Some of the gr8est guitar playing in the whole Steely Dan catalogue is on this LP. But I guess you can say that about every one of their records. "My Old School" for me.
― Myonga Vön Bontee, Monday, 23 June 2008 16:43 (fifteen years ago) link
Duh... "My Old School." It's only one of THE greatest songs of all time.
― teflon monkey, Monday, 23 June 2008 20:00 (fifteen years ago) link
Everything. Unless you like a repetitive song with "Las Vegas" being repeated all over again all the time. Probably the worst Steely Dan song ever.
---
You know they don't give a fuck about anybody else.
Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.
― ILX System, Monday, 23 June 2008 23:01 (fifteen years ago) link
Surprised at the love for "King of the World".
― o. nate, Tuesday, 24 June 2008 15:53 (fifteen years ago) link
it's a shame singles always trump almost everything else in the SD polls, great singles band but the results end up kinda boring as a result.
― some dude, Tuesday, 24 June 2008 15:56 (fifteen years ago) link
That might change with the Gaucho poll.
― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Tuesday, 24 June 2008 16:15 (fifteen years ago) link
POLL EXCITEMENT!!!!!
― PappaWheelie V, Tuesday, 24 June 2008 16:16 (fifteen years ago) link
which were the singles on Gaucho?
― baaderonixx, Tuesday, 24 June 2008 16:17 (fifteen years ago) link
"Time Out of Mind" and "Hey Nineteen." I mean, I expect the latter to get love, but a couple of others might nip at its heels.
― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Tuesday, 24 June 2008 16:20 (fifteen years ago) link
Yeah I guess "Babylon Sisters" will win that one
― baaderonixx, Tuesday, 24 June 2008 16:24 (fifteen years ago) link
all the talk about razor boy here and only 4 votes?!
― Zeno, Wednesday, 25 June 2008 12:55 (fifteen years ago) link
"Hey Nineteen" is one of the only four SD songs that I ever actually heard as singles per se, as in AM radio; and appropriately enough, those four represent their highest-charting hits. So deliberately voting for "the single" is kinda academic.
― Myonga Vön Bontee, Wednesday, 25 June 2008 14:04 (fifteen years ago) link
there were still rock songs on AM radio in 1980?
― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Wednesday, 25 June 2008 14:08 (fifteen years ago) link
I used to listen to Top 40 on AM radio even up to '85 or so.
― o. nate, Wednesday, 25 June 2008 14:32 (fifteen years ago) link
I think "Razor Boy" deserved to place much much higher
― Joe, Thursday, 26 June 2008 00:24 (fifteen years ago) link
what did alex in nyc vote for?
― mookieproof, Thursday, 26 June 2008 00:27 (fifteen years ago) link
Killing Joke's cover of "Razor Boy" didn't make the cut.
― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Thursday, 26 June 2008 00:35 (fifteen years ago) link
Let's hear it for Show Biz Kids! Whoo-hoo! [Dodging rotten tomatoes]
― iago g., Thursday, 26 June 2008 01:35 (fifteen years ago) link
-- Alfred, Lord Sotosyn
In Northern Ontario there were! But "Hey Nineteen" barely qualifies as rock, to my ears.
Just sayin'
― Myonga Vön Bontee, Thursday, 26 June 2008 06:18 (fifteen years ago) link
california tumbles into the sea
― memwer, Thursday, 26 June 2008 20:53 (fifteen years ago) link
But "Hey Nineteen" barely qualifies as rock, to my ears
soft-rock disco
― o. nate, Thursday, 26 June 2008 20:58 (fifteen years ago) link
awwww i suppose the voulez voulez bits of Pearl of the Quarter are annoying...
Maybe super furry animals can do a song using the "and if you hear from my Louise.." bit coz it rules.
― wilter, Wednesday, 27 August 2008 07:47 (fifteen years ago) link
my baby's a peaaaaaaaaarl of the kwar-ter
― 乒乓, Monday, 10 December 2012 15:31 (eleven years ago) link
Even Cathy Berberian knowsthere's onerouladeshe can't siiiinnggg
― Tomb Of Spatula (Jon Lewis), Monday, 10 December 2012 16:12 (eleven years ago) link
After closing timeat the Guernsey FairI detect the El Supremofrom the room at the top of the stairs
― xanthanguar (cwkiii), Monday, 10 December 2012 16:14 (eleven years ago) link
Lonnie swept the playroom And he swallowed up all he found It was forty-eight hours til Lonnie came around
― some dude, Monday, 10 December 2012 16:17 (eleven years ago) link
Lyrics-wise, it's gotta be Countdown to Ecstasy and Gaucho neck and neck. These songs just keep on givin'.
