Joe Perry recently talked about some of the challenges behind Aerosmith’s 1985 comeback LP “Done with Mirrors.” He highlighted how he felt it “could have been better if we had worked on it some more.”
Back in the early ’80s, Aerosmith’s future was up in the air as Joe Perry parted ways with the band in 1979, only to be followed by fellow guitarist Brad Whitford. However, the two ax wielders’ break from the band turned out to be relatively brief, as they both returned in 1984, and the reunion was crowned with the release of “Done with Mirrors” the next year.
After the release, the album received favorable reviews, and fans & critics only seem to have grown more appreciative of the uncompromisingly heavy LP as the years went on.
Perry, alongside Whitford, used to be dismissive of the album, but tells Guitar World in a new interview that his opinion on “Done with Mirrors” changed in recent times (via Guitar):
“I got a call some years ago about ‘Done with Mirrors’ being on a list of, I don’t know… top rock records. I forget what it was. But it was on a list, and people were regarding it as something that reminded them of our first record. I started listening to it, and I was really surprised. I saw it from a whole different viewpoint and saw what they were talking about. It’s really rough and raw, and there are a lot of things about it that reminded me of the first couple of records.”
The album was done at a time when Aerosmith was still getting used to being back together — and when getting a record deal wasn’t as easy as it used to be, Perry recalled:
“We had just gotten back together. We had done a tour and were getting comfortable playing together again. I had left for almost four years, and Brad had been gone, so we were getting comfortable with being together; that was part of the reason we went out on the road without a record deal. Well, one of the reasons was that we couldn’t get a record deal.”
He added:
“We had burned so many bridges that nobody would sign us. But we wanted to see if we had the old spark. We went out and toured for the ‘Back in the Saddle’ tour that summer, and the fans showed up for us. That’s it. They were there for us.”
Recalling the process of getting reacquainted with his bandmates, Perry said:
“When we got into the studio to do that record, we were still learning how to write again. After doing records like ‘Rocks’, ‘Draw the Line’ and even the first three records, you would think we’d be able to pick up from there and go on, but the pressure was on. People were looking at us like, ‘Okay, what are you going to come up with?'”
For “Done with Mirrors”, Aerosmith joined forces with producer Ted Templeman, who had done wonders with Van Halen only shortly before. However, Perry recalled:
“We got to work with Ted, who had an amazing reputation, obviously, with Van Halen, which was incredible. They sounded monstrous, and I guess we were expecting more from him, so we were both kind of nervous. We were nervous to work with him, and he was nervous to work with us, which kind of surprised us.”
Summing up his impressions of the LP, the guitarist offered:
“I always felt like that record could have been better if we had worked on it some more, or if everybody got in the control room together and said, ‘We kind of feel uptight about working with you,’ but I don’t know… it’s just how it went.”
