Tracklist, Album Covers and Info
1. "Heart's Done Time" 4:42
2. "Magic Touch" 4:40
3. "Rag Doll" 4:21
4. "Simoriah" 3:22
5. "Dude (Looks Like a Lady)" 4:23
6. "St. John" 4:12
7. "Hangman Jury" 5:33
8. "Girl Keeps Coming Apart" 4:12
9. "Angel" 5:10
10. "Permanent Vacation" 4:52
11. "I'm Down" (The Beatles cover) 2:20
12. "The Movie" 4:00
Total length: 51:47
Aerosmith Band Members / Musicians
Steven Tyler – lead vocals, piano, harmonica, plunger mute
Joe Perry – guitar: lead guitar (all except 10 & 12), lead and rhythm guitar on track 1, backing vocals, pedal steel guitar on "Rag Doll"
Brad Whitford – guitar: lead and rhythm guitar on track 1, lead guitar on tracks 8, 10 & 12
Tom Hamilton – bass guitar
Joey Kramer – drums
Permanent Vacation is the 9th studio album by American rock band Aerosmith, released on August 25, 1987, by Geffen Records. The album signified a major turning point in the band's career, marking their transition to a more polished, pop-metal sound that they would continue with until 2001's Just Push Play. It was the first album to feature outside songwriters, following the suggestion of executive John Kalodner. Kalodner also encouraged Aerosmith to collaborate with producer Bruce Fairbairn, who would produce their next two albums as well.
This album was also Aerosmith’s first to benefit from heavy video promotion on MTV. Although Done with Mirrors was supposed to signal their big comeback, Permanent Vacation is widely regarded as their true resurgence, becoming their first massive success since reuniting. Hit singles from the album include “Rag Doll,” “Dude (Looks Like a Lady),” and “Angel,” all of which reached the Top 20 on the charts and played a significant role in the album's success.
The album has sold over five million copies in the U.S. and was the first Aerosmith album in the UK to be certified both Silver (60,000 copies sold) and Gold (100,000 copies sold), with these milestones reached in July 1989 and March 1990 respectively.
Critical reception to Permanent Vacation was mixed-to-positive. AllMusic later gave it four stars, praising the strong songwriting but noting that Bruce Fairbairn’s production style, typical of mid-‘80s pop-metal, had not aged well in some parts. Dave Reynolds from Metal Forces magazine called it “a shit hot album” that he planned to listen to extensively, while Robert Christgau gave it a C+, suggesting the band was “running out of gas again already.”
In more modern assessments, Loudwire ranked it as Aerosmith’s sixth best album, describing it as one of the greatest musical comebacks of all time despite its dated ‘80s production. Loudwire also named it the fourth-best hard rock album of 1987, and Loudersound included it in their list of the 20 best albums from that year, calling it a “collection of sublime pop-metal.”
