Permanent Vacation

Permanent Vacation is the ninth studio album by American hard rock band Aerosmith, released in 1987.

The album marks a turning point in the band’s career. It is their first album to employ professional songwriters, instead of featuring material solely composed by members of the band. 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 album, as it was the band’s first truly popular album since their reunion. “Rag Doll,” “Dude (Looks Like a Lady)” and “Angel” all became major hits (all three songs charted in the Top 20) and helped Permanent Vacation become the band’s most successful album in a decade. As a result, the band would maintain their shift toward mainstream pop, and see further success with Pump and Get a Grip.

The album features their cover of “I’m Down”, a piano-driven Paul McCartney song that appeared as a b-side to the Beatles’ “Help” single in 1965. This was Aerosmith’s second commercially-released Beatles cover, after “Come Together”. “Hangman Jury,” though uncredited, is a reworking of an old American blues song.

In limited production, the original album cover for Permanent Vacation did not feature the yellow Aerosmith wings logo. Instead, the album jacket only featured the black background covered in the red “Permanent Vacation” hula girl print.