Steely Dan
 

I'd forgotten how much I love these guys till I found a crate with a bunch of their records at my mom's this weekend. What possessed me to leave them there? Oh well, who else likes em' ?

I do...Aja kicks serious ass.

i love steely dan
you know they got there name from a brand of condom?

Actually there name comes from the name of a vibrator in William Burroughs' book Naked Lunch.

ahh! i stand corrected

ooo I love William Burrough, and steely dan. I especialy love the fez. If for nothing more than it's such a bizzare fetish.

I read Naked Lunch after I read somewhere that Steely Dan got their name from a "device" in that novel, not knowing what the device was. I couldn't get through the book because of the stream of consciousness/drugged up writing style, but it was interesting to learn what a Steely Dan is.

Anyone checked out http://steelydan.com/siteguide.html?

This "Steely Dan" dictionary to their lyrics is great!
http://members.aol.com/danomalley/steelydan/

Really?, i sware that the bands origin came from a steel ***** that one of their groupies would bring backstage. :confused:

EDIT:Haha i can't say dil'do.

Come on folks! I'm getting Coming Up Roses into them though. Rankings after I went through my CD collection last night:
Katy Lied
Countdown To Ecstasy
Pretzel Logic
Can't Buy A Thrill
Aja
Gaucho
The Royal Scam

TBH I haven't listened to anything after Alive In America (Which is a decent live album).

I'll check it out. Yah I get the feeling I'm alone in like Alive.

Steely Dan is great, Aja and Pretzel Logic are fantastic albums.

Jeff Baxter was a pretty sweet guitarist. And of course Larry Carltons work with them is amazing.

Pretzel Logic is pretty much all I've heard, apart from fractured songs here and there. ProggyMan is correct. Next time I see my brother I'm highjacking his music. He's a big SD fan.

Aja is a wonderful album Also Steve Gadd's drum work is fantastic.

Steely Dan is a great band, I bought "Can't Buy A Thrill" on vinyl when it was released back in the 70's, and followed them right up to "Gaucho". My fave album is "The Royal Scam" but you really can't go wrong with any of their albums.

Here's a top 10 comp for interested parties.
1. King Of The World
2. Chain Lightning
3. Do It Again
4. Night By Night
5. Bodhisattva
6. Babylon Sisters
7. Everyone's Gone To The Movies
8. Rikki Don't Lose That Numbers
9. Any World
10. My Old School
Countdown To Ecstasy-3 (17)
Katy Lied-3 (15)
Pretel Logic-2 (10)
Can't Buy a Thrill-1 (8)
Gaucho-1 (5)

Been listening to this band lately, Can't Buy A Thrill is pretty much the most awesome thing of all time. I don't get why I had heard so little about them before.

Eh, Can't Buy a Thrill is like their nooby album. It's overproduced imo. Some great songs of course, everyone's heard Do It again.

The debut is just no-nonsense, I have a soft spot for it as it was the first record I heard by them. I don't see how it's overproduced compared to their later stuff (well Pretzel and Aja)? They all had a very clean, high-end sound.

I put Logic on a lower pedestal than Katy Lied and Countdown, with the rest of their work. Countdown is their best imo. King Of The World is one of my favorite songs ever.

*feels a blog search coming on*

You won't be disappointed, it's criminal to omit ***en and Becker from any conversation about great songwriting duos.

^^^^ HAHA, they wont let you write [B]F[B]agen! His solo album Nightfly is fantastic and a good tangent to follow if you like Steely Dan.

I'm not sure it's overproduced, it was their first album and they were very excited about it. When Can't Buy A Thrill was released it was really well received by all of my friends, we even bought the 8-track. This is and will remain the happiest most easygoing album Steely Dan ever released, I still smile when I hear Reelin' In The Years...my favorite Steely Dan song of all time.:yeah:

It's not as lyrically sarcastic as their later work, another reason I don't like it as much.

No argument there, my favorite album is The Royal Scam, probably one of the darkest albums they ever released. But when we were partying on the beach etc. Can't Buy A Thrill was a blast.

No doubt, no doubt.

Can you mind your language please, son.

I've been listening to Countdown To Ecstasy. What a great album. I see what you mean about the refinement of their sound. It is definitely a much tighter, more unified effort than Can't Buy A Thrill. I like both albums now for different things. For a purely enjoyable easy-listening pop experience, the debut wins the day, but Steely Dan continue to delve further into their innovative impulses with the sophomore.

Yeh, Logic goes back to the sound of the debut, but not overproduced in the same sense. It's got better songwriting I think. They're about the same in my book. It's a stepping stone to Katy Lied which I consider the pinnacle of their career in terms of the style. Countdown is still my favorite Dan album though. King Of The World is incredible.

So, I'm now up to Katy Lied, listened to it about 10 times or so. Question on my mind is, did Steely Dan actually go wrong anywhere, and if so, then when? I am baffled by the quality of this discography so far. Each one could be a one side best of compilation.

I think Steely Dan is one of the most consistent bands in my collection, I followed them right up to Gaucho, on vinyl. As Proggy said, they continued to grow and become more sophisticated but still remained accessible. I don't think they ever made a bad album myself RJ.:yeah:

While I still haven't gotten around to listening to their new stuff then no, their discography's pretty flawless.

So where do The Royal Scam and Gaucho fit within the Steely Dan discography? I noticed that varoius critics seem to have it in for The Royal Scam, and Gaucho isn't all that well received either. Why is this? What is the importance of these albums?

I have heard neither as of yet, but The Royal Scam is the next in the chronology I am following.

I think they just needed something to bash, and they're certainly not as good as Katy Lied or Countdown, so it's probably due to them being compared to several of the best albums ever. Babylon Sisters on Gaucho is one of my favorite Dan songs, so certainly worth checking out.

Steely Dan is amazing. The Jazz/rock style is original and fresh. My favorite album would have to be Aja, but Gaucho is probably a close second. Kudos to Donald Faegan and Walter Becker!

Katy Lied. F'cking WOAH. I really think this may be my favourite album ever. It is absolutely amazing. What a collection of songs and melodies!

What's your favorite song off Katy Lied? Mine's Chain Lightning.

It's so hard to say! I have a particular partiality towards Rose Darling. Doctor Wu is great, too. Ultimately though, the album is just so consistently strong.

Incidentally I heard that Faegen and Becker weren't pleased with the album because something was slightly askew (only to an audiophilic geek) in the recording process? And that they refused to listen to it. I found that humorous.

Never heard that, it always seemed perfect to me...I mean the production's great, listening to Doctor Wu, Chain Lightning the mastering seems impeccable.

I've been listening to The Royal Scam, and there's one question on my mind:
How come? Surely it had to be their weakest set of songs since they began. Half the songs don't seem properly written, leading the album to feel well below previous lofty standards.