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Aerosmith - Done with Mirrors Audio CD

A fair review of the Aerosmith "Done with Mirrors" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Aerosmith reviews here, or go back to the Aerosmith tabs.

Aerosmith Band: Aerosmith
Title: Done with Mirrors
Rating:
Release Date: 1997-08-12
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Let the Music Do the Talking 2: My Fist Your Face 3: Shame on You 4: Reason a Dog 5: Shela 6: Gypsy Boots 7: She's on Fire 8: Hop 9: Darkness

Not Remastered!!!
Beware. . this is not remastered (It has the same crappy sound quality as my original cd that came out in 1985). How can amazon charge this much money for this and put a 1997 issue date on it?! Anyway, poor mastering aside, this as a stellar "lost Gem" by Aerosmith that gets 5 stars for the songs, but only 1 star for not being remastered. Every song Rocks. Just don't buy it until it gets remastered (the first 3 songs are available remastered on The Aerosmith Anthology).


You can buy this for .89 used?????
This was the last down and dirty Aerosmith album before they got off drugs and started writing pop songs. Not much I can add to the other positive reviews. Getting off drugs is a good thing. . . losing your edge. . . not so much.
They've made millions since this album but that means nothing.
If you are a fan of seventies era Aerosmith, I would give this a listen.


Not Their Best
However, 2 songs are note-worthy: Let The Music Do The Talking and She's On Fire. I don't remember recommending this album because it is not the best of Aerosmith by any stretch of the imagination.
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Nice to see this one isn't forgotten
Everyone else here has said what I think about this one. I don't have too much to add. It's a straight ahead rock album. Along with 'Night In The Ruts' and 'Rock In A Hard Place' this album fills the gap between their '70's heyday and their late '80's return to form. These three albums are often overlooked (Even by the band themselves when they released some recent 'Hits albums), but if you are a hard rock fan, and especially Aerosmith, they should be a part of your collection.


Aerosmiths most under rated album
To this day, although not their best album, Done With Mirrors in my opinion is Aerosmith's most under rated album. After a few average releases in the late '70's and early '80's, Aerosmith got back to a sound more true to their best rocking albums of their early career from the early to mid '70's with Done With Mirrors. Released in 1985 with the original band line up back together again, a new contract with Geffen Records and new producer in Ted Templeman (of early Van Halen fame), Done With Mirrors was to be Aerosmith's "come back" album. But poor sales resulted and unfortunately this album was not the break through it was meant to be. It was their following album Permanent Vacation and then Pump which catapulted them to the top again, with both those albums far outselling Done With Mirrors. However, whilst those two albums are undoubtedly great, they also marked the beginning of a period in Aerosmith's career where the record company began to dictate to them how their albums should be done. Thus what followed was a string of albums up to (and including) Just Push Play which attempted to stick to the successful formula of Permanent Vacation and Pump, but the results were ultimately soulless mediocrity (with the odd song being the exception).

Done With Mirrors is the last of the Toxic Twins (Tyler/Perry) written albums, so you won't find any top 40 mushy so called power ballads here. What you get is pure blues based hard rock in the true Aerosmith style. Recycling the riff from Draw The Line, the album kicks off with a ball breaking rocker in Let The Music Do The Talking, a song also released by Joe Perry on his solo album, but this is the better version. It is one of Aerosmith's best tracks since their Rocks album.

My Fist Your Face follows and this is another of the albums best tracks. A groovy rocker with attitude, it's my favorite song on the album, along with The Reason A Dog.

Although there aren't any other stand out songs when you first listen to this album, it does contain many pleasant surprises when you get into it. These include the rocker Gypsy Boots, the coolness of She's On Fire, and the rocking The Hop with Tyler on harmonica. Even the final track Darkness rocks, despite a mellow piano and vocal opening.

The band is in great form on this album, playing in a straight ahead rocking way that has sadly been lacking with their albums of late (until Honkin' On Bobo that is). Thankfully there are no Steven Tyler vocal aerobatics or his annoying noises between verses or during guitar breaks and solos. Instead Tyler sings in a more straight forward way with the occasional trade mark scream. I wish he would sing like this these days!

I was 14 years old when Done With Mirrors was released, and my mother got it on LP for my uncle's birthday (thanks Mum! you are responsible for getting me into hard rock/metal). At the time I thought this album and band were the epitome of coolness and my opinion still hasn't changed. I wish they would re-release a remastered version of Done With Mirrors as I would definitely get it. Even more though, I just wish Aerosmith would get back to this type of recording again i. e. an entire album of blues based rocking Tyler/Perry songs. One can only hope!
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You can see a complete list of all Aerosmith discography, or go back to the Aerosmith tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.

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