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**Aerosmith - Permanent Vacation**
★★★★☆

By the mid-Eighties, Aerosmith were rock and roll's most spectacular cautionary tale. The Boston bad boys who'd once ruled the roost with swagger-soaked anthems like "Walk This Way" and "Sweet Emotion" had become a punchline, their reputation tarnished by a decade of spectacular excess that would make Keith Richards blush. Steven Tyler and Joe Perry – once rock's most telepathic frontman-guitarist partnership – had spent years locked in bitter feuds fueled by mountainous cocaine habits, with Perry and Brad Whitford jumping ship entirely between 1979 and 1984. The band's early Eighties output was, to put it charitably, forgettable. They were washed up, written off, and seemingly destined for the rock and roll scrapheap.

Enter Permanent Vacation, the 1987 comeback that nobody saw coming but everybody needed. This wasn't just a return to form – it was a complete reinvention that somehow managed to honor Aerosmith's sleazy blues-rock roots while embracing the glossy production values and radio-friendly sensibilities of the MTV generation. Working with producers Bruce Fairbairn and Mike Fraser – the Canadian dream team behind Bon Jovi's Slippery When Wet – Tyler and company crafted their most cohesive statement since Rocks, proving that sometimes the best revenge is living well.

The album's genius lies in its shameless populism. These are songs designed to soundtrack teenage rebellion and midlife crises in equal measure, delivered with the kind of winking self-awareness that only comes from staring into the abyss and living to tell the tale. Opening track "Heart's Done Time" sets the tone perfectly – a mid-tempo rocker that acknowledges past mistakes while promising better days ahead, Tyler's voice sounding rejuvenated after years of pharmaceutical punishment.

But it's the album's trio of monster hits that really tell the story. "Dude (Looks Like a Lady)" remains one of rock's most gloriously stupid anthems, a gender-bending romp that somehow manages to be both progressive and regressive simultaneously. Tyler's tale of mistaken identity at a New York club is delivered with such manic glee that you can't help but surrender to its cartoon logic. The track's success proved that Aerosmith could still shock and amuse without resorting to the self-parody that had plagued their recent efforts.

"Angel" showcases the band's softer side without sacrificing their edge, Perry's acoustic arpeggios providing the perfect backdrop for Tyler's most vulnerable vocal performance in years. It's power ballad perfection, complete with a soaring chorus that sounds custom-built for cigarette lighter salutes. Meanwhile, "Rag Doll" finds the perfect sweet spot between their Seventies swagger and Eighties sheen, its tale of cross-class romance elevated by some of Perry's most inventive guitar work.

The deep cuts reward repeated listening too. "Simoriah" is a swampy blues workout that recalls their grittier past, while "Hangman Jury" proves they could still deliver hard rock thunder when required. Even the album's more experimental moments, like the reggae-tinged "The Movie," feel like natural extensions of the band's magpie approach to American music rather than desperate attempts at relevance.

Permanent Vacation's legacy extends far beyond its impressive sales figures and radio ubiquity. It established the template for the veteran comeback album, proving that bands written off as has-beens could reinvent themselves without losing their essential identity. The record's success paved the way for Pump and Get a Grip, ensuring that Aerosmith would dominate the next decade as thoroughly as they had the Seventies.

More importantly, it demonstrated the redemptive power of rock and roll itself. These weren't clean-living born-again rockers preaching sobriety – they were scarred survivors who'd earned their wisdom the hard way. Tyler's lyrics throughout the album are shot through with hard-won experience, acknowledging past mistakes while refusing to apologize for the journey that led to them.

Nearly four decades later, Permanent Vacation stands as both a remarkable comeback story and a damn fine rock album in its own right. It's the sound of a great band remembering what made them great in the first place, delivered with the kind of joy that only comes from getting a second chance you probably don't deserve. Sometimes the best vacations are the ones