Steely Dan

only a fool would say that

Hell yeah Aja is a GOAT album. But don't expect too many replies, this board has pleb taste.

>>73908584
How unfortunate, I hopefully will find some fans. I feel this group doesn't the appreciation they deserve in a public eye. But when I do meet Steely Dan Fans they are always the coolest people.

File: Shy.png (225KB, 478x556px) Image search: [Google]

225KB, 478x556px

>>73908565
It depends on my mood, probably the only case where the production is too clean for my taste, its kinda like the musical equivalent of a bag of crisps - the contents are tasty though most of the bag is air that preserves said crisps. That being said they are without doubt among the most consistent bands I've came across and I like all of their albums, can't say I'm enamored by them though I do like listening to them every once in a while, especially Pretzel Logic and Countdown to Ecstasy (Boddhisatva is a gem).

>>73908575
Kek

>>73908565
Its nice seeing a Steely Dan thread on this board that wasn't started by me. They're definitely one of my all time favorite bands. What's your favorite album OP? I actually just bought the Steely Dan songbook on my kindle so I could play through some of their songs. Me and my friend actually covered "Chain Lightning" at an open mic last night.

>>73908575
i hear it was you... talkin' bout a WORRRRLLLLD WHEREE ALL IS FREEEE it just couldn't be, and only a fool would say that

I love listening to these guys talk about music too. They're incredibly articulate.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DP_2r9zbaIY

>>73908624
>when I do meet Steely Dan Fans they are always the coolest people.
yea this is usually the case with me too. Everyone i've met who was into them has always been really easy to talk to and smart and stuff. Have you read any of the Steely Dan biographies? I would recommend "Steely Dan: Reelin' in the Years" by Brian Sweet. It's a super long book and is basically a goldmine for any diehard Steely Dan fan.

i love steely dan, im a royal scam, aja, gaucho man myself but i think their whole discography is fantastic

>>73908584
/mu/ has a bigger dan following than you'd expect.

I've never listened to steely dan but I love the dead what albums are worth listening to?

>>73908565
They are definitely my favorite bands. They are so good

>>73909457
to be completely honest all of them, but if you want something that's more rock oriented listen to Can't Buy a Thrill or Countdown to Ecstacy, if you're looking for more jazzy stuff listen to Royal Scam/Aja/Gaucho. Pretzel Logic and Katy Lied are sort of in between those two spectrums.

>>73909457
Pretzel logic, Royal scam and everything must go are all amazing albums

>>73908902
The content of your post may have been credible or even offered an interesting point of view to the discussion, but I ignored it completely because you posted a gay anime image.

>>73908902
Boddhisatva really is perfect. Especially when they play it live. Have you heard the story about Jerome Aniton? During Steely Dan's early touring years he was their truck driver but he was drunk all the time and crashed the truck multiple times. Apparently Fagen and company thought he was really funny though and wanted to keep him around in some fashion, so they let him introduce their shows for them. They would purposely get him to drink a lot before the shows and he would come on stage super inebriated and introduce them. He would sometimes call Donald "Stevie Dan". here's a video of him introducing Boddhisatva.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-6Axpqeuik

>>73908565
Favorite band for sure. Nothing like 'em.

recently i found a pristine copy of the classic albums: aja dvd at a pawn shop for 2 bucks. awesome find.

for some reason i love this clip from it (among many others): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ldtieSEyQM

Been digging Countdown to Ecstasy lately, picked it up on vinyl the other week and it's great. Your Gold Teeth is one my favorite Dan songs.

One of my favorite "deep cuts" of the Dan is Here at the Western World. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DkIFE2sLmkM

I listen do a ton of music, but Steely Dan, Zappa, Bowie, Stevie Wonder, Brian Eno, and Scott Walker is what I come back to and never tire of. I would be dead without these guys' music.

>>73909428
I'm not the anon you replied to but thanks for the book rec anyway. Have you read Eminent Hipsters? I need to pick up a copy.

>named their band after a giant netal dildo
>pioneered the use of subwoofers
>amazing songwriting and early adopters of irony in a way that was tasteful
Is there a band more based?

ive only listened to aja, but ive listened to it very extensively and love it. where do i go next? gaucho/royal scam? my favourite tracks off the album were Aja and Deacon Blues, really like the groovy jazz aspect

>>73908565
>Everything Must Go
The backing vocals on Blues Beach that start around 3:30 and continue to the end are so fucking sexy I can hardly stand it.

Donald's solo albums are essential as well for Dan fans (I'd argue The Nightly is an essential album, period). Walter's 12 Tracks of Whack is growing on me too.

