# Done with Mirrors
**Done with Mirrors** is the eighth studio album by the American hard rock band [Aerosmith](https://www.edgepedia.org/aerosmith), released on November 4, 1985 by [Geffen Records](https://www.edgepedia.org/geffen-records). It was the band's first album after guitarists Joe Perry and [Brad Whitford](https://www.edgepedia.org/brad-whitford) returned in 1984, reuniting all four original members, and its commercial failure set up the 1986 Run-DMC collaboration on "Walk This Way" that restored the band's fortunes.[1](https://music.apple.com/us/album/done-with-mirrors/1443504474) • [2](https://www.musicradar.com/artists/love-in-an-elevator-yeah-ive-done-it-steven-tyler-and-joe-perry-on-the-making-of-the-aerosmith-classic-pump)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Artist / release | Aerosmith, eighth studio album, released November 4, 1985, 9 songs, 35 minutes, Geffen Records[1](https://music.apple.com/us/album/done-with-mirrors/1443504474) |
| Lineup significance | First album after the 1984 return of Joe Perry and Brad Whitford, reuniting all four original members[1](https://music.apple.com/us/album/done-with-mirrors/1443504474) |
| Label significance | The band's first Geffen effort[3](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Billboard/90s/1991/BB-1991-08-17.pdf) |
| Producer | Ted Templeman, who had just hit platinum with Van Halen's 1984[4](https://www.loudersound.com/features/aerosmith-1980s-story-of-comeback) |
| Commercial result | Stalled on the charts; by the summer of 1986 even the slickest publicist could not have spun it into anything less than a bomb[5](https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/aerosmith-had-never-heard-of-run-dmc-the-path-to-the-groundbreaking-hit-walk-this-way/2019/02/03/d0fefb10-04b2-11e9-b6a9-0aa5c2fcc9e4_story.html) |
| Cover art | Backward-facing block lettering readable only by holding the sleeve up to a mirror, without the band's flying logo[6](https://www.loudersound.com/features/aerosmith-done-with-mirrors-story-behind-album) |
| Lead single | "Let the Music Do the Talking," an update of a song Joe Perry wrote for a side project[1](https://music.apple.com/us/album/done-with-mirrors/1443504474) |
| Tracklist | Let The Music Do The Talking; My Fist Your Face; Shame On You; The Reason A Dog; Shela; Gypsy Boots; She's On Fire; The Hop; Darkness[7](https://store.aerosmith.com/products/done-with-mirrors-cd) |
## Background: the reunion
Perry left Aerosmith amid intergroup conflicts in 1979 to form the Joe Perry Project, and Whitford departed in 1981; the only album made without them, 1982's [Rock in a Hard Place](https://www.edgepedia.org/rock-in-a-hard-place), used other guitarists.[8](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-01-31-ca-2884-story.html) The classic lineup was restored in 1984 with the return of Perry and Whitford, and Geffen A&R executive John Kalodner lured the band to the label.[2](https://www.musicradar.com/artists/love-in-an-elevator-yeah-ive-done-it-steven-tyler-and-joe-perry-on-the-making-of-the-aerosmith-classic-pump) • [3](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Billboard/90s/1991/BB-1991-08-17.pdf) Accounts of the band's condition during this period differ: Grantland writes that as of Done With Mirrors the band was still thoroughly mired in drugs, while MusicRadar describes the 1985 group as newly drug-free.[9](https://grantland.com/features/the-winners-history-rock-roll-part-4-aerosmith/) • [2](https://www.musicradar.com/artists/love-in-an-elevator-yeah-ive-done-it-steven-tyler-and-joe-perry-on-the-making-of-the-aerosmith-classic-pump)
## Recording and songs
Producer Ted Templeman, who had just hit platinum with [Van Halen](https://www.edgepedia.org/van-halen)'s 1984 and was admired by the band for his work on Montrose's debut, was brought in for the album.[4](https://www.loudersound.com/features/aerosmith-1980s-story-of-comeback) The opening track, "Let the Music Do the Talking," is an update of a song Joe Perry wrote for a side project, and Apple Music's editorial description calls it a "freight-trainish" first single.[1](https://music.apple.com/us/album/done-with-mirrors/1443504474) The same description notes [Steven Tyler](https://www.edgepedia.org/steven-tyler)'s voice, "wizened from a rasp to a truly damaged, beautiful wail," razzing his bandmates on the bluesy "Shame On You," and the closing "Darkness" as a heartfelt love song.[1](https://music.apple.com/us/album/done-with-mirrors/1443504474)
