I can live with this being #2, though I was hoping for a shock #1.
― Johnny Fever, Thursday, 3 April 2014 17:34 (ten years ago) link
http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/ciu/d9/0c/6809729fd7a000576f3de010.L.jpg
1. Aja Released: September 23, 1977Acclaimed Music ranking: 16 for 1977 with 309 All Time1312 Points, 39 Votes, 9 Number Ones
― Bee OK, Thursday, 3 April 2014 17:41 (ten years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SfT2DtpRUfI
― Bee OK, Thursday, 3 April 2014 17:42 (ten years ago) link
40 ballotsFull results for 16 AlbumsTotal points, song, number ones, total votes
1312 Aja 9-391198 Pretzel Logic 5-391191 Katie Lied 3-381180 Countdown to Ecstasy 7-351135 Gaucho 8-361096 The Royal Scam 5-381063 Can’t Buy a Trill 1-37517 The Nightfly 2-18223 Two Against Nature 9166 Everything Must Go 7
89 Sunken Condos 445 11 Tracks of Whack 225 Circus Money 120 Alive In America 118 Morph The Cat 117 Kamakiriad 1
― Bee OK, Thursday, 3 April 2014 17:45 (ten years ago) link
crazy pretzel logic fans, i respect you and your enjoyment of underwritten steely dan
― emo canon in twee major (BradNelson), Thursday, 3 April 2014 17:56 (ten years ago) link
Pretzel Logic at 2? smdh
― J. Sam, Thursday, 3 April 2014 18:01 (ten years ago) link
Yeah, that's a weird sign.
― how's life, Thursday, 3 April 2014 18:02 (ten years ago) link
What was on the ballot that didn't place Aja or Pretzel Logic?
― Ismael Klata, Thursday, 3 April 2014 18:06 (ten years ago) link
I ranked em like this but it'd look different today
1) Gaucho2) Countdown to Ecstasy3) Aja4) Pretzel Logic5) Katy Lied6) The Royal Scam7) Can't Buy a Thrill8) The Nightfly - Donald Fagen9) 11 Tracks of Whack - Walter Becker10) Sunken Condos - Donald Fagen
― christmas candy bar (al leong), Thursday, 3 April 2014 18:08 (ten years ago) link
one person did only vote for two albums and one was a solo album.
xpost
― Bee OK, Thursday, 3 April 2014 18:11 (ten years ago) link
when i did my tracks all of aja was in the top 25, so it seemed like a reasonable #1
― Roberto Spiralli, Thursday, 3 April 2014 18:13 (ten years ago) link
i didn't vote in the albums poll, but it would've been:
1) Aja2) The Royal Scam3) Gaucho4) Countdown to Ecstasy5) Katy Lied6) The Nightfly - Donald Fagen7) Can't Buy a Thrill8) Pretzel Logic
― Belgian Flanders Albums Chart (Sufjan Grafton), Thursday, 3 April 2014 18:14 (ten years ago) link
My list:
1.Aja2.Gaucho3.Katy Lied4.The Royal Scam5.The Nightfly6.Pretzel Logic
― nitro-burning funny car (Moodles), Thursday, 3 April 2014 18:16 (ten years ago) link
i was going with a Top 50 for poll #50 but asked pplains if he could add 10 more. so we are going to get a bonus and do a Top 60 rundown instead. after we do the bonus 10 i will give the reason. don't want to give away anything right now.
i actually have something to do, so this will kick it off. i should be back in about an hour.
again thanks pplains for these amazing images. i will let him explain his inspiration.
― Bee OK, Thursday, 3 April 2014 18:17 (ten years ago) link
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-UN7yeQkPAAc/Uz2grtF6HsI/AAAAAAAAAF8/ICcMmOO2KlY/w640-h320-no/Monkey+In+Your+Soul.jpg
60. Monkey In Your SoulFrom: Pretzel LogicReleased: February 20, 197472 Points, 3 Votes
Countdown being robbed is the only real shock to me
― CANS.... and D? (some dude), Thursday, 3 April 2014 18:18 (ten years ago) link
Favorite thing about "Monkey" is the way it opens always makes me think the 1 is on a different beat than it really is and I try to maintain my rhythmic disorientation as far into the song as I can
― CANS.... and D? (some dude), Thursday, 3 April 2014 18:19 (ten years ago) link
i'm team pretzel but was never a big fan of "monkey." #60 seems about right. but i am already liking these images very much. based on one image.
