The OFFICIAL Unofficial Achewood Message Board
Trivial Pursuits => Arts & Entertainment => Topic started by: Drygioni on April 29, 2006, 04:00:24 pm
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If any of you fine gentlemen/ladies are into Steely Dan, could you recommend me any albums? I've lost faith in allmusic.com, and this nine-song best of compilation JUST DON'T CUT IT.
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I really can't think of a bad one. My favorites are probably Can't Buy a Thrill, Katy Lied and Aja, but it's hard to go wrong with Becker and Fagen.
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I really can't think of a bad one.
That's because there aren't any bad ones. Their latest, Everything must go, didn't blow me away, but it's got it's moments.
I would recommend Citizen Steely Dan if you've got the cash.
As I see it, there are basically 4 eras of Steely Dan. There is the original era when there was the semblance of a band. Becker and Fagen were in charge from the get go, but there were other permenant members then. They made five albums, Can't Buy a Thrill, Countdown to Ecstasy, Pretzel Logic, Aja, and The Royal Scam. All are solid gold in my opinion. If I had to choose a favorite from this bunch it would probably be Pretzel Logic. The next era is when Becker and Fagan let the rest of the band go and worked exclusively with top flight studio musicians. Their sound became much more precise. They made two albums in this way. They are Aja, and Gaucho. If I had to choose between the two I would probably choose Aja, but they are both great. The third era is the 19 years they took off. During this time Becker retreated to Hawaii and became a producer. He's produced some albums of note, but I can't name them off the top of my head. The Offspring comes to mind for some strange odd reason, but I could be wrong about that. He also recorded a solo album sometime in the 90's, but I haven't heard it. He sings a song on the SD live album and he's not got a good voice. Fagan recorded two albums during this period, The Nightfly, and Kamakiriad. Both are very Steely Danesque. The Nightfly is one of my favorite albums. The fourth era is when Becker and Fagan reconvened in 1996 and began touring. I've seen them twice perform and they put on a good show. They recorded a live album sometime in the late 90's, which is alright, but it's basically exact reproductions of their studio cuts. They returned to the studio in 2000 and produced a latter day masterpiece with Two Against Nature. It's It's one of their best albums, I love it. I believe it won Album of the Year at the Grammys. Anyway, they released Everything Must Go last year and it's pretty good.
I hope this helps.
~Paul
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Nice analysis Paul. I concur with pretty much everything you said, only you included Aja in two different eras. Although it is so very good it deserves double notice.
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August and Paul, much thanks. As Aja was so doubly recommended and both Paul and my friend recommended Pretzel Logic, I shall procure both immediately. I don't know how I'd live without this board.
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Nice analysis Paul. I concur with pretty much everything you said, only you included Aja in two different eras. Although it is so very good it deserves double notice.
That was a typo. Replace Aja in the first era with Katy Lied.
~Paul
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I have all of their albums (after a raid on AllOfMP3 before they doubled their prices last year) and I gotta say, I just don't "get" them. I can appreciate how they're good musicians, and some of their stuff is interesting, but it just doesn't move me. At all. I hear more feeling from the rattle in my clothes dryer.
What am I missing?
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My thoughts exactly, Jough. I haven't heard it all, but what I have for the most part has left me unmoved. I'll have to try again sometime.
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I couldn't possibly attempt to explain. Just personal taste, I guess. I can think of two songs right off the top of my head that have strong emotional ties for me (Dirty Work, Deacon Blue). But I understand how somethings just don't resonate. Half the stuff you guys rave about on (that I get a chance to listen to) doesn't do much for me. It's OK, and I can see the quality, but it doesn't move me. Why? Who knows?
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Their songs are all about drugs and prostitutes, what's not to love?
~Paul
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Yeah, I guess I don't get it because I don't do either.
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Their songs are all about drugs and prostitutes, what's not to love?
~Paul
And they're named after a dildo. And Chevy Chase played with them in a pre-Dan college band. There is no reason NOT to love Steely Dan.
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There is no reason NOT to love Steely Dan.
What, you mean other than the music?
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yeah, the music of theirs I have heard was a pretty good reason.
also that my dad likes them. Once an album is in the same cd-case as every album ever recorded by James Taylor, I stop being physically capable of liking it.
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Your loss.
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"Aja" is definitely the album to start on... the most "Steely Dan" of the Steely Dan albums, we'll say.
Every song they write is either about NYC or LA, on some level, and they're not afraid to admit it, that's one of the things I've liked about their stuff.
Though "Can't Buy A Thrill" is really good classic rock and a great listen, it's kind of more this good mainstream rock album that got made by Steely Dan than a jazz-rock fusion album sorta dealy as they did for the middle of their careers.
But "Everything Must Go" is a great concept for an album and as a concept album for the... whatever the nows are... it's pretty tight. It's kind of a bunch of stories about people who are middleaged and comfortable, facing down the idea that just as they've gotten middleaged and comfortable, gotten the nice car and the summer place and the fancy liquor collection and the young mistress who the wife is fine with... just as they have all that, the world's coming to an end.
And how do you deal with that?
