Steely Dan C or D?

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

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

uptown baby

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.'

no offense dude, but you're going to have to do better than that.

i.e. Shakey otm

waht is radiohead fan equivalent of mullet haired 70s cokehead in 20 years?

DNFTT

like deja vu
dan gotta nother hit that'll daze y'all crew

mullet haired 2020s cokehead

DNFTT

sad.

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.

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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?

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

also, that song kills even if you are not privy to what Shakey referenced here. but that's obv. just one man's opionion

opinion, even

yeah, maybe i can admire it-- but it doesn't really change the fact that it sounds slick and empty, does it?

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?

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

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?

Yes, if it's Korn. Yes, if it's 2 Live Crew. Yes, if it's Peabo Bryson.

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.

this has taken a turn for the hongro

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

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?

2 Live Crew had two great singles! albums!

2 Live Crew were fucking awesome

why u posting in the steely dan thread then dummy

I guess we should change all the C/D threads on ILM to just C then

anyplace where 2 live crew and steely dan are consolidated feels like home

Have you tried to listen to it? Why is "slick" bad? Are you suggesting that "raw" is good? And what is "overproduced" anyway?

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.

overproduced is obviously a subjective term; to suggest it is anything else is ridiculous.

I guess we should change all the C/D threads on ILM to just C then

you should search the archives for the "can we find an artist that everyone on ILM likes?" threads. (hint: we couldn't)

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.

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

res, do you like Soft Machine per chance?

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.

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.

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Alfred otm

but i'm a total sucker for their jazzy harmonic shit. chord changes sublime abound within their catalog

Alfred OTM^2. My favorite album is Can't Buy A Thrill for that reason.(Aja second for other reasons.)

Also, Can't Buy A Thrill was my gateway to liking Steely Dan, so maybe this is a good album for haters(?)

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.

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.

Also, Can't Buy A Thrill was my gateway to liking Steely Dan, so maybe this is a good album for haters(?)

it made me a convert too

Well, I've said on the Gaucho thread that it's my favorite album after Countdown to Ecstasy -- on a purely musical level too.

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.

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.

aja is a beautiful cover!!!

^^^ this

^^^^this

its... stylish, I'll give Phil Hartman that. I don't particularly like it tho. A bunch of their covers (Gaucho, Can't Buy a Thrill, the Royal Scam, Pretzel Logic) are downright stupid and/or ugly

phil hartman: stylish indeed

http://www.tributes.com/obits/tributes/phil_hartman/2680-1-photo.jpg

:(

Royal Scam & CBAT, no doubt. I'm not that fond of Countdown, either. But the rest are A-ok with me.

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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

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!