Author Topic: Steely Dan  (Read 9331 times)

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Offline KevShmev

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Steely Dan
« on: October 10, 2011, 11:48:15 PM »
Who's a fan?

I remember my cousin getting me into the Aja record about 19 years ago; that was one helluva summer.  I can still listen to that record from start to finish.  They have bunches of other great songs as well, but Aja will always be the topper for me as far as Steely Dan is concerned.

Offline Nel

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Re: Steely Dan
« Reply #1 on: October 11, 2011, 12:02:31 AM »
Whenever I listen to Steely Dan, I feel like I should be in a high class apartment sipping on quality scotch.

I love them. Own every album. Sometimes I'll just sing Pretzel Logic in the car for the hell of it. Off the top of my head, my current faves by them are Charlie Freak and King Of The World.
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Offline Zantera

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Re: Steely Dan
« Reply #2 on: October 11, 2011, 01:41:05 AM »
The only song I know is "Do it again", because it was in one of the Guitar Hero-games.
Great song though!

Offline MasterShakezula

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Re: Steely Dan
« Reply #3 on: October 11, 2011, 01:56:31 AM »
Dude, you should get Can't Buy A Thrill.

It's the album that has Do It Again on it, and mark my words; the whole thing is awesome, in the rich, sexy sort of way.

Offline PixelDream

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Re: Steely Dan
« Reply #4 on: October 11, 2011, 02:32:58 AM »
I kind of like them but their music doesn't evoke any emotional reaction out of me at all. And I like Donald Fagen's solo record 'The Nightfly'. It's all harmonically intricate music played by VERY professional musicians. It's sterile to me, but likeable.
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Offline Zydar

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Re: Steely Dan
« Reply #5 on: October 11, 2011, 03:18:26 AM »
I've heard some compilation album by them, and I dig a few songs. Dirty Work, Do It Again, Reelin' In The Years, Bodhisattva, Rikki Don't Lose That Number, Black Friday, Bad Sneakers, and a few others are some really cool tunes.
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Offline 73109

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Re: Steely Dan
« Reply #6 on: October 11, 2011, 05:17:57 AM »
I know a few of their hits and dig them. I saw them over the summer and because of a combination of shitty venue with shitty security, a shitty crowd, and a somewhat boring Steely Dan, the show was not the greatest.

Offline Jaq

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Re: Steely Dan
« Reply #7 on: October 11, 2011, 09:03:01 AM »
Every year I find myself getting into a different band that, I guess, qualifies as classic rock or whatnot. This year it was Steely Dan. Love the hell out of Can't Buy A Thrill and Aja, really, really great band. Fantastic lyrics in their songs, and I like how all their songs just fit together like precision engineering. Wonderful band.
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Offline TheSilentHam

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Re: Steely Dan
« Reply #8 on: October 11, 2011, 09:31:57 AM »
I'm a fan, but got into them way too late.  I did get to see them about four years ago in Tampa, and it was a very good performance.

Also, lols at how they got their name.

Offline WebRaider

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Re: Steely Dan
« Reply #9 on: October 11, 2011, 02:08:11 PM »
Excellent band. One of many bands I was introduced to through my parents at an early age.  :tup

Offline jsem

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Re: Steely Dan
« Reply #10 on: October 11, 2011, 02:44:03 PM »
Home At Last is one of my favorite songs ever.

Aja is kinda like SDOIT for me, half of the material is perfect and half is just good.

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Re: Steely Dan
« Reply #11 on: October 11, 2011, 04:34:39 PM »
Aja was one of my first albums, and I played the hell out of it.  Side One more than Side Two probably, but Side Two is also great.  Eventually I collected their entire catalogue.  Everything is awesome.  Walter Becker is a highly underrated guitarist.  He has a great feel for "tasty licks" and even when he's shredding, he's not really shredding.  You can hear the melody and musicality in what he's playing; he's just playing really, really fast.

I stepped onto the platform
The man gave me the news
He said "You must be joking, son.
Where did you get those shoes?"


I don't know why, but I've always loved that lyric.  Cracked me up the first time I heard it on the radio.  Most of their lyrics are very, very clever.  Some are cruel and sarcastic, nearly all are observational, stuff you can relate to even if you have no direct experience.

Online El Barto

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Re: Steely Dan
« Reply #12 on: October 11, 2011, 05:03:32 PM »
Yeah, great lyricists.  Few people write with such wonderful wit.  Always loved Kid Charlemagne.  Great song.  Tells a good story.  Teaches a valuable lesson.  Would have loved to have hung out with Bear Owsley.

