Steely Dan album by album

[Not finished...]

Steely Dan appeared to me in the early 70s to be a cool, somewhat detached band dealing in tasty pop oriented jazz-rock. Pretzel Logic was frequently on my turntable.  I also liked the occasional track I heard, such as "Haitian Divorce". But they were not a band I followed, and I didn't get into any album outside of the first three until Fagan's solo, The Nightfly in 1982, which seemed to fit in comfortably with the sophisti-pop sound of that decade. Doing a survey of their albums to see where they fit, and how much I like them overall.


Wikipedia:

Steely Dan is an American rock duo founded in 1972 by core members Walter Becker (guitars, bass, backing vocals) and Donald Fagen (keyboards, lead vocals). Blending rock, jazz, latin music, reggae, traditional pop, R&B, blues,^[2] and sophisticated studio production with cryptic and ironic lyrics, the band enjoyed critical and commercial success starting from the early 1970s until breaking up in 1981.^[2] Throughout their career, the duo recorded with a revolving cast of session musicians, and in 1974 retired from live performances to become a studio-only band. Rolling Stone has called them "the perfect musical antiheroes for the Seventies".^[4]

After the group disbanded in 1981, Becker and Fagen were less active throughout most of the next decade, though a cult following^[2] remained devoted to the group. Since reuniting in 1993, Steely Dan has toured steadily and released two albums of new material, the first of which, Two Against Nature, earned a Grammy Award for Album of the Year. They have sold more than 40 million albums worldwide and were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in March 2001.^[5][6][7][8] VH1 ranked Steely Dan at #82 on their list of the 100 greatest musical artists of all time.^[9] Founding member Walter Becker died on September 3, 2017, leaving Fagen as the sole official member.

AllMusic:

Most rock & roll bands are a tightly wound unit that developed their music through years of playing in garages and clubs around their hometown. Steely Dan never subscribed to that aesthetic. As the vehicle for the songwriting of Walter Becker and Donald Fagen, Steely Dan defied all rock & roll conventions. Becker and Fagen never truly enjoyed rock -- with their ironic humor and cryptic lyrics, their eclectic body of work shows some debt to Bob Dylan -- preferring jazz, traditional pop, blues, and R&B. Steely Dan created a sophisticated, distinctive sound with accessible melodic hooks, complex harmonies and time signatures, and a devotion to the recording studio. With producer Gary Katz, Becker and Fagen gradually changed Steely Dan from a performing band to a studio project, hiring professional musicians to record their compositions. Though the band didn't perform live between 1974 and 1993, Steely Dan's popularity continued to grow throughout the '70s, as their albums became critical favorites and their singles became staples of AOR and pop radio stations. Even after the group disbanded in the early '80s, their records retained a cult following, as proven by the massive success of their unlikely return to the stage in the early '90s.



Steely Dan's blend of pop and jazz did not spring out of nowhere. Various forms of jazz-fusion had been developing since way back in the 50s, and was particularly popular in the early 70s. However, the Dan's particular fusion is pop focused rather than rock or soul, which was the norm, and was notably inflected with funk along with Latin. Some possible influences: Manfred Mann - Up The Junction (1968),  Chapter Three (1970),  Earth Band (1972); Jeff Beck - Jeff Beck Group (1972); Traffic - Low Spark of High Heeled Boys (1971); Boz Scaggs - & Band (1972); Chicago - II (1970); The Doobie Brothers - Toulouse Street (1972);  Todd Rundgren - Something/Anything? (1972);  Santana - Santana (1969), Abraxas (1970); James Brown - Soul Classics compilation; Randy Newman - 12 Songs (1970), Sail Away (1972).


See Jazz fusion and jazz rock for the musical ideas that were present in the early 70s which informed Steely Dan's style.

See Sophisti-pop for the musical movement in the 80s that has much in common with Steely Dan's style.

Albums

Can't Buy a Thrill (1972)

Debut album. This is very cool. Great songs. Good band vibe. Sublime blend of soul Latin, jazz and pop-rock. After this the band would edge more and more toward commercial smooth jazz, leaving aside the soul and pop-rock, and rely more and more on the two songwriters, Donald Fagen and Walter Becker, until the band became just those two with hired session players, and the vibe that's present here is lost, and it all becomes polished, a little arch and serious and lacking in groove and grit. The band would never better this album, though they came close with the sophisti-pop of Pretzel Logic. 

Wikipedia
AllMusic: 9
Score: 8 1/2

Countdown to Ecstasy (1973)

This has all the Steely Dan sounds, and is a pleasant albeit modest album. No standout songs, just an overall melodic upbeat smooth jazz feel. Totally lacks authenticity. Becker & Fagen reveal themselves here as talented but gently mocking/tongue-in-cheek we're-not-doing-this-seriously Brill Building hacks who are mostly doing it "for the money". This is very superficial snazzy noise. 

