The Steely Dan Appreciation Thread

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Mirror Image, May 13, 2023.

  1. Mirror Image

    Mirror Image 200 Years Of Anton Bruckner Thread Starter

    Location:
    United States
    Here's a question for all the Steely Dan fans: objectively, why do you feel that Gaucho is so polarizing to fans? It seems there's really not middle ground when it comes to this album --- people either love it or find it one of their weakest efforts.
     
    Jonny W and sekaer like this.
  2. sekaer

    sekaer Forum Resident

    Location:
    United States
    They had arrived at the logical place for their perfectionism, which sounds cold and inhuman to many. It is like the Kraftwerk album of Steely Dan. I love it, but I think that's the rap.
     
  3. bcaulf

    bcaulf Forum Resident

    A wonderfully witty band. Was there anyone else doing what they were doing at the time? A perfectly fluid blend of jazz, pop and rock, with sardonic lyrics you otherwise wouldn't hear on the radio.

    Really good run of albums from their debut to Gaucho, each one seemingly more brilliant than the last, but my favorite is Aja. Not many albums sound that perfect. And FM is a great complementary single. That groove is addictive!

    I haven't listened to Gaucho in a while but I remember being a little disappointed in it. I think this was the point where their perfectionism got the better the of them.
     
    shadowcurtain and rcsrich like this.
  4. Jimbino

    Jimbino Goad Kicker, Music Lover

    Location:
    Northern CA, USA
    If it weren’t for the beauty of Babylon Sisters, Third World Man and Gaucho, this LP might rest at the bottom for me.
     
    Stone Turntable likes this.
  5. sekaer

    sekaer Forum Resident

    Location:
    United States
    Those are the best in my opinion also.
     
    Jimbino likes this.
  6. AnalogJ

    AnalogJ Hearing In Stereo Since 1959

    Location:
    Salem, MA
    Yes. Check out Michael Franks.
     
  7. rcsrich

    rcsrich Forum Resident

    Location:
    Virginia
    If someone asked me what Steely Dan sounds like, I'd point them straight to Aja as the best example. I just happen to like Royal Scam a tidge more tho...a little more adventurous.
     
    MikeManaic61 and bcaulf like this.
  8. StarThrower62

    StarThrower62 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Syracuse, NY
    I found Kamakiriad to be a complete bore. I also find Morph The Cat to be rather weak and uninspired. Nice demonstration discs for a good audio system but I fail to find the music engaging. YMMV? The Nightfly, and Aja are the last works that really float my boat.
     
  9. Peter HG

    Peter HG Forum Resident

    Location:
    Cambridge, MA
    They are not a nostalgia show--like a jazz band, they are the real deal with a great 12 musicians reinterpreting the originals. You'll recognize everything, but will not have heard it in quite the same way. Worth every penny of the higher ticket prices
     
    GyroT likes this.
  10. StarThrower62

    StarThrower62 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Syracuse, NY
    Why do you view jazz bands as nostalgia acts but not boomer pop/rock groups?
     
  11. Porkpie

    Porkpie Forum Resident

    Location:
    UK
    He said jazz bands are not a nostalgia act.
     
  12. lemonade kid

    lemonade kid Forever Changing

    So I am listening to Gaucho for the first time in years..honestly wow.

    A wave of nostalgia is hitting me all over...chills. It takes me back to warm Arizona days.
    Ok...I'm in...I love it like never before. My new go-to for a while.

    Babylon Sisters...I do remember loving that one! So put in my top tracks.
    Maybe because I'm much more into jazz these days....
    the first note of those horns send a jazz wave... allll over my body (Jonathan Winters Maude Frickert alert!).



    Genius of Jonathan Winters and Robin Williams
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_NqEKvk9F4I
     
    Mirror Image, Technocentral and Bungo like this.
  13. StarThrower62

    StarThrower62 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Syracuse, NY
    Okay, I read that incorrectly if that's what he meant. I agree that SD is a contemporary live band but I find their post 1980 recordings to be immaculately produced, but musically uninspired. But some of these tunes may take on a new life when played live. I haven't seen them.
     
    Porkpie likes this.
  14. Stone Turntable

    Stone Turntable Independent Head

    Location:
    New Mexico USA
    I wondered the same thing, and easily found the source for the lengthy bio text in the OP post with a web search, and won’t risk causing trouble by providing the link. But I don’t think it’s a good thing to appropriate stuff wholesale like that, as opposed to simply linking to it and/or using brief excerpts with proper credit, and it seems a bit reckless to have done so when a previous copy/paste exploit by the OP got vaporized by a Gort ray gun. Also a bit weird to leave hanging an implication that the OP wrote that extremely Steely Dan-ish career overview when someone else did.

    I’ll stop kvetching — this is an excellent thread and I’m glad it was created.
     
