed. Did they have a triumphant return? Did they come back bigger, badder, and better than ever?

Well, not really.

Aerosmith's "comeback" album, Done With Mirrors, was actually completed BEFORE the band members completed their rehab. And, yes, you can tell. These drug-addled recording sessions yielded some of the worst Aerosmith music to date---which, might I add, I find very painful to say as a huge Aerosmith fan.

Oh, the album starts out promisingly enough. The band turns in a rip-roaring reworking of Joe Perry's "Let the Music do the Talking," which was written for Perry's band, the Joe Perry Project. The song is a showcase for Aerosmith to rock and to rock well. "Let the Music..." is a perfect addition to any post-drugs "best-of" compilation. It wasn't on Big Ones, either, which bugged me, because it's a really strong, really cool rock tune. Listen close at the end---the band re-uses that cool riff from their earlier hit "Draw The Line".

In stark contrast, "Darkness," the album's closer, is a real triumph for the band. It's a strange, dark piano ballad. Yeah, I know what you're thinking, but this isn't "I Don't Wanna Miss A Thing". It's something new, something different. It's definitely something experimental for Aerosmith, and "Darkness" ranks as one of Aerosmith's unsung masterpieces.

Unfortunately, I can't say anything nearly as good about the rest of the album. The bookending tracks, sad to say, are the only songs that are worthwhile. There's a few things here and there, sure. There's times when "The Hop" is fairly tolerable, and "The Reason A Dog" has some awfully cool lyrical content, but... jeez, this music is BLAND.

And I do mean bland. Listen to the godawful "My Fist Your Face," or the inane, stomach-churning "Gypsy Boots". This is my band, my Aerosmith? Hell, I would have taken the Crespo/Dufay albums over this piece of scrap metal. Words cannot tell just how disappointed I was by this release. The first track and the last track are cool new directions for Aerosmith---everything in between is awful. AWFUL.

Understand that the band didn't lose their talent by the time this release came around---they just lost their ability to craft really good, credible-yet-commercial rock and roll. Temporarily, of course, as they regained it after their first drug-less album, 1987's follow-up Permanent Vacation.

What happened to Done With Mirrors? It tanked. As well it should have. Avoid buying this album. I don't advocate downloading and burning your music, but I'll make an exception this time---download "Let the Music do the Talking" and "Darkness" and skip all the aural diarrhea in between. ("The Hop" is funky enough that you might be able to enjoy that on a good day, too.)

But when it comes to Aerosmith albums, Done With Mirrors is bad because the music is bad, and made even worse by the sheer disappointment aspect of it. I really do hate to pan Steve, Joe, Brad, Joey, and Tom---and ANYTHING they do---but I just have to strongly urge that you avoid Done With Mirrors like the plague. Two great tracks can't save this album.