My 50 Favorite Albums (continued)

It's time I came clean about my 50 favorite albums. 

Yes, these are my 50 favorite albums, but I have penalized certain artists who have produced a bunch of great records and aren't really properly represented in my top 50.  That list would include The Stones, Dylan, Bob Marley, Wilco, David Bowie, Neil Young, The Replacements, and U2 for sure and probably a few more.

When I put the "short list" together I started with artists and then started listing records.  Every week I browse through that list for the pick of the week.  It's a really fun exercise and I recommend it highly for anyone who loves music.

But the result is that certain artists get penalized when its hard to pick one record over another.

No artist fits that bill better than this week's choice.

I do not think any artist has ever put together a string of amazing records to compare to what Steely Dan did in the five years from 1972 to 1977.

Can't Buy A Thrill - Nov 1972
Countdown To Ecstasy - July 1973
Pretzel Logic - March 1974
Katy Lied - April 1975
The Royal Scam - May 1976
Aja - Sept 1977

When I was in college and lived in The Lounge, we had a rule:

"When you don't know what to play, just play Steely Dan."

That worked pretty well.

And it never mattered which of these six records we played.  They are all that good.

But I have to pick one and its going to be Katy Lied.

I tend to lean toward Katy Lied a tad more than the others.

Every song on this record is exceptional.

And that is an amazing accomplishment considering that it was the fourth of six records produced in five years.

If you have never listened to Steely Dan, a distinct possibility for those of you who were born after 1970, then I highly recommend going to Amazon and buying this record.  You won't regret it.

Comments

[oliver]

can you hear me dr wu?

[jackson]

Kudos! It's a tough call, but I think you got it right. Countdown To Ecstacy or Aja may have been my choice. Egads what a difficult decision. It may sound funny, but when I was living with Andy Rock these past years, I found in him the unlikliest of Steely Dan fans, and we had a rule much like you had in the Lounge. Tony Alva gave me grief for my love of Steely Dan, and Chris won't touch the stuff either - I don't get it! Anyway, along comes eternal Guns and Roses fan, Andy Rock, and beneath the Jimmy Page posturing lurked a Steely Dan fan waiting to be born. One of the many good deeds I've done in my time here with you all.

[josh kerbel]

The steely dan box set, citizen, was a pretty solid buy if you were looking to get knee deep in th' dan real fast.

If you want a laugh, check out what Jeff Skunk Baxter does these days

[JayR]

I have so many great memories of playing those albums, and I also think it's a tough decision. I agree with you on Katy Lied from among the six you mentioned, but my overall top choice would be The Nightfly, which was the first Donald Fagen solo album. As close to a perfect album as there is.

Donald Fagen is one of my heroes. I could never play any of his music - too many weird chords with numbers I had never seen.

[Tony Alva]

"too many weird chords with numbers I had never seen."

EXACTLY!!! Songs you can NOT strum and hum...

Fagen's voice is grating sometimes too.

Truthfully, I've come to appreciate Steely Dan since I last gave Jackson grief about them, but it's still hard to get through an entire album. Magnificently recorded stuff.

Jackson, I do own a couple of those listed above. You can go back to your DOS class now...

[jackson]

are you sure they didn't come via Mrs. Alva? Granted it was nearly twenty years ago when you busted my chops for listening to 'My Old School'. Baxter, Diaz, Charlton - all ripping dudes. Baxter IS a Rocket Scientist.

[Reuben]

Yes, Baxter is now a consultant with the Pentagon on missile defence and counter-terrorism. I still can't connect the dots, but someday I will :))

I would probably have gone for Royal Scam or Aja, but any of these albums would probably make the cut. AND, I was born after 1970 even ;)

[scott partee]

Another great feature of Steely Dan is the way they can deliver totally subversive and deviant content that slips by 99 percent of listeners. I mean, they're named after a DILDO!

I hear them in the grocery store all the time -- a song called "hey Nineteen" which features the line:

The Cuervo Gold
The Find Columbian
Makes tonight a wonderful thing...

Gee, I wonder what they could be talking about?

Music nerds unleashed in LA with a lot of money and rock star status. Hmm.... That couldn't possible be a party.

I knew a guy in Aspen who engineered for the SD back in thd day. He had some pretty good tales.

[JayR]

Skunk Baxter made himself into a trivia fact by having the wisdom to leave Steely Dan to become one of 5 million backing guitarists for the Doobie Brothers.

[jackson]

yeah, I never bought into the Skunk/Mcdonald Doobies....It's fine to sit and play in the studio, but not onstage.

[jackson]

...unless you'te Fripp, John Lee Hooker, or B.B. King.

[Tony Alva]

Jackson,

Whatever you do, don't throw a SD record on when Mrs. Alva is around. SD and Led Zep are not permitted to be played in her midst. Just doesn't like them, and won't debate it. Very weird.

Now if you're gonna throw on some They Might Be Giants...

The SD records were my own purchases without regrets.

[JayR]

Don't undersell Michael McDonald as a live performer. We saw him a bunch of years ago at the Beacon Theater with Donald Fagen and Boz Skaggs as part of "The New York Rock and Soul Revue", which resulted in a pretty good live album. McDonald did a great little piece of "Pretzel Logic" (the line about the shoes).

[JayR]

Don't undersell Michael McDonald as a live performer. We saw him a bunch of years ago at the Beacon Theater with Donald Fagen and Boz Skaggs as part of "The New York Rock and Soul Revue", which resulted in a pretty good live album. McDonald did some of his own stuff and a great little piece of "Pretzel Logic" (the line about the shoes), and he sounded great.

[Mark]

My wife never liked Steely Dan...for 20 years she hated me putting them on. And then we saw then about 4 years ago and she was Dr. Wuing, Cousin Dupreing and Deacon Bluing all night. My daugher at the show said "I didn't know you were such a fan", "I didn't know either" she said as she danced.

There is a local SD covers ban, AjaBlu...these guys have them down note for note. If you are in the Bay Area...see them. Seeing them and listening to them play every few months always reminds me how great SD (and live music) is. Oh...and usually it is for the price of a Beer.

[JayR]

My wife and I saw Steely Dan at Jones Beach in 1992 when she was about seven months pregnant with my son. She was freaked out by how much he was kicking during the concert, particularly during heavy bass and drum parts. My son is now 12, and he plays standup bass in his middle school's jazz band. Hmmm...