The Album Review Club - Week #196 (page 1316) - Aja - Steely Dan

Aja by Steely Dan is not an album I would like if I was hearing it for the first time this week. As it happens this is an album I've listened to on and off for 12 to 18 months. This has given time for it to reveal it's delights and although I'm not qualified to talk about chord extensions, voicings or harmonic sophistication there is plenty of chat online if you're interested in those technical details. I'll provide a review based mainly in ignorance not even realising how stupid i actually am.

Steely Dan is a band I probably first heard of in the early 2,000's when every semi-popular indie band were being compared to or declaring their love of the Dan. I particularly remember the comparison being made with the band Athlete with whom I almost had a friendship with. I did hang out with the bass player for the evening when they played an early gig in Manchester because my friend used to babysit him and it was lots of fun seeing touts outside the venue trying to sell him tickets to his own gig. Worthy of noting is that the drummer broke his high hat stand and the bass player broke a string on the same night. Still it was a fun seeing them on the cusp of fame having even seen them really early in their career when they were known as Wondercub - I faithfully kept hold of one of the barbie girl plasters they were giving out that night in the hope that it would make me a fortune on ebay one day. My wife used it for a paper cut and ruined my retirement plan. I saw them a third time later at what felt like a mass karaoke night - the crowd knew every lyric and sang so loudly they almost drowned out the band. It's weird how their biggest hit Wires would turn me off with its sincerity.

Sincerity is not an accusation that can be thrown at this album nor do I think Athlete sounded particularly like Steely Dan. This is album could be described as coldly smug and snobbish although this is apparently one of their less snobby efforts. Every criticism that's thrown up of this album is probably one i would understand. It is bland and its natural habitat is a dentists office or cruise ship. This is incredibly grown up and mature and I definitely don't like to think of myself as being a fan of this band. From pictures I've seen of Becker and Fagan at the time they look like early ancestors of perpetually online new athiests and I'm sure at least one of them served as the template for Ian Malcolm from Jurassic Park. But for reasons I will attempt to articulate this album has found a way.

Aja is beautifully precise and engineered to such a degree that it sounds inhuman. This turns plenty of people off but I feel kind of neutral on it. It does sound amazing, every part and instrument is given huge amounts of room but it does sound too good. Like an amazing show house with every piece of furniture placed with atomic precision its not an album that invites you to kick off your shoes despite how the OP describes it as being a comfort. It is comfortable though because it is so buttery smooth. Everything has a place but nothing stands out. it's overall mood is gentle groove and although it is an album of dynamics these are provided by the different textures of the instruments rather than jumps in volume. This makes it a great album just to have in the background as very little in it will demand your attention - nothing shouts at you and nothing grates. Except possibly the main vocals provided by Fagan. For many, and I consider myself in this camp, the vocals provide a little bit of humanity and careful consideration of the lyrics also reveal very human figures. Deacon Blues perhaps being the highlight as it tells the story of a listless and ignored man approaching middle age and deciding to work the sax and drink himself into a car crash to reach peak loser. It's eerily prophetic.

So yes I guess the album could be considered bland but it does reward listening in a way that is almost unmatched. Ultimately this is the purpose of music - to be listened to. Aja rewards being engaged with whilst not demanding that you do. Engage with what Steely Dan and crew were doing here and you will have a great time. The more you engage the more it's delights will reveal itself. I'm only 1% into the journey of understanding the jazz of this - the harmonies that should be dissonant and tense somehow are always resolved. Whilst learning I can just enjoy the pop of it and sing along. Intellectually I'm a long way from understanding that Peg is technically a blues tune but I'll just go with the bop until i get it and then i'll appreciate it on another level. I heard this album described as harmonically complicated by melodically simple - jazz & pop

Black Cow starts the album off with a light funk groove that persists through the album but Peg is the highlight if you want to dance. I don't think I'll ever tire of this tune and it's a great example of a song that is more than the sum of it's parts. Every instrument and part is great in isolation but when combined the "simple" parts are perfectly fit together.

