By the way, I don't know if anyone else gets this vibe, but "Do It Again" seems like a nod to reincarnation from a Buddhist worldview. You make mistakes, so you have to "go back, Jack, and do it again." The "wheel turning round and round" would be the wheel of samsara. And surely, "Jack" has to be Kerouac. Fagen and Becker were totally into the Beat generation, after all. Anyway, just a fun thought.
Is this another 'I like it so it must be prog' thread?
I know! Some people likes them some dogma.Originally Posted by sonic
Compact Disk brought high fidelity to the masses and audiophiles will never forgive it for that
Not really. On the old site Steely Dan was one of those handful of bands (like The Who, Sabbath, or Zeppelin) that was always given main page status rather than OT. I was just joking when I came up with that subject line.
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
I am in the incredibly fortunate position of running (and playing drums in) a 10 piece Steely Dan Tribute Band in Los Angeles.
Growing up in the 70's i started to get heavily into prog and fusion. Then i heard Countdown to Ecstasy and i was hooked!
Good music is good music, and should remain timeless.
My fav SD album is Royal Scam, hands down. Followed by Aja, then Countdown.
Playing these tunes in a great band is such a joy, and believe me it is NOT for the money. Gigs are scarce, and when we play the pay is shit. Unfortunately when a Parks and Rec or Concerts by the Sea gig comes along and we are up against a Journey Tribute band...well guess who gets the gig?
Don't Stop Belevin'!
Don't Stop Breathin'!
Compact Disk brought high fidelity to the masses and audiophiles will never forgive it for that
Prog or not I like it.
Yeah, this is a "prog" site, but I don't worry about labels now a days. Steely Dan works for me.
so if its prog what kind is it?
Very good prog.
"My choice early in life was either to be a piano player in a whorehouse or a politician, and to tell the truth, there's hardly any difference"
President Harry S. Truman
i think it counts as being pretty damn good.
Fave albums from the classic era from favorite to less favorite but still pretty damm good...:
Countdown to Ecstacy
The Royal Scam
Aja
Can't Buy A Thrill
Pretzel Logic
Gaucho
Katy Lied
Top 20 songs (in no particular order):
Black Cow
Aja
Home At Last
Doctor Wu
Rikki Don't Lose That Number
Any Major Dude
Night By Night
Do It Again
Your Gold Teeth
Kings
King of the World
The Boston Rag
The Royal Scam
Kid Charlemagne
The Caves of Altamira
Don't Take Me Alive
Any World (That I'm Welcome To)
Bad Sneakers
Third World Man
Glamour Profession
Simply said, simply one of the greatest songwriting duos of my generation and brilliant regardless of genre.
Peace,
Alex
Copycat.
“The red zone is for immediate loading and unloading of passengers only. There is no stopping in the white zone."
Love you, too, my fellow Steely fan...Copycat.!
Peace,
Alex
I bought Aja other day, after all these accolades, and IMHO it does not sound like progressive music...it is clever music, could be enjoyable, but it just does not have the ingredients of progressive music as I recognize it...it is more orientated towards AOR, funk, adult rock more than anything...
Hi Alex!
“The red zone is for immediate loading and unloading of passengers only. There is no stopping in the white zone."
Yep. Great mix of pop, jazz, rock, blues, R&B, and funk -- but that doesn't make it prog. And that's perfectly OK! It's just great music to my ears, and my ears (and synapses) don't seem to care what label is applied to the music.
Progmatic, don't go looking at is as straight prog. But Aja is very complex in its own way - there was nothing else on the planet like this at the time and no one else has managed that seamless of a vortex of jazz, R&B, and rock since. Listen to the title track, that whole bridge/solo thing in the middle is just nuts. Hell, Steve Gadd gives clinics on just that drum part. Even the shortest songs are deceptive in their complexity. Just pour yourself a good whisky, shut off the lights and listen to the first three songs.
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
Not to derail the thread, but this raises a question I've had. How did Fagen and Becker handle the songwriting duties? Keep in mind I've only gotten into the Dan in the past year, so I realize this may be common knowledge to longtime fans -- but I've read quite a few interviews and haven't seen an answer from the guys thus far. Does one handle the music and one the lyrics? Do they both bring music and lyrics to the table? My hunch is that Fagen is more of the music guy and Becker more the lyricist -- and that's based solely on what I've heard of their solo output. Fagen's records sound more like Steely Dan albums, but what little I've heard of Becker's solo material seems to have more of the acerbic lyrical bite of a typical Dan song.
Anyway, just curious.
I'll play,
Favourite songs:
Kid Charlamagne
Guacho
Bablylon Sisters
Home At Last
The Boston Rag
Doctor Wu
My Old School
Hey Nineteen
...you know, those and all the others.
Aja gets a lot of praise on these Dan threads. I personally find it overrated. It's last on my list of Steely Dan album rankings. Yes I like the album, but it's dead last on my list. If you're still interested in Steely Dan and want to try another album try either of the first two albums (Can't Buy A Thrill, or Countdown To Ecstacy). As far as them being "prog." Here we go again. What is prog? To me they're not prog, period, end of story. Not prog.
The straightest answer I ever got was that "Fagan did the writing and Becker did the drugs."
The other saying was, "Becker couldn't start a song and Fagan couldn't finish one." When asked whether this old adage was still true when Two Against Nature came out, Fagan replied, "No. Now I can't start a song and Becker can't finish one."
My suspicion is that Steely Dan is 80% Fagan and 20% Becker in both music and lyrics. I suspect there was some truth the the "Fagan can't finish a song" story. It wouldn't surprise me if he were an obsessive perfectionist. Becker's main role may have been to just get Fagan to agree that enough was eventually enough so that something would be released. This is all largely speculation on my part, though I did know a guy who worked in a studio where Steely Dan did some recordings, and this was his take on what he saw. Who knows if that was accurate, but it sort of makes sense to me.
Bill
Too much 4/4 backbeat/rhythm reliance for me to consider Steely Dan prog.
Steely Dan is a band that many non-musicians love dearly ("yuppies", for example).
(Classic) Prog is a genre that appealed generally more to the musicians back in the 70's (though many non-musicians appreciate it too obviously)
"I Got the News" being a great example of that. SD may not have enough of the trademarks to be considered "prog," but their song forms and chord progressions don't have much in common with what's generally considered as "pop" either. They're their own genre, I tell ya!
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