I've had "Decade of Steely Dan" and Fagen's "The Nightfly" for 20+ years and love them both. I'm looking to make an SD, Fagen solo or Becker solo purchase and am looking for recommendations.:scratch2:

My impression is that "The Nightfly" is leaps and bounds better than any of their other solo stuff, so I'm pretty much thinking an SD album. I'm torn between a recent one--"Two Against Nature" (heard it's a bit better than "Everything Must Go")--or one of their early, 70's albums--I'm thinking either "Can't Buy a Thrill" or "Royal Scam." I know that "Aja" and "Gaucho" are considered stellar, but each of them has too much overlap with "Decade..." I think.

"Two Against..." sounds like it's pretty good, but I'm intrigued by reviews I've read where people talk about how the very early albums were quirkier and more adventerous than the outstansing but smoother and slicker "Aja" and "Gaucho" (and subsequent) stuff.

What say you?

--Matt

Kind of like asking which one of your kids you love most. Aja is my favorite, but I hear what you're saying about having a lot of those songs already. I really enjoy all of them. The early stuff is really neat.

Can't go wrong with Can't Buy a Thrill, but I'd give Countdown to Ecstacy a slight nod over it. Royal Scam is not my favorite SD album. Other great early picks are Pretzel Logic and Katie Lied. I'd say you'd be pretty happy with any of those, but forced to pick one, I think I'd go with Countdown.

no, no, no...

you gotta have 'em all!

there is no bad steely dan album!

steely dan studio albums from first to last:

can't buy a thrill
countdown to ecstacy
pretzel logic
katy lied
royal scam
aja
gaucho
two against nature
everything must go

there are several compilations

steely dan studio albums from first to last:

can't buy a thrill
countdown to ecstacy
pretzel logic
katy lied
royal scam
aja
gaucho
two against nature
everything must go

there are several compilations

I have to agree with you here.

Pretzel Logic and Can't buy a Thrill are my picks , was my teenage years and got lots of spin .Kati Lied was a big diapointment to me . I remember reading somewhere that the master tape got screwed up and they were very upset with the finished product .

pretzel, katy lied, cant buy, Royal scam... great stuff

Countdown to ecstasy has a great guitar jam with Bodhisvata (can't spell it) that will rock the walls. Aja has Deacon Blues and Peg, which are classics. Katy Lied has Dr. Wu, one of my personal favorites. Also Your Gold Teeth II and Chain Lightning. 2 fantastic jazz/rock numbers that will amaze you.

Well, like you said there are duplicates on the Decade album.

All great stuff from just about the best American Band that ever was!!!:music:

Get ALL of these!!!

can't buy a thrill
countdown to ecstacy
pretzel logic
katy lied
royal scam

In chronological order, the way a fan from the very first record would have done it! Like ME for instance! :D
I know a lot of people love the stuff that followed the above 5. But I could never get into any SD post 'The Royal Scam', and I have no idea why.:scratch2:

Here's an interesting one I found at the GW last week. "You Gotta Walk It Like You Talk It (or you'll lose that beat)" by Becker, Fagen, and Diaz. Probably down at the bottom of the list for these guys, but a couple of catchy tunes nonetheless. "Red Giant/White Dwarf" is worth a listen I think.

Here's an interesting one I found at the GW last week. "You Gotta Walk It Like You Talk It (or you'll lose that beat)" by Becker, Fagen, and Diaz. Probably down at the bottom of the list for these guys, but a couple of catchy tunes nonetheless. "Red Giant/White Dwarf" is worth a listen I think.
IIRC, these recordings/outtakes are Becker/Fagen, pre-Dan. I have that record somewhere in my arcaves, still sealed, I think. :nono:

Get ALL of these!!!

can't buy a thrill
countdown to ecstacy
pretzel logic
katy lied
royal scam


Not getting Gaucho would be a major mistake, IMHO - my own personal favorite.

Others would no doubt suggest Aja, too - another perennial favorite almost universally endorsed.

Start at the beginning.

I've got a boot on Lp , live in a small venue/studio that I will have to dig out .

Here's an interesting one I found at the GW last week. "You Gotta Walk It Like You Talk It (or you'll lose that beat)" by Becker, Fagen, and Diaz. Probably down at the bottom of the list for these guys, but a couple of catchy tunes nonetheless. "Red Giant/White Dwarf" is worth a listen I think.

I picked that up new years ago in a little hole in the wall record store. I have one other early bootleg kinda deal. They're actually very intresting to listen to. I'll have to pull those out!

was the jumping off point for Aja and Gaucho. It is my favorite Steely Dan album.Steely Dan was the name given to the metal tipped dildo used by a coven of lesbians in the novel Naked Lunch by William S. Burroughs.:smoke:

Here's a little SD fix from Youtube featuring Kid Charlemange Live. Just freeking fantastic:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ylr2D4Pwn58

Enjoy!

Rick

WOW!
Standing O, no doubt about it.
And, the new Cisco release Aja is superb.

Steely Dan? Oh yeah, I think I've heard of those guys...

You won't go wrong with any of them. All their studio albums are 'greatest hits', IMO. I have most of their works. If you are looking for something that 'defines' SD, I would tend to lean toward the 1st two (Thrill or Ecstacy).

