Steely Dan : Only Pick One (Album)

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There's a recent MOJO 'golden age of hip hop' article that relays how both prince paul and pos independently loved 'peg' by steely dan, and that's how it ended up on 'eye know' by de la soul.

it reminds me that i should really check them out thoroughly,
but where do i start? pretzel logic right?

i have heard and loved the hits! (but not the recent stuff)

― piscesboy, Tuesday, 1 February 2005 20:26 (twenty years ago)

aja is my fave.

― polyphonic (polyphonic), Tuesday, 1 February 2005 20:35 (twenty years ago)

I've heard maybe four of the full-lengths, and I like Katy Lied best.

― jaymc (jaymc), Tuesday, 1 February 2005 20:36 (twenty years ago)

I'm not saying this as a "lock thread" tactic or anything, but just as an additional guide: there's lots of Steely Dan threads in the archives.

― jaymc (jaymc), Tuesday, 1 February 2005 20:36 (twenty years ago)

You can't go wrong w/ either Katy Lied or Pretzel Logic, though I'd take the former in a pinch (if only for "Your Gold Teeth II").

jaymc redirect xpost!

― David R. (popshots75`), Tuesday, 1 February 2005 20:37 (twenty years ago)

Choosing between Pretzel Logic & Can't Buy A Thrill is really hard. Katy Lied is good too, though, and to a lesser extent so is Aja.

― Ian John50n (orion), Tuesday, 1 February 2005 20:37 (twenty years ago)

Aside from Pretzel Logic, Katy Lied is my fave.

― adam (adam), Tuesday, 1 February 2005 20:37 (twenty years ago)

I vote 'Can't Buy a Thrill,' followed closely by 'Aja,' though the two sound very dissimilar.

― 57 7th (calstars), Tuesday, 1 February 2005 20:39 (twenty years ago)

Also, their last album (Everything Must Go) ain't bad @ all, if you go in w/ expectations properly calibrated.

― David R. (popshots75`), Tuesday, 1 February 2005 20:40 (twenty years ago)

Katy Lied may be my favorite Steely Dan record, but Aja may be one of my favorite records.

xpost .. 57 7th OTM about Aja....

― dave225 (Dave225), Tuesday, 1 February 2005 20:40 (twenty years ago)

Another vote for Katy Lied (Nobody picked Countdown to Ecstasy?)

― Ken L (Ken L), Tuesday, 1 February 2005 20:41 (twenty years ago)

pretzel logic isn't the best place to start if you wanna get a feel for what the band's all about. start with the royal scam.

― Nimrod Kovacs (Jody Beth Rosen), Tuesday, 1 February 2005 20:42 (twenty years ago)

countdown is my second pick for a starter album. (katy lied is my personal fave, but i think it's one of those records you need to work up to.)

― Nimrod Kovacs (Jody Beth Rosen), Tuesday, 1 February 2005 20:43 (twenty years ago)

I would recommend Can't Buy A Thrill as a first choice.

Aja is my pick. Perfection is no flaw, in this case.

― Bumfluff, Tuesday, 1 February 2005 20:44 (twenty years ago)

it's like, i would recommend hearing the bends before checking out ok computer or any other latter-day radiohead albums.

― Nimrod Kovacs (Jody Beth Rosen), Tuesday, 1 February 2005 20:45 (twenty years ago)

right now: Pretzel Logic

― Al (sitcom), Tuesday, 1 February 2005 20:45 (twenty years ago)

no wait! The Royal Scam!

― Al (sitcom), Tuesday, 1 February 2005 20:45 (twenty years ago)

no wait! Countdown!

― Al (sitcom), Tuesday, 1 February 2005 20:46 (twenty years ago)

Is there any Steely Dan album that's NOT worth recommending?

― David R. (popshots75`), Tuesday, 1 February 2005 20:47 (twenty years ago)

I don't think Gaucho is as bad as its reputation, but it wouldn't be a good starting point.

― Al (sitcom), Tuesday, 1 February 2005 20:49 (twenty years ago)

I was going to recommend Countdown cos I think in some ways it's quite unrepresentative, which makes it really representative if ya see what I mean.

― noodle vague (noodle vague), Tuesday, 1 February 2005 20:50 (twenty years ago)

This is the way I heard them...somehow it helped me to make sense of them.

Countdown to Ecstasy
Can't Buy a Thrill
The Royal Scam
Aja
Gaucho
Katy Lied
Pretzel Logic
Two Against Nature

― Bumfluff, Tuesday, 1 February 2005 20:52 (twenty years ago)

If I had heard Katy Lied or Pretzel Logic first I doubt I would have bought the others...

― Bumfluff, Tuesday, 1 February 2005 20:52 (twenty years ago)

Gaucho is my favorite right now, mostly because of "Third World Man." After that, The Royal Scam, especially the title track. Pretzel Logic is my least favorite, the title track excepted in that case.

― pdf (Phil Freeman), Tuesday, 1 February 2005 20:53 (twenty years ago)

I've actually avoided buying Thrill because of the cover art. And a former roommate waking up to "Do It Again" every morning for 3 or 4 months straight.

