Steely Dan

Aja

My two faves are Aja and Gaucho. Both masterpieces of modern day pop/rock music.

Bloody hell, that was quick. Amazon reviews concurs with your recommendation.

Many thanks

Gary

The thing with the Dan is, all their albums are excellent from Can't Buy a Thrill through to Gaucho. The ones after Gaucho well they are good as well. But my first two would be Aja and Gaucho.

All the 7 albums below are well worth buying for the music, the ordinary 'digitally remastered' cd's are excellently engineered, and very affordable too.

(not in any order...)

aja
Gaucho
Katy Lied
Pretzel Logic
The Royal Scam
Can't Buy A Thrill
Countdown to Ecstasy

quote:

Originally posted by naim_nymph:
All the 7 albums below are well worth buying for the music, the ordinary 'digitally remastered' cd's are excellently engineered, and very affordable too.

(not in any order...)

aja
Gaucho
Katy Lied
Pretzel Logic
The Royal Scam
Can't Buy A Thrill
Countdown to Ecstasy

Fully agree with you.

Don't buy a best of, you will loose a lot by not listening to the original album.

Countdown to Ecstasy and Pretzel Logic are very good elpees - not keen on Katy Lied or The Royal Scam; liked Reeling in the Years.

As stated you can't go wrong with any of their albums IMO. Each offers something slightly different. If you like the very polished sound then Aja is good, for an introduction I would start with Pretzel Logic and then work your way through all the albums. The Royal Scam has some great guitar work.

You've got a lot of good music to listen to!

Jack

quote:

Originally posted by naim_nymph:
All the 7 albums below are well worth buying for the music, the ordinary 'digitally remastered' cd's are excellently engineered, and very affordable too.

(not in any order...)

aja
Gaucho
Katy Lied
Pretzel Logic
The Royal Scam
Can't Buy A Thrill
Countdown to Ecstasy

Every one of those listed but Aja and Gaucho have a more jazz feel to them whilst the earlier ones tend to be rockier that is apart from Royal Scam which is the start of a change in their sound.

One last thing get the earliest pressings for these discs. They can be had cheaply off eBay.
They are the best sounding.

quote:

(not in any order...)

aja
Gaucho
Katy Lied
Pretzel Logic
The Royal Scam
Can't Buy A Thrill
Countdown to Ecstasy

Actually there was an order: shortest title first!

My favourite is Can't Buy A Thrill, it has that 70's feel, with the right about of funk, although this is maybe not their best album, i also have a soft spot for Gaucho, and Pretzel Logic. They're all worth buying because none of them are a let-down.
Steely Dan albums are like Liquorice Allsorts ~ every one is someone’s favourite! : )

Debs

By far, Katy lied.
This is a keyboard lead composition, mainly and that's why I like this one the most.

Talking about the Jazzy element of SD, how about:

Donald Fagan-- The Nightfly

Just a slightly different view on Steely Dan.

'Aja' and 'Gaucho' are often people's favourites, they are perfect studio albums, they are good recommendations.

I find them too perfect, no rough edges, and I like rough edges. There are not many with Steely Dan, but I prefer the first three albums, and particularly the second 'Countdown to Countdown to Ecstasy' which they had to record as a band between tour dates.

I do like all the first five albums, 'Can't Buy A Thrill', 'Countdown to Ecstasy', 'Pretzel Logic', 'Katy Lied' and 'The Royal Scam'.

This might be an unusual take on Steely Dan who are known for the quality of music and performance, but just in case it offers a useful perspective.

quote:

Originally posted by munch:
Or just get this album.

Tracks you wont find on any other dan album.
Stu

The main track for me on this album is F.M. Never was it's brilliance highlighted more when being played on the PA, leaving my only Bryan Adams concert

I'll be playing The Royal Scam on my desert island. This has been one of my favourites since I first heard it. The guitar playing of Larry Carlton is first class (particularly the two solos on 'Kid Charlemagne').

Just received an e-mail today from Amazon about a new best of.. called 'The Very Best Of Steely Dan' with 33 songs for just £8.98. Might be a great way to start.

