Permanent Vacation (Aerosmith album)

Reception

When Permanent Vacation came out, critics were split. Rolling Stone’s Deborah Frost called it one of the band’s dumbest moves, arguing they chased radio hits by hiring trendy producers and changing their lyrics. Still, she admitted the heavier tracks lacked the hooks of their best work but that the band sounded more energized than ever. Robert Christgau gave it a C+, claiming Aerosmith was running out of steam. Metal Forces’ Dave Reynolds was far more enthusiastic, calling it a red-hot album he would play constantly. Looking back, AllMusic noted that while the songwriting was mostly strong, the slick, overproduced sound—typical of mid-80s pop-metal—hasn’t aged gracefully. Martin Popoff described the album as blatantly commercial, rating it four-fifths brilliant and one-fifth middling, singling out “Angel” as a career low. Loudwire ranked it as Aerosmith’s sixth best album, acknowledging the dated production but calling it one of the greatest comebacks ever. They also placed it fourth on their 2017 list of the ten best hard rock albums of 1987. Loudersound included it among the twenty best albums of 1987, calling it a collection of sublime pop-metal.