Album highlight though is the song i initially hated. it took me a long time to get over the cringe of title track Aja. The phrase "dude ranch" will never not make me a little sick in my mouth. The piano intro is cheese but the more i hear those marimba's the more I want to hit wooden things with sticks. The several guitar solos are great and the addition of the police whistle is a simple act of genius that I just can't believe makes me so happy. You want more than one drum and sax solo? You can have it! I think this is a breach of jazz rules that normally has solos one at a time but maybe it's not - it'll make me appreciate the album more if i knew but in the meantime in my ignorance I'm just going to turn this up and vibe. The police whistle is worth the seven minute run time alone and it only lasts seconds. I'd like to live in a world that's soundtracked like I'm in an obscure Super Mario game. There are also elements of this that I hear repeated in Ants From Up There so of course I love it.

Possibly I Got The News is a little Charlie Brown (great guitar solos though) and dude ranch just sickens me so i can't declare this a perfect album like some would but it's an album that feels richer every time i listen so it's an easy 9. I know it's not cool and I've not really articulated well why the album is so revered and if you just dislike it or find it boring I totally understand.

As a companion piece to this album I don't recommend listening to The New Sound by Geordie Greep. That does feel like it's doing a similar thing but from the opposite end. Instead of listening to that three times listen to Aja six times . You might not fall in love in the end but there's a chance you might and who doesn't want to be in love?

It's also been a while since we've done album cover chat but this is a great one.
 
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mrbelfry said:
Aja by Steely Dan is not an album I would like if I was hearing it for the first time this week. As it happens this is an album I've listened to on and off for 12 to 18 months. This has given time for it to reveal it's delights and although I'm not qualified to talk about chord extensions, voicings or harmonic sophistication there is plenty of chat online if you're interested in those technical details. I'll provide a review based mainly in ignorance not even realising how stupid i actually am.

Steely Dan is a band I probably first heard of in the early 2,000's when every semi-popular indie band were being compared to or declaring their love of the Dan. I particularly remember the comparison being made with the band Athlete with whom I almost had a friendship with. I did hang out with the bass player for the evening when they played an early gig in Manchester because my friend used to babysit him and it was lots of fun seeing touts outside the venue trying to sell him tickets to his own gig. Worthy of noting is that the drummer broke his high hat stand and the bass player broke a string on the same night. Still it was a fun seeing them on the cusp of fame having even seen them really early in their career when they were known as Wondercub - I faithfully kept hold of one of the barbie girl plasters they were giving out that night in the hope that it would make me a fortune on ebay one day. My wife used it for a paper cut and ruined my retirement plan. I saw them a third time later at what felt like a mass karaoke night - the crowd knew every lyric and sang so loudly they almost drowned out the band. It's weird how their biggest hit Wires would turn me off with its sincerity.

Sincerity is not an accusation that can be thrown at this album nor do I think Athlete sounded particularly like Steely Dan. This is album could be described as coldly smug and snobbish although this is apparently one of their less snobby efforts. Every criticism that's thrown up of this album is probably one i would understand. It is bland and its natural habitat is a dentists office or cruise ship. This is incredibly grown up and mature and I definitely don't like to think of myself as being a fan of this band. From pictures I've seen of Becker and Fagan at the time they look like early ancestors of perpetually online new athiests and I'm sure at least one of them served as the template for Ian Malcolm from Jurassic Park. But for reasons I will attempt to articulate this album has found a way.

