. . . marked by the return of guitarist Joe Perry and the successful 1984 'Back in the Saddle' tour, really plays more like a coda to early Aerosmith. Produced by Ted Templeman (early-era Van Halen), 'Done With Mirrors' (1985) would be the last record before Steven Tyler and Joe Perry began writing with professional co-writers as a matter of course. Although 'Done With Mirrors' is not their best work, there are some great moments on this record - inlcuding Perry's slide guitar on "Let the Music Do the Talking" and "She's On Fire", Brad Whitford's riffing on "Shela", and Steven Tyler's dark piano stylings on "Darkness".

It is unfortunate that the cuts on this record are overlooked by the band in their setlists due to the relatively disappointing record sales. I am also disappointed that Geffen recently chose to release all of the Aerosmith's Geffen catalog other than this one.

Done With Mirrors is probably the most underappreciated album in their catalog. While not as strong as their mid-70's gems Rocks or Toys In The Attic, it's much better than the albums they have released since Pump.

The songs on this album are their best since Rocks. The first two tracks "Let The Music Do The Talking" and "My Fist, Your Face" are the strongest tracks on the album and rock the hardest. "Darkness" is the obligatory ballad of the album and is one of their best. Other strong tracks include "Shame On You", "Shela", and "Gypsy Boots." The other tracks on the album are are okay, but not among their best. That being said, this album is begging for a remaster as it suffers from muddy production on several of the tracks. If you're an Aerosmith fan, this is definitely worth checking out as it contains much more of their bluesy rock sound than their recent albums.

Before Aerosmith let wimps write thier songs and produce thier records(and tell them which songs should be singles).They actually did attempt a comeback of furious perportions.Full of guts and glory"Done with mirrors"is the last pull out all the stops/guitar driven rock disc from the band.I find myself nowadays sayin'"Is Joe Perry still in this band?"On more recent releases I have to strain just to hear him>Not here.The guitar riffs dominate the procedings.The subject matter in the lyrics are rock and roll,fire women,bar brawling,and carrying yourself like a bad man!No sappy love ballads on this one.I love this record so much that when I recently met Joe Perry.It was this disc I had him sign.(See the photo at www.markfloresmusic.com click photos).So if you still got a problem with authority,can handle a good time,and aint afraid of yo' mama....get into this one.ggggrrRRRRr

Forget that Permanent Vacation crappola! THIS is the good right here! Done With Mirrors IS the Comeback album from Aerosmith. This album seperates the REAL fans from all the other poser pain in the ass, wanna-be fans that fell in love with Dude Looks Like A Lady and Angel! This rates right up there with the Rocks period. THis is the period when they were very sick from alcoholism and drug addiction, but had a chance to regroup after a hiatus that started with the departure of guitarists Joe Perry and Brad Whitford; (during which the spots were filler by Jimmy Crespo and Rick Duffey (spelling?)). The result? Done With Mirrors...well, according to their autobiography, they weren't quite done with 'em yet, but anyway, a nice strong old school Aerosmith album is what you will get.

Highlights include, Let The Music Do The Talking, My Fist Your Face, Shame On You, The reason A Dog....well...the entire album is fantastic! Once again, if you like old school Aerosmith, you will love this album...if you only like the stuff from Permanent Vacation and foward......skip it...this is NOT for the weak hearted!

Even though I've heard critics and fans alike slam this 1985 comeback lp of the original line-up of Aerosmith,it will always have special meaning to me.Remember that video for "Let The Music Do The Talking"?Good thing I was forewarned about it.In the video,three fans sneak a super 8 movie camera into the concert,managing to film some decent footage of the band's performance.Then a fat guard catches them and chases them out the back door of the venue.The three drop the film off to a hippie working the late night shift at the Fotomat.Later,they're shown hanging out with the band watching the home movie.Two years before 'Done...' came out,I myself attended an Aerosmith gig and managed to take a roll of super 8 film of the show.I had another person in the crowd warn me that a security guard had spotted me.I then moved to a different spot and removed my coat I had on.He never found me after that.That incident just might've influenced the video.Think about it.About the CD,I've always considered "Let The Music...","My Fist Your Face","Shela"(actually hung out with two,not one but two girls named Shela around this time),"Shame On You" and "She's On Fire" to be prime Aerosmith material.Just because this lp didn't sell very good doesn't mean it isn't any good.It's great!Old school hard rock.