"Babylon Sisters" for me
Man I love the Dan so much
― If Assholes Could Fly This Place Would Be An Airport, Saturday, 19 July 2008 18:21 (fifteen years ago) link
I decided to go with Gaucho, mostly because it proves that they were not out of melodies. That song has so many hooks it could make an album.
― sonderangerbot, Saturday, 19 July 2008 18:59 (fifteen years ago) link
Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.
― ILX System, Saturday, 19 July 2008 23:01 (fifteen years ago) link
mostly because it proves that they were not out of melodies.
Keith Jarrett begged to differ.
― Kevin John Bozelka, Sunday, 20 July 2008 00:06 (fifteen years ago) link
whoa, surprising that babylon sisters didn't take this.
― original bgm, Sunday, 20 July 2008 18:44 (fifteen years ago) link
I am shocked that Hey Nineteen didn't walk away with it.
― ablaeser, Sunday, 20 July 2008 18:46 (fifteen years ago) link
yeah, weird that this is the first SD album poll to not have a single finish in 1st or 2nd place, and by such a wide margin.
― some dude, Sunday, 20 July 2008 18:51 (fifteen years ago) link
I went for hey nineteen but then what do I know, I heard this record for the first time about a week ago
― I know, right?, Sunday, 20 July 2008 19:00 (fifteen years ago) link
One of the most unexpected poll results I've seen here
― baaderonixx, Tuesday, 22 July 2008 07:36 (fifteen years ago) link
Gaucho is the illest, but i am surprised, too.
― the table is the table, Tuesday, 22 July 2008 19:37 (fifteen years ago) link
Where the hell can I get a decent sounding copy of "The Second Arrangement (full band version)"??? All the slsk version seem to be bootleg, they sound like they were recorded with a mic up to a radio speaker...
― If Assholes Could Fly This Place Would Be An Airport, Thursday, 24 July 2008 01:07 (fifteen years ago) link
::shrug:: mine sounds like that too
― some dude, Thursday, 24 July 2008 01:08 (fifteen years ago) link
I think they all do. Legend has it the master tape was accidentally erased
― baaderonixx, Thursday, 24 July 2008 07:38 (fifteen years ago) link
That's crazy. I was hoping it would have turned up by now on some 'deluxe' reissue. It's such an amazing song. Surely SOMEONE made a backup way back then?
― If Assholes Could Fly This Place Would Be An Airport, Monday, 28 July 2008 16:44 (fifteen years ago) link
the version of "the second arrangement" that I have sounds OK but just has vox+bass+piano+little electric piano flourishes. is there another version out the with the full band that's poorly recorded? confusing.
listening to steely dan bootlegs is a little weird for me. the pristine production is such a huge part of their sound that it really throws me off!
― original bgm, Monday, 28 July 2008 16:50 (fifteen years ago) link
It's a shame, it seems like there's potential for a great compilation of SD demos and studio outtakes and songs that only exist on live bootlegs, but given their perfectionism and embarrassment about the sound on Katy Lied that kind of thing would probably never happen in any official capacity.
xpost - the "Second Arrangement" I have is full band.
― some dude, Monday, 28 July 2008 16:51 (fifteen years ago) link
OK, just did some research. Apparently, the relatively widely circulated 'full band' version (the only one I've heard!) was their attempt to RE-record the track that got erased by the engineer. This raises sme questions, most obviously, if it was re-recorded, how come the "sound" on this second version is still such poor quality? The version we're probably all hearing is likely a nth generation bootleg, digitized to sound even worse.
I understand the original take is gone, but can't we get a decent sounding version of this re-recorded version??
Also - what's this about another version sans drums?
― If Assholes Could Fly This Place Would Be An Airport, Monday, 28 July 2008 16:57 (fifteen years ago) link
I hate that "Everyone's Gone To The Movies" demo on the Citizen box, but at least its placement on that gives me hope that they're open to more official releases of that stuff.
― some dude, Monday, 28 July 2008 16:59 (fifteen years ago) link
I don't like to imagine a band like SD leaving demos around. How messy!
― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Monday, 28 July 2008 17:00 (fifteen years ago) link
yeah, that's the only one I've ever known. it sounds nothing like this... http://youtube.com/watch?v=VRSU59uxi1U
...which is what I'm assuming everyone else has heard. I'll upload the one I have later. if that youtube clip is any indication, the sound quality is way better.
something a little fishy about the story behind this track...
― original bgm, Monday, 28 July 2008 18:09 (fifteen years ago) link
I don't understand the conspiracy theory attitude here. As I understand it back in the analog age before unlimited hard drive space, it was pretty common to erase and tape over master tapes of tracks that the artist had no intention of releasing, and there are tons of stories of studio mishaps involving erasing accidents.
― some dude, Monday, 28 July 2008 18:19 (fifteen years ago) link
And there's usually a very good reason why bands don't allow songs to progress past the demo phase.
― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Monday, 28 July 2008 18:19 (fifteen years ago) link
it just strikes me a little odd that the song was never properly re-recorded.
― original bgm, Monday, 28 July 2008 18:21 (fifteen years ago) link
has you browser ever crashed in the middle of drafting a long post? sometimes you boot right back up and re-do it from memory as quickly as you can, and sometimes you just throw up your hands and say "fuck it, it wasn't that important."
― some dude, Monday, 28 July 2008 18:35 (fifteen years ago) link
Man I have been in a studio and had stuff wiped that I wasn't ready to use let. It's hard to describe what that does to your morale. You kinda never want to hear the song again at that point - certainly you're not about to revisit it during those sessions. Finding out that something you tracked and thought you liked has been wiped is like being informed that your effort, your hard effort toward something lasting, was literally for nothing. So the story behind this track not only strikes me as believable; I'm certain it's true.
