^ "American album certifications – Aerosmith – Permanent Vacation".Type Permanent Vacation in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter. ^ "British album certifications – Aerosmith – Permanent Vacation".^ "Canadian album certifications – Aerosmith – Permanent Vacation".^ "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada".^ "Permanent Vacation - Aerosmith > Credits".CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) ( link)
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. Christine Arnott – backing vocals on "The Movie".Jim Vallance – organ on "Rag Doll" and "Simoriah".Bruce Fairbairn – trumpet, cello, background vocals.Bob Rogers – trombone on "Dude (Looks Like a Lady)" and "Rag Doll".Ian Putz – baritone saxophone on "Dude (Looks Like a Lady)" and "Rag Doll".Tom Keenlyside – clarinet, tenor saxophone, horn arrangement on "Dude (Looks Like a Lady)" and "Rag Doll".Drew Arnott – mellotron on "Angel" and "The Movie".Loudersound placed the album on their list of the 20 best albums from 1987, and called it a,"collection of sublime pop-metal". 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". Robert Christgau graded the album a C+, saying Aerosmith were "running out of gas again already". Dave Reynolds from Metal Forces magazine called the album, "a shit hot album and one I’m gonna play the hell out of". 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". The album received mixed-to-positive reviews. 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, achieving these in July 1989 and March 1990 respectively.
Permanent Vacation has sold over five million copies in the U.S. " Rag Doll", " Dude (Looks Like a Lady)", and " Angel" became major hits (all three charted in the Top 20) and helped Permanent Vacation become the band's greatest success in a decade. 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. It was also the first Aerosmith album to be promoted by heavy music video airplay on MTV. He also pushed the band to work with producer Bruce Fairbairn, who remained with them for another two albums. This came at the suggestion of executive John Kalodner. It was their first to employ songwriters outside the band, instead of featuring songs solely composed by them. Three hit singles were released from the album, " Dude (Looks Like a Lady)", " Angel", and " Rag Doll". The album marks the band's shift to a glam metal sound that they would maintain up to 2001's Just Push Play. Permanent Vacation is the ninth studio album by American rock band Aerosmith, released by Geffen Records in August 1987.