Katy Lied.
― EZ Snappin, Thursday, 16 May 2013 15:43 (ten years ago) link
can't buy a thrill, easy.
― wk, Thursday, 16 May 2013 15:44 (ten years ago) link
mostly terrible tbh, exceptions being aja, katy lied, pretzel logic
― iatee, Thursday, 16 May 2013 15:46 (ten years ago) link
Katy Lied, with Pretzel logic running in second. Aja is okay. Then, ugh.
― 2 huxtables and a sousaphone (Jon Lewis), Thursday, 16 May 2013 15:49 (ten years ago) link
i have gaucho framed on my wall
― gr8080, Thursday, 16 May 2013 15:52 (ten years ago) link
Can't Buy A Thrill.
.. but i like this t shirt
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/71ucdADSbWL._SL1186_.jpg
― piscesx, Thursday, 16 May 2013 15:53 (ten years ago) link
real answer:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/c7/Donald_Fagen_-_The_Nightfly.jpg
― iatee, Thursday, 16 May 2013 15:55 (ten years ago) link
^^^
― 2 huxtables and a sousaphone (Jon Lewis), Thursday, 16 May 2013 15:55 (ten years ago) link
yes!!!
― original bgm, Thursday, 16 May 2013 15:55 (ten years ago) link
pretzel vs katy vs aja for me. gaucho is cool too.
from the Royal Scam reissue liner notes:
"Luckily for us, we are in Los Angeles where, more than anywhere else in the known universe, bad taste abhors a vacuum, and before long we find ourselves staring into the maw of the most hideous album cover of the seventies, bar none (excepting perhaps Can't Buy A Thrill). Why are those buildings turning into reptilian horrors, or vice versa? What squalid back alley of the human condition is meant to be invoked by this contused nightmare palette? What manner of man - ill-shod, unshaven - dares sleep peacefully through this fearsome and repulsive protomorph?"
― jabba hands, Thursday, 16 May 2013 15:56 (ten years ago) link
Katy lied for what I presume is the pun w/ katydid
― 乒乓, Thursday, 16 May 2013 15:57 (ten years ago) link
xp man i need to buy those reissues just for the liner notes!
― tylerw, Thursday, 16 May 2013 16:00 (ten years ago) link
The only real stinker here is Two Against Nature.
― Spottie_Ottie_Dope, Thursday, 16 May 2013 16:01 (ten years ago) link
xpost otm. I just got my bonus, i should go buy the whole series right the f now.
― 2 huxtables and a sousaphone (Jon Lewis), Thursday, 16 May 2013 16:05 (ten years ago) link
I adore the cover to The Royal Scam
― AMERICA IS ABOUT RESSLING (DJP), Thursday, 16 May 2013 16:06 (ten years ago) link
Pretzel Logic is the most boring one (I'm not counting those last two at all). The uglier the better imo. They have a great collection of '70s ugliness there. Katy Lied is probably the second most boring, although it's a great photo on its own. Aja is the most classically "good" and iconic design there but it's pretty dull as well. Thrill, countdown, scam, & gaucho all nicely capture different aspects of '70s kitsch, but if I knew nothing about this band at all and had to buy one of the records on looks alone, it would definitely be Can't Buy a Thrill.
― wk, Thursday, 16 May 2013 16:09 (ten years ago) link
xpost i keep reading your damn dn as AMERICA IS ABOUT RIESLING i'm like yeah fuck a gewurz
― 2 huxtables and a sousaphone (Jon Lewis), Thursday, 16 May 2013 16:10 (ten years ago) link
Not one of my favorite Steely Dan albums, but I can't resist a good collage, so I voted for Can't Buy A Thrill.
