This was my favorite period (Katy Lied/Royal Scam...SD wasn't over exposed (yet)....soon the Dan would be everywhere. They couldn't even deal with it. Not sure why they hung onto Here at the Western World. IMO it would have fit nicely on either album. Bern
Kid Charlemagne Opens with a funky Hendrix chord of C7 with sharp 9. I like the little jump to the E natural from the sharp 9 note of E flat. The verse is funky as all get out. Pretty standard descending pattern of A-G-F.....Stairway to Hell in this case. Dig that B flat 13th sus 2 chord at :16. Has some of the notes from A minor so its sounds somewhat smooth and not too abrupt. A basic funk chord in fact that has been around for ages. At "Did You Feel Like Jesus" the progression reverses to F-G-A and fits the lyrics to a T. The tag at the end of the verse at :40 really cooks funky kitchen clean. The chorus comes in at 1:16 with some more funky chords D minor 7th to E minor 7th and then a turnaround. At 2:16 there is an amazing ascending chord pattern before the most incredible break in their discography. The chords tease at a return to the key of A minor at 2:23 and then continues pulling in bits and pieces of the chords from the second part of the verse..... "Did You Feel Like Jesus". At 2:39 the break returns to the verse chords in the same sequence after the dizzying tonal/chordal twists and turns and two ascending tiers of chords. Mind blowing music played to perfection. The guitar lines from Larry Carlton follow along in the midst of the mayhem. All of the players are in top notch form in the break. An EVH style tap at 3:06. Well a PRE-EVH tap that is. Carlton's solo is considered one of the best ever. Lots of horn style lines. I like the one at 2:43 with the ascending line that uses an E note as a sort of pedal. Carlton plays mostly vertical by playing over chordal tones instead of box pentatonic patterns. Carlton changes from D minor to A minor in the solo when the verse chords return. IMO the solo is one of most perfectly balanced solos on record. Just the right amount of repetition such as at 2:53 but then he moves on quickly to another line. The solo mixes a fine balance of blues and jazz as well with riffs and scales just right for the sonic palette. Can you define mercurial? The verse and chorus finish out the song and then the outro starts at 3:51 based on a descending chord line that sounds familiar and lo and behold it is part of the line we hear in the break at 2:25. Fantastic use of the chord progressions and how to unify a song even though it is complex. Some more killer guitar lines from LC in the outro. Some rocky unison bends in the start saying "its a rock song dude". Too bad the song fades, Carlton probably kept the amazing lines flying for longer. You hear this song for the first time and wonder .....can the rest of the album top this? Musicianship wise? Probably not is what I thought when I first heard it way back in 1975. That will have to wait until the next album. Thanks to @John Fell and the OP @ohnothimagen for asking me to post these somewhat dry/boring to read reviews but fun as heck for me to write up.
Thank you Frank, great job as always! @Rose River Bear are you going to write up my favorite Don't Take Me Alive my friend?
Marotta was great on "Peg." I remember "Don't Take Me Alive" as a more ordinary rock drum track, but I don't think something funkier would have fit the song.
Reading about Becker's upbringing and his Dad, and thinking about that chorus line in 'Don't Take Me Alive', that had to come from him. You never knew what the narrator did to cross his old man, but whatever he did drove him to his a bunch of people hostage in an act of suicidal desperation. That the power of economy in lyricism right there. As a side note, the backing vocals on the 'here in this darkness' are as close as Steely Dan ever came to sounding like Pink Floyd.
This one was a big disappointment for me when it came out. I had thought Katy Lied was a slight step down from Pretzel Logic, and PL slightly worse than CtE but I liked all of them (and CBaT). But not this one. Everything You Did is definitely the standout track for me, and The Fez, Haitian Divorce and the title track are pretty good. But I don't care for anything else. I don't particularly dislike the other songs - well, actually I find it annoying for some reason when the background singers come in at the Kid Charlemagne chorus (this also applies to Deacon Blues) - but nothing to get excited about. This is in sharp contrast to their first 2 or 3 albums when such songs are few and far between. I was surprised to find out this was such a popular album among forum members - I think it came out as 1st or 2nd favorite SD album. in at least one poll. As far as I'm concerned, of the original 7, this is definitely #6.
If I recall right, the quad "Reeling" doesn't have different solos, but it has additional solos (Randall plays through the entire choruses, while in the stereo mix he only plays during the second half of each chorus).