Regards,
CB

quote:

Originally posted by Clive Blackman:
I'll be playing The Royal Scam on my desert island. This has been one of my favourites since I first heard it. The guitar playing of Larry Carlton is first class (particularly the two solos on 'Kid Charlemagne').

Just received an e-mail today from Amazon about a new best of.. called 'The Very Best Of Steely Dan' with 33 songs for just £8.98. Might be a great way to start.

Regards,
CB

Depends on the mastering CB.

Surprisingly no mention of Two Against Nature. An excellent album, released in 2000, available on CD and Vinyl.

The live DVD of the same name is one of the best music DVD’s I’ve seen.

Contains the following

Green Earrings
Cousin Dupree
Bad Sneakers
Janie Runaway
Josie
FM
Gaslighting Abbie
Black Friday
Babylon Sisters
Kid Charlemagne
Jack of Speed
Peg
What a Shame About Me
Pretzel Logic


Forget the compilation and best of albums. These are useful for artists who only manage a couple of decent tracks per album.

Most Steeley Dan albums don’t contain any duff tracks. They deserve to be listened to as complete albums.

Can't say I'm a big fan of The Titans either and agree that they are as dull as the Eagles though probably not as rich.

Great great band (well duo really). Their first record is essential ("Cant buy a thrill") and you cant go wrong with the rest of their catalogue, although I would only look at "Katy Lied" after some of the other albums.

I second Fagen's "Nightfly" as the best Dan album that never was

Guys I'm no expert on Steely Dan but you'll like this.


Do It Again Oh! Yes Please!



Dean...

I'm surprised there aren't more votes for the latest stuff. I agree Aja and Gaucho are classics, and any choice from the old catalogue will satisfy, but Everything Must Go and Two Against Nature are outstanding.

Posted by Nero

quote:

I'm surprised there aren't more votes for the latest stuff. I agree Aja and Gaucho are classics, and any choice from the old catalogue will satisfy, but Everything Must Go and Two Against Nature are outstanding

You could, of course, be right in saying so. Two Against Nature is IMO far the best of the two.

I'd say (as with many artists) it may well depend on the time in your life when you first encountered the artist.

I've alway loved The Royal Scam, simply because this was the first album by the Dan i encountered. And yet, the esteem of this is generally below par.

Pretzel Logic, which came just before (as far as I remember) has never really stuck with me - apart of course Rikki Don't Lose That Number.

IMO it's a bit strange that more people haven't mentioned the two Becker albums - 11 Tracks of Whack (which is simply stunning - check out "Cringemaker") - and Circus Money, from 1994 and 2008, respectively.

Enjoy,
Torben

I better weigh in as I've been a Dan fan for over thirty years. I tend to group their albums into four distinct phases:

1. Early: Can't Buy a Thrill; Countdown to Ecstasy
Mostly rock based, with some signs of the jazz stylings to come

2. Transitional: Pretzel Logic; Katy Lied; The Royal Scam
A diminishing band of core musicians, increasingly jazzy

3. Late: Aja; Gaucho
Full on jazz rock with an ever changing roster of session musicians

4. Post-Hiatus: Two Against Nature; Everything Must Go

As some contributors to this thread have said, all of the above albums are great, and there is hardly a duff track to be found on any of them. My favourites, one from each group, are: Countdown to Ecstasy ("Boston Rag" is one of their greatest songs); Katy Lied (consistently good; the other two transitional albums feel patchier); Aja (cos it's a masterpiece); and Two Against Nature (not as immediately appealing asa EMG, but ultimately more rewarding).

But really, you can't go wrong with Steely Dan; they are one of the finest bands ever, and my personal favourite.

Regards
Nigel

Just get the boxed set:



Has all the albums in the same order as when they were released...costs less than $40 US on amazon. Too many great songs to list, but note especially Bodhisattva, Kid Charlemagne, Night By Night, Pretzel Logic, Black Friday, Hey Nineteen, Throughout these albums the great guitar work is from Denny Dias, Jeff "Skunk" Baxter, and Larry Carlton.

I forgot to mention Don't Take Me Alive and Rikki Don't Lose That Number; again, my selections are biased towards the guitar work.