Aja Poll

ok whoa I think I get "Home At Last" now, and I don't mean the Odyssey references. Have you ever had a funeral for yourself while you're still alive? You thought that you were allowing yourself to be bound just to avoid a passing danger on your way home, but now that the danger is past, you recognize you'd rather be bound: you recognize that this is now your home. You aren't who you were when you set out; in a way you've been ruined. Drugs aren't the only thing that work this way.

Life works that way.

the 33 1/3 on this album is amazing so far

OMG WANT.

Although what I want even more is an entire book about each album written by SD themselves along the lines of their reissue liner notes.

yeah ideally. the author of this book got to interview Fagen, though, so there's plenty of his voice in there too.

I've read mixed reviews -- too "muso" (lots of discussion of diminished chords, etc)

it was way too dry for me but i know very little about music theory so ymmv.

weird, I think it's very engaging and well written and that the theory stuff, which pretty much all goes over my head, is doled out pretty sparingly.

Although what I want even more is an entire book about each album written by SD themselves along the lines of their reissue liner notes.

― Tim F, Thursday, February 4, 2010 10:49 AM (Yesterday)

i only have the "can't buy a thrill" reissue but the shit they wrote there was awesome

i just flicked through the Aja book again and it wasn't quite as technical as i'd remembered, although the line-by-line lyrical analysis and the part where he lists how many bars there are in each section of each song are brutal.

would love to read a book by either of the guys themselves. it's amazing how little has been published about the band really. the Aja book and the Reelin' In The Years biog (which is also very dry) and that's pretty much it i think?

poor show for Josie.

Woulda voted "Black Cow."

me too probably. so bummed i didn't have the $$ to see at least one of the shows last year.

i'm bummed that that '77 tv ad is no more

DRINK YOUR BIG BLACK COW AND GET OUTTA HERE

BIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIITCHES!

wheres option "it was alex in nyc"

― and what, Sunday, June 15, 2008 5:40 PM (1 year ago)

SO OUTRAGEOUS

wow, without even reading the recent revive posts, and scanning the results of this, wz about to come here and post that "Josie" got absolutely robbed. piscesx OTM

poor show for Josie.

― piscesx, Monday, April 5, 2010 5:28 AM (2 weeks ago) Bookmark

yep. voted deacon blues but josie comes in a close second in my mind.

"Josie" is the only SD hit that I kind of roll my eyes at and go yeah yeah whatever, I don't need to hear this again

daaaamn.

I love the riff that kicks it off. for about 10 seconds, shit sounds pretty freakin evil.

also when fagen says, "so good"

"Black Cow" is Steely Dan condensed

it has taken many years, but i think i am ready to understand steely dan.

i purchased this album today, and it is good.

"josie" was robbed

shit just got real.

next please search out The Royal Scam or Katy Lied

Yay, found the commercial again!

http://www.fuzzymemories.tv/index.php?c=2901#videoclip-1675

i remember that

there's an hour-long Aja documentary on netflix streaming now. It's making me v v happy.

OMG the bit where they play back the rejected 'Peg' guitar solos in isolation-- so cold, so hilar

yeahhhh, just watched this! recommended, though i feel like it could be an hour longer. i'd dig just an uncut "commentary" cut of fagen and becker going through the album. bernard purdie scenes are super classic, where he's playing the ridiculous beat for home at last as though it's the easiest thing in the world.

there are a ton of these classic album things on netflix streaming now. my wife is already rolling her eyes at me as i describe such fascinating tidbits as herbie flower's double tracked bass on "walk on the wild side."

Yeah! Purdie was such a highlight.

I'm gonna watch almost all these shits, probably. So far just Aja and Paranoid. Probably 2112 next.

The 2112/Moving Pictures one is really good. I recommend renting the actual DVD as it has some really good deleted scenes too.

I watched the Rio one last night.

Oh man I have to see that! My wife might even agree to that one.

cool, yeah i'll watch all of these.
the lou reed transformer one wasn't particularly amazing, but some good bits. nice that reed really goes out of his way to credit mick ronson with a lot of the album's sound (as opposed to just bowie bowie bowie). ronson's comments on lou are pretty funny.

god this album is great, i was sitting here enjoying the hell out of "I Got The News" for a few minutes when it suddenly occurred to me that oh this is the consensus 'worst' song on the album and it's awesome.

haha yeah, it's pretty astonishing

there isn't a day that's gone by recently that i don't get this stuck in my head

In the corner
Of my eye
I saw you in Rudy's
You were very high
(You were high)

I get that, followed by West side, baby/West side, baby

i got the news is so great bc of the michael mcdonald bit.

the original Katy Lied version of "I Got The News" is pretty good too but i really don't know which i prefer

can never hear the 'you were high' verse without picturing Don doing his lyrical walk-thru on the classic album show

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4nv7Qicg2Og

also classic yeah the Purdie bits. "you done did it, you hired the hitmaker" etc

christ now i'm watching the whole damn show again.

so funny this thread got bumped as i just listened to this album today in my car.

their best but now wondering if i might actually like Gaucho more these days. that doesn't take away anything from this album however.

DRINK THCOTCH WHITHKEY
ALL NIGHT LONG

this album is los angeles for me.

'aja' is the most evocative track because i imagine a cross of the hollywood hills with ojai or something for the chorus and the sex finale. the last minute or so is legit transcendent.

'deacon blues' is viscerally embarrassing because i did a weird-lonely-guy karaoke of it at la cita (and 'life during wartime' by talking heads the same night).

i've still never had a black cow.

josie is maaaaybe my favorite track