― J0hn D., Monday, 28 July 2008 19:17 (fifteen years ago) link
"...that I wasn't ready to let go of," I mean.
holy cow "related videos" yields another Gaucho outtake that sounds like it would have been stellar:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=BtkHAdOZSaQ&feature=related
― J0hn D., Monday, 28 July 2008 19:21 (fifteen years ago) link
The irony of this result is that Hey Nineteen is a microcosm of what makes SD so great in the first place: a smooth, catchy pop tune with sardonic lyrics and perfect production, plus Michael McDonald.
― ablaeser, Monday, 28 July 2008 19:59 (fifteen years ago) link
Those interested should check out: http://www.bigozine2.com/archive/ARrarities/ARsdgaucho.html
― baaderonixx, Monday, 28 July 2008 20:39 (fifteen years ago) link
alright I take it back, the full band version of 2nd Arrangement is seriously awesome
― baaderonixx, Monday, 28 July 2008 20:53 (fifteen years ago) link
true, true. maybe this is more about me wishing they had properly re-recorded it than anything!
― original bgm, Monday, 28 July 2008 21:29 (fifteen years ago) link
second arrangement, sans drums (and most everything else): http://www.sendspace.com/file/an8bsw
― original bgm, Friday, 1 August 2008 02:27 (fifteen years ago) link
Jive miguelHes in from bogotaMeet me at midnightAt mr. chows
― calstars, Saturday, 21 February 2009 17:45 (fifteen years ago) link
the finest of all SD albums.
― surfboard dudes get wiped out, totally, Monday, 12 October 2009 04:34 (fourteen years ago) link
Alfred's repping for "Third World Man" in other threads has really raised its reputation in my view
― dyao, Monday, 12 October 2009 04:45 (fourteen years ago) link
thanks, dyao.
is this the ultimate Sunday night album?
― filling the medicare donut hole with the semen of liberal (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 29 March 2010 01:37 (fourteen years ago) link
yes
― iatee, Monday, 29 March 2010 02:38 (fourteen years ago) link
ultimate sunday night band really
― ruh roh I'm having a scooby snack (some dude), Monday, 29 March 2010 02:44 (fourteen years ago) link
I almost turned off the stereo during the title track -- too intense.
― filling the medicare donut hole with the semen of liberal (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 29 March 2010 02:44 (fourteen years ago) link
i still don't get it -- this album barely has a pulse (and the first 6 albums very frequently rock pretty hard imo)
― ruh roh I'm having a scooby snack (some dude), Monday, 29 March 2010 02:58 (fourteen years ago) link
Yeah, don't look for hard rockin' on this one -- all the intensity is in the intricacies of the chord changes, the way in which the rhythm section interacts with the guitars and sax, and Fagen's voice. It's an album whose virtues are difficult to proselytize about.
― filling the medicare donut hole with the semen of liberal (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 29 March 2010 03:09 (fourteen years ago) link
it's also hilarious - their funniest record?
i know what ppl mean when they say it sounds kinda lethargic tho. it's pretty impressively world-weary for 2 guys that were barely out of their 20s.
― jabba hands, Monday, 29 March 2010 03:17 (fourteen years ago) link
xpost
True, it doesn't exactly rock hard. All the edges have been air brushed clean and songs glide along on a cloud of coked up glory.
― Moodles, Monday, 29 March 2010 03:46 (fourteen years ago) link
And that's one reason why I love it so much.
god, I love this album so much.
― original bgm, Monday, 29 March 2010 04:09 (fourteen years ago) link
and def their funniest record for "gaucho" alone.
― original bgm, Monday, 29 March 2010 04:11 (fourteen years ago) link
also -
it's pretty impressively world-weary for 2 guys that were barely out of their 20s.
this kind of just blew my mind.
― original bgm, Monday, 29 March 2010 04:14 (fourteen years ago) link
living hard will take its toll
― original bgm, Monday, 29 March 2010 04:19 (fourteen years ago) link
anyone with a big heart want to rapidshare or torrent us the lost gaucho and katy lied demos? would be eternally grateful!
― iago g., Monday, 29 March 2010 13:53 (fourteen years ago) link
I got you on the gaucho outtakes, but it's going to have to wait for tomorrow
― ain't no thang but a chicken ă…‹ (dyao), Monday, 29 March 2010 13:59 (fourteen years ago) link
40 years old today
― Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Saturday, 21 November 2020 16:43 (three years ago) link
Man the instrumental outro of "Gaucho" is so amazing. It's like they heard the theme from Donohue and said "let's show that Mike Post hack how it's done" (yeah I know the timeline doesn't work out but I'd imagine the inspiration was something along those lines)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gv4SkB72XdA
― J. Sam, Saturday, 27 August 2022 01:33 (one year ago) link
lmao they do have a similar melody
mike post rocks though
― flopson, Sunday, 28 August 2022 05:32 (one year ago) link
the "my rival" guitar sounds like it got repurposed in sheryl crow's "my favorite mistake"
― Western® with Bacon Flavor, Sunday, 28 August 2022 05:41 (one year ago) link
xp yeah no disrespect to Mike Post. For some reason I imagined Becker and Fagen turning their noses up at him, but on second thought that's a flimsy assumption; I remember Fagen talking in an interview about how TV music was a major inspiration for him. I would bet that he appreciated Post's work in a kitschy way
― J. Sam, Sunday, 28 August 2022 12:57 (one year ago) link
Basically "let's take this kinda cheesy TV theme music and make it super harmonically complex"
― J. Sam, Sunday, 28 August 2022 13:00 (one year ago) link