It's all good stuff though, I just think the thematics of EMG are currently pretty important.
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man, the young mistress who the wife is just fine with?
that's the kicker.
I'd be worried if I was cheating on my wife and she didn't' care. Seriously worried.
so maybe that isn't all it's cracked up to be.
then again, maybe I'll feel differently when I'm 50 and fantasizing about getting my bone on with some hot young lady.
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I have all of their albums (after a raid on AllOfMP3 before they doubled their prices last year) and I gotta say, I just don't "get" them. I can appreciate how they're good musicians, and some of their stuff is interesting, but it just doesn't move me. At all. I hear more feeling from the rattle in my clothes dryer.
What am I missing?
Steely Dan lean very heavily towards the 'musician music' end of the spectrum as opposed to 'non-musician music.' I dunno, Jough, do you play any instruments?
I'm not really sure exactly what makes something musiciany, but I think it has something to do with the overall mix of the production, maybe the song structure, too. A bit of whether the mix sounds sort of instrumental or not, regardless if there are vocals. I dunno, some stuff is just musiciany and some stuff just ain't, and it has nothing to do with how complex it is.
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I may be "pulling this out of my ass" (am I using it right? did I use this phrase correctly?) but I think Television are another band like this. No matter how much music critics and interested guitar players love them, the vast majority of people find them not at all worth listening to.
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Yeah, except Steely Dan sold millions and millions of albums and you hear them on the radio all the time.
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But "Everything Must Go" is a great concept for an album and as a concept album for the... whatever the nows are... it's pretty tight. It's kind of a bunch of stories about people who are middleaged and comfortable, facing down the idea that just as they've gotten middleaged and comfortable, gotten the nice car and the summer place and the fancy liquor collection and the young mistress who the wife is fine with...
WTF?
Songs written by middle aged men, I guess?
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I may be "pulling this out of my ass" (am I using it right? did I use this phrase correctly?) but I think Television are another band like this. No matter how much music critics and interested guitar players love them, the vast majority of people find them not at all worth listening to.
Now see, even if you don't like Television (whaaaa?) you at least have to appreciate their historic significance. I mean, the dudes practically invented punk rock. I mean I can see how some of their songs are alienating (i.e. marquee moon, ten minutes, come on) but I think overall they've got enough down to earth musical sensibility to make good songs. But we all know The Voidoids were much better anyway.
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yeah, see, that's the thing. I love Television. But most people just don't seem to get them at all.
Plus, come on, The Stooges! Punk rock? The Stooges!
now I am just wondering what Steely Dan songs I would have heard. i know that I have heard them. but none come to mind.
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now I am just wondering what Steely Dan songs I would have heard. i know that I have heard them. but none come to mind.
This one, definitely. (http://www.amazon.com/gp/music/clipserve/B000002P4R001010/0/ref=mu_sam_wma_001_010/002-3860108-0013661)
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Every song they write is either about NYC or LA, on some level, and they're not afraid to admit it, that's one of the things I've liked about their stuff.
They are all over the planet, not just New York and LA.
~Paul
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robogod - yeah, I play several instruments and when I was in high school was going to study jazz composition in college. Guitar was my first love.
I haven't played a lot of music lately, but of course I still love music and listen to a lot. I still write a song here and there. I've listened to a lot of musicians' music, especially instrumental guitar stuff from Joe Satriani and Eric Johnson, et al.
I just don't get Steely Dan. Or Gino Vanelli.
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I wouldn't straight-up consider something instrumental to be musiciany. EJ, I would say yes. Satch, I would say no, because he writes his songs to be as accessable as possible, for the most part. I dunno if it's possible to follow what I am talking about, it's probably just my personal interpretation of things.
I saw Satch on his Engines of Creation tour, which was arguably when he was at his best. It was his most inspired album. That was one of the most memorable shows I've been to.
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I don't know if I would put Television in the same catagory as Steely Dan. I mean, Television did way more for advancing music than Steely Dan ever did. Plus, as an added bonus, they had good songs.
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*that awkward thing, where you kind of try to hug a guy, and then he doesn't want to, so you shake his hand*
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*that awkward thing, where you kind of try to hug a guy, and then he doesn't want to, so you shake his hand*
That keeps happening when I play the sims. WEIRD.
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then again, maybe I'll feel differently when I'm 50 and fantasizing about getting my bone on with some hot young lady.
A friend of mine puts down Steely Dan as "Booty Music for Old People"...but she likes the Eagles, so boo to her.
I would start with Pretzel Logic, mostly because that's where I started, and they quickly became one of my favorite bands. I like the diversity of the album, though it doesn't have the cohesion of an Aja, it serves as a real nice overview. Other than that, Paul and everyone's analysis was pretty spot on.
I think it helps to be a musician to like them, I think, more so, I'd say, than Television, who's lack of mainstream popularity I primarily blame on lack of airplay.
Edit: I haven't seen it mentioned anywhere in this forum, and it's relevant to the topic that the Yacht Rock series (http://www.channel101.com/shows/show.php?show_id=152) is one of the best things about the internet right now.