Aja is beautifully precise and engineered to such a degree that it sounds inhuman. This turns plenty of people off but I feel kind of neutral on it. It does sound amazing, every part and instrument is given huge amounts of room but it does sound too good. Like an amazing show house with every piece of furniture placed with atomic precision its not an album that invites you to kick off your shoes despite how the OP describes it as being a comfort. It is comfortable though because it is so buttery smooth. Everything has a place but nothing stands out. it's overall mood is gentle groove and although it is an album of dynamics these are provided by the different textures of the instruments rather than jumps in volume. This makes it a great album just to have in the background as very little in it will demand your attention - nothing shouts at you and nothing grates. Except possibly the main vocals provided by Fagan. For many, and I consider myself in this camp, the vocals provide a little bit of humanity and careful consideration of the lyrics also reveal very human figures. Deacon Blues perhaps being the highlight as it tells the story of a listless and ignored man approaching middle age and deciding to work the sax and drink himself into a car crash to reach peak loser. It's eerily prophetic.

So yes I guess the album could be considered bland but it does reward listening in a way that is almost unmatched. Ultimately this is the purpose of music - to be listened to. Aja rewards being engaged with whilst not demanding that you do. Engage with what Steely Dan and crew were doing here and you will have a great time. The more you engage the more it's delights will reveal itself. I'm only 1% into the journey of understanding the jazz of this - the harmonies that should be dissonant and tense somehow are always resolved. Whilst learning I can just enjoy the pop of it and sing along. Intellectually I'm a long way from understanding that Peg is technically a blues tune but I'll just go with the bop until i get it and then i'll appreciate it on another level. I heard this album described as harmonically complicated by melodically simple - jazz & pop

Black Cow starts the album off with a light funk groove that persists through the album but Peg is the highlight if you want to dance. I don't think I'll ever tire of this tune and it's a great example of a song that is more than the sum of it's parts. Every instrument and part is great in isolation but when combined the "simple" parts are perfectly fit together.

Album highlight though is the song i initially hated. it took me a long time to get over the cringe of title track Aja. The phrase "dude ranch" will never not make me a little sick in my mouth. The piano intro is cheese but the more i hear those marimba's the more I want to hit wooden things with sticks. The several guitar solos are great and the addition of the police whistle is a simple act of genius that I just can't believe makes me so happy. You want more than one drum and sax solo? You can have it! I think this is a breach of jazz rules that normally has solos one at a time but maybe it's not - it'll make me appreciate the album more if i knew but in the meantime in my ignorance I'm just going to turn this up and vibe. The police whistle is worth the seven minute run time alone and it only lasts seconds. I'd like to live in a world that's soundtracked like I'm in an obscure Super Mario game. There are also elements of this that I hear repeated in Ants From Up There so of course I love it.

Possibly I Got The News is a little Charlie Brown (great guitar solos though) and dude ranch just sickens me so i can't declare this a perfect album like some would but it's an album that feels richer every time i listen so it's an easy 9. I know it's not cool and I've not really articulated well why the album is so revered and if you just dislike it or find it boring I totally understand.

As a companion piece to this album I don't recommend listening to The New Sound by Geordie Greep. That does feel like it's doing a similar thing but from the opposite end. Instead of listening to that three times listen to Aja six times . You might not fall in love in the end but there's a chance you might and who doesn't want to be in love?

It's also been a while since we've done album cover chat but this is a great one.
Click to expand...
That is a great review and you make some really good points. It is great that people a lot younger than me are prepared to commit to listening to the Dan and it sounds like your efforts have been rewarded because time has allowed you to appreciate such a stupendous record. That is a great comment about the police whistle, which was Fagen ( not Fagan ).

