Despite the reunited lineup, the album marked the end of an era for the band
On this day 40 years ago, Aerosmith released their eighth album ‘Done with Mirrors.’ The ink was still drying on the band’s deal with their new record label Geffen, and they had recently reunited with guitarists Joe Perry and Brad Whitford. ‘Done with Mirrors’ was supposed to be the band’s roaring comeback, but it failed to meet expectations of both the band and their fans. After the tour, the reunited rockers committed to work towards sobriety, and while all things pointed to the ‘Done with Mirrors’ album cycle being a new beginning, it also signaled the end of an era. For their next album, the band brought in outside songwriters to collaborate with, shifting from stripped down hard rock to more radio-friendly material with a pop tinge. While the band’s second act would cause a ripple in their fan base, it catapulted them from arena rockstars to a commercial juggernaut.
Aerosmith’s eighth studio album was the sound of a classic lineup clawing its way back together—bruised, combustible, and newly recommitted. The reunion started in earnest on Valentine’s Day 1984 backstage at Boston’s Orpheum Theatre, where Joe Perry and Brad Whitford reconnected with Steven Tyler and the rest of the band; soon after, the original five agreed to regroup and pursue a new record deal, a process shepherded by manager Tim Collins that ultimately led them to Geffen Records. The band road-tested the reunion on 1984’s Back in the Saddle Tour, then headed into the studio to make the album that would formally mark Perry and Whitford’s return. That same year, the band entered the studio to record their first album together since 1979’s Night in the Ruts.
Geffen paired the band with producer Ted Templeman (Van Halen, Montrose), who aimed to bottle Aerosmith’s ragged, high-voltage attack. Recording in early 1985 at Fantasy (Berkeley), Power Station (New York City), and Can-Am (Tarzana), Templeman leaned on live takes and a bit of stealth—famously killing the “recording” red light to beat the band’s “red-light blues” and capture unguarded performances. The result was a gritty, stripped-down record that emphasized swaggering riffs and Tyler’s rasping vocals — the kind of no-frills hard rock that first made Aerosmith famous. The opener “Let the Music Do the Talking” is a reboot of the Joe Perry Project tune with new Tyler lyrics; “Shela,” “My Fist Your Face,” and “The Hop” snap and swagger over boxy, boogie-riff engines; the original LP closed with the bar-room blues of “She’s on Fire,” while CD/cassette editions added the foreboding “Darkness.”
The album’s mirrored text cover art — readable only when held up to a mirror — symbolized both illusion and reflection, but also hinted at the darker meaning: the mirror as a tool for cocaine use. At the time, several members were still struggling heavily with drugs and alcohol. Templeman later admitted that keeping the sessions on track was difficult; the band’s substance abuse frequently derailed progress. Tyler and Perry, in particular, were still deep in addiction, and the album title was a not-so-subtle statement of intent — their desire to be “done with mirrors,” even if sobriety was still a few years away.
Contemporary reviews were sharply split. Robert Christgau gave it a B+, praising the reunion’s spark and the get-up-and-go of side one; AllMusic later called it the band’s finest since “Rocks.” Rolling Stone, by contrast, dismissed it as the work of “burned-out lugheads,” criticizing both the lyrics and Perry’s leads. Retrospectives have stayed divided, but many critics now hear it as the gritty reset the band needed before the pop-polished resurgence to come.
Commercially, Done with Mirrors underperformed relative to expectations but kept the lights on. The album peaked at No. 36 on the Billboard 200 and spent 28 weeks on the chart; it was certified Gold by the RIAA (500,000 units) on July 21, 1993. Singles fared modestly at rock radio: “Let the Music Do the Talking” hit No. 18 and “Shela” No. 20 on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock chart. A video for “Let the Music Do the Talking”—shot at Boston’s Orpheum—gave MTV some evidence that the Bad Boys were indeed back.
If the album was the statement, the tour was the proof. The Done with Mirrors Tour launched on August 23, 1985, and ran into 1986 for 101 shows, largely in U.S. arenas and secondary markets where the band’s blue-collar base never left. Typical sets braided hunger-panged new cuts (“My Fist Your Face,” “The Hop”) with 1970s staples like “Back in the Saddle,” “Sweet Emotion,” and “Walk This Way,” the latter soon to be reborn with Run-D.M.C. The roadwork re-hardened the lineup and reacquainted audiences with Aerosmith as a live force, even as broader mainstream momentum still lagged.
By the end of the tour, the band’s substance issues had reached a breaking point. Their manager Tim Collins — determined to save Aerosmith from implosion — staged interventions throughout 1986–87. One by one, the members entered rehab, with Tyler getting sober first, followed by Perry, Whitford, Hamilton, and Kramer. Collins’ persistence was crucial: he convinced the band that without sobriety, there would be no future.
The turning point came in 1986 when Aerosmith’s collaboration with Run-D.M.C. on “Walk This Way” became an MTV smash, introducing the band to a new generation. Sober, humbled, and aware of the changing musical landscape, Aerosmith accepted Geffen’s suggestion to bring in outside songwriters for their next album.
That next record — Permanent Vacation (1987) — paired the band with professional writers such as Desmond Childand Jim Vallance, marking a sharp stylistic shift toward polished, radio-ready rock. The change paid off: the album went 5× Platinum and launched a second era of superstardom that continued with Pump (1989) and Get a Grip (1993).
In the band’s long arc, Done with Mirrors became the hinge. It reunited the classic five, re-established their onstage chemistry, and reminded them how they sounded without glossy concessions. The record’s relative stumble set the stage for the left-field break that followed: the 1986 “Walk This Way” remake with Run-D.M.C., and then the bright, radio-tooled blockbuster Permanent Vacation (1987). In retrospect, Done with Mirrors is less a misfire than a gritty recalibration—a raw, demo-smelling bridge between the street-tough Aerosmith of the ’70s and the hit-machine Aerosmith of the MTV era.
In hindsight, Done with Mirrors stands as a transitional record — gritty, imperfect, and emblematic of a band at war with itself. It captured the last gasp of Aerosmith’s raw 1970s ethos before sobriety, outside collaboration, and MTV-era success reshaped their sound and image. While it didn’t sell millions, Done with Mirrors remains the essential bridge between Aerosmith’s chaotic past and their improbable rebirth as one of rock’s longest-running success stories.
Aerosmith – Done with Mirrors [Geffen, 1985]
1. Let the Music Do the Talking
2. My Fist Your Face
3. Shame on You
4. The Reason a Dog
5. Shela
6. Gypsy Boots
7. She’s on Fire
8. The Hop
9. Darkness
Shop Aerosmith’s Done with Mirrors Collection HERE