Alan Parsons Project vs Steely Dan

I prophesy disaster wrote: With the notable exception of Do It Again, the music of Steely Dan hasn't resonated with me. By contrast, the music of The Alan Parsons Project does resonate with me, so they easily get my vote.

Im a big fan of Bernard Purdie and Chuck Rainey so i might vote SD for that

Polymorphia wrote: What it takes a lot of is luck and knowledge of the music biz and the sensibilities of various groups of people, and more things which are independent of the things that should inform one's appreciation of an artist. In other words, their success makes them special as far as models of how to navigate the music industry, but it doesn't make them special as artists, which is what I assumed we were trying to evaluate here.

Respect of other musicians is not about luck. I mean, do you consider Holdsworth a particularly lucky musician? You can get the first two - commercial success and critical acclaim - with luck and connections but the respect of your peers has to be earned.

I did like one song from when Donald Fagen went solo, but other than that, meh.

Ivan_Melgar_M wrote: Tom Ozric wrote: I did like one song from when Donald Fagen went solo, but other than that, meh. Meh...Perfect word.

Silly word, but sums it up nicely.

Jeffro wrote: rogerthat wrote:  That said, I would not put SD in the same bracket as him or the Beatles. The truth is they were still toiling for that elusive hit when they set out to record Aja. And then, Peg became a hit and the single FM too. So it was a late surge rather than a long streak of bill board smashing stuff that also won the approval of critics AND had fellow musicians intrigued. That category is so rare the folks who fit into it pretty much popularised a new way of looking at popular music. A paradigm shift, in other words. I don't think that's correct. They had hit songs before Aja. Rikki Don't Lode That Number, just to name one example, was huge.

I will look up the chart positions etc later but my statement was based off the band's own assessment mentioned in the informative and funny notes to the Royal Scam album. They expressed a gnawing feeling that they hadn't achieved the success they had been looking for. It would come with Aja. Maybe fans felt their earlier albums were plenty successful but the band themselves didn't think so.

Jeffro wrote: rogerthat wrote:  That said, I would not put SD in the same bracket as him or the Beatles. The truth is they were still toiling for that elusive hit when they set out to record Aja. And then, Peg became a hit and the single FM too. So it was a late surge rather than a long streak of bill board smashing stuff that also won the approval of critics AND had fellow musicians intrigued. That category is so rare the folks who fit into it pretty much popularised a new way of looking at popular music. A paradigm shift, in other words. I don't think that's correct. They had hit songs before Aja. Rikki Don't Lose That Number, just to name one example, was huge.

^ LOL.......

Mascodagama wrote: There's actually a whole book about the making of Aja, and if you like the band and the album as much as I do it makes for fascinating reading. Their obsessive tendencies really got free reign on that one, but I think the results speak for themselves

Dr. Occulator wrote: Steely Dan have written the most thought provoking inspired music of any 70's to new millennium band over their entire career. There is more musicality & lyrical wit in one of their songs than in a whole APP album. Their music bears multiple repeats listenings and always rewards.