― fact checking cuz, Thursday, 3 April 2014 18:21 (ten years ago) link
I love Monkey, a spirited throwaway saying goodbye to them doing throwaways.
― How About A Kiss For Your Cousin Doogie (C. Grisso/McCain), Thursday, 3 April 2014 18:32 (ten years ago) link
all right i am so psyched for these images ALREADY oh man
― emo canon in twee major (BradNelson), Thursday, 3 April 2014 18:43 (ten years ago) link
also great way to start the countdown
to ecstacy
― Bryan Fairy (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 3 April 2014 18:45 (ten years ago) link
"Monkey in Your Soul," like "With a Gun" and "Through With Buzz" was so determinedly abstruse on first listen that its oddness was itself attractive. PL is unique in the Dan catalog in that regard.
― Bryan Fairy (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 3 April 2014 18:46 (ten years ago) link
Little late, but here was my album poll:
Countdown to EcstasyAjaKaty LiedPretzel LogicCan't Buy a ThrillThe Royal ScamGaucho
― voodoo chili, Thursday, 3 April 2014 19:13 (ten years ago) link
gauchoajacant buy a thrillthe royal scamcountdown to ecstacykaty liedpretzel logic
― °ㅇ๐ْ ° (gr8080), Thursday, 3 April 2014 19:16 (ten years ago) link
(xp) "with a gun" may have got my vote if we did a "least favorite SD song" subpoll. not sure if it's abstruse or just weirdly generic folk-rock. i think the only thing that's odd about it is how different it sounds than anything else in the SC catalog.
― fact checking cuz, Thursday, 3 April 2014 19:16 (ten years ago) link
"through with buzz" is definitely abstruse and odd, though. the one-line verse is a good concept.
― fact checking cuz, Thursday, 3 April 2014 19:18 (ten years ago) link
yeah, "through with buzz" is very strange and awesome.
― Belgian Flanders Albums Chart (Sufjan Grafton), Thursday, 3 April 2014 19:18 (ten years ago) link
strings in "through with buzz" are all time
― emo canon in twee major (BradNelson), Thursday, 3 April 2014 19:19 (ten years ago) link
maybe he's a fairy!
― Bryan Fairy (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 3 April 2014 19:22 (ten years ago) link
what other tracks have strings? there's 'FM'...
― Belgian Flanders Albums Chart (Sufjan Grafton), Thursday, 3 April 2014 19:24 (ten years ago) link
yeah i like how they brought out the strings for a track that's 1.5 minutes long
― emo canon in twee major (BradNelson), Thursday, 3 April 2014 19:27 (ten years ago) link
And it hasn't even placed yet!
― how's life, Thursday, 3 April 2014 19:28 (ten years ago) link
Bee OK? You out there?
― how's life, Thursday, 3 April 2014 19:29 (ten years ago) link
probably checking to see if there's gas in the car
― voodoo chili, Thursday, 3 April 2014 19:34 (ten years ago) link
there is
― I got the glares, the mutterings, the snarls (President Keyes), Thursday, 3 April 2014 19:35 (ten years ago) link
I didn't vote for albums, much more interested in songs, but for what it's worth: Pretzel Logic was a more (maybe much more, not sure) acclaimed album in its day than Aja. I'd like to see the Creem reviews; Christgau and Rolling Stone definitely favor Pretzel Logic, and NME voted Pretzel Logic album of the year. It's not surprising that Pretzel Logic would finish second here; Aja finishing first is the surprise.
― clemenza, Thursday, 3 April 2014 19:35 (ten years ago) link
Can't Buy A Thrill, Aja, and Pretzel Logic got four stars in the RS Record Guide -- both red and blue editions, both written by Dave Marsh (who, in the red edition, called them "Not the greatest American rock band...but [they] remain unquestionably the weirdest.")
