― nonthings (nonthings), Saturday, 11 June 2005 09:17 (nineteen years ago) link
xpost
― Rickey Wright (Rrrickey), Saturday, 11 June 2005 09:21 (nineteen years ago) link
― Rickey Wright (Rrrickey), Saturday, 11 June 2005 09:22 (nineteen years ago) link
― nonthings (nonthings), Saturday, 11 June 2005 09:30 (nineteen years ago) link
― Rickey Wright (Rrrickey), Saturday, 11 June 2005 09:32 (nineteen years ago) link
― nonthings (nonthings), Saturday, 11 June 2005 09:33 (nineteen years ago) link
― nonthings (nonthings), Saturday, 11 June 2005 09:34 (nineteen years ago) link
― Susan Douglas (Susan Douglas), Saturday, 11 June 2005 09:38 (nineteen years ago) link
― nonthings (nonthings), Saturday, 11 June 2005 09:43 (nineteen years ago) link
ok to satisfy a weird curiosity. was donald fagen ever considered a hottie? or atleast a hipster/scenester back in the day? just surprised to find nothing of old pics online with him cavorting with models types (what i'd expect for some reason) or even just out in NY scene.
― Susan Douglas (Susan Douglas), Saturday, 11 June 2005 09:45 (nineteen years ago) link
As for the Dan's jazz element -- and the haters can tell the "pseudo" part to Phil Woods, Wayne Shorter, or for that matter, Fagen's piano playing -- has anyone else heard the Warne Marsh/Pete Christlieb album Becker and Fagen produced in the late '70s? Really fine postbop stuff.
― Rickey Wright (Rrrickey), Saturday, 11 June 2005 09:54 (nineteen years ago) link
― Susan Douglas (Susan Douglas), Saturday, 11 June 2005 10:12 (nineteen years ago) link
― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Saturday, 11 June 2005 10:17 (nineteen years ago) link
― Susan Douglas (Susan Douglas), Saturday, 11 June 2005 10:37 (nineteen years ago) link
Well, this review from the AMG, for example (again, a not uncommon take that I've seen in reviews of this album):
"Aja was cool, relaxed, and controlled; it sounded deceptively easy. Its follow-up, Gaucho, while sonically similar, is its polar opposite: a precise and studied record, where all of the seams show. Gaucho essentially replicates the smooth jazz-pop of Aja, but with none of that record's dark, seductive romance or elegant aura. Instead, it's meticulous and exacting; each performance has been rehearsed so many times that it no longer has any emotional resonance. Furthermore, Walter Becker and Donald Fagen's songs are generally labored, only occasionally reaching their past heights, like on the suave "Babylon Sisters," "Time Out of Mind," and "Hey Nineteen." Still, those three songs are barely enough to make the remainder of the album's glossy, meandering fusion worthwhile."
How one could call this "meticulous, exacting, and rehearsed" in an especially negative way that does not apply to any of their other albums (again, especially Aja) is beyond me. The aforementioned Christgau (Gaucho gets the lowest rating of all the Dan albums):
"With Walter Becker down to composer credits and very occasional bass, Donald Fagen progresses toward the intellectual cocktail rock he's sought for almost a decade--followed, of course, by a cadre of top-drawer El Lay studio hacks, the only musicians in the world smart enough to play his shit. Even the song with Aretha in it lends credence to rumors that the LP was originally entitled Countdown to Lethargy. After half a dozen hearings, the most arcane harmonies and unlikely hooks sound comforting, like one of those electromassagers that relax the muscles with a low-voltage shock. Craftsmen this obsessive don't want to rule the world--they just want to make sure it doesn't get them. B-"
1993 Rating of Steely Dan's albums (Rolling Stone, I believe?)4 Can't Buy a Thrill 4.5 Countdown 5 Pretzel Logic (somewhere, my dad is smiling) 4 Katy Lied 3 Royal Scam 4 Aja 2.5 Gaucho
Before that, one of the early editions of the Rolling Stone Record Guide (IIRC, Gaucho got a
― Joe (Joe), Saturday, 11 June 2005 10:50 (nineteen years ago) link
― Joe (Joe), Saturday, 11 June 2005 10:52 (nineteen years ago) link
― Joe (Joe), Saturday, 11 June 2005 10:53 (nineteen years ago) link
― Joe (Joe), Saturday, 11 June 2005 10:55 (nineteen years ago) link
― pdf (Phil Freeman), Saturday, 11 June 2005 11:52 (nineteen years ago) link
― m coleman (lovebug starski), Saturday, 11 June 2005 12:27 (nineteen years ago) link
― Banana Nutrament (ghostface), Saturday, 11 June 2005 12:33 (nineteen years ago) link
That said, I can hear the sinister subtexts beneath the steely glint of the soporific music. For sure.
