Steely Dan: "Steely Dan's name has been popping up as a hip musical crush. Remember, this glossy bop-pop was the indifferent aristocracy to punk rock's stone-throwing in the late 70's. People fought

Very much into the Gaucho outtakes these days...is there a 33 1/3 book on this record? There should be. Since there's an Aja one (which I found dull), I doubt it

Choosing between Aja and Gaucho is the hipster's Sophie's choice

when will everyone understand Pretzel Logic is the best

Choosing between Aja and Gaucho is the hipster's Sophie's choice

― calstars, Wednesday, August 10, 2016 9:31 PM (37 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

otm, although Aja is a bit more optimistic & wistful. Gaucho is for when you're feeling mean.

when will everyone understand Pretzel Logic is the best

― Wimmels, Wednesday, August 10, 2016

how Gen X of you

hey now, best poll ever on ILM (mainly because of PP images)?

Polled At Last: STEELY DAN - ILM Artist poll #50

40 ballots
Full results for 16 Albums
Total points, song, number ones, total votes

1312 Aja 9-39
1198 Pretzel Logic 5-39
1191 Katie Lied 3-38
1180 Countdown to Ecstasy 7-35
1135 Gaucho 8-36
1096 The Royal Scam 5-38
1063 Can’t Buy a Trill 1-37
517 The Nightfly 2-18
223 Two Against Nature 9
166 Everything Must Go 7

Gaucho got robbed!

1063 Can’t Buy a Trill 1-37

Yeah, I really dug this Star Trek: Deep Space Nine-themed concept album.

when will everyone understand Pretzel Logic is the best

― Wimmels, Wednesday, August 10, 2016

how Gen X of you

― The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, August 10, 2016 10:17 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Is this really the gen x choice? Explain! I'm not even disputing it (or my status as gen x), just wondering what it is about that album that would put it in that category

Pretzel Logic = Steely Dan's grunge phase

Every concept pressed on Steely Dan or one of their albums just only ~kinda~ holds up to scrutiny. What makes em fun.

How they got Wayne Shorter to play on Aja

Thanks, enjoyed reading this - although I'm disappointed to find that Purple Cabbage doesn't appear to be a real band.

"Well the..." for six hours straight! That's awesome!

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CptCs1mXEAAfryj.jpg:small

*thinks about it*

Let's expand on that

Babylon Sisters: old creep plies young girls with drugs
Hey Nineteen: same. although it's unclear if the guy got the girl or if it's all in his head
Glamour Profession: celebrity drug dealer watches two of his clients dance while he stands in the darkness
Gaucho: can you get socially cucked?
Time Out of Mind: can drugs cuck you?
My Rival: this is what cucking is, right?
Third World Man: can you get cucked by a hangover?

has anyone else heard the original version of "everyone's gone to the movies"? talk about a weirdass cuck song

sad!

I was about to link to the cuck piece. It's pretty funny, I think.

Lock this cucking thread, please

when will everyone understand Pretzel Logic is the best

― Wimmels, Thursday, August 11, 2016 1:35 AM (2 days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Yup.

Gaucho is fucking boring, IMO.

booooooo

Gaucho is fucking boring, IMO.

it was my least fave of the 70s records for years and then one day it just clicked. being in my 30s probably helped.

I can see how someone could find Gaucho boring. Still wrong, tho.

Pretzel Logic is fine but I much prefer albums 2, 4, 6, and 7

imagining a hi-NRG-ish remix of Gaucho now.. tempo doubled, massive kick drum, cowbells, random synth farts/fairlight stabs

I can't really fault the quality of the engineering or the the way the record sounds - that it's a very well-recorded album is pretty much a given. I can't really fault the talent of the musicians involved, either.

However, "production" doesn't always mean the way that a record sounds, it can be the methods involved in order to achieve the final result - and in this instance, as well-recorded as the record is, and as talented as the people involved are, the methods involved in gaining the final result led to a product that sounds incredibly lifeless. Hence, it is that rare thing - a record that sounds great but at the same time is badly produced. That, and I don't think any of the songs on Gaucho are particularly great.

