''Permanent Vacation'' is the ninth studio album by American rock band Aerosmith, released by

Geffen Records Geffen Records is an American record label established by David Geffen and owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M Records imprint. Founded in 1980, Geffen Records has been a part of Interscope Geffen A&M since 1999 and h ...

on August 25, 1987. The album marks the band's shift to a pop-metal sound that they would maintain up to 2001's '' Just Push Play''. Three hit singles were released from the album, "

Dude (Looks Like a Lady) "Dude (Looks Like a Lady)" is a song by American rock band Aerosmith. It was released as the lead single from the band's ninth studio album '' Permanent Vacation'' in 1987. The track reached number 14 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, number 41 ...

", "

Angel In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God. Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles inclu ...

", and " Rag Doll". It was their first to employ songwriters outside the band, instead of featuring songs solely composed by them. This came at the suggestion of executive John Kalodner. He also pushed the band to work with producer Bruce Fairbairn, who remained with them for another two albums. It was also the first Aerosmith album to be promoted by heavy music video airplay on MTV. Though '' Done with Mirrors'' was intended to mark Aerosmith's comeback, ''Permanent Vacation'' is often considered their true comeback, as it was the band's first truly popular album since their reunion. " Rag Doll", "

", and "

" became major hits (all three charted in the Top 20) and helped ''Permanent Vacation'' become the band's greatest success in a decade. ''Permanent Vacation'' has sold over five million copies in the U.S. In the UK, it was the first Aerosmith album to attain both Silver (60,000 units sold) and Gold (100,000 units sold) certification by the

British Phonographic Industry British Phonographic Industry (BPI) is the British recorded music industry's Trade association. It runs the BRIT Awards, the Classic BRIT Awards, National Album Day, is home to the Mercury Prize, and co-owns the Official Charts Company with ...

, achieving these in July 1989 and March 1990 respectively.

Reception

The album received mixed-to-positive reviews. In a retrospective assessment AllMusic gave the album four stars, and said "despite the mostly stellar songwriting, which makes it a strong effort overall, some of the album's nooks and crannies haven't aged all that well because of Fairbairn's overwrought production, featuring an exaggerated sleekness typical of most mid-'80s pop-metal albums". Dave Reynolds from Metal Forces magazine called the album "a shit hot album and one I’m gonna play the hell out of". Robert Christgau graded the album a C+, saying Aerosmith were "running out of gas again already". Loudwire ranked the album as Aerosmith's 6th best album explaining the ranking with, "its lavish '80s production has definitely dated, but 'Permanent Vacation' still ranks among the greatest musical comebacks of all time". Loudersound placed the album on their list of the 20 best albums from 1987 and called it a "collection of sublime pop-metal".

Track listing

Personnel

Adapted from the album liner notes and

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

. Track numbers refer to CD and digital releases of the album. Aerosmith * Steven Tylerlead vocals, piano, harmonica, organ,

plunger mute A mute is a device attached to a musical instrument which changes the instrument's tone quality (timbre) or lowers its volume. Mutes are commonly used on string and brass instruments, especially the trumpet and trombone, and are occasionally ...

* Joe Perryguitar: lead guitar (all except 10 & 12), lead and rhythm guitar on track 1, backing vocals, pedal steel guitar on "Rag Doll" *

Brad Whitford Bradley Ernest Whitford (born February 23, 1952)Putterford, Mark (1991) ''The Fall and Rise of Aerosmith'', Omnibus Press, Strong, Martin C. (2001) ''The Great Metal Discography'' (2nd edn.), MOJO Books, , p. 11-13 is an American musician who i ...

guitar: lead and rhythm guitar on track 1, lead guitar on tracks 8, 10 & 12 * Tom Hamiltonbass guitar * Joey Kramerdrums Additional musicians *

Drew Arnott Strange Advance is a Canadian new wave band formed in 1982 in Vancouver, British Columbia. They were nominated for a 1983 Juno Award as Most Promising Group of the Year and again in 1985 as Group of the Year. Their first two albums, 1982's ' ...

mellotron on "Angel" and "The Movie" *

Tom Keenlyside Thomas William Keenlyside (born 1950) is a Canadian saxophonist and flautist from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Biography Born and raised in Vancouver, Keenlyside grew up hearing many genres of music on the radio that his parents left t ...

clarinet, tenor saxophone, horn arrangement on "Dude (Looks Like a Lady)" and "Rag Doll" *Ian Putzbaritone saxophone on "Dude (Looks Like a Lady)" and "Rag Doll" *Bob Rogerstrombone on "Dude (Looks Like a Lady)" and "Rag Doll" *Henry Christiantrumpet * Bruce Fairbairntrumpet, cello, background vocals,

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stati ...

*Scott Fairbairncello * Mike Fraserplunger mute,

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad range of more speciali ...

, mixing *Morgan Rael

steel drum The steelpan (also known as a pan, steel drum, and sometimes, collectively with other musicians, as a steelband or steel orchestra) is a musical instrument originating in Trinidad and Tobago. Steelpan musicians are called pannists. Descript ...

s *

Jim Vallance James Douglas Vallance (born May 31, 1952) is a Canadian songwriter, arranger and producer. He is best known as the songwriting partner of Canadian musician Bryan Adams. Vallance began his professional career as the original drummer and main song ...

organ on "Rag Doll" and "Simoriah" *Christine Arnottbacking vocals on "The Movie" Production *

Bob Rock Robert Jens Rock (born April 19, 1954) is a Canadian record producer, sound engineer and musician, best known for producing rock bands and music artists such as Metallica, Mötley Crüe, Bon Jovi, Aerosmith, The Tragically Hip, the Cult, ...

– engineering *Ken Lomas – assistant engineering *

George Marino George Marino (April 15, 1947 – June 4, 2012) was an American mastering engineer known for working on albums by rock bands starting in the late 1960s. Biography Marino was born on April 15, 1947, in the New York City borough The Bronx. He at ...

– mastering *Kim Champagne – art direction *Andy Engel – illustrations *Neal Preston – photography

Charts

Certifications

References