― Moodles, Thursday, 16 May 2013 16:13 (ten years ago) link
love gaucho's cover but i guess i understand objections to it
― emo canon in twee major (BradNelson), Thursday, 16 May 2013 16:13 (ten years ago) link
two against nature's cover is the worst but i guess it explains their last decade of website design
― emo canon in twee major (BradNelson), Thursday, 16 May 2013 16:14 (ten years ago) link
none are as bad as
http://www.pergunnareriksson.se/images/walterbeckerB.jpg
― emo canon in twee major (BradNelson), Thursday, 16 May 2013 16:15 (ten years ago) link
lol that one belongs hereOLD SOCK VS. FORK IN THE ROAD: Which Album Cover Has The Most IDGAF Old Dude Swag
― tylerw, Thursday, 16 May 2013 16:16 (ten years ago) link
Contrary to popular belief Phil Hartman did not create the cover for Steely Dan's 1977 album Aja
:(
― puff puff post (uh oh I'm having a fantasy), Thursday, 16 May 2013 16:19 (ten years ago) link
Katy Lied, then Pretzel Logic. I know I'm influenced by my feelings about the music, but I'm pretty sure I'd go with those two anyway. Don't think much of the first two covers.
― clemenza, Thursday, 16 May 2013 16:20 (ten years ago) link
all the OG 7 covers are pretty cool. Appreciate the garishness of CBAT, I like CTE despite not really knowing wtf it is, PL is not exciting but nice, KL is awesome, TRS gets by on the backstory, Aja is beautiful, gaucho is class. 2AN is like a website homepage, EMG looks like a better than ezra cover from 1997.
― christmas candy bar (al leong), Thursday, 16 May 2013 16:28 (ten years ago) link
on second thought, CTE looks like a classic philip k dick cover
― 乒乓, Thursday, 16 May 2013 17:09 (ten years ago) link
For me it's aja easilly. In a class of its own.
― brimstead, Thursday, 16 May 2013 17:45 (ten years ago) link
kind of fond of all the original 7 to varying degrees, even if CBAT & RS are ugly a all hell. i guess if i didnt know the band/ records or the contents therein i'd be tempted to go w/ Aja
― sons of plutarchy (will), Thursday, 16 May 2013 17:50 (ten years ago) link
otm. I think it's the most fusiony looking cover too. it almost has a '70s ECM vibe. it also feels like the kind of painting that would be hanging in a doctor's office in the '70s or '80s.
― wk, Thursday, 16 May 2013 17:52 (ten years ago) link
i know there's a lot of competition, but their covers are as ugly and ungainly as their music is gorgeous and elegant.
― Iago Galdston, Thursday, 16 May 2013 17:54 (ten years ago) link
pretzel logic would be an ecm cover if pretzel man and his cart weren't in the photo
― christmas candy bar (al leong), Thursday, 16 May 2013 17:56 (ten years ago) link
pretzel logic looks too billy joel to me
― wk, Thursday, 16 May 2013 17:57 (ten years ago) link
agreed. put BJ behind a food cart with shades and a beanie and he could petty much be that dude (in 2013)
― sons of plutarchy (will), Thursday, 16 May 2013 18:05 (ten years ago) link
http://www.popspotsnyc.com/pretzel_logic/
― sons of plutarchy (will), Thursday, 16 May 2013 18:07 (ten years ago) link
but their covers are as ugly and ungainly as their music is gorgeous and elegant.
okay fine but i can't think of a record cover as gorgeous as aja which engenders my good will toward the others, even the hideous ones
― emo canon in twee major (BradNelson), Thursday, 16 May 2013 18:08 (ten years ago) link
guys, guys, guys: there are no hideous or ugly steely dan album covers
― 乒乓, Thursday, 16 May 2013 18:12 (ten years ago) link
I think their music can be kind of ugly and ungainly too and I don't really mean that as a criticism. The covers of CTE, KL and Gaucho are all very carefully and elegantly designed but they use very '70s color palettes and typography that fell out of style in later decades and might read as "ugly" to a lot of people now. they seem to parallel the music really well. Can't Buy A Thrill probably suits their music the least. It's weird how it has this sort of pop art style that was a few years out of date at the time but also anticipates certain punk & new wave collage styles.
― wk, Thursday, 16 May 2013 18:18 (ten years ago) link
guys is the remasters series with the awesome liner notes the '98-00 one or was there another series since then?