― Alfred Soto (Alfred Soto), Saturday, 11 June 2005 13:10 (nineteen years ago) link
― Josh in Chicago (Josh in Chicago), Saturday, 11 June 2005 13:46 (nineteen years ago) link
― Banana Nutrament (ghostface), Saturday, 11 June 2005 13:50 (nineteen years ago) link
― tricky (disco stu), Saturday, 11 June 2005 13:53 (nineteen years ago) link
― tricky (disco stu), Saturday, 11 June 2005 13:54 (nineteen years ago) link
― Alfred Soto (Alfred Soto), Saturday, 11 June 2005 13:58 (nineteen years ago) link
― Amateur(ist) (Amateur(ist)), Saturday, 11 June 2005 14:09 (nineteen years ago) link
― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Saturday, 11 June 2005 20:54 (nineteen years ago) link
(There had to be some dissent here...)
― Deric W. Haircare (Deric W. Haircare), Saturday, 11 June 2005 22:00 (nineteen years ago) link
― Alfred Soto (Alfred Soto), Saturday, 11 June 2005 22:05 (nineteen years ago) link
― Susan Douglas (Susan Douglas), Saturday, 11 June 2005 22:14 (nineteen years ago) link
By contrast, I've never connected as much with Aja for some reason -- possibly because the great Roger Nichols didn't engineer it (and you can tell) or maybe because they continue down the Royal Scam road but try to humanize it with songs like "Deacon Blues". Either way it doesn't really work -- by this point, they're just too hardened and SoCal'd out to pull it off.
Gaucho is just sort of the culmination of what started with Scam -- the soundtrack to hitting on the chick who works at the bank at the local Ramada bar. Yes, all the love has gone out of it -- every character's a total piece of shit, and relationships are all transactions of some kind. Yet it's also perfect in its way -- the singles are career highlights, sure. But at its core are "The Glamour Profession" and "Gaucho", with their soaring Tom Scott saxes and lyricons, brittle guitar parts and more than a touch of Broadway in the vocals and song construction. And then it all ends, yeah, on "Third World Man", which is just disturbing, slow and vague. It's hard to feel "satisfied" by it all, but an appropriate note to go out on for sure.
― Naive Teen Idol (Naive Teen Idol), Sunday, 12 June 2005 04:11 (nineteen years ago) link
― retort pouch (retort pouch), Sunday, 12 June 2005 04:50 (nineteen years ago) link
gahhhhh
― Gear! (can Jung shill it, Mu?) (Gear!), Sunday, 12 June 2005 04:58 (nineteen years ago) link
― Joe (Joe), Sunday, 12 June 2005 12:35 (nineteen years ago) link
― Banana Nutrament (ghostface), Sunday, 12 June 2005 12:40 (nineteen years ago) link
― Banana Nutrament (ghostface), Sunday, 12 June 2005 12:42 (nineteen years ago) link
― frankiemachine, Sunday, 12 June 2005 13:22 (nineteen years ago) link
― Susan Douglas (Susan Douglas), Sunday, 12 June 2005 19:40 (nineteen years ago) link
― edd s hurt (ddduncan), Sunday, 12 June 2005 20:03 (nineteen years ago) link
Johnny's playroomIs a bunker filled with sandHe's become a third world man
Smoky SundayHe's been mobilized since dawnNow he's crouching on the lawnHe's a third world man
Soon you'll throw down your disguiseWe'll see behind those bright eyesBy and byWhen the sidewalks are safeFor the little guy
I saw the fireworksI believed that I was dreaming Till the neighbors came out screamingHe's a third world man
Soon you'll throw down your disguiseWe'll see behind those bright eyesBy and byWhen the sidewalks are safeFor the little guys
When he's crying outI just sing that Ghana RondoE l'era del terzo mondoHe's a third world man
― pdf (Phil Freeman), Sunday, 12 June 2005 20:17 (nineteen years ago) link
OTMFM - about 'Aja,' that is.