>>73909963
if you're into sick grooves then id suggest gaucho even though its much more stripped down than aja

>>73909963
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCdKBHdPz30

don't miss out on the royal scam though, its an amazing record.

>>73909963
Gaucho is probably closest to Aja, not quit as good though but still great.

>>73910001
>>73910066
cheers lads, guess ill go gaucho, then if i enjoy that ill just go chronologically

>>73909963
Honestly just download their entire discography, and then buy what your conscience tells you. I can guarantee that a certain percentage of new Dan listeners will be turned off by Everything Must Go and Two Against Nature -- I was too at first, so don't get turned off at first by those if that applies to you.

Royal Scam has more rock-oriented tracks than Aja and Gaucho, but with some of the best funk-driven basslines you'll ever hear from Chuck Rainey. Larry Carlton is really on display on that album as well. His intro on Don't Take me Alive is my favorite guitar moment of Carlton next to his solo and outro on Third World Man from Gaucho.

Shit I could ramble on about favorite moments in nearly every Dan track on every one of their albums. That's why I never tire of them, their entire discography is stuffed to the fuckin' brim with incredible songwriting and full of absolutely mental instrumental performances.

I checked out that Scaruffi faggot's website because I kept seeing references to him on /mu/, and checked his Steely Dan ratings first. When I saw that he 6.5/10 or something to Royal Scam, Aja and Gaucho I just closed the tab. Wanker

>>73910288
*he gave ratings of 6.5/10...

>>73910288
Of course someone who mainly is into avant garde doesn't like heavily produced pop music. 6.5 is nice from him.

File: Agreement.png (2MB, 1920x1080px) Image search: [Google]

2MB, 1920x1080px

>>73910310
Those are really good scores for Scaruffi desu.

>>73910359
>>73910349
Ok, thanks for the insight -- I take back the "faggot" and "wanker". Chalk it up to me being the faggot in this case (not the first time).

>>73910435
Scaraffi has a lot of great ratings when it comes to lesser known albums, but mainstream pop stuff like this he's very critical of. He hates The Beatles but i'm not going to stop listening to them.

Steely Dan ROCK!
They have NEVER put out a bad record!

Did you hear about Donald Fagan and his wife going to the island of Hispanola las winter?

They were getting a Haitian Divorce.

File: steely-backup-vocalists.jpg (42KB, 639x391px) Image search: [Google]

42KB, 639x391px

>>73909976
>The backing vocals on Blues Beach that start around 3:30 and continue to the end are so fucking sexy I can hardly stand it.
FYI the backup vocalists themselves are indeed sexy as hell in more ways than one (pic related). They tour with the Dan currently if I'm not mistaken.

>>73910567
lol

>>73909686
UPTOWN BABY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUKCQfLY7nQ

>>73909798
I have. It's definitely worth the read. Honestly Fagen comes off exactly how i imagined he would but to a more intense degree.

Steely Dan is the shit, Donald Fagen is nothing less than a production genius.


>>73908584
I'm surprised at this thread. Anytime I make a Steely Dan thread, I get laughed at for enjoying "dad rock".

Why is aja prasied by so many audiophiles?

>>73910776
I'll be "dad-rockin" till I die with no shame in my game.

>>73910815
You can hear every instrument clearly and precisely and with beautiful room filling tone. Certin vinyl pressings of Gaucho are just as good.

Same applies to Donald Fagen's solo album "The Nightfly", and in fact the track "I.G.Y." is used by many professional audio engineers for sound checks in major venues (c.f. http://www.prosoundnetwork.com/blogs/1626/view ) because of the impeccable audio soundscape.

>>73910823
If being a dad means you prefer Steely Dan over Tyler The Creator and Lorde then I guess it ain't such a bad thing.

>>73909351
Right on, Dan is the Man!
Jesus where to begin. Ok for starters, Katy Lied is Top Tier Dan for me. Every song is catchy and quotable beyond belief and its like the middle ground of their music careers that they were not to over produced/clean but still had that soul/vibe it was going for. It was like as if they took the catchy tunes of Thrill , the groove of Ecstasy, and the explosive choruses of Pretzel and that's what Katy Lied is. If Aja is considered to be their masterpiece, Katy was their magnum opus.

>>73909428
I have not read any of those but I think I might soon. Is their any DVD documentaries by chance?
>>73909457
Start with any you want! If you want my personal opinion on my least favorite Dan album, its Two Against Nature, otherwise everything else is gold. You should also check out Donalds solo work too, specifically The Nightfly.

>>73908565
Love Steely Dan. Awesome band

File: 19866373_1750132885016559_1911209934_n.png (103KB, 335x296px) Image search: [Google]

103KB, 335x296px

>>73909976
>Pixeleens backing vocals
Some of the best on the album. Donald was right, it really is an underrated album.