Gaucho got zero stars in the blue guide.
― Montgomery Burns' Jazz (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Thursday, 3 April 2014 19:39 (ten years ago) link
Gaucho had a bad rep for quite a while, basically "Aja gone to rot." It got slowly rehabilitated in the mid-late '90s?
― col, Thursday, 3 April 2014 19:43 (ten years ago) link
One of my favorite ILM threads: Why do people rag on Steely Dan's "Gaucho" so much?
― pplains, Thursday, 3 April 2014 19:51 (ten years ago) link
when I was reading album guides as a teenager it seemed like a unanimous opinion that Gaucho was worthless, I was pleasantly surprised at the existence of a vocal pro-Gaucho faction when I started reading ilx
― soref, Thursday, 3 April 2014 19:53 (ten years ago) link
xp to clemenza. that is very interesting because I only ever encountered the "aja is the best" narrative when getting into SD. I was born in 1985, though. aja has had the doc (which I watched) and the 33 1/3 book (which I just bought) since then.
― Belgian Flanders Albums Chart (Sufjan Grafton), Thursday, 3 April 2014 19:54 (ten years ago) link
No, I mean, I came to Steely Dan through Phish. The Phishheads who turned me on to SD were huge fans of Royal Scam. There is a very obvious influence.this comment has been haunting me, and explains why The Royal Scam has never sat well with me― Euler, Thursday, April 3, 2014 10:29 AM (2 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
this comment has been haunting me, and explains why The Royal Scam has never sat well with me
― Euler, Thursday, April 3, 2014 10:29 AM (2 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
sorry to do this to you Euler, but Umphrey's McGee covered 'Hey Nineteen' when I was in high school. it looks like they also cover 'Peg' now. ;_;
― Belgian Flanders Albums Chart (Sufjan Grafton), Thursday, 3 April 2014 19:58 (ten years ago) link
I knew I was home when ILM devoted 6000 posts to Gaucho's genius.
Phil Freeman mentioned it in his introduction the latest Marooned.
― Bryan Fairy (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 3 April 2014 20:01 (ten years ago) link
I'm sure the 33-1/3 has something to do with, De La Soul also, etc. (The "etc." I don't know about.) I meant the original RS reviews--Bud Scoppa, another name I didn't recognize--which I just checked. I remember the Marsh entry now...as with his Neil Young entry, he seemed like a weird choice to write about them; they just don't strike me as his kind of band.
― clemenza, Thursday, 3 April 2014 20:01 (ten years ago) link
one person did only vote for two albums and one was a solo album.xpost― Bee OK, Thursday, April 3, 2014 1:11 PM (1 hour ago)
― Bee OK, Thursday, April 3, 2014 1:11 PM (1 hour ago)
That was me. Voted for Nightfly first, Royal Scam second. The rest of the initial run I hold roughly equal.
― EZ Snappin, Thursday, 3 April 2014 20:10 (ten years ago) link
i think in the '70s a lot of people who had seen them as a weird/dark/jazzy/beatnik rock group, both for better and for worse, were put off by the slick studio sheen of aja, perhaps not quite noticing that they had been slick studio guys all along, and also perhaps put off by their sudden ascension to pop stardom. critics can we weird about that. and then gaucho kept going even further in that direction, plus, cocaine. rockcrits hate cocaine.
― fact checking cuz, Thursday, 3 April 2014 20:11 (ten years ago) link
Aja having longer/fewer songs kind of puts me off it tbh. It is still great, but in my mind it's their least great.
― How dare you tarnish the reputation of Turturro's yodel (Shakey Mo Collier), Thursday, 3 April 2014 20:14 (ten years ago) link
it's a less realized Gaucho, although I like it.
― Bryan Fairy (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 3 April 2014 20:19 (ten years ago) link
rockcrits hate cocaine
and yet think about how many fucked up classics were the direct product of cocaine abuse in the 70s!
― nitro-burning funny car (Moodles), Thursday, 3 April 2014 20:20 (ten years ago) link