― 2 huxtables and a sousaphone (Jon Lewis), Thursday, 16 May 2013 18:24 (ten years ago) link
YOU BORING CUNTS
― have a nice Blog (imago), Thursday, 16 May 2013 18:25 (ten years ago) link
showing a katydid bug for your "katy lied" album cover is beyond stupid
― Iago Galdston, Thursday, 16 May 2013 18:31 (ten years ago) link
xposts: The '98-'00 ones. The notes from the Show Biz Kids set from the next year have an amusing postscript to the Aja notes.
― Sheela-Tubb-Mann, You Real Know-It-All (C. Grisso/McCain), Thursday, 16 May 2013 18:33 (ten years ago) link
Can't Buy a Thrill: Could almost imagine this as a Zappa cover. It's colourful, I'll give it that.Countdown to Ecstasy: Yeah I like the sci-fi vibes.Pretzel Logic: I feel like there was a brief trend for mundane photos on '70s album covers but can't think of any other examples off the top of my head.Katy Lied: I think this one is the one I'd find most intriguing if I saw it and knew nothing about the band.Royal Scam: Everything about this is awful.Aja & Gaucho: Both pretty stylish, I think I'd pick one of these as the best.Two Against Nature: Boring picture, crappy late-'90s typeface/layout.Everything Must Go: Looks like an anonymous '00s rock album.
― Gavin, Leeds, Thursday, 16 May 2013 18:35 (ten years ago) link
the combination of that photo and the dumb pun seem like they belong on a late '90s IDM record.
― wk, Thursday, 16 May 2013 18:39 (ten years ago) link
it would be spelled katylid and there would be intense debates about how it was meant to be pronounced.
― wk, Thursday, 16 May 2013 18:41 (ten years ago) link
This is so cool. Just south of the entrance to the Met.
― calstars, Thursday, 16 May 2013 18:46 (ten years ago) link
― Sheela-Tubb-Mann, You Real Know-It-All (C. Grisso/McCain), Thursday, May 16, 2013 2:33 PM (11 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
Sweet. They are fucking cheap on Amazon. I just ordered all 7 for 36 bucks.
Does Show Biz Kids mop up FM and Here at the Western World?
― 2 huxtables and a sousaphone (Jon Lewis), Thursday, 16 May 2013 18:52 (ten years ago) link
Yeah. No live b-side "Bodhisattva" tho.
― Sheela-Tubb-Mann, You Real Know-It-All (C. Grisso/McCain), Thursday, 16 May 2013 19:00 (ten years ago) link
um, sorry about that. frustration with bad day + boring ILX led to surf-by shooting. as NV said, it's the threads that don't exist, not those that do. who am I to quibble your choices. :(
― have a nice Blog (imago), Thursday, 16 May 2013 19:08 (ten years ago) link
It's like every one of those covers is the work of a different style of band - "Thrill" is some Westbound funk band, "Ecstasy" is a great Brit prog band, "Pretzel" is some American singer-songwriter, "Scam" is a crap Brit prog band.
"Katy Lied", just because I can never resist that sort of muddy-green palette.
― Sir Lord Baltimora (Myonga Vön Bontee), Thursday, 16 May 2013 21:31 (ten years ago) link
So she's Asian but what's her nationality?
― calstars, Friday, 17 May 2013 14:42 (ten years ago) link
Israeli
― how's life, Friday, 17 May 2013 14:48 (ten years ago) link
voted for 'katy lied'. 'aja' and 'gaucho' have this sort of iconic feel about them, and i also like the 'countdown to ecstasy' one.
― rusty_allen, Friday, 17 May 2013 15:23 (ten years ago) link
I think I rank them:
TRSAjaGauchoKLCTEPLCBATTANEMG
― AMERICA IS ABOUT RESSLING (DJP), Friday, 17 May 2013 15:25 (ten years ago) link
The only one I really like is Pretzel Logic. Katy Lied & Aja are pretty good, & so is Gaucho, except for its fonts, ugh. Can't Buy A Thrill & The Royal Scam are awful.
― Euler, Friday, 17 May 2013 16:18 (ten years ago) link
I get seriously squicked out by mouths that are not attached to faces. So Can’t Buy A Thrill, the Rolling Stones logo, Rocky Horror Picture Show soundtrack, and certain models of fleshlight are just out.
― how's life, Friday, 17 May 2013 17:20 (ten years ago) link
Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.