**Cover art.** The original sleeve was printed in backward-facing block lettering that could only be deciphered by holding it up to a mirror, and it lacked the band's instantly recognizable flying logo.[6](https://www.loudersound.com/features/aerosmith-done-with-mirrors-story-behind-album)
## Commercial failure and reception
The album failed to match the band's previous outings and stalled on the charts; by the summer of 1986, even the slickest publicist could not have spun Done with Mirrors into anything less than a bomb.[3](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Billboard/90s/1991/BB-1991-08-17.pdf) • [5](https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/aerosmith-had-never-heard-of-run-dmc-the-path-to-the-groundbreaking-hit-walk-this-way/2019/02/03/d0fefb10-04b2-11e9-b6a9-0aa5c2fcc9e4_story.html) Rolling Stone's review amounted to one withering sentence: "The work of burnt-out lug-heads whose lack of musical imagination rivals their repugnant lyrics."[6](https://www.loudersound.com/features/aerosmith-done-with-mirrors-story-behind-album) Retrospective opinion has been kinder in places: Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic wrote that the album is powered by the smart-assed lyrics and filthy guitars of the band's best songs, called it Aerosmith's finest record since [Rocks](https://www.edgepedia.org/rocks-aerosmith-album), and judged it a better album than [Permanent Vacation](https://www.edgepedia.org/permanent-vacation) despite receiving less commercial and critical attention.[10](https://www.allmusic.com/album/done-with-mirrors-mw0000649812) Perry himself has more than once listed Done With Mirrors as his least favorite Aerosmith album.[6](https://www.loudersound.com/features/aerosmith-done-with-mirrors-story-behind-album)
## Role in the comeback
The album's failure had direct consequences. Aerosmith's fortunes turned around in 1986 when their collaboration with Run-DMC on a new version of the band's 1975 track "Walk This Way" was a hit around the world, and Billboard notes that the rap collaboration allowed the band to recapture its street credibility.[2](https://www.musicradar.com/artists/love-in-an-elevator-yeah-ive-done-it-steven-tyler-and-joe-perry-on-the-making-of-the-aerosmith-classic-pump) • [3](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Billboard/90s/1991/BB-1991-08-17.pdf) After the album, Aerosmith took on outside songwriting help at the insistence of Geffen's John Kalodner, and the 1987 follow-up Permanent Vacation was made with songwriters including [Desmond Child](https://www.edgepedia.org/desmond-child), Holly Knight, and Jim Vallance.[9](https://grantland.com/features/the-winners-history-rock-roll-part-4-aerosmith/) • [2](https://www.musicradar.com/artists/love-in-an-elevator-yeah-ive-done-it-steven-tyler-and-joe-perry-on-the-making-of-the-aerosmith-classic-pump) Three decades on, Louder judged the album arguably the band's most pivotal, a staging post between their 1970s glory days and the cleaned-up incarnation that was song-doctored to multi-platinum success from the late 1980s through the 1990s.[6](https://www.loudersound.com/features/aerosmith-done-with-mirrors-story-behind-album)
Its commercial standing stayed low in the band's own catalog: the 1994 hits compilation Big Ones, which gathered the band's biggest hits from the Geffen albums, included no tracks from Done With Mirrors.[11](https://manuals.plus/m/3914c06c61b02d316e8bad27769307fe932b0d052a33e9f5a308abbb0e968dff.pdf)
## References
1. [Done with Mirrors – Album by Aerosmith, Apple Music](https://music.apple.com/us/album/done-with-mirrors/1443504474)
2. [Steven Tyler and Joe Perry on the making of Pump, MusicRadar](https://www.musicradar.com/artists/love-in-an-elevator-yeah-ive-done-it-steven-tyler-and-joe-perry-on-the-making-of-the-aerosmith-classic-pump)
3. [Aerosmith Leaving Geffen; Back in Sony Saddle Again?, Billboard, 17 August 1991](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Billboard/90s/1991/BB-1991-08-17.pdf)
4. [The wild story of Aerosmith's spectacular 1980s fall and rise, Louder](https://www.loudersound.com/features/aerosmith-1980s-story-of-comeback)
5. [The path to the groundbreaking hit "Walk This Way", The Washington Post](https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/aerosmith-had-never-heard-of-run-dmc-the-path-to-the-groundbreaking-hit-walk-this-way/2019/02/03/d0fefb10-04b2-11e9-b6a9-0aa5c2fcc9e4_story.html)
6. [Aerosmith: the story behind Done With Mirrors, Louder](https://www.loudersound.com/features/aerosmith-done-with-mirrors-story-behind-album)
7. [Done With Mirrors CD, Aerosmith Official Store](https://store.aerosmith.com/products/done-with-mirrors-cd)
8. [Aerosmith '86: Reunion Renews That Old Zest, Los Angeles Times, 31 January 1986](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-01-31-ca-2884-story.html)
9. [The Winners' History of Rock and Roll, Part 4: Aerosmith, Grantland](https://grantland.com/features/the-winners-history-rock-roll-part-4-aerosmith/)
10. [Aerosmith: Done with Mirrors Tracks & Reviews, AllMusic](https://www.allmusic.com/album/done-with-mirrors-mw0000649812)
11. [Columbia, Geffen Offer Joy for Aerosmith Fans (Big Ones compilation), Billboard](https://manuals.plus/m/3914c06c61b02d316e8bad27769307fe932b0d052a33e9f5a308abbb0e968dff.pdf)
---
*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Music › Musical practice and theory › Popular music genres › Rock works, labels, discographies, awards, and infrastructure › Rock studio albums › 1980s rock albums*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license