regarding Victor Feldman