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Steely Dan album purchase advice?

ArizonaMatt

ArizonaMatt

Member
I've had "Decade of Steely Dan" and Fagen's "The Nightfly" for 20+ years and love them both. I'm looking to make an SD, Fagen solo or Becker solo purchase and am looking for recommendations.:scratch2:

My impression is that "The Nightfly" is leaps and bounds better than any of their other solo stuff, so I'm pretty much thinking an SD album. I'm torn between a recent one--"Two Against Nature" (heard it's a bit better than "Everything Must Go")--or one of their early, 70's albums--I'm thinking either "Can't Buy a Thrill" or "Royal Scam." I know that "Aja" and "Gaucho" are considered stellar, but each of them has too much overlap with "Decade..." I think.

"Two Against..." sounds like it's pretty good, but I'm intrigued by reviews I've read where people talk about how the very early albums were quirkier and more adventerous than the outstansing but smoother and slicker "Aja" and "Gaucho" (and subsequent) stuff.

What say you?

--Matt
 
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Kind of like asking which one of your kids you love most. Aja is my favorite, but I hear what you're saying about having a lot of those songs already. I really enjoy all of them. The early stuff is really neat.

Can't go wrong with Can't Buy a Thrill, but I'd give Countdown to Ecstacy a slight nod over it. Royal Scam is not my favorite SD album. Other great early picks are Pretzel Logic and Katie Lied. I'd say you'd be pretty happy with any of those, but forced to pick one, I think I'd go with Countdown.
 
steely dan studio albums from first to last:

can't buy a thrill
countdown to ecstacy
pretzel logic
katy lied
royal scam
aja
gaucho
two against nature
everything must go

there are several compilations
 
lguise said:
steely dan studio albums from first to last:

can't buy a thrill
countdown to ecstacy
pretzel logic
katy lied
royal scam
aja
gaucho
two against nature
everything must go

there are several compilations
Click to expand...

I have to agree with you here.
 
Pretzel Logic and Can't buy a Thrill are my picks , was my teenage years and got lots of spin .Kati Lied was a big diapointment to me . I remember reading somewhere that the master tape got screwed up and they were very upset with the finished product .
 
Countdown to ecstasy has a great guitar jam with Bodhisvata (can't spell it) that will rock the walls. Aja has Deacon Blues and Peg, which are classics. Katy Lied has Dr. Wu, one of my personal favorites. Also Your Gold Teeth II and Chain Lightning. 2 fantastic jazz/rock numbers that will amaze you.

Well, like you said there are duplicates on the Decade album.

All great stuff from just about the best American Band that ever was!!!:music:
 
Get ALL of these!!!

can't buy a thrill
countdown to ecstacy
pretzel logic
katy lied
royal scam

In chronological order, the way a fan from the very first record would have done it! Like ME for instance! :D
I know a lot of people love the stuff that followed the above 5. But I could never get into any SD post 'The Royal Scam', and I have no idea why.:scratch2:
 
Here's an interesting one I found at the GW last week. "You Gotta Walk It Like You Talk It (or you'll lose that beat)" by Becker, Fagen, and Diaz. Probably down at the bottom of the list for these guys, but a couple of catchy tunes nonetheless. "Red Giant/White Dwarf" is worth a listen I think.
 

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ekmanning5 said:
Here's an interesting one I found at the GW last week. "You Gotta Walk It Like You Talk It (or you'll lose that beat)" by Becker, Fagen, and Diaz. Probably down at the bottom of the list for these guys, but a couple of catchy tunes nonetheless. "Red Giant/White Dwarf" is worth a listen I think.
Click to expand...
IIRC, these recordings/outtakes are Becker/Fagen, pre-Dan. I have that record somewhere in my arcaves, still sealed, I think. :nono:
 
Saint Johnny said:
Get ALL of these!!!

can't buy a thrill
countdown to ecstacy
pretzel logic
katy lied
royal scam
Click to expand...

Not getting Gaucho would be a major mistake, IMHO - my own personal favorite.

Others would no doubt suggest Aja, too - another perennial favorite almost universally endorsed.
 
ekmanning5 said:
Here's an interesting one I found at the GW last week. "You Gotta Walk It Like You Talk It (or you'll lose that beat)" by Becker, Fagen, and Diaz. Probably down at the bottom of the list for these guys, but a couple of catchy tunes nonetheless. "Red Giant/White Dwarf" is worth a listen I think.
Click to expand...

I picked that up new years ago in a little hole in the wall record store. I have one other early bootleg kinda deal. They're actually very intresting to listen to. I'll have to pull those out!
 
Royal Scam

was the jumping off point for Aja and Gaucho. It is my favorite Steely Dan album.Steely Dan was the name given to the metal tipped dildo used by a coven of lesbians in the novel Naked Lunch by William S. Burroughs.:smoke:
 
You won't go wrong with any of them. All their studio albums are 'greatest hits', IMO. I have most of their works. If you are looking for something that 'defines' SD, I would tend to lean toward the 1st two (Thrill or Ecstacy).

If you have 10 min, you could go to the site below and listen to samples from each album to make the decision. Or you could buy them all................

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_m...ular&field-keywords=steely+dan&Go.x=11&Go.y=9
 
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