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Steely Dan, aja, where's the good bit?


spectoremg

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2 minutes ago, AndyTravis said:

And revolution no.9. 🤣

I was in a band with 4 Beatles lovers and this was recommended to me as essential listening - I did actually listen to the whole bloody thing waiting for the good bit.  One of the worst things was lift sharing with the drummer who subjected me to an entire Beatles album every gig to 'turn me'.  

I don't dislike all the Beatles stuff.  I quite liked their early Chuck Berry Tribute phase  🤨

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1 hour ago, AndyTravis said:

He doesn’t, I’ve heard what he says about me on “Www.Gobironchat.co.uk”

If I suggest to my harmonica player that "Bob Dylan is a great player, you could learn a lot from him" I have to run away and hide. His reply is unprintable. I do it sometimes in front of unsuspecting people just to see their reaction when he explodes.

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The documentary featuring Becker and Fagen on the making of Aja ,  was the most anal constructiuon of an album i've ever heard.  But this is how they rolled at the time, getting jazzier and jazzier after Cant Buy A Thrill

Someone in the past, IIRC, labelled their music  " sickly sweet "   and the extraordinary amount of time they spend auditioning guitarists who could come up with the magic lead guitar they were looking for that lasted 10 seconds,  has got to be believed. 

I'm a fan,  having said that, but The Royal Scam is tops for me, not Aja.

I don't have any Beatles on disc, although i think they were clever writers.  Dylan ?  Overrated , apart from the wonderful Blood On The Tracks

Edited by fleabag
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9 hours ago, casapete said:

And please don't mention 'The Nightfly' or I'll really lose it....

Please don't! As well as Aja, I also bought Reeling In The Years as a single, Nightfly, Two Against Nature and the live come back tour album. IMO all good stuff.

I must have played a dozen or so SD songs in bands over the years. Some very clever basslines and a feeling of satisfaction when you get them right.

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3 hours ago, Rich said:

Everyone like Got Something to like Hide Except Me and like My Monkey

 

Those ain't the right lyrics mate. 🤭 It goes like:

When I get to the bottom
I go back to the top of the slide
An' I stop, an' I turn, an' I go for a ride
Til I get to the bottom
An' I see you again
Yeh

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1 hour ago, miles'tone said:

Aja is one of those albums I have tried to like because my friend whose musical taste I respect has banged on about it for years. He's a remarkable drummer btw. 

It's just not my thing. That and Night fly.. 

To me they just sound corny and sterile. 

 

Savages, the pair of you.

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Cos of their critical rep I've tried hard with SD. There are some good tunes on the first two albums but the rest is mostly meh bar the odd tune or two..IMO. For me Aja is a snoozeathon.  This is  pretty good though https://www.last.fm/music/Steely+Dan/The+Definitive+Collection

Mind you, SD are in good company of big name acts whose most acclaimed  (and usually biggest selling) albums are their 'best ofs'  /'greatest hits' e.g. Stones, Who, Queen,  Bowie, Bob Marley,  Beach Boys, Eagles, Abba and Madonna

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23 minutes ago, Barking Spiders said:

Cos of their critical rep I've tried hard with SD. There are some good tunes on the first two albums but the rest is mostly meh bar the odd tune or two..IMO. For me Aja is a snoozeathon.  This is  pretty good though https://www.last.fm/music/Steely+Dan/The+Definitive+Collection

Mind you, SD are in good company of big name acts whose most acclaimed  (and usually biggest selling) albums are their 'best ofs'  /'greatest hits' e.g. Stones, Who, Queen,  Bowie, Bob Marley,  Beach Boys, Eagles, Abba and Madonna

You're 'ard 😂

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4 hours ago, bubinga5 said:

Gold Teeth is probably the coolest record, its just laid back jazzy groove.. But this is possibly one of the best pieces of music I've ever heard from Steely Dan.. Donalds harmonies are just wonderful. Dias's guitar solo is just.!! 

 

That’s reminded me of one of the things I struggle most with about SD; the vocals. Nails down a blackboard for me. Hucknall level. 

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I always quite liked Steely Dan. Not a massive fan, so I wouldn’t know the albums – more a greatest hits kinda guy! I have been following this thread with some bemusement – the British disease written large on Basschat. While I appreciate not everybody will like SD, I am surprised at how many ‘musicians’ so actively dislike them. It’s not just them though, consider the following common opinions on BC about a few big artists from this (and many other threads):  

Steely Dan – jazz harmonies and flavours combined with funk beats and a rock feel, combined in well crafted, accessible songs with razor sharp lyrics and stellar musicianship. BASSCHAT – ‘what do people see in the them, beige, how can anyone like this stuff?’

Jaco – a genuine virtuoso who revolutionised bass playing and transcended his chosen instrument in a similar way to a select few others (Hendrix, Coltraine, etc). Widely regarded by the general music community as one of the best and most influential musicians of his era. BASSCHAT – ‘he’s overrated / crap and if you disagree, you’re a deluded fanboy’…

Foo Fighters – in an age of overly manufactured pop and contrived rock (and for that matter rap) acts, probably the last of the great classic rock bands. Massively popular with passion, a bit of charisma, decent playing and a set of incredibly accessible hit songs that reference grunge, Led Zeppelin, punk rock, heavy stuff and Tom Petty all in a recognisable style of their own. BASSCHAT – ‘there is nothing about them that appeals at all’.

I should say that I only have a SD greatest hits album, the first Jaco solo album and the missus has the FF greatest hits in the house, none of which get played regularly. So given that I’m not exactly the biggest fan and I appreciate that everyone has their own taste, but jeez why are so many people on here so down on what is pretty solid music??

Edited by peteb
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