Steely Dan is like the audio equivalent of some mullet haired 70's cokehead who wears giant brown sunglasses indoors, and tries to clumsily seduce blonde bimbos in his hot tub while bragging about his interest in 'photography.'
I don't think Fagen or Becker would disagree with you actually - and you have basically just summarized "Everyone's Gone to the Movies" (except you left out the underaged bit). a lot of people don't seem to grasp that Steely Dan were satirists (see Fagen's comparing them to the Fugs, or discussing the idea behind the sound/arrangement of "Hey Nineteen", etc.)
― Shakey Mo Collier, Thursday, 26 June 2008 21:03 (fifteen years ago) link
Typo. I meant that when posters speak their minds, other posters have them beat down by the management. Uh, definitely not beat off.
― res, Thursday, 26 June 2008 21:03 (fifteen years ago) link
omg
aw respaws
― dell, Thursday, 26 June 2008 21:32 (fifteen years ago) link
has everybody seen the Aja Classic Albums thing 'cause the drummer discussing the "Peg" beat, and the bassist discussing how he had to hide his hands so they wouldn't know he was actually slapping, is fucking classic
as is this band
― J0hn D., Thursday, 26 June 2008 21:35 (fifteen years ago) link
but, yeah, Shakey otm. They were dudes from nyc who ended up finding themselves contemptuous of seventies' l.a. culture. In short, res, you are really taking a lazy read of them...or maybe trolling like a demon
― dell, Thursday, 26 June 2008 21:36 (fifteen years ago) link
yeah, that vid is classssssique
i just like hearing donald fagen rap...and then later castigating his vocals for sounding like jerry lewis or whatever on the record
― dell, Thursday, 26 June 2008 21:37 (fifteen years ago) link
uptown baby
― memwer, Thursday, 26 June 2008 21:43 (fifteen years ago) link
no offense dude, but you're going to have to do better than that.
i.e. Shakey otm
― will, Thursday, 26 June 2008 21:54 (fifteen years ago) link
waht is radiohead fan equivalent of mullet haired 70s cokehead in 20 years?
― strgn, Thursday, 26 June 2008 21:55 (fifteen years ago) link
DNFTT
― omar little, Thursday, 26 June 2008 21:55 (fifteen years ago) link
like deja vu dan gotta nother hit that'll daze y'all crew
― M@tt He1ges0n, Thursday, 26 June 2008 21:56 (fifteen years ago) link
mullet haired 2020s cokehead
― strgn, Thursday, 26 June 2008 21:56 (fifteen years ago) link
sad.
― res, Thursday, 26 June 2008 22:02 (fifteen years ago) link
I know I mentioned this in my previous post and I can't find the interview right now but Fagen's talking about how the uber-tight harmonies on "Hey Nineteen" were deliberately written and recorded to feel plastic and soulless in order to echo the narrator's pathetic desperation at scoring jailbait is really really pertinent here - you've got a very masterful songwriter using all the tools at his disposal to tie the lyrical and musical subject matter together in a clever and evocative way, one that allows for a surface reaction ("Hey this is kinda catchy! But it sounds so slick and empty") that can in turn lead to a deeper reading/appreciation of the song. I don't see how, as a music fan, you can knock that kind of skill. Its genius is what it is.
x-post
― Shakey Mo Collier, Thursday, 26 June 2008 22:03 (fifteen years ago) link
I don't see how, as a music fan, you can knock that kind of skill. Its genius is what it is.
yeah, maybe i can admire it-- but it doesn't really change the fact that it sounds slick and empty, does it?
― res, Thursday, 26 June 2008 22:11 (fifteen years ago) link
i throw my hands up in exhaustion at this point
do you just fucking HATE MUSIC?? it's ok if you do, but, c'mon
― dell, Thursday, 26 June 2008 22:17 (fifteen years ago) link
also, that song kills even if you are not privy to what Shakey referenced here. but that's obv. just one man's opionion
― dell, Thursday, 26 June 2008 22:19 (fifteen years ago) link
opinion, even
I dunno, do you complain that music about anger is loud and abrasive? or that music about sex is rhythmic? or that music about romance is lush and sweet?
― Shakey Mo Collier, Thursday, 26 June 2008 22:26 (fifteen years ago) link
i had to take a break from steely dan; like i couldn't listen to them for a couple years...but now "rose darling" is killing me. i apologize for the micro-livebloggery, but i'm trying to put the "L" back into ILM
― dell, Thursday, 26 June 2008 22:27 (fifteen years ago) link
Yes, if it's Korn. Yes, if it's 2 Live Crew. Yes, if it's Peabo Bryson.