― Alfred Soto (Alfred Soto), Sunday, 12 June 2005 21:24 (nineteen years ago) link
― Naive Teen Idol (Naive Teen Idol), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 13:13 (nineteen years ago) link
― Alfred Soto (Alfred Soto), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 13:16 (nineteen years ago) link
― Naive Teen Idol (Naive Teen Idol), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 13:38 (nineteen years ago) link
Gaucho was the record where Fagen and sound engineer Roger Nichols wrestled endlessly with the drum machine that Nichols had developed. The strain between Fagen and Becker was starting to show, as well.
Despite all that, Gaucho has Babylon Sisters, one of the most harmonically advanced pop songs I can think of. And it gets stuck in your head! Must hear now...
― Brooker Buckingham (Brooker B), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 13:44 (nineteen years ago) link
― Will(iam), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 16:01 (nineteen years ago) link
there, I said it
― Banana Nutrament (ghostface), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 16:19 (nineteen years ago) link
― Gear! (can Jung shill it, Mu?) (Gear!), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 16:29 (nineteen years ago) link
awesome, looking forward to it, please post links when it is up
― Free Me's Electric Trumpet (Moodles), Wednesday, 4 March 2015 16:47 (nine years ago) link
I have been trying to burn out on this album by playing it nonstop for a week, but it's not working
― five six and (man alive), Wednesday, 11 March 2015 01:59 (nine years ago) link
Is "Gaucho" the song a thinly-veiled letter from Donald to Walter about the latter's junk habit?
― Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Wednesday, 23 November 2016 16:40 (seven years ago) link
― Iago Galdston, Wednesday, 23 November 2016 16:44 (seven years ago) link
I only just got the little "joke" in the bridge of Gaucho (it sounds like a mariachi band)
― the last famous person you were surprised to discover was actually (man alive), Saturday, 16 September 2017 02:14 (seven years ago) link
There are some drum phrases in this song that are so good that they're like a second set of lyrics
― the last famous person you were surprised to discover was actually (man alive), Saturday, 16 September 2017 02:15 (seven years ago) link
That wanker Mark Knopfler plays on “time out of mind”
― calstars, Saturday, 15 June 2019 22:28 (five years ago) link
this was the first proper Dan album i bought on vinyl, and it has always, always gotten more play than their other records. i *adore* the title track particularly because it is so mean and brutal and pressed up against this shiny veneer. brilliant shit.
― blue light or electric light (the table is the table), Saturday, 15 June 2019 22:41 (five years ago) link
yeah, barely xp
― flappy bird, Saturday, 15 June 2019 22:49 (five years ago) link
I assume it’s him on the opening bend lick
― calstars, Saturday, 15 June 2019 23:11 (five years ago) link
Anyway the drums own that track anyway
― calstars, Saturday, 15 June 2019 23:14 (five years ago) link
how many songs mention cherry wine besides "time out of mind" & "we don't have to take our clothes off (to have a good time)"?
― Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Sunday, 16 June 2019 05:09 (five years ago) link
i guess "babylon sisters" mentions kirschwasser...
― Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Sunday, 16 June 2019 05:10 (five years ago) link
I think Knopfler's part is that pretty simple part that comes in later on in the song, I remember reading about how they had him play for hours and hours and what made it onto the song was maybe a few bars, of a very simple phrase
― flappy bird, Sunday, 16 June 2019 05:37 (five years ago) link
not sure what version you jabronis are listening to but MKnopfler does all the leads over almost the entire of the version I have:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwgNbNfO_O8
check the left channel then he hits the phaser on the instrumental chorus then back to the left channel.
― Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Sunday, 16 June 2019 05:53 (five years ago) link
fuck wrong video, this one:
― Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Sunday, 16 June 2019 05:54 (five years ago) link
3rd times a charm?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJW2NH-CTJ8
whew, yeah click that one. left channel, then phasor for the instru-chorus, then back to the left channel. stop listening to mp3s you jabronis.
― Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Sunday, 16 June 2019 05:55 (five years ago) link
― five six and (man alive), Tuesday, March 10, 2015 9:59 PM (five years ago) bookmarkflaglink
This is where I am right now. I have been immersing myself in the world this album builds--its numb depravity and decadence--for the past three days, and I don't think I can stop.
Someone on hipinion said the title track sounds like "a compilation of unusually well-produced local station IDs" which is spot-on and partly why I love that song so much
― J. Sam, Monday, 21 September 2020 23:27 (four years ago) link
People who "rag" on Gaucho should be taken away and destroyed.
― retort pouch (retort pouch), Saturday, June 11, 2005 1:11 AM (fifteen years ago) bookmarkflaglink
otm
― Paul Ponzi, Tuesday, 22 September 2020 11:24 (four years ago) link
The title track and "Third World Man" compete for best SD song.
― TikTok to the (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 22 September 2020 11:57 (four years ago) link
40 years ago today
― Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Saturday, 21 November 2020 16:47 (three years ago) link
Mass Romantic yesterday, Gaucho today....what's next in line for the excellent album birthday celebration?
― healthy cocaine off perfect butts (the table is the table), Saturday, 21 November 2020 18:25 (three years ago) link
Seeing the Gaucho show in Morristown, NJ tonight. Has anyone seen them yet on this tour? They haven't done a Gaucho night yet, so I'm not sure exactly what to expect from the second set, but I'm crossing my fingers for "Bad Sneakers" and/or "Deacon Blues" which both seem like realistic possibilities...
― J. Sam, Thursday, 4 November 2021 21:02 (two years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0bf7Dr7CzmM
Morris Mobley cover of Glamour Profession
― saer, Thursday, 17 February 2022 16:17 (two years ago) link
fun cover, i like how he says "hoops mccain" instead of "hoops mccann," which makes me think he's talking about a black sheep member of that annoying family
― roflrofl fight (voodoo chili), Thursday, 17 February 2022 16:42 (two years ago) link
We're double-bumping the Gaucho threads tonight.
Seeing the Gaucho show in Morristown, NJ tonight. Has anyone seen them yet on this tour? They haven't done a Gaucho night yet, so I'm not sure exactly what to expect from the second set, but I'm crossing my fingers for "Bad Sneakers" and/or "Deacon Blues" which both seem like realistic possibilities...― J. Sam, Thursday, November 4, 2021 5:02 PM (nine months ago) bookmarkflaglink
― J. Sam, Thursday, November 4, 2021 5:02 PM (nine months ago) bookmarkflaglink
In retrospect I was foolish to hope for "Deacon Blues." Looks like they only play it in the Aja shows :(
― J. Sam, Saturday, 27 August 2022 01:40 (two years ago) link
fantastic descriptions from the man himself
Donald explains Gauchonew liner notes from the man himself for the upcoming reissue from Analogue Productions pic.twitter.com/dBlaEsYyZn— Good Steely Dan Takes (@baddantakes) April 12, 2024
― Muad'Doob (Moodles), Friday, 12 April 2024 17:35 (five months ago) link