Disco

It is often considered the most difficult LP, the follow up to a succesful debut, but 'Countdown to Ecstacy' doesn't disappoint. Two more hits from the record, 'My Old School' and 'Showbiz Kids' and seven other super tracks. My favourites include Bodhisattva, the craziest blues I have ever heard, 'Pearl of the Quarter' where they come as close as they ever did to writing a touching ballad, and 'King of the World'. one of my all time top Dan tunes. Possibly the earliest 'nuclear winter' song recorded. Great stuff.

The debut album, 'Can't buy a Thrill'. Released in January '73, It contains the classic hits, 'Do it Again' and 'Reelin in the Years' Critically acclaimed, even today, as one of the best debut albums ever made, It launched the Dan onto the world and set the standards that they would have to meet every time. This is not my favourite Dan album. Understandably as their first LP, it has a couple of what I would call 'fillers' on board, but these numbers have their own charm at the same time. Not bad for starters!

Pretzel Logic, from March '74. This saw some new sounds introduced, incuding a version of 'East St Louis Toodle-oo', which was a surprise for me. Top tracks include 'Rikki dont lose that Number' another hit, 'Any Major Dude', 'Barry Town' and 'With a Gun'. This album was, for me, quite a surprise, with a more prevalent use of acoustic sounds. A great album, not quite to the standard of 'Countdown' in my view, but still with some nice music and great lyrics.

This is the first Dan LP I ever listened to, and still remains among my favourites. 'Katy Lied' was released in April 1975. Without a weak track, it contains some of the best music and lyrics of the Dan oevre. Tracks like 'Rose Darling', the cheeky 'Everyone's gone to the movies', 'Doctor Wu' (another oriental reference, from many in Dan work), and Bad Sneakers encapsulate the things that make Steely Dan the great band that they are.

Continuing on where Katy Lied left off, The Royal Scam contains some great music.'Haitian Divorce','Don't take me Alive', and the tremendous title track combine with other top tracks and the continued use of the best session musicians to make yet another record which is up there with the best work the band have produced.

This is, in my opinion, the quintessential Steely Dan album. 'Aja', released in 1977, sees Becker, Fagen and the whole recording team at the peak of their powers. Although only seven tracks long, EVERY one exudes class and is not short of a bad tune. Includes possibly the best Dan song ever written, 'Deacon Blues', the peerless title track that sounds even better when you are high (on anything), Josie, and Peg. If there is a more memorable opening track (or intro) in popular music than 'Black Cow', then I have yet to hear it. A definite 10 out of 10, or maybe just 7 out of 7!

After Aja, there was a three year hiatus before 'Gaucho' was released. In between times an old LP, 'Youv'e gotta walk it like you talk it' was issued, as was a greatest hits package, but in November 1980 the new studio recording hit the shops. Gaucho was by all accounts a painful record to make, and the band ran way over time and budget, as well as having personal problems to encounter, but the result was still a striking one. 'Babylon Sisters' comes close to matching Black Cow as an opening track, 'Hey Nineteen' was a US hit, and described the 'mid life crisis' that perhaps the duo were encountering. Some of the lyrics are genuinely funny, and the music is, once again, without equal.

Much to the surprise of all Dan fans, the band reformed in the nineties to tour again with new musicians. The thing that we all hoped for eventually came to pass, and in 2000, 2 Against Nature was issued. After sampling the more recent solo work of Don and Walt, the overall sound of the record wasn't a surprise. 'Cousin Dupree' and 'Jack of Speed' are my favourites, although I love the whole album. Hopefully we won't have to wait as long for the next one. Between 'Gaucho' and '2vn', 'Gold' was released (a greatest hits album) along with its Expanded Edition, and 'Alive in America' showcased their mid '90's live shows in the states to great effect. Several re-hashes of the 1970/71 work were released (Stone Piano, Sun Mountain etc) much to the chagrin of the pair.

Prior to the reformation proper of Steely Dan, Becker and Fagen started to tentatively work together in the early nineties, and some of the results can be heard on this 1993 solo release. Fagen's second solo outing, he was the subject of much kidding in the music press for his lack of output. Fagen summed it up best himself 'I'm about as prolific as Prince' he dryly noted. Fans weren't complaining though as this release was a suberb trip through a futuristic landscape in his custom built, eco-friendly car, the Kamakiri. 'The frame is out of Glasgow' being a favourite Fagen line of mine, from the title track. At last he mentioned my home town instead of Barbados, Lhasa etc! Another triumph for Fagen.

This discography is simply a personal view of all of the Dan album material that is commonly accepted as their authorised output. There have, as mentioned previously. been a number of releases which Don and Walt would be horrified at, mainly from the ABC/Dunhill years, and although interesting, do not merit review. Also released was 'Citizen Steely Dan', but the only new material on that was too little to be worth a mention. I hope that you agree with my views. I love just about ALL Steely Dan have ever done and hope that this is reflected here.

Donald Fagen didn't take as long as people seem to think to take his first steps into solo work. 1982's 'The Nightfly' was an outstanding cut and contradicted those who didn't think he could make it without Becker. The result is a stunning 8 track record with IGY, The Nightfly, and New Frontier as standouts. It is generaly regarded as a semi autobiographical paean to his early life in fifties America, and the albums references support this view. This is an absolute classic.

In 1994, Walter Becker released his debut solo LP. '11 Tracks of Whack' was the title, and although the Dan influence was there in the music (as with Fagen), his own slant on that was evident. Great tracks such as 'This Moody Bastard', 'Hat too Flat' and the brilliant 'Cringemaker' are the best cuts. Quite different from Fagen's solo albums in that there are less keyboards in evidence, as you would expect, but the record is a perfect showcase for Beckers talents, both musically and lyrically.