"If I had heard Katy Lied or Pretzel Logic first I doubt I would have bought the others..."

Ha - those were the first two I heard!

― David R. (popshots75`), Tuesday, 1 February 2005 20:54 (twenty years ago)

me, i'd go with either katy lied or pretzel logic for SONGS, or aja for SOUND, but they were an amazingly consistent band whose entire recording career, not counting the comeback two decades later, lasted exactly five years. it's not like they went through a million phases and a million twists and turns over a 15- or 20-year long and winding road. they made nothing but straight-up steely dan records, all of 'em good, and you can hardly go wrong with any of 'em. the only one i'd stay away from is the debut, can't buy a thrill, because donald fagen wasn't the full-time lead singer yet, and to me his voice is part of what makes the dan so damn steely.

― fact checking cuz (fcc), Tuesday, 1 February 2005 20:57 (twenty years ago)

(which is not to say i'd stay away from can't buy a thrill, period, just that i wouldn't start with it. that's what i meant.)

― fact checking cuz (fcc), Tuesday, 1 February 2005 20:58 (twenty years ago)

scam

― dave q (listerine), Tuesday, 1 February 2005 20:59 (twenty years ago)

me, i'd go with either katy lied or pretzel logic for SONGS, or aja for SOUND
Songs? SONGS? Aja = Peg, Deacon Blues, Josie, Home At Last, Black Cow. What on those albums can match them?
K i know what ya mean, but still...

― Bumfluff, Tuesday, 1 February 2005 21:04 (twenty years ago)

"rikki don't lose that number." "any major dude." "parker's band." "pretzel logic." "doctor wu." "everyone's gone to the movies." "bad sneakers." "daddy don't live in that new york city no more." do i have to go on?

― fact checking cuz (fcc), Tuesday, 1 February 2005 21:08 (twenty years ago)

Can't Buy A Thrill for "Dirty Work" alone. Aja comes close, just for "Peg" alone.. but I really don't mind the rest of Can't Buy A Thrill, whereas with Aja... hmmmm....

― donut christ (donut), Tuesday, 1 February 2005 21:09 (twenty years ago)

"If I had heard Katy Lied or Pretzel Logic first I doubt I would have bought the others..."

Ha - those were the first two I heard!

Same here,
KATY LIED

― Dr. Z Indahouse (AaronHz), Tuesday, 1 February 2005 21:10 (twenty years ago)

Rikki and Bad Sneakers are on a par but the others...nope.
Now if you'd said Throw Back The Little Ones...

― Bumfluff, Tuesday, 1 February 2005 21:13 (twenty years ago)

you ... question ... the ... greatness ... of ... doctor ... wu? harumph! i throw back you, you little one!

― fact checking cuz (fcc), Tuesday, 1 February 2005 21:16 (twenty years ago)

Seriously, Doctor Wu pwns.

― Dr. Z Indahouse (AaronHz), Tuesday, 1 February 2005 21:17 (twenty years ago)

Can't Buy A Thrill for "Dirty Work" alone
Donut OTM.

But also, that record's got 'Brooklyn Owes the Charmer,' 'Kings,' 'Midnight Cruiser,' and 'Turn that Heartbeat Over Again.' Damn!

― 57 7th (calstars), Tuesday, 1 February 2005 21:17 (twenty years ago)

Are you really just a shadow of the band that I once knew, are you with me Walter

― Bumfluff, Tuesday, 1 February 2005 21:18 (twenty years ago)

(is what I thought when I heard Katy Lied

― Bumfluff, Tuesday, 1 February 2005 21:20 (twenty years ago)

# Stupid people saying stupid things about music you like.
# Steely Dan : Only Pick One (Album)

― Dr. Z Indahouse (AaronHz), Tuesday, 1 February 2005 21:30 (twenty years ago)

;- )

― Bumfluff, Tuesday, 1 February 2005 21:32 (twenty years ago)

haha, this happens with every Steely Dan thread. I think the ILM consensus = GET THEM ALL!

― stephen morris (stephen morris), Tuesday, 1 February 2005 21:44 (twenty years ago)

Yes, get them all, except for perhaps Alive in America.

― Joseph McCombs (Joseph McCombs), Tuesday, 1 February 2005 22:16 (twenty years ago)

Katy Lied or Pretzel Logic.

― hstencil (hstencil), Tuesday, 1 February 2005 22:19 (twenty years ago)

katy lied, my favorite. i've listened to it for 20 years now, i still love it, and the strange lyrics and still hang in my head. the band is reknowned for studio fussiness, but they had some real problems in the making of this album, as denny diaz explains:

http://www.steelydan.com/dennys3.html

the boys also claim "any world that i'm welcome to" was intended for dusty springfield. how nice.

― Jinx, Wednesday, 2 February 2005 00:32 (twenty years ago)

meant, "the strange lyrics still hang in my head"...

― Jinx, Wednesday, 2 February 2005 00:42 (twenty years ago)

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