Donald Fagan - Morph the Cat

Hello Brucie,

I would guess that the majority of "older" UK members will by now have bought or at least heard this.

Songwriting, musicianship and recording all excellent as you would expect from DF and, very briefly, if you liked The Nightfly you will almost certainly like this.

Oh, the bass response is excellent too - especially on the opening track.

About time for Walter Becker to get back in the studio now.

Have a good day

Ron

I'm also wondering about Morph.

Nightfly was such a great album, but I wasn't moved by Kamakiriad.

Can't really get a sense from the 30" iTunes clips ... I mean, they sound good, but only to the extent that I would expect Fagen clips on my computer to sound good.

Fred

I too am inordinately fond of 'The Nightfly' (as well as complete Dan freak in general) which is why I was so underwhelmed by 'Kamkiriad'. 'Morph' is Don back on form, have no fear. Buy with confidence.

BTW, Simon Matthews is absolutely on the money. Its a real slow burner, surrendering further charms with each play.

I quite like kamakiriad, but preferred nightfly. In very basic terms, morph is somewhere between the two. Not as "sterile", (if thats not too harsh), as kamakiriad, not quite as strong songwise as nightfly. It has to be said though, that I am not very good at getting an opinion on the first few listens, it takes a good few goes for me to form a proper opinion, & I've only heard morph once or twice. I'd say its worth adding to the collection, but if you don't dig steeley dan/fagen, morph probably won't change your mind.
matt

I'm so tickled with Don having released a decent record that I may even give Kamikiriad and Two Against Nature another crack.

I'm on my second listening and it hasn't quite grabbed me yet, I'm afriad. I'll continue to work on it of course but I'm hoping it won't be like 'Kamikiriad' and simply end up on the shelf. Like everyone else says, 'Nightfly' was such an absolute belter of an album that it raised expectations to a level which has been difficult to follow.

Dave

I tried, I failed, it's in the post to a buddy along with the new Van Morrison. Two very disappointing purchases.

Morph the Cat is wonderful and as beautifully produced as an other Fagen or Dan record. I also think its a grower. As mentioned if you like Nightfly and the Dan in general Morph is up there. If your not struck on either it won't change your mind.

I can live without another Walter record tho.

As for the Van the man country album. again wonderfully produced with some great versions of old songs. I think it is a cracker.

I also rate Neil Diamond's. Stripped down and on the money

quote:

Morph the Cat is wonderful and as beautifully produced as an other Fagen or Dan record

I find it produced to the point of smoothness. Why can't producers know when to stop?

Nigel

MTC sounds like the cuts that didn't make it to Nightfly. The writing is weak and the band sounds sterile and tired. I sort of like "Brite Nightgown" though. It's not a BAD record - I could definitely listen to this in the car, but it really doesn't make the main stack, IMO.

Fagen is a very talented guy, but he should change direction as he ages. He's trying to recapture Nightfly, but falls short. I bet he could do a great unplugged thing - piano, bass, acoustic guitar and vocal.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Chayro:
Fagen is a very talented guy, but he should change direction as he ages. He's trying to recapture Nightfly, but falls short. I bet he could do a great unplugged thing - piano, bass, acoustic guitar and vocal.
_______________________________________________________

Has already done so (sort of). Piano Jazz is mainly standards with three Dan songs thrown in, Just Don, Walt and piano.

Any good?

quote:

Originally posted by Chayro:
Any good?

No.

A total snoozer.

Interesting only for the editorial content.

Anyone managed to get a DTS sound track off of the DVD that comes with it ?

Roy.

no luck here only plays stereo for me,what is it supposed to be DD. DTS or what?

quote:

I find [Morph the Cat] produced to the point of smoothness. Why can't producers know when to stop?

Well, as with all Dan-related albums, Fagen and/or Becker are the producers, so I think they know exactly when to stop: when they're satisfied.

On the continuum of production values, from rough hewn to highly polished, their albums have always been on the highly polished end ... certainly no more so now than before.

Fred

quote:

On the continuum of production values, from rough hewn to highly polished, their albums have always been on the highly polished end ... certainly no more so now than before

Hmm. I was listening to Pretzel Logic just the other today. It really grabs my attention, while Morph is more like coffee bar musak. It only seems to come alive when played really loud, hich is not usually practical. The former doesn't sound as produced to me, but it's probably that the songs ar so much better; after all this is the LP that's widely acknowledged as the Dan's classic.

Nigel

Hi, i have tryed out the DVD and had the DTS DD5.1 and DD stereo . The stereo still wins for me. The DTS separation is impresive but sound odd.On Morph the first guitar comes in behind you then the next infront.

Def one of the best if not the best sound through my Naff (compared to main system) setup.NAD DVD, Yammy into Credos.

Have to say the Bass through the N802s is eh well awesome. Def a disc to sort your system.
i threw the 72 out of the bath in favour of the 102 as it was just too damn lush with the 72.

david

David,

Where did you select DTS as the sound output format ? Was it in the on screen menu ?

Roy.

quote:

Originally posted by hungryhalibut:

quote:

On the continuum of production values, from rough hewn to highly polished, their albums have always been on the highly polished end ... certainly no more so now than before

[Pretzel Logic] doesn't sound as produced to me

Nigel, can you describe what "produced" means to you?

quote:

but it's probably that the songs ar so much better; after all [Pretzel Logic] is the LP that's widely acknowledged as the Dan's classic.

Pretzel Logic is, of course, wonderful, one of several equally widely acknowledged Dan classics, others being Royal Scam, Katy Lied, Aja, and Gaucho.

But there are at least a couple reasons you have a more positive reaction to Pretzel Logic than to Morph the Cat ... the songs are probably better written, the flavor tastes more like rock than jazz and perhaps you prefer rock, and it's a part of your musical history.

And it was one of several albums made by a duo at the peak of their creative powers. Collaborations like that are usually more potent than its individual constituents; The Beatles being another case in point.

Fred

quote:

Nigel, can you describe what "produced" means to you?

Fred

This will be tricky for me, I think. By 'less produced' I mean that it retains a 'live' quality. Take a recent acquisition of mine - Bill Evans' 'Portrait in Jazz' from around 1959. Great sound, and you can feel the passion and emotion in the players. You get drawn in by the event.

But in the case of 'Morph' it sound like it has been fiddled around with so much that it loses that emotion. It's great hifi I'm sure, but not an emotional experience. Too smooth, too perfect.

From the other viewpoint, that of musical history, I'm sure you are right. Steely Dan were my favourite band when I was at secondary school and I bought Pretzel Logic when I was about 14. A lot of the 'rock' I listened to at that time, rubbish like ELP, Uriah Heep etc was blown away by Punk in 76/77. As I have got older I am buying more jazz than anything else, but am still very partial to a blast of White Stripes.

Nigel

I have no problems with the production, far from it, a Fagen production always was and always should be 'polished' - if you've seen him play live he's also a very polished performer. The success of the album for me is purely down to the songs themselves. 2-3 more plays in and certain tracks are growing on me and 'Brite Nightgown' is terrific. Just not sure if the rest the album has legs.

Dave

'What I Do' is emerging as the early favourite round mine.

I'm with malky--what I do is my fave (so far). V.nice harmonica solo.
matt