I don't agree that the record is either insincere, bland or inhuman. One of many things people need to know about the Dan was that they were incredibly sincere. They wanted the world to be a better place and hated the greed and problems we all know about. Which is why they commented on it so brilliantly. I would debate with any punk fan ( which I love ) until my dying day that Steely Dan were easily the most subversive band of the 70s, more than the Pistols the Clash or anyone else, who were both brilliant. The Dan's wonderfully musical tunes were unmatched, they were funky, jazzy, soulful and rocky all at the same time and so inventive and beautiful to listen to played by the best musicians in the world. But far far more important than that were the lyrics. Pure poetry, completely unmatched in pop music and the total irony is that they were trying to change the world in their own way with songs that covered subject matter like murder, misogyny, racism, suicide, pimps, fraud, sexism, thieves, government cover ups, lost love, nuclear war, show biz kids making movies of themselves ( fuck me looking at society now Walter and Donald were light years ahead of anyone else), loneliness,, religion, financial crises,etc etc.
Last year I was talking to a friend of my sons in his early 20s who is making a great career in music I could not believe that when he did one of his practical exams he chose to play Fire In The Hole, just another magnificent album track from the Dan's debut album, for his examiners. When he told me that I knew that my work on earth was done ! As for those who either don't know or don't like the Dan, fair enough it's up to you but don't ever say they are overrated. They are so underrated you cannot believe !
 
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peter.evans said:
That is a great review and you make some really good points. It is great that people a lot younger than me are prepared to commit to listening to the Dan and it sounds like your efforts have been rewarded because time has allowed you to appreciate such a stupendous record. That is a great comment about the police whistle, which was Fagen ( not Fagan ).

I don't agree that the record is either insincere, bland or inhuman. One of many things people need to know about the Dan was that they were incredibly sincere. They wanted the world to be a better place and hated the greed and problems we all know about. Which is why they commented on it so brilliantly. I would debate with any punk fan ( which I love ) until my dying day that Steely Dan were easily the most subversive band of the 70s, more than the Pistols the Clash or anyone else, who were both brilliant. The Dan's wonderfully musical tunes were unmatched, they were funky, jazzy, soulful and rocky all at the same time and so inventive and beautiful to listen to played by the best musicians in the world. But far far more important than that were the lyrics. Pure poetry, completely unmatched in pop music and the total irony is that they were trying to change the world in their own way with songs that covered subject matter like murder, misogyny, racism, suicide, pimps, fraud, sexism, thieves, government cover ups, lost love, show biz kids making movies of themselves ( fuck me looking at society now Walter and Donald were light years ahead of anyone else), loneliness,, religion, financial crises,etc etc.
Last year I was talking to a friend of my sons in his early 20s who is making a great career in music I could not believe that when he did one of his practical exams he chose to play Fire In The Hole, just another magnificent album track from the Dan's debut album, for his examiners. When he told me that I knew that my work on earth was done ! As for those who either don't know or don't like the Dan, fair enough it's up to you but don't ever say they are overrated. They are so underrated you cannot believe !
Click to expand...
Sincere is probably the wrong word. I think I mean something more like earnest but that's not quite right either.

I think if your taste is angular banjoes this is so smooth it could be described as bland and to err is human. That's what is wonderful to me. My first instincts and impressions were wrong but I didn't have to convince myself I liked it. The album revealed itself to me
 
peter.evans said:
One of many things people need to know about the Dan was that they were incredibly sincere. They wanted the world to be a better place and hated the greed and problems we all know about. Which is why they commented on it so brilliantly. I would debate with any punk fan ( which I love ) until my dying day that Steely Dan were easily the most subversive band of the 70s, more than the Pistols the Clash or anyone else, who were both brilliant. The Dan's wonderfully musical tunes were unmatched, they were funky, jazzy, soulful and rocky all at the same time and so inventive and beautiful to listen to played by the best musicians in the world. But far far more important than that were the lyrics. Pure poetry, completely unmatched in pop music and the total irony is that they were trying to change the world in their own way with songs that covered subject matter like murder, misogyny, racism, suicide, pimps, fraud, sexism, thieves, government cover ups, lost love, nuclear war, show biz kids making movies of themselves ( fuck me looking at society now Walter and Donald were light years ahead of anyone else), loneliness,, religion, financial crises,etc etc.
Click to expand...
I liked this last night, but I think this one paragraph well sums up my love and enjoyment for Steely Dan music, and I'm not going to wait until my review to highlight it given we're on this page now and probably won't be by the time my review comes in.