Well, you have at least one ally in that view here. Over time, I've come to realize that there's just some records that seem to be in big favor around these parts (such as Ram or Goat's Head Soup for instance) that just don't do it for me. But hey - it's all good - with something as subjective as music, people will like what they like. Other than the two side openers on each side, this record just doesn't do much for me. Christgau is his review called it the "melodic retreat", and indeed, the hooks seem in much shorter supply overall than their previous LPs. And the two side closers in particular I find somewhat long and meandering without really going anywhere. Easily their weakest LP for me up to this point. But it's all relative - most other bands would kill to make an album this good.
I rate three out of the previous four as better. But we'll never get an agreed assessment on SD, such is their quality and variety.
I'd be curious to know how many people here agree Royal Scam is less melodic than the Dan's earlier albums -- or, even if they do agree, whether the harder-rocking guitar compensates for it.
The Royal Scam contains material that lyrically, features Becker and Fagen at their most cynical and clever, while musically, a different step from Katy as well as what would appear on Aja. It's sort of it's own entity within the Dan catalog and as most have said, certainly the most guitar driven of them all. For many years, I have had a love/hate relationship with this album, but I have to say within the last 10 years or so, it's a record that I truly enjoy because of it's special identity being set apart from the other albums. The one track that I never cared for was The Fez, but sometime last year, I finally gained a certain understanding of appreciation to its creation. The layer of keyboards in its construction as well as the accompanying guitar and drum arrangements blend wonderfully together, despite its quasi-disco flavor. Favorite tracks are Caves of Altamira, the title cut, Green Earrings, Don't Take Me Alive and Sign in Stranger. Scam gets an A rating or 9 out of 10.
Love the way Don't Take Me Alive starts out with such a killer guitar solo. There are 5 guitar players listed on the back of the LP. Did Walter do this solo? I always figured it was him but you never know I guess. Fantastic song!
Well - I haven't weighed in yet - but NO. Can't speak for everyone else, but it's my 2nd weakest - you'll just have to wait to see what the weakest is. Now that being said - one band's weak is another band's amazing. Weak for Steely Dan is still really, really amazing by most standards. Cheers, Paul
Don't Take Me Alive Opens with a loud as heck arpeggio of a G Minor 7th Flat 11 chord that creeps into feedback territory just before Larry Carlton stops it with a muted strum. A little lead in takes the song into a great C minor groove and it feels relieving to the ear. That opening G minor chord is the dominant chord in C minor.....the V chord.....the chord that just begs your ear for the I chord in this case C minor. Steely Dan songs rarely open with the tonic....they make your ear work for resolution. The intro continues with a fine R and B based groove of C minor-G 9-G 7 along with some hints of a melody. A trademark rise out at :18 of F-G-Ab-Bb-C minor which is right out of the C minor scale. Everything repeats but along the way, Larry Carlton plays some insanely controlled bends including double stops like at :27. An amazing ascending run that follows the chords brings the intro to an end. The verse starts at :45 based on R and B utilizing a C minor with the 7th used almost as a suspension. At :50 the verse goes to G minor with the same riff and then at :56 a trademark Donald Fagen ascending turnaround. The verse then repeats until at 1:18 the chorus enters and we then realize where that amazing intro came from. Donald's harmonies sound great and Larry Carlton knows just when to respond with brutal fills. What a great hook in the vocal melody. The verse returns at 1:53 and repeats with the chorus following until at 2:55 an interlude begins with some shimmering jangly chords based on C minor and F. At 3:15 in dramatic fashion, the ascending turnaround used at the end of the verses enters and is elongated to finish this almost prog like section. At 3:22 the chorus returns with some more stinging Larry Carlton response lines. At 3:46 the turnaround enters and then repeats twice. Listen for those orchestral reverse arpeggios on the guitar as the finale builds..... we heard them before but now they really stand out in dramatic fashion. At 3:58 they hold the Bb chord at the end of the slowdown of the turnaround until at 4:00 the song resolves at C minor and is held with some insane Carlton guitar flurries and a bluesy bend back down to a C note to finish out the song. Another darn near perfect piece of jazz rock. It is funny but that riff in the verse with the 7th always reminds me of Native American Indian type music. In fact the whole song reminds me of it. I guess I'm nuts. Do you guys hear it? @John Fell @ohnothimagen