>>73910951
Lorde and Steely Dan are two of my favorite artists

>>73910949
>The Nightfly

>The album remains a favorite among audiophiles.[24] According to Paul Tingen, from Sound on Sound magazine, The Nightfly was "for years a popular demonstration record in hi-fi stores across the globe."[39] Paul White, editor-in-chief of Sound on Sound, said The Nightfly "is always a good reference for checking out monitoring systems and shows what good results could be obtained from those early digital recording systems in the right hands."[61] In addition to its use in recording studio tests, Clive Young of Pro Sound News called Fagen's "I.G.Y." the "Free Bird" of pro audio, claiming that almost every live sound engineer uses the song to test the front-of-house system's sound response.[62] EQ Magazine rated The Nightfly as among the Top 10 Best Recorded Albums of All Time, alongside the Beatles's Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and the Beach Boys' Pet Sounds.[63]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Nightfly#Legacy

File: 20049555_1760367337326447_1544219198_o.jpg (162KB, 1280x721px) Image search: [Google]

162KB, 1280x721px

Also here's my entire collection. I hope they decide to reissue TAN soon. Even though it's my least favorite, it still has some great tracks.

>>73911130
Oh shit yes. Carolyn Leonhart is a straight up fox with an amazing voice. I'm a sucker for backing vocals and beautiful harmonizing. Aja, Everything Must Go and Bowie's Young Americans (Luther Vandross, Ava Cherry, et al) contain some of my favorite examples.

>>73911269
West of Hollywood, Negative Girl, and Almost Gothic are my favorites on there

>>73911269

I like Steely Dan a lot, grew on up on the Royal Scam, on of my favorites. My dad handed me down his record collection with a ton of their stuff and jesus christ their album covers are horrible.

Great band though.

>>73911422
>Gaslighting Abbie
>Two Against Nature
>Shame About Me.
My personal favorite although Almost Gothic is great as well.

>>73909576
That was brilliant anon, thanks for telling me all of this, didn't realize beforehand.

>>73909566
It gets (you)s anon, otherwise I find my posts are so bland they get ignored and I may as well have not written them.

>>73911388
>West of Hollywood
That epic saxophone performance by Chris Potter over those moody chord changes is something I realized couldn't live without once I heard it. What a ride!

File: Donald_Fagen_-_The_Nightfly.jpg (24KB, 300x300px) Image search: [Google]

24KB, 300x300px

Steely Dan is probably the best band to come out of America during 70s-80s. Donald Fagens solo stuff is pretty fucking awesome as well, particularly The Nightfly

>>73911422
Lol yeah when it comes to worst album covers of all time I think steely Dan takes the cake

>>73911513
Short but interesting article about West of Hollywood: http://somethingelsereviews.com/2013/09/08/steely-dan-sunday-west-of-hollywood-2000/

>>73911594
Donald has openly stated how ugly he thinks Can't Buy a Thrill is. I think Aja and Countdown have some great covers. Especially how they had to add more figures in the back because they didn't want to confuse people that there was wasn't a 3 man band.

>>73911594
>>73911422
Even they agree with you. I think they do it on purpose:

>In the liner notes for the 1999 remaster of the album, Fagen and Becker claim it to be "the most hideous album cover of the seventies, bar none (excepting perhaps Can't Buy a Thrill).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Royal_Scam#Cover

From a discography full of essential guitar licks, I'll single out one: Skunk Baxter's solos on My Old School were a revelation to me and many other guitarists. His approach to rhythm and phrasing is more like a saxophonist in those solos. Inspiring shit.

>>73912045
Jeff Baxter is one of my favorite guitar players, period.

steely dan have some of the best production ever done on their albums but some of their songwriting leaves a lot to be desired

dont get me wrong, I love some of their songs, black cow and peg are amazing, but listening to them always feels as if they restricted themselves from their potential by playing yacht rock

Is Steely Dan as good as Jazz Rock/Fusion gets?
Return to forever is still pretty good though, anything else you'd rec?

>>73913565
>anything else you'd rec?
Nothing that really sounds like Steely Dan but here are some recs that you might enjoy from the jazz/funk/rock fusion category:

George Duke
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ilvrsWj1Tik

Zappa's Waka/Jawaka and The Grand Wazoo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4TYrorThxo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qomHE9NnaDk

The Crusaders
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqGw7YBFH-A

Brecker Brothers
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MX3YpPpBydE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ncR9timtTpk

Herbie Hancock's Thrust-era recordings
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0c38Wtdvz0

Tony Williams Lifetime:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GCaixOPkgaQ