― System, Wednesday, 29 May 2013 00:01 (ten years ago) link
whoever upthread said "a great collection of '70s ugliness" is kind of onto it
― the bitcoin comic (thomp), Wednesday, 29 May 2013 00:22 (ten years ago) link
amen. I like "Everything Must Go", it seems to sum up their aesthetic in a way I can't quite place my finger on. Aja and Gaucho are also v. good.
― arctic mindbath (President of the People's Republic of Antarctica), Wednesday, 29 May 2013 00:28 (ten years ago) link
Everything Must Go is dope. especially the color scheme of the text.
― some dude, Wednesday, 29 May 2013 01:04 (ten years ago) link
EMG is basically an instagram post from anyone vacationing in DC
― Spottie_Ottie_Dope, Wednesday, 29 May 2013 03:01 (ten years ago) link
LOL
― how's life, Wednesday, 29 May 2013 11:01 (ten years ago) link
Argh, this band not only has a ton of bad cover art, but bad cover art that is ahead of its time -- Pretzel Logic is proto-90s radio-friendly alt rock, Countdown to Ecstasy looks like a Radiohead/Bjork collabo, etc.
Voted for Aja, find that one elegant and it suits the record. Can't Buy a Thrill and Royal Scam are just a mess. Gaucho is so bad I find it endearing.
― THIS IS NOT A BENGHAZI T-SHIRT (Hurting 2), Wednesday, 29 May 2013 13:56 (ten years ago) link
gaucho because I remember seeing it as a kid and it was the first dan album I ever saw
― akm, Wednesday, 29 May 2013 14:54 (ten years ago) link
Countdown To Ecstasy because here they come.
― Bee OK, Wednesday, 29 May 2013 15:37 (ten years ago) link
"Pretzel Logic is proto-90s radio-friendly alt rock"
ahah, so true.
― charlie h, Wednesday, 29 May 2013 15:46 (ten years ago) link
Steel Daniel Pilots
― THIS IS NOT A BENGHAZI T-SHIRT (Hurting 2), Wednesday, 29 May 2013 15:50 (ten years ago) link
Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.
― System, Thursday, 30 May 2013 00:01 (ten years ago) link
Surprised by Katy coming first. I know a lot of people like it, but I don't really dig it that much.
Good to see a big turnout though!
― arctic mindbath (President of the People's Republic of Antarctica), Thursday, 30 May 2013 00:06 (ten years ago) link
56 votes for boring, 36 votes for awesome, and 2 trolls.
― wk, Thursday, 30 May 2013 01:45 (ten years ago) link
http://www.popspotsnyc.com/pretzel_logic/― sons of plutarchy (will), Thursday, May 16, 2013 1:07 PM (1 week ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
― sons of plutarchy (will), Thursday, May 16, 2013 1:07 PM (1 week ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
i love this
― ʎqןıs (gr8080), Thursday, 30 May 2013 03:43 (ten years ago) link
it's remarkable that a band that were such perfectionists on the music end of things seemed to just not give a fuck - like, at ALL - about the album artwork. Liner notes, sure, but the art = "eh, who cares"
― Οὖτις, Tuesday, 3 December 2019 16:42 (four years ago) link
aja is a legitimately great album cover imo, and pretzel logic has its charms.
― jacquees, full of cobras (voodoo chili), Tuesday, 3 December 2019 20:10 (four years ago) link
also think katy lied and gaucho are pretty charming
at this point i only think the reunion records have godawful covers
― american bradass (BradNelson), Tuesday, 3 December 2019 20:14 (four years ago) link
Countdown to Ecstasy is pretty bad
― Mario Meatwagon (Moodles), Tuesday, 3 December 2019 20:18 (four years ago) link
no
― brimstead, Tuesday, 3 December 2019 20:18 (four years ago) link
i love that one, it's pretty fuckin cracked
― american bradass (BradNelson), Tuesday, 3 December 2019 20:25 (four years ago) link
nearly all of this band's album artwork is shit. I like the Aja art, and I also like the Katy Lied art but that's also probably my least favorite Dan album. Gaucho is just incomprehensible to me as a cover, it's hard to think of album art that relates less in content or aesthetic to the music.
