Permanent Vacation

Aerosmith's biggest success in a decade, selling over five million copies in the U.S.

Permanent Vacation is the ninth studio album by American rock band Aerosmith, released by Geffen Records on August 25, 1987. This record marks the band's decisive shift to a pop-metal sound they maintained through 1993's Get a Grip. Although Done with Mirrors was intended as their comeback, Permanent Vacation is widely considered their true resurgence, serving as the first truly popular album since their reunion. The production process recruited outside songwriters who had previously penned commercial hits for Bon Jovi, Heart, and Starship, a strategy suggested by executive John Kalodner. He also pushed the band to collaborate with producer Bruce Fairbairn, who stayed with them for two subsequent albums. Distinguished as the first Aerosmith album promoted heavily via music video airplay on MTV, it spawned major Top 20 hits: "Rag Doll", "Dude (Looks Like a Lady)", and "Angel".

Quick Facts

Artist

Aerosmith

Released

25 August 1987

Studio

Little Mountain Sound
Vancouver; Unique Recording
New York City

Genre

Pop metal; hard rock

Length

51:46

Label

Geffen

Producer

Bruce Fairbairn

Lore & Background

The album's creation was driven by executive John Kalodner, who suggested recruiting external songwriters with proven hits for acts like Bon Jovi, Heart, and Starship. He also insisted on producer Bruce Fairbairn, initiating a partnership that would last for two more albums. This era defined the band's sonic identity; while Done with Mirrors was meant to signal their return, Permanent Vacation solidified it as their true comeback. The strategy paid off immediately, becoming the band's biggest success in ten years. MTV played a pivotal role, providing heavy airplay that propelled "Dude (Looks Like a Lady)", "Angel", and "Rag Doll" into the Top 20. In the UK, the album achieved historic status for the group, earning Silver certification (60,000 units) in July 1989 and Gold certification (100,000 units) by March 1990.

Reader's Guide

Loudwire ranked Permanent Vacation as Aerosmith's 6th best album, acknowledging its lavish '80s production has dated but affirming it ranks among the greatest musical comebacks of all time. They also placed it at No. 4 on their 2017 list of the "10 Best Hard Rock Albums of 1987". Martin Popoff described the record as "blatantly commercial", rating it four-fifths brilliant or good and one-fifth middling or bad, specifically citing "Angel" as a career low. Loudersound included it in their list of the 20 best albums from 1987, calling it a "collection of sublime pop-metal". The band's lineup for this era featured Steven Tyler on lead vocals, piano, and harmonica; Joe Perry and Brad Whitford on guitar; Tom Hamilton on bass; and Joey Kramer on drums.

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1	Heart's Done Time	Joe Perry, Desmond Child	4:42
2	Magic Touch	Steven Tyler, Perry, Jim Vallance	4:40
3	Rag Doll	Tyler, Perry, Vallance, Holly Knight	4:21
4	Simoriah	Tyler, Perry, Vallance	3:22
5	Dude (Looks Like a Lady)	Tyler, Perry, Child	4:23
6	St. John	Tyler	4:12
7	Hangman Jury	Tyler, Perry, Vallance	5:33
8	Girl Keeps Coming Apart	Tyler, Perry	4:12
9	Angel	Tyler, Child	5:10
10	Permanent Vacation	Tyler, Brad Whitford	4:52
11	I'm Down (The Beatles cover)	John Lennon, Paul McCartney	2:20
12	The Movie (instrumental)	Tyler, Perry, Whitford, Tom Hamilton, Joey Kramer	4:00
Total length			51:47