    Kundalini and lemonade kid like this.
  15. Porkpie

    Porkpie Forum Resident

    Location:
    UK
    I know what you mean. I enjoy the “post reform” albums as a sit-down listen but none of the songs stick in my mind like the ones from the original run.
     
    utopiarun likes this.
  16. StarThrower62

    StarThrower62 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Syracuse, NY
    It's commercially risky but sometimes it's better to chuck the formula and do something different. Like what King Crimson did after they reformed.
     
  17. Floatupstream

    Floatupstream Forum Resident

    Location:
    Missouri,usa
    A lot of Dan fans like the first five but got off at Aja and especially Gaucho for the very reason others like those two the best. Starting with Aja the music took a sharp turn with more Jazz overtones than Rock/Pop. For me personally it got a little ( well, a lot) too smooth.
     
  18. deanrelax

    deanrelax Forum Resident

    Location:
    Sweden
    Side 1 of Gaucho is sheer perfection; Babylon, Hey Nineteen and Glamour. The music fits the lyrics perfectly. Everything is smooth, successful, crystal clear, tight and cool, cold and - to quote Hey Nineteen - but where the hell am I; the singer looking for real, genuine and true feelings, but he cannot connect to other persons at all. Everything is fake and shallow, but it is still better than nothing and there are no alternatives; morally bankrupt and comfortably numb. One of the key strengths with Steely Dan's lyrics is the way the combine perspectives; empathy and sociopathy at the same time, the next stop for the guy in side 1 of Gaucho is probably someone like Patrick Bateman. Illegal fun under the sun.
     
  19. Wild Horse

    Wild Horse Forum Resident

    Location:
    California
    Steely Dan is great, and they don't really have any bad songs.

    But, they cheated a little bit by getting the top session musicians as their 'band'.

    An idea they probably got from Brian Wilson and Pet Sounds.
     
    Last edited: May 27, 2023
  20. Peter HG

    Peter HG Forum Resident

    Location:
    Cambridge, MA
    Two Against Nature (the song, not the whole album) and Godwhacker stick with me. Killer bass line in each. The latter is the only post reform song I've heard live--Donald up and shuffling on the melodica, it was great!
     
    Porkpie likes this.
  21. Bungo

    Bungo Forum Resident

    Location:
    Madison, WI
    Some people think it's too slick, maybe too "perfectly" performed and recorded. But you could say the same thing about The Nightfly, which doesn't seem to generate the same polarization. I'm a big fan of both albums but I prefer Gaucho for its dark sleazy Dan lyrics/subject matter vs. the uncharacteristically sunny nostalgia of The Nightfly.
     
    Mirror Image and shadowcurtain like this.
  22. lemonade kid

    lemonade kid Forever Changing

    Yes indeedy, @Stone Turntable .

    What I have found is the opposite of the OP's ( @Mirror Image's ) innocently misguided reasons for not giving the source. He should ask a Gort to insert the material's source to keep things legit.

    :agree:>>>We absolutely need to give the links and credits for the source of such posts. I've had a source get really mad and demand to have it taken down...I needed to give credit where credit is due instead of basically plagiarizing or pirating material, or seeming to do it. It's like they do in a book with credits given to sources.

    Once when I failed to give the source, the source demanded that the post (thread) be removed -- I contacted them and kindly explained that I was trying to actually get the word out (it was info about a band with some of their music posted too, and a band member got pissed that I seemed to be stealing the music etc). Once he understood, I gave credit where credit was due, and he was very happy to have me post stuff about the band and articles he appeared in.

    I always give the source now, even if it is wiki! I wonder if the forum needs such a thread to let everyone know about such courtesies that need to be given...without giving the source we may actually be violating their copyright/reproduction rights.
     
    Last edited: May 27, 2023
  23. slovell

    slovell Retired Mudshark

    Location:
    Chesnee, SC, USA
    I got them the first time I heard them and I've gotten them ever since. I listen to them at least three times a week, they never get old for me.
     
    Jonny W, theflattire and lemonade kid like this.
  24. lemonade kid

    lemonade kid Forever Changing

    This track is a fave and hasn't been mentioned:

    Brooklyn (Owes The Charmer Under Me)
     
  25. lobo

    lobo Music has always been a matter of Energy to me...

    Location:
    Germany
    Never have been really interested in this kind of music. Dismissed it as slick seventies mor. I remember when Rikki was a radio hit. Nice song, but nothing more. Some forty years later I became a member here and every once in a while a stumbled upon a Steely Dan thread. The guys seemed cool, their philosophy of life and music making intriguing. Maybe I should check out their records. Bought Aja, their best album, or so they said. Wasn't too impressed upon first listening. Listened again, nice but... Again and again. Began to really like what I heard. Bought Katy Lied. Wow, great record! Bought the one before Katy. Wow, excellent! Bought all the rest up to Gaucho. Fantastic group. What song writers, fantastic production work, such great musicians on every album, clever lyrics. Slick seventies mor? Maybe on the outside, but on the inside it's so much more. In my top 5 for sure. Excellent group! Thanks to the forum for the discovery!
     

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