Always enjoyed their music, but rarely listen to just one album.  Normally I'll go through a phase where I'll listen to the entire catalog over a day or two (excellent road trip music).  Therefore I really can't tell you one album from another (save for Aja).  There are some songs that I don't like (Bodhisattva) and some that I think are patently exceptional (Don't Take Me Alive), and to the best of my knowledge, they're all evenly distributed.

Also really dig their approach to making music.  Can't think of any other bands that made such liberal use of session musicians.  Have ten guys play a solo and use the take you like best.  Neat guys.
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Online Orbert

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Re: Steely Dan
« Reply #13 on: October 11, 2011, 05:40:27 PM »
Yeah, in a certain sense that weren't even really a band, just Becker and Fagen and a bunch of session guys filling things out.  The cool thing is that, while their music is pretty much Rock, the session guys were usually Jazz players, which gave their albums that awesome laid-back feel.

I'm kinda the same way with their older stuff.  I know what's on Aja, and then there's "everything else".  But it's all good.

Offline ShadowWalker

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Re: Steely Dan
« Reply #14 on: October 11, 2011, 05:59:26 PM »
(excellent road trip music). 

Completely agree with this point (and most of your others, but this one in particular). There is such a "cool" aura that radiates from this band and the music they have produced. And they are a fantastic live act as well. They are simply amazing.

Offline yorost

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Re: Steely Dan
« Reply #15 on: March 14, 2012, 09:45:43 AM »
My 7 month old daughter dances when I play Aja. :lol  We thought she was just unstable standing the first time (she started pulling herself up recently), but then she started doing it again when I put the album on last night.  Whenever we hit pause on Black Cow she just stopped and looked at us. :lol

Good daughter!  I've got to keep her out of the c-pop my wife listens to.

Online Orbert

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Re: Steely Dan
« Reply #16 on: March 14, 2012, 09:56:09 AM »
Black Cow has a strong backbeat and that funky Clav, definitely one of Steely Dan's more danceable tunes.  I love it when kids first become "aware" of music and start moving to it.  It's awesome!

Offline Fluffy Lothario

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Re: Steely Dan
« Reply #17 on: March 14, 2012, 10:11:56 AM »
I bought Aja three months ago. Still haven't listened to it.

Offline WebRaider

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Re: Steely Dan
« Reply #18 on: March 14, 2012, 10:45:07 AM »
My 7 month old daughter dances when I play Aja. :lol  We thought she was just unstable standing the first time (she started pulling herself up recently), but then she started doing it again when I put the album on last night.  Whenever we hit pause on Black Cow she just stopped and looked at us. :lol

Good daughter!  I've got to keep her out of the c-pop my wife listens to.



That's awesome and too cute!  :D

Online Orbert

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Re: Steely Dan
« Reply #19 on: March 14, 2012, 10:59:57 AM »
I bought Aja three months ago. Still haven't listened to it.

Are you going through some kind of religious journey of self-denial?  Aja is regarded as one of The Dan's best albums, and is the fave of many.  You're missing out, and you don't even need to.

Online King Postwhore

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Re: Steely Dan
« Reply #20 on: March 14, 2012, 11:08:02 AM »
That Steve Gadd drum break in the title song is worth the whole price of that album.  It's that good.
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Offline Jaq

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Re: Steely Dan
« Reply #21 on: March 14, 2012, 02:06:32 PM »
I bought Aja three months ago. Still haven't listened to it.

What are you waiting for, an engraved invitation? :P Aja's a bonafide classic!
The bones of beasts and the bones of kings become dust in the wake of the hymn.
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Offline KevShmev

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Re: Steely Dan
« Reply #22 on: March 14, 2012, 02:11:53 PM »
That Steve Gadd drum break in the title song is worth the whole price of that album.  It's that good.

I had no idea who the drummer was, but I know exactly what part you are talking about.  That is definitely most awesome.

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Re: Steely Dan
« Reply #23 on: March 14, 2012, 02:25:12 PM »
That Steve Gadd drum break in the title song is worth the whole price of that album.  It's that good.

I had no idea who the drummer was, but I know exactly what part you are talking about.  That is definitely most awesome.

I actually saw some drum video he made going over what he does as well as the making of Aja.  Great stuff if you've never seen it.
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Offline Kotowboy

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Re: Steely Dan
« Reply #24 on: March 14, 2012, 04:44:54 PM »
I had to learn "Gaslighting Abbie" for my uni course ( on guitar ).

It's quite a fun song with some bloody strange chords and that unison line is a bitch !

Also I had to make up a solo for the sax part. That took some doing as well !!

Not a bad song though.

