Steely Dan Appreciation Thread

Also, I just realized that I never put my favorite SD song in my original comment. Personally I have to go with the funk/R&B stylings of Black Cow, although the title track of Aja gets a special shoutout for its ambition and complexity

Well, they did have the great Bernard Purdie on drums, Chuck Rainey on bass and even Wayne Shorter tearing it up on the title track.    But yeah, there is something distinct about Aja as compared to their previous albums.  The 'rock' aspect of their music is almost completely gone.  It's like a luxurious, languid (and bittersweet) amalgam of jazz, funk and soul. 

The first album of theirs I heard was Pretzel Logic.  I couldn't quite crack it at that time and the music did not seem to live up to the billing.  And then, a year later, somebody suggested Royal Scam and that did it.  And after that, I fell in love with Aja on first listen.  And pretty much every album from Countdown to Gaucho. I am still not too hot on Can't Buy A Thrill (Palmer's vocals don't help and maybe Do It Again is the only one that feels like classic Dan already) or the two albums they made after reuniting. But the streak in the middle...that's just astonishing.  One of the bands/artists that's eternally in my playlist alongside Stevie Wonder and...you're so going to love this ...Beatles!  But at this point, I like Steely more than either of them too.  I find their humorous cynicism very agreeable as it is how I cope with life and the general goings on as well. I know that meeting your favourite artists in person can often lead to acute disappointment and the age gap between me and any of these 60s/70s artists wouldn't help but I would still love to be able to meet Fagen one day.  It just feels like unlike so many other musicians of the time and especially in the prog rock or related space, he does not believe in magic of black or any other kind or has any messiah complex.  He comes across as very on the level...at least apparently (but one never truly knows!).

Definitely. The production is so incredible that the album sounds like it could have come out yesterday 

'Do it again' is just one (and there are many) that ooze an almost exotic (especially after a wet, grey UK winter!) honey sensation of sunshine and warm breezes.. but also the music and lyrics are so nuanced and crafted that although i dont listen to them that often, when i do hear a song it always puts me in a good place.

I hadn't discovered these guys until early 2021, but I'm so glad I eventually gravitated to their incredible songwriting; they might be mostly jazz rock, but I'm not surprised that they're on ProgArchives to be honest. Their pop tendencies have always been combined with sophisticated arrangements and complex melodies, even in their most simplistic works. So I ask, what's your favorite song by Steely Dan, or your favorite cryptic lyric by them? I'd love to know