Well said, @peter.evans!
 
bennyboy said:
Listening to Boy&Bear Roses/Lost Control on Spotify.
Sounds great.Hopefully the album is just as good in 10 days.
Click to expand...
I'm listening to their entire release of Tripping Over Time here this AM.

Given this was supposed to be the week I originally had Harlequin Dream slated before I swapped weeks with Foggy, it feels appropriate I'd get some of them in too along with Steely Dan.
 
Black&White&BlueMoon Town said:
I'm listening to their entire release of Tripping Over Time here this AM.

Given this was supposed to be the week I originally had Harlequin Dream slated before I swapped weeks with Foggy, it feels appropriate I'd get some of them in too along with Steely Dan.
Click to expand...
Funnily enough, this just popped up for me on Spotify, so going to give it a listen.
 
mrbelfry said:
Aja by Steely Dan is not an album I would like if I was hearing it for the first time this week. As it happens this is an album I've listened to on and off for 12 to 18 months. This has given time for it to reveal it's delights and although I'm not qualified to talk about chord extensions, voicings or harmonic sophistication there is plenty of chat online if you're interested in those technical details. I'll provide a review based mainly in ignorance not even realising how stupid i actually am.

Steely Dan is a band I probably first heard of in the early 2,000's when every semi-popular indie band were being compared to or declaring their love of the Dan. I particularly remember the comparison being made with the band Athlete with whom I almost had a friendship with. I did hang out with the bass player for the evening when they played an early gig in Manchester because my friend used to babysit him and it was lots of fun seeing touts outside the venue trying to sell him tickets to his own gig. Worthy of noting is that the drummer broke his high hat stand and the bass player broke a string on the same night. Still it was a fun seeing them on the cusp of fame having even seen them really early in their career when they were known as Wondercub - I faithfully kept hold of one of the barbie girl plasters they were giving out that night in the hope that it would make me a fortune on ebay one day. My wife used it for a paper cut and ruined my retirement plan. I saw them a third time later at what felt like a mass karaoke night - the crowd knew every lyric and sang so loudly they almost drowned out the band. It's weird how their biggest hit Wires would turn me off with its sincerity.

Sincerity is not an accusation that can be thrown at this album nor do I think Athlete sounded particularly like Steely Dan. This is album could be described as coldly smug and snobbish although this is apparently one of their less snobby efforts. Every criticism that's thrown up of this album is probably one i would understand. It is bland and its natural habitat is a dentists office or cruise ship. This is incredibly grown up and mature and I definitely don't like to think of myself as being a fan of this band. From pictures I've seen of Becker and Fagan at the time they look like early ancestors of perpetually online new athiests and I'm sure at least one of them served as the template for Ian Malcolm from Jurassic Park. But for reasons I will attempt to articulate this album has found a way.

Aja is beautifully precise and engineered to such a degree that it sounds inhuman. This turns plenty of people off but I feel kind of neutral on it. It does sound amazing, every part and instrument is given huge amounts of room but it does sound too good. Like an amazing show house with every piece of furniture placed with atomic precision its not an album that invites you to kick off your shoes despite how the OP describes it as being a comfort. It is comfortable though because it is so buttery smooth. Everything has a place but nothing stands out. it's overall mood is gentle groove and although it is an album of dynamics these are provided by the different textures of the instruments rather than jumps in volume. This makes it a great album just to have in the background as very little in it will demand your attention - nothing shouts at you and nothing grates. Except possibly the main vocals provided by Fagan. For many, and I consider myself in this camp, the vocals provide a little bit of humanity and careful consideration of the lyrics also reveal very human figures. Deacon Blues perhaps being the highlight as it tells the story of a listless and ignored man approaching middle age and deciding to work the sax and drink himself into a car crash to reach peak loser. It's eerily prophetic.

