Customer Reviews

Permanent Vacation

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Aerosmith was a great 70's band with albums like Toys In The Attic and hits like "Dream On" and "Walk This Way." They made their huge comeback in 1987 with Permanent Vacation. The album is loaded with the hits "Dude (Looks Like A Lady)," "Rag Doll," and "Angel." Those are not the only good songs on Permanent Vacation though. The title track, "Simoriah," "Girl Keeps Coming Apart" and the rest of the songs are almost as good. In my opinon, Aerosmith couldn't have made a comeback in the 80's with a much better album.

If you're an Aerosmith fan or if you like hard rock, I recommend getting Permanent Vacation. It might stay permanently as one of your favorites.

1. Heart's Done Time
2. Magic Touch
3. Rag Doll
4. Simoriah
5. Dude (Looks Like a Lady)
6. St. John
7. Hangman Jury
8. Girl Keeps Coming Apart
9. Angel
10. Permanent Vacation
11. I'm Down
12. The Movie

Aerosmith's career renaissance began in earnest with this August of 1987 release. 'Permanent Vacation' was exactly what Geffen Records threatened the band with after the lukewarm reception of 'Done with Mirrors'. The notoriously substance abusive quintet finally sobered up to make their true comeback...and what a comeback! Bruce Fairbairn and John Kalodner of Geffen A&R callled in noted song doctors Desmond Child and Jim Vallance to help Steven and Joe get their creative juices flowing and now over twenty years later, three hit singles and five million US units sold...the results were in, Aerosmith was a superstar band again..and would remain so to the present day. The hits speak for themselves: "Dude", "Rag Doll" (both featuring the classic Aerosmith sass and sleaze) and "Angel" (groan...). Beyond the hits favs include opener "Heart's Done Time" (very appropriate), "Hangman Jury", the title track and "I'm Down" (like it better than "Come Together", maybe cuz it wasn't overplayed). Yes the hits are old, "Angel" bugs the crap out of me and 'Pump' would be better, but Aerosmith had to start over again and the comekids brought themselves back from the dead....the hangman jury let them off the long hook.

Driving Aerosmith into their second career this hard rock thirst quencher spurts out a couple of instant classics of the genre. Rag Doll and Dude (Looks Like A Lady) are pretty much spot on the way they encapsulate the musical definition of a good time. Elsewhere we get the band really entertaining their love of the blues - a love they took to it's logical conclusion approximately 20 years later with Honkin' On Bobo. The band also dishes up some ballads and while that probably makes many fans cringe as they think of the heritage ruining ballads of the 90's lets be fair about it, Angel from this album may stink but Tyler does have a great plaintive tone to his voice and not all ballads are evil.

The rest of the band sound on song too and the production is pretty much perfect for the time and the genre. Tunes can breath and the simple knob job allows the music to shine through. I have to subtract a star as not all of this hits the spot such as some of the lengthier blues/weird stuff sections in songs like the title track. Also the cover of The Beatles I'm Down is neither great nor a great choice. Still beats U2's Helter Skelter! And what's goin' on with the final track `The Movie'? But these issues are forgivable given the song writing and musical talents of the band. And as stated above, this thing hatched at least two juke box necessities. So four stars IMHO.

I've come to like all the tracks on this album. The album isn't amazing, but it is definitely good enough, and probably one of their more under-appreciated ones, though, truthfully. Almost all of the songs are likable I've found, and there are some that are way too under-appreciated like:
Permanant Vacation
I'm Down (The Beatles Cover)

And then there are:
Heart's Done Time
Magic Touch (I like this one)
Simoriah (nice chorus)
Girl Keeps Coming Apart (I like this one quite a bit too, actually)
These are all songs you'll like if you're a semi-hardcore Aerosmith fan.

Of course, there are the hit songs as well:
Rag Doll
Dude (Looks Like A Lady)
Angel

Then there are these:
St. John (bluesy, heavy bass use)
Hangman Jury (funny lyrics, quite a slow song comparatively)
The Movie (instrumental, a bit psychedelic)
These are not your typical Aerosmith songs, but aren't that bad, especially The Movie. You just have to listen to them with an open mind.

"Permanent vacation" is one of the better, if not the best Aerosmith album ever. The previous "Done with mirrors" wasn't all bad but it sure wasn't very exciting. This time Aerosmith had a lot of better songs and the whole album gives a sense that the band had decided to do things properly. With the help from songwriters like Desmond Child (was there any hair metal band that he didn't wrote songs for?) and Jim Vallance (Bryan Adams' co-writer), "Permanent vacation" turned out to be a solid rock album. There's a lot of enjoyable tunes like the melodic "Magic touch", the groovy "Rag doll", and the catchy "Dude (looks like a lady)". "Hangman jury" and the title track "Permanent vacation" are also highlights, and those of you who think a good hard rock album needs a ballad - you get that in "Angel". Even `tho Aerosmith usually have a rather rattling approach they manage to keep that under control on this release.

After this, Aerosmith went on and recorded "Pump" which also is a solid effort, maybe a little uneven in comparison to "Permanent vacation". Next it was time for the more commercial "Get a grip", which included hit singles like "Living on the edge", "Crying" and "Crazy". These three albums are all worth having, but I'd start with "Permanent vacation".

How happy we all were to see Aerosmith, back on the road to success. This was their first decent record since "Night in the Ruts." It contains the classics "Dude, looks Like a Lady, Rag Doll, and Angel." In between there are many solid tracks as well. It showed the band not being afraid to go in new directions. It showed them comfortable with their age.

However, that's not enough to make this an essential recording. It's not bad or anything. It's simply not much when compared to its follow-up album, "Pump." It was that album that showed the band reaching their peak of that period. PV is a solid album most of the songs are just mediocre.

This is where they made their comeback. With this album, Aerosmith stood up and said, "We're back and we ain't goin' anywhere anytime soon!!!" Songs like DUDE (LOOKS LIKE A LADY) (which, btw, I heard Tyler was influenced to write after seeing Motley Crue's Vince Neil in a bar) and ANGEL establish Aerosmith as a true rock band. Their blues roots can be seen in such awesomely unique songs as ST. JOHN and HANGMAN JURY. Their unique flavor also comes through on such tracks as HEART'S DONE TIME, RAG DOLL, and SIMORIAH.

I always have a hard time deciding whether this or PUMP is the best of the "new" Aerosmith. I guess it doesn't really matter because you'll want to get both. This is one of the best rock albums of all time.

I was a big Aero fan in the 70s but this was the last Aerosmith album I bought. The ballad "Angel" is like any other 80s hair band power ballad...pure sap. Some of the others tunes aren't bad but they certainly can't compete with their mid seventies hey day. I agree with the reveiwer who said the music is overproduced. The most interestong track is the Zeppelin styled "The Movie".

PERMANENT VACATION is the album that helped AEROSMITH establish once again their rightful place on top of the American rock scene. RAG DOLL, DUDE(LOOKS LIKE A LADY), ANGEL are the 3 MTV favorites from this album that pushed them to the top once again. Well the album isnt as raw and dirty as TOYS or ROCKS, this still has some killer rock songs that show the band still rockin like they did in the 70's. Besides the 3 songs mentioned above, the listener will enjoy listening to MAGIC TOUCH, HEARTS DONE TIME, SIMORIAH, GIRL KEEPS COMING APART. ...