If you have 10 min, you could go to the site below and listen to samples from each album to make the decision. Or you could buy them all................

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_m?url=search-alias%3Dpopular&field-keywords=steely+dan&Go.x=11&Go.y=9

"I know that "Aja" and "Gaucho" are considered stellar, but each of them has too much overlap with "Decade..." I think".

"Decade" is great when you just want to hear a good mix of the Dan's stuff...but if you REALLY enjoy their music, you GOTTA listen to the entire presentation of each album. The two albums above are what got me hooked, and still consider them my favorites. These are the albums I use to evaluate system changes since I know them both so well, and they both have enough sonic differences between tracks to test and adjust and tweak your system to its potential.

If you haven't bought one yet, PM me with your address and I'll send you one of my 6 copies of "Aja" (a - because I'm originally from Tucson, b - I LOVE "The Big Lebowski", and c - you really need ALL their albums!) as a gift from one AK'er to another.

Jimmy

Look on e-bay for the "Citizen Steely Dan" box if cds are ok. Everything through Gaucho. A must-have if just simply for the live version of Bohistivata. Also I have a boot from the Record Plant in 1972 or 73 that is stellar. You can usually find it to download. Personal faves; Countdown and Royal Scam.
Mark

I don't understand the "trying to decide" part...

If I like a band, like Steely Dan, I look for any and all of their albums, and buy them when I can. I don't just pick and choose based on what is best.... A person never can have too many albums, especially when they like the band they are from.

Simple...buy 'em all! Have both CD and vinyl at the ready depending upon your whim. Then...make up a mix disc laden with the stuff that isn't on the compilations: "Boston Rag", ""Dr. Wu", both "Gold Teeth", "The Caves of Altamira" (might be my all-time fave, there)...it's a lonnnng list. Don't discount the Fagen/Becker solo output..."Kamakiriad" is, to me, the "lost" Steely Dan album..."Morph the Cat" ain't no slouch, either. Walt's 1st solo "11 Tracks of Whack" may not be for all tastes, but it's cheap used and ya gotta have 'em all. BTW...I've seen "Kamakiriad" for as little as 75 cents used on Amazon. I'm currently spinning the heck out of Walt's new one "Circus Money"...it's a goodie. The "Gotta Walk it, etc." disc is actually the soundtrack to a low-budget movie they were talked into doing just prior to recording "Can't Buy A Thrill"...the other boot discs are basically compiled from demos Don & Walt did during their days as aspiring pop songwriters.
Steely Dan is essential to any music collection...endless enjoyment and a nice supply of system calibration material to boot.

I don't understand the "trying to decide" part...

If I like a band, like Steely Dan, I look for any and all of their albums, and buy them when I can. I don't just pick and choose based on what is best.... A person never can have too many albums, especially when they like the band they are from.

I gotta agree with you 100%. If I REALLY like a performer then I'm on a hunt for all their records until I hit a sour note.

Simple...buy 'em all! Have both CD and vinyl at the ready depending upon your whim. Then...make up a mix disc laden with the stuff that isn't on the compilations: "Boston Rag", ""Dr. Wu", both "Gold Teeth", "The Caves of Altamira" (might be my all-time fave, there)...it's a lonnnng list. Don't discount the Fagen/Becker solo output..."Kamakiriad" is, to me, the "lost" Steely Dan album..."Morph the Cat" ain't no slouch, either. Walt's 1st solo "11 Tracks of Whack" may not be for all tastes, but it's cheap used and ya gotta have 'em all. BTW...I've seen "Kamakiriad" for as little as 75 cents used on Amazon. I'm currently spinning the heck out of Walt's new one "Circus Money"...it's a goodie. The "Gotta Walk it, etc." disc is actually the soundtrack to a low-budget movie they were talked into doing just prior to recording "Can't Buy A Thrill"...the other boot discs are basically compiled from demos Don & Walt did during their days as aspiring pop songwriters.
Steely Dan is essential to any music collection...endless enjoyment and a nice supply of system calibration material to boot.


Picked Kamakiriad up for the first time in years and years thanks to your post John...... saw it at the local GW and thought, yeah, its worth giving another try to :). I had bought it when it was released on vinyl but it didn't affect me much back then, probably because I was more inclined towards a SD reunion than I was their solo efforts leading to it. I gotta say, I LOVE the song "Tomorrow's Girls"..... to me its a tune that would have resided just fine on most any SD release.

Having said that, if I were starting out wanting to get to know SD music it would be a VERY close battle between The Royal Scam and Aja. I think Aja is the one that would win me over with its lush, diverse beautiful jazz and some incredible songwriting, but I also love the dark, sinsiter pessimistic nature of Royal Scam. Most bands never put out a song that could even dare hope to compete with Kid Charlemagne.......

Get ALL of these!!!

can't buy a thrill
countdown to ecstacy
pretzel logic
katy lied
royal scam

In chronological order, the way a fan from the very first record would have done it! Like ME for instance! :D
I know a lot of people love the stuff that followed the above 5. But I could never get into any SD post 'The Royal Scam', and I have no idea why.:scratch2:

These are all great albums. I would certainly add Aja as essential as well. The nice thing is that all these records are so well recorded and the sound is just great. That and the music rocks.

Get them all, I did. They're all good. :)