So yes I guess the album could be considered bland but it does reward listening in a way that is almost unmatched. Ultimately this is the purpose of music - to be listened to. Aja rewards being engaged with whilst not demanding that you do. Engage with what Steely Dan and crew were doing here and you will have a great time. The more you engage the more it's delights will reveal itself. I'm only 1% into the journey of understanding the jazz of this - the harmonies that should be dissonant and tense somehow are always resolved. Whilst learning I can just enjoy the pop of it and sing along. Intellectually I'm a long way from understanding that Peg is technically a blues tune but I'll just go with the bop until i get it and then i'll appreciate it on another level. I heard this album described as harmonically complicated by melodically simple - jazz & pop

Black Cow starts the album off with a light funk groove that persists through the album but Peg is the highlight if you want to dance. I don't think I'll ever tire of this tune and it's a great example of a song that is more than the sum of it's parts. Every instrument and part is great in isolation but when combined the "simple" parts are perfectly fit together.

Album highlight though is the song i initially hated. it took me a long time to get over the cringe of title track Aja. The phrase "dude ranch" will never not make me a little sick in my mouth. The piano intro is cheese but the more i hear those marimba's the more I want to hit wooden things with sticks. The several guitar solos are great and the addition of the police whistle is a simple act of genius that I just can't believe makes me so happy. You want more than one drum and sax solo? You can have it! I think this is a breach of jazz rules that normally has solos one at a time but maybe it's not - it'll make me appreciate the album more if i knew but in the meantime in my ignorance I'm just going to turn this up and vibe. The police whistle is worth the seven minute run time alone and it only lasts seconds. I'd like to live in a world that's soundtracked like I'm in an obscure Super Mario game. There are also elements of this that I hear repeated in Ants From Up There so of course I love it.

Possibly I Got The News is a little Charlie Brown (great guitar solos though) and dude ranch just sickens me so i can't declare this a perfect album like some would but it's an album that feels richer every time i listen so it's an easy 9. I know it's not cool and I've not really articulated well why the album is so revered and if you just dislike it or find it boring I totally understand.

As a companion piece to this album I don't recommend listening to The New Sound by Geordie Greep. That does feel like it's doing a similar thing but from the opposite end. Instead of listening to that three times listen to Aja six times . You might not fall in love in the end but there's a chance you might and who doesn't want to be in love?

It's also been a while since we've done album cover chat but this is a great one.
Click to expand...
As usual a wonderful piece of writing and you articulate a lot of the reactions the record got at the time of its release and how it kind of worms its way into your life over time.
 
peter.evans said:
That is a great review and you make some really good points. It is great that people a lot younger than me are prepared to commit to listening to the Dan and it sounds like your efforts have been rewarded because time has allowed you to appreciate such a stupendous record. That is a great comment about the police whistle, which was Fagen ( not Fagan ).

I don't agree that the record is either insincere, bland or inhuman. One of many things people need to know about the Dan was that they were incredibly sincere. They wanted the world to be a better place and hated the greed and problems we all know about. Which is why they commented on it so brilliantly. I would debate with any punk fan ( which I love ) until my dying day that Steely Dan were easily the most subversive band of the 70s, more than the Pistols the Clash or anyone else, who were both brilliant. The Dan's wonderfully musical tunes were unmatched, they were funky, jazzy, soulful and rocky all at the same time and so inventive and beautiful to listen to played by the best musicians in the world. But far far more important than that were the lyrics. Pure poetry, completely unmatched in pop music and the total irony is that they were trying to change the world in their own way with songs that covered subject matter like murder, misogyny, racism, suicide, pimps, fraud, sexism, thieves, government cover ups, lost love, nuclear war, show biz kids making movies of themselves ( fuck me looking at society now Walter and Donald were light years ahead of anyone else), loneliness,, religion, financial crises,etc etc.
Last year I was talking to a friend of my sons in his early 20s who is making a great career in music I could not believe that when he did one of his practical exams he chose to play Fire In The Hole, just another magnificent album track from the Dan's debut album, for his examiners. When he told me that I knew that my work on earth was done ! As for those who either don't know or don't like the Dan, fair enough it's up to you but don't ever say they are overrated. They are so underrated you cannot believe !
Click to expand...
I think your point about SD being one of the most subversive bands of the 70s is a really interesting one. At the same time, this record in many respects lacks the lyrical bite of Pretzel Logic or Katy Lies, which became less subtle (at least IMO) on The Royal Scam. Also I think because their early records were so good, they were held to a very high standard. In some ways this record and Roxy Music’s Avalon were similar — they sound almost dull or even trivial at first compared to the rest of the band’s catalog but eventually you realiz(s)e that’s by design — a choice, not a retreat.