Wikipedia
AllMusic: 10
Score: 5

Pretzel Logic (1974)

Smooth sophisti-pop. A very pleasant album. Not as complete or interesting as the debut, Can't Buy a Thrill (1972), but a decent listen. Contains "Rikki Don't Lose That Number", and the other songs are not far behind in professional and commercial quality. A minor classic. I had this in my collection in the Seventies and played it a lot. It's a favourite of mine.

Wikipedia
AllMusic: 10
Score: 7

Katy Lied (1975)

A modest album.

Wikipedia
AllMusic: 10
Score: 4

The Royal Scam (1976)

Attractive, upbeat, confident, very slick and commercial. Contains "Haitian Divorce", the duo's most commercially appealing and successful song.

Wikipedia
AllMusic: 7
Score: 5

Aja (1977)

Very popular among Dan heads, this is actually a fairly sombre and boring album. Sophisti-pop again with the sheen of smooth jazz that made them so appealing to FM radio listeners, this is less upbeat than the previous albums, and sort of flops about in a turgid manner of not quite being poppy enough nor jazzy enough nor rocky enough nor even sophisti-pop enough to be of any genuine interest to those who enjoy any of those music styles. Hmmm.  At this point, the more I learn about Steely Dan, the less I am respecting them. I really thought they were a more sophisticated band than they are.

Wikipedia
AllMusic: 9
Score: 4

Gaucho (1980)

I'm losing interest in Steely Dan.  They don't develop much. It's soft pop-jazz. Nicely produced and all, but it's not music to get you excited. There's nothing here of interest. The early albums were good, but then they started to repeat themselves, and also, getting rid of the band, and replacing them with session players reduced the feel of the band, so it became ever more superficial and commercial.

Wikipedia

AllMusic: 8
Score: 3

The Nightfly (1982) (Donald Fagan) 

This sounds just like classic Steely Dan, and is the best thing since 1974's Pretzel Logic. It fitted in well with the decade's sophisti-pop sound.

Wikipedia
AllMusic: 9
Score: 5

Kamakiriad (1993) (Donald Fagan)  

Modest. This doesn't have the unity, smoothness, or feel of The Nightfly. It is very much in the superficial groove of the later Dan, which it effectively is as Fagan and Becker worked together on this.

Wikipedia
AllMusic: 6
Score: 3

Alive in America (1995)

A drum solo FFS - in 1995! This is a well mannered live album, though it sounds as polished as a studio album. It contains a selection of songs from across the years, including "Reelin' In The Years", but struggles to generate any atmosphere or even movement. It feels like a hot sluggish day....

Wikipedia
AllMusic: 4
Score: 3

Two Against Nature (2000)

The first studio album in 20 years finds the band mooching along with the same superficial sophisti-pop. It's listenable but unremarkable. There's nothing new here. And the ability to write a telling song and deliver it with affection has long been left behind.

Wikipedia
AllMusic: 8
Score: 4 

Everything Must Go (2003)

The final Dan album. Walter Becker is now dead, so there'll be no more albums under the Steely Dan name, unless it's a compilation of some sort. It's a well mannered but rather tired album. 

Wikipedia
AllMusic:
Score: 3

Morph The Cat (2006) (Donald Fagan) 

Jazzy sax twirls that go nowhere, funky guitar that comes and goes pointlessly, and a soft plodding FM radio soft-rock sound, combined with Fagan's modest but attractively sardonic singing voice that barely moves beyond a husky talk, sums up this album. It sounds like the Dan - mostly the clean, commercial, overly polished and superficial later Dan, but now and again there's a musical sigh or a knowing nod that reminds me of the classic Dan of the early 70s.  It's an OK album, but sadly never quite lifts above the ordinary.  I like "Brite Nightgown".

Wikipedia
AllMusic: 9
Score: 4

Sunken Condos (2012) (Donald Fagan) 

Good funky albeit dated start with "Slinky Thing". Overall pleasant without being exciting.

Wikipedia
AllMusic: 9
Score: 4

Summary 

(to be done...)

Voice/Musicianship (15), Image/Star quality (10), Lyrics/Music (20), Impact/Influence (10), Popularity (5),  Emotional appeal (5), Authenticity (25), and Legacy (10). Total: 100

Discography

Can't Buy a Thrill (1972)
Countdown to Ecstasy (1973)
Pretzel Logic (1974)
Katy Lied (1975)
The Royal Scam (1976)
Aja (1977)
Gaucho (1980)

(Donald Fagan) 

The Nightfly (1982)

Kamakiriad (1993)

Two Against Nature (2000)
Everything Must Go (2003)

Albums rated

Countdown to Ecstasy (1973) ++

Pretzel Logic (1974) +++

Can't Buy A Thrill (1972)  +
The Nightfly (1982)
Aja (1987) +++++

The Royal Scam (1976) 

Gaucho (1980)

Sources:

* Discog Fever
* Paste
* BEA
* Stereogum
* LouderSound
* UCR



Links

* LouderSound on Pretzel Logic