Babylon, Glamour, Gaucho and TWM are all A+

Babylon, Glamour, Gaucho and TWM are all A+

― Master of Treacle, Saturday, August 13, 2016 6:08 PM (12 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

and Hey Nineteen

the glossy but enervated sound is crucial to why Gaucho is so brilliant imo, but I can see that it might not appeal to everyone

(xpost)

I don't really rate any of them. Dunno why I would listen to 'Babylon Sisters' when I could listen to the superior 'Home At Last' instead. For me, this band were at their finest from Can't Buy a Thrill up to The Royal Scam. Aja is a good record, although overrated in the Dan scheme of things, and I'd be quite happy to never hear anything from Gaucho again.

it's not overrated

don't know why you keep having to pull that card

nor why i get so touchy about it lol

Dunno why I would listen to 'Babylon Sisters' when I could listen to the superior 'Home At Last' instead.

Taking sides: "WELL - THE" vs. "SHAKE - IT!"

voting shake it

I've never been convinced by anyone's antipathy towards latter-period SD beyond "it's not for me".

i think Aja is overrated but only in the sense that Royal Scam and Gaucho are underrated. all are good albums.

Pretzel's barely more than half an hour and yet there's stuff like 'East St Louis'....'Buzz' and 'With A Gun'...

Gaucho against that? Not a chance. Latter all the way.

(the great stuff on Pretzel is still great etc etc etc)

"through with buzz" is the first time steely dan used strings on a record, and the only other time they used strings at all was for "FM".

"FM" is the only instance of steely dan using don henley and glen frey as backup singers.

RIP glen, chugging all night for eternity

However, "production" doesn't always mean the way that a record sounds, it can be the methods involved in order to achieve the final result - and in this instance, as well-recorded as the record is, and as talented as the people involved are, the methods involved in gaining the final result led to a product that sounds incredibly lifeless. Hence, it is that rare thing - a record that sounds great but at the same time is badly produced

this is all received wisdom. groove on "time out of mind" is full of life

Pretzel's barely more than half an hour and yet there's stuff like 'East St Louis'....'Buzz' and 'With A Gun'...

Gaucho against that? Not a chance. Latter all the way.

― Master of Treacle, Sunday, August 14, 2016 2:37 AM (3 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Totally otm. Pretzel is (by far?) my least favorite for all of the reasons you name.

I also never got deep into Katy Lied, but that one may still click for me, I dunno. I still return to it after all these years (sometimes involuntarily: my wife is a fairly recent Dan convert and is always playing that one in the car)

That said, I really, really love "Bad Sneakers."

Looking at this tracklist now, Pretzel has Rikki, Major Dude, and...that's about it. Maybe their only true stinker.

OK, you twisted my arm:

Royal Scam (personal choice--I acknowledge the objective superiority of Aja) > Aja > Can't Buy A Thrill > Gaucho > Countdown to Ecstasy > Katy Lied > Pretzel Logic

this is all received wisdom

Nope, it's a conclusion that isn't at all difficult to reach by doing something as simple as merely listening to the record.

Brad is arguing that "production" itself doesn't make a record lifeless any more than committing first takes to tape produces 'spontaneity.'

besides, I don't think the methods used to lay down Gaucho differ much from how they recorded PL.

I would argue that it does, for several reasons.

Gaucho is brilliant because of how "lifeless" it sounds. It's their only true concept album in a way. Probably my favorite for that reason alone although The Nightfly does the same thing even better.

And Pretzel Logic has Night By Night and Barrytown!

it's a conclusion that isn't at all difficult to reach by doing something as simple as merely listening to the record.

your post was a summary of every criticism levied against gaucho since it came out. if you had told me it was a composite of contemporaneous reviews of the record I wouldn't have blinked

formal precision in playing and recording =/= lifelessness