― res, Thursday, 26 June 2008 22:32 (fifteen years ago) link
Anyway, liking the sentiment does not automatically make the music good. I don't want to listen to slick, overproduced 70's jazz-rock no matter how clever it is. I simply don't like that kind of music.
― res, Thursday, 26 June 2008 22:35 (fifteen years ago) link
this has taken a turn for the hongro
― PappaWheelie V, Thursday, 26 June 2008 22:35 (fifteen years ago) link
I don't want to listen to slick, overproduced 70's jazz-rock
-- res, Thursday, June 26, 2008 6:35 PM (1 minute ago) Bookmark Link
why u posting in the steely dan thread then dummy
― and what, Thursday, 26 June 2008 22:37 (fifteen years ago) link
2 Live Crew had two great singles!
I don't want to listen to slick, overproduced 70's jazz-rock no matter how clever it is. I simply don't like that kind of music.
Have you tried to listen to it? Why is "slick" bad? Are you suggesting that "raw" is good? And what is "overproduced" anyway?
― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Thursday, 26 June 2008 22:37 (fifteen years ago) link
2 Live Crew had two great singles! albums!
― PappaWheelie V, Thursday, 26 June 2008 22:38 (fifteen years ago) link
2 Live Crew were fucking awesome
― Shakey Mo Collier, Thursday, 26 June 2008 22:39 (fifteen years ago) link
I guess we should change all the C/D threads on ILM to just C then
― res, Thursday, 26 June 2008 22:40 (fifteen years ago) link
anyplace where 2 live crew and steely dan are consolidated feels like home
― PappaWheelie V, Thursday, 26 June 2008 22:40 (fifteen years ago) link
yeah overproduced would imply that the artist has fucked with the production to the extent that it has undermined the material - which is pretty much the exact opposite of what the Dan does. In almost every instance, their production perfectly compliments the material and is VERY thoughtfully and carefully applied.
― Shakey Mo Collier, Thursday, 26 June 2008 22:42 (fifteen years ago) link
overproduced is obviously a subjective term; to suggest it is anything else is ridiculous.
― res, Thursday, 26 June 2008 22:43 (fifteen years ago) link
you should search the archives for the "can we find an artist that everyone on ILM likes?" threads. (hint: we couldn't)
― Shakey Mo Collier, Thursday, 26 June 2008 22:43 (fifteen years ago) link
I'm surprised there aren't more Dan haters to be honest.
When I first started getting into music, Steely Dan was a really really bad phrase. I first heard the name as a butt of a joke by some comedian on TV in the 80s.
It was until the 90s CD reissues that I heard the appeal, saw the light, etc. but as a Steely Dan lover, I'm not surprised by people who think they feel empty.
That said, I think anyone who doesn't like the music should go to the Dan's website and read their essays. You don't have to like the music to like Fagen/Becker's humor/sarcasm/whatever.
― Mackro Mackro, Thursday, 26 June 2008 22:45 (fifteen years ago) link
honestly too, i always feel like ppl exagerate how much of a "jazz rock" band steely dan was just cuz of some of the session dudes they used
― M@tt He1ges0n, Thursday, 26 June 2008 22:50 (fifteen years ago) link
res, do you like Soft Machine per chance?
― Mackro Mackro, Thursday, 26 June 2008 22:52 (fifteen years ago) link
Honestly, their most fervent supporters promote SD's lyrics rather too strenuously. I mean, their early stuff just rocked! And Fagen has almost everything I need from a singer of rock: wry, pinched, capable of unexpected grace notes.
― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Thursday, 26 June 2008 22:53 (fifteen years ago) link
i come from the opposite pov -- i was not a rock fan first, so it was the jazz oriented chords/harmonics that made them one of the first acts i fell in love with (70s stevie wonder & earth, wind & fire being the 2 major others).
I feel like to find the more direct "rock" element, you have to go back to 1972 with them.
xx-post
― PappaWheelie V, Thursday, 26 June 2008 22:54 (fifteen years ago) link
Alfred otm
― dell, Thursday, 26 June 2008 22:54 (fifteen years ago) link
but i'm a total sucker for their jazzy harmonic shit. chord changes sublime abound within their catalog
― dell, Thursday, 26 June 2008 22:55 (fifteen years ago) link
Alfred OTM^2. My favorite album is Can't Buy A Thrill for that reason.(Aja second for other reasons.)