Subject matter is a little odd though !
« Last Edit: March 14, 2012, 04:56:47 PM by Kotowboy »

Offline Fluffy Lothario

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Re: Steely Dan
« Reply #25 on: March 14, 2012, 04:52:35 PM »
Are you going through some kind of religious journey of self-denial?  Aja is regarded as one of The Dan's best albums, and is the fave of many.  You're missing out, and you don't even need to.

What are you waiting for, an engraved invitation? :P Aja's a bonafide classic!

 :lol When I get albums, they go on a list (a queue, if you like). I only like to have about three to six new albums in rotation at any given time. It gives each a bit of time (say, a month) being the new albums in my collection so I can familiarise myself with them before I go on and listen to new fresh ones.

At the moment, Aja is in a company of around 40-50 albums. It has some tough competition to be the next I spin, but maybe I'll give it a mercy shunt based on this thread.  :biggrin:

Offline Scooterfruit

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Re: Steely Dan
« Reply #26 on: March 15, 2012, 12:14:00 AM »
Definitely in my top 3 bands/artists of all time and an enormous influence on my band No Island.

Saw them on the first show of this past summer tour, absolutely the most perfect, tightest show I've ever seen.

LOVE Steely Dan.

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Re: Steely Dan
« Reply #27 on: March 15, 2012, 07:38:55 AM »
I watched the VH1 Classic Albums "Aja" episode (on DVD) last night.  Highly recommended.  Rather than go through the album song by song and dissect each one, they spend most of the time just talking in general about how the album came about, how Steely Dan worked as a band and as a concept, including a lot of history.  They do talk about specific things in specific songs, but overall the "Aja" album is almost just an excuse to talk to Becker and Fagen about stuff.  That's not to say that you don't get a lot of info about the album; you do.  But it's more than that.  Usually they only do one Classic Album per band, so this was their chance to talk to Steely Dan about whatever, and they do.

By the way, it should go without saying that you should always watch Classic Albums on DVD, not recorded off of TV or whatever.  The episodes themselves are an hour long.  When they show them on TV, a good 1/3 of that is cut out to make room for commercials.

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Re: Steely Dan
« Reply #28 on: March 15, 2012, 07:41:41 AM »
I love how the bass player talked about turning his back in the guys so they couldn't see him slap  and pop in the bass.  The boys didn't like that. :lol
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Re: Steely Dan
« Reply #29 on: March 15, 2012, 10:16:13 AM »
Yeah, that was a riot.  They knew what they wanted, he knew what would actually sound good, and he actually pulled one over on them.  I'm guessing that that doesn't happen much to Becker and Fagen.

Offline rogerdil

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Re: Steely Dan
« Reply #30 on: March 16, 2012, 10:42:07 AM »
Although Aja's the cat's meow, I've heard it so many times, I find myself listening to mostly the post-Aja albums these days.

Offline TVC 15

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Re: Steely Dan
« Reply #31 on: March 16, 2012, 10:43:11 PM »
One thing I learned off all of those Steely Dan albums as a guitarist:  phrasing.  Before listening to this band, I didn't give a shit about making my solos "take a breath" so to speak.  I was more into just coming up with long passages that go note after note.  A song like Peg taught me that it's OK to break those lines up a bit and make them more appealing to the listener.

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Re: Steely Dan
« Reply #32 on: March 16, 2012, 11:19:21 PM »
Yeah, one thing the jazz guys are very good at is listening to each other, which means not playing all the time, which means thinking more about how to play something that fits the music better and not just amaze everyone with your blazing chops.  There's a time to wail, sure, but I think most rock guys could benefit from taking a step back once in a while.

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Re: Steely Dan
« Reply #33 on: March 17, 2012, 04:15:47 AM »
One thing I learned off all of those Steely Dan albums as a guitarist:  phrasing.  Before listening to this band, I didn't give a shit about making my solos "take a breath" so to speak.  I was more into just coming up with long passages that go note after note.  A song like Peg taught me that it's OK to break those lines up a bit and make them more appealing to the listener.

This is such a lost art in most music nowadays.
I don't like country music, but I don't mean to denigrate those who do. And for the people who like country music, denigrate means 'put down'.” - Bob Newhart
So wait, we're spelling it wrong and king is spelling it right? What is going on here? :lol -- BlobVanDam
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Offline bundy

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Re: Steely Dan
« Reply #34 on: March 17, 2012, 05:59:56 AM »
Really cool band that I've always enjoyed. Aja, Katy lied, Pretzel Logic and Can't Buy a Thrill are all excellent albums. Anyone here ever read the book they took their name from -William Burroughs' The Naked Lunch?