― Tomb Of Spatula (Jon Lewis), Monday, 10 December 2012 16:59 (eleven years ago) link
jesus christ, what a killer run from track 3 right through to the close.
― charlie h, Wednesday, 22 May 2013 06:01 (ten years ago) link
I just had this conversation with a friend of a friend in a pub:
Him - "Do you like Steely Dan?"
Me - "Er, I guess. I don't really think about them very often"
Him - "Oh my god. I think about them all the time"
― TracerHandVEVO (Tracer Hand), Wednesday, 22 May 2013 09:32 (ten years ago) link
this record has the power to carry me willingly or unwillingly to a small room where I lived for three years long ago mainly listening to music on a tape deck and recording music on the same deck
― Oral Sex in Sharp’s Ridge Park (underrated aerosmith bootlegs I have owned), Wednesday, 22 May 2013 12:42 (ten years ago) link
tobacco they grow in Peking
in the year of the locust you'll seea sad thing
― kobaïas fünke (clouds), Sunday, 30 November 2014 18:57 (nine years ago) link
Although perfectly good, I think this is my least favorite Dan record. None of the tracks on it would rank in my favorites.
― my jaw left (Hurting 2), Sunday, 30 November 2014 19:00 (nine years ago) link
If I stay insideI might live 'til Saturday
― The Complainte of Ray Tabano, Sunday, 30 November 2014 19:55 (nine years ago) link
Impression I got from reviews of the reissues in 98/99 was that this was THE SD album (or on par with Aja at least)
― Master of Treacle, Sunday, 30 November 2014 20:58 (nine years ago) link
imo it is, it kinda has everything and is situated early enough in their career to still have some residual can't buy a thrill flavor
― emo canon in twee major (BradNelson), Sunday, 30 November 2014 21:01 (nine years ago) link
Its a great intro album to a major act...especially as all 7 original albums are of almost equal stature imo
― Master of Treacle, Sunday, 30 November 2014 21:10 (nine years ago) link
I quite like Steely Dan but I never listen to them. I've been listening to this album recently though. "The Boston Rag" wins this hands down.
― Doodles Diamond (Tom D.), Wednesday, 25 May 2022 17:47 (one year ago) link
Show Biz Kids making movies of themselves
― immodesty blaise (jimbeaux), Wednesday, 25 May 2022 18:16 (one year ago) link
woke up this morning with "Pearl of the Quarter" stuck in my head, it deserved much more love in this poll
― Muad'Doob (Moodles), Wednesday, 25 May 2022 18:31 (one year ago) link
It really is a great track. This was the first album I bought from them that wasn't a compilation, and it was obvious right away that they weren't just a singles band. A great album top to bottom.
― birdistheword, Wednesday, 25 May 2022 18:48 (one year ago) link
Surprised at the love for "King of the World".― o. nate, Tuesday, June 24, 2008 11:53 AM (thirteen years ago) bookmarkflaglink
― o. nate, Tuesday, June 24, 2008 11:53 AM (thirteen years ago) bookmarkflaglink
I'm surprised by this post! "King of the World" is probably my favorite song of all time. I guess post-apocalyptic desert jazz-pop w/synths isn't everyone's jam, but to my ears they really pulled it off.
― J. Sam, Wednesday, 25 May 2022 19:35 (one year ago) link
Also as a kid I used to think Fagen was singing "any man laughed on the Rio Grande" in the chorus. Sometimes I still choose to hear it that way lol
― J. Sam, Wednesday, 25 May 2022 19:38 (one year ago) link
Yeah, that's a great track too - the best album closer they ever recorded.
― birdistheword, Wednesday, 25 May 2022 20:09 (one year ago) link
I like Aja and to a lesser extent Gaucho too, but when I revisit what they accomplished here, those later albums can feel kind of bland in comparison.
― birdistheword, Wednesday, 25 May 2022 20:12 (one year ago) link
Yeah I see what you mean. I wouldn't call Aja or Gaucho bland, but they lack the tight-knit working rock band energy of the early Dan
― J. Sam, Wednesday, 25 May 2022 20:23 (one year ago) link
I am most partial to Pretzel Logic.
― immodesty blaise (jimbeaux), Wednesday, 25 May 2022 20:27 (one year ago) link
the work day is done, time to kick off the Countdown
― Muad'Doob (Moodles), Wednesday, 25 May 2022 22:28 (one year ago) link
it's this one or Aja for greatest album ever and I'll never be able to decide
― J Edgar Noothgrush (Joan Crawford Loves Chachi), Thursday, 26 May 2022 02:10 (one year ago) link
generally i respect their decision to not tour when they were making records but i feel like there are 500 killer live versions of "my old school" in a parallel universe somewhere and i'm sad i won't hear them
― call all destroyer, Thursday, 26 May 2022 02:17 (one year ago) link