― longtime caller, first time listener (man alive), Tuesday, 3 December 2019 20:35 (four years ago) link
come on the gaucho painting would totally be hanging in luxury apartment of someone who's done so much coke they think the walls have eyes
― american bradass (BradNelson), Tuesday, 3 December 2019 20:49 (four years ago) link
I think the Gaucho art makes sense if you consider it as this sort of fantasy image, considering how many of the tracks are these imagined scenarios in which the narrator tries to mythologize themselves or their situations or even their adversaries, while in the meantime they’re living this empty existence facing down middle age and partying past their sell by date.
― omar little, Tuesday, 3 December 2019 20:49 (four years ago) link
i like katy lied, aja, gaucho, pretzel logic, and find the remainder VILE
― #FBPIRA (jim in vancouver), Tuesday, 3 December 2019 20:51 (four years ago) link
― american bradass (BradNelson), Tuesday, December 3, 2019 9:49 PM (sixteen minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink
― gr8080, Thursday, May 16, 2013 5:52 PM (six years ago) bookmarkflaglink
― Le Bateau Ivre, Tuesday, 3 December 2019 21:08 (four years ago) link
Strong disagree about their album art being shite tbf. Aja cover is a work of art. And so are Gaucho (which makes total sense w/ the music imo) and Katie Lied: all great. I'm with Brad, only the reunion album ones are meh.
― Le Bateau Ivre, Tuesday, 3 December 2019 21:10 (four years ago) link
katy lied is a good cover for the pun, but the image itself is not my bag
― jacquees, full of cobras (voodoo chili), Tuesday, 3 December 2019 21:16 (four years ago) link
the royal scam artwork is hilariously bad, tho i can't imagine the album without it at this point
i find the picture of the cricket on katy lied to be super ominous and haunting for some reason. it was the first steely dan record i bought for that reason
― american bradass (BradNelson), Tuesday, 3 December 2019 21:20 (four years ago) link
katy lied beating out aja is probably the most inexplicable thing i've seen from an ilx poll
― lukas, Tuesday, 3 December 2019 21:23 (four years ago) link
^^ yep.
― Le Bateau Ivre, Tuesday, 3 December 2019 21:31 (four years ago) link
royal scam cover makes more sense if you imagine it as a missing scene from the end of ghostbusters
― brimstead, Tuesday, 3 December 2019 23:17 (four years ago) link
The Royal Scam cover is at least kind of interesting and weird, though also very ugly.
― Mario Meatwagon (Moodles), Tuesday, 3 December 2019 23:20 (four years ago) link
Royal Scam cover was originally made for Van Morrison's unreleased follow-up to Veedon Fleece!
http://www.bigozine2.com/MP307/VMbliss/VMblissFr2.jpg
― a bevy of supermodels, musicians and Lena Dunham (C. Grisso/McCain), Tuesday, 3 December 2019 23:31 (four years ago) link
yeah, that's hella funny. "what do we do with this thing? idk give it to the dan"
― brimstead, Tuesday, 3 December 2019 23:33 (four years ago) link
I mean, it fits the song pretty well.
― ☮ (peace, man), Tuesday, 3 December 2019 23:44 (four years ago) link
xpost woah
― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Tuesday, 3 December 2019 23:45 (four years ago) link
Steely Van
― a bevy of supermodels, musicians and Lena Dunham (C. Grisso/McCain), Wednesday, 4 December 2019 00:01 (four years ago) link
https://i.imgur.com/0xfo8mM.jpg
― gr8080, Tuesday, 28 January 2020 16:33 (four years ago) link
Oh my god...
What a post to return to ilx for <3
― Le Bateau Ivre, Tuesday, 28 January 2020 16:35 (four years ago) link
gr8080, this isn't the cursed images thread
― Mario Meatwagon (Moodles), Tuesday, 28 January 2020 16:37 (four years ago) link
absolutely not
― american bradass (BradNelson), Tuesday, 28 January 2020 16:39 (four years ago) link
also coke will kill you before you ever start hallucinating
― gr8080, Tuesday, 28 January 2020 16:41 (four years ago) link