― Mackro Mackro, Thursday, 26 June 2008 22:57 (fifteen years ago) link
Also, Can't Buy A Thrill was my gateway to liking Steely Dan, so maybe this is a good album for haters(?)
― Mackro Mackro, Thursday, 26 June 2008 22:58 (fifteen years ago) link
Honestly, their most fervent supporters promote SD's lyrics rather too strenuously. I mean, their early stuff just rocked! And Fagen has almost everything I need from a singer of rock
yeah my favorites are actually all the pre-Aja albums, tbh. I dunno about yr first sentence here tho - I am reminded of a conversation I was having with some studio engineers about Steely Dan, and they were all effusive about how great the records sounded and how tight and complex everything was, but when I mentioned how I loved how all that stuff contrasted with the lyrics I got blank stares, dudes didn't know "Dr. Wu" was about a junkie or that "Movies" was about a pedo. I lol'd.
― Shakey Mo Collier, Thursday, 26 June 2008 22:59 (fifteen years ago) link
those guys were musicians/studio engineers tho so maybe that's a bad example. Writers/critics are obviously gonna pay a bit more attention to language.
― Shakey Mo Collier, Thursday, 26 June 2008 23:00 (fifteen years ago) link
it made me a convert too
― Shakey Mo Collier, Thursday, 26 June 2008 23:01 (fifteen years ago) link
Well, I've said on the Gaucho thread that it's my favorite album after Countdown to Ecstasy -- on a purely musical level too.
― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Thursday, 26 June 2008 23:07 (fifteen years ago) link
res, do you like Soft Machine per chance
don't think i've heard them. why?
well, i will try this thrill album just to expand my efforts... i tried aja and pretzel logic but several successive showers failed to make me feel clean afterwards, so i didn't think that there were others that might change my tune. we'll soon see.
― res, Thursday, 26 June 2008 23:07 (fifteen years ago) link
I think the one thing I would hold against the Dan is that pretty much all their sleeve designs/album covers suck, with the exception of Katy Lied.
― Shakey Mo Collier, Thursday, 26 June 2008 23:11 (fifteen years ago) link
aja is a beautiful cover!!!
― M@tt He1ges0n, Thursday, 26 June 2008 23:12 (fifteen years ago) link
^^^ this
― HI DERE, Thursday, 26 June 2008 23:13 (fifteen years ago) link
^^^^this
― omar little, Thursday, 26 June 2008 23:13 (fifteen years ago) link
DUD!
"Easy" by Jesse Green, from the expanded edition of Nice and Slow sounds a lot like the Dan, but i like it much better than anything Fagen and Becker put out.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zjp3cpC_woQ
― bodacious ignoramus, Tuesday, 17 October 2017 19:53 (six years ago) link
Seeing them in a few weeks. Looked at setlists, saw they’re doing some Walter solo songs. Excited for the show, but I know it’s going to be sad. Saw them at the same venue 3 years ago.
― flappy bird, Tuesday, 17 October 2017 20:56 (six years ago) link
Damn... I had tickets so see him at a jazz festival a few weeks ago and he cancelled it citing fatigue. Granted it was halfway across the world but still. Is this current "Steely Dan" band the same as "The Nightfliers"?
― Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Tuesday, 17 October 2017 21:38 (six years ago) link
running the world's best unofficial steely dan lyrics twitter account@steelydanlyrics
i get some real interesting ats and replies
wkiw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-FpOETPa458&app=desktop
― The Poppy Bush AutoZone (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Monday, 3 December 2018 21:15 (five years ago) link
Guitar nerds should know that the estate of Steely Dan’s Walter Becker is auctioning off his entire collection of instruments. Here’s a teaser from the preview. pic.twitter.com/izpkqfbZBW— Randall FAIR CONTRACT NOW Roberts 🦅 (@LilEdit) October 14, 2019
― Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 15 October 2019 02:14 (four years ago) link
I interviewed Becker and Fagen about 20 years ago. Becker was one of the nicest musicians I've ever encountered, contrary to his slightly sour reputation, and even told the record company woman to go away for a while when she came in to say my allotted time was up. (Fagen was polite but slightly phoning it in, and left well before Becker did.)
Lol at the guy at the top of this thread 16 years ago claiming the Dan were one of the whitest bands ever. Their music is JAZZ-rock, ffs!
― does it look like i'm here (jon123), Tuesday, 15 October 2019 07:29 (four years ago) link