And you’re right about Show Biz Kids too!

Incidentally I almost picked Katy Lied instead of Aja in part because Black Friday feels kind of right for the current state of the world right now. But I didn’t because, hey, it’s Christmas.
 
Certainly the music was slicker, jazzier, etc.I know some fans prefer the earlier albums but the thing was that they had to move on from them records and take it to another stage of development. I am not sure about there being less lyrical bite, certainly Gaucho was extremely bleak lyrically and the subject matter on Aja was the usual drugs, loserdom, failed relationships, dodgy characters like Josie,etc. It was the great Sci fi writer William Gibson ( a massive Dan fan ) who said people think of the Dan as this slick, skilful band yet their records were the most subversive of the 70s !
FogBlueInSanFran said:
I think your point about SD being one of the most subversive bands of the 70s is a really interesting one. At the same time, this record in many respects lacks the lyrical bite of Pretzel Logic or Katy Lies, which became less subtle (at least IMO) on The Royal Scam. Also I think because their early records were so good, they were held to a very high standard. In some ways this record and Roxy Music’s Avalon were similar — they sound almost dull or even trivial at first compared to the rest of the band’s catalog but eventually you realiz(s)e that’s by design — a choice, not a retreat.

And you’re right about Show Biz Kids too!

Incidentally I almost picked Katy Lied instead of Aja in part because Black Friday feels kind of right for the current state of the world right now. But I didn’t because, hey, it’s Christmas.
Click to expand...
 
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Black&White&BlueMoon Town said:
I'm listening to their entire release of Tripping Over Time here this AM.

Given this was supposed to be the week I originally had Harlequin Dream slated before I swapped weeks with Foggy, it feels appropriate I'd get some of them in too along with Steely Dan.
Click to expand...
I have downloaded it.
Listen to it later.
Will give the Steely Dan another listen first to see if it gets better.
 
I have always had a tricky relationship with SD. All the cool mags said i should like them and that they were super cool and their albums were works of genius and I have had good goes at Pretzel Logic in particular. The vocals and harmonies really jar on me. Always have and good vocals and harmonies are really important to me. The underlying music is incredibly competent and well produced. The bass lines excellent, guitar ditto. Why don't I like them more?

I'm on my second listen of Aja having just completed putting the tree up. Mellow mood looking forward to some sherry and shortbread when Mrs S finishes up - it will have to go off then :-(.

I'm still not there though. I want to like it more. How can I be cool if I don't like Steely Dan? Impossible.
 
peter.evans said:
Certainly the music was slicker, jazzier, etc.I know some fans prefer the earlier albums but the thing was that they had to move on from them records and take it to another stage of development. I am not sure about there being less lyrical bite, certainly Gaucho was extremely bleak lyrically and the subject matter on Aja was the usual drugs, loserdom, failed relationships, dodgy characters like Josie,etc. It was the great Sci fi writer William Gibson ( a massive Dan fan ) who said people think of the Dan as this slick, skilful band yet their records were the most subversive of the 70s !
Click to expand...
Speaking of William Gibson . . . I might make the argument that Sonic Youth was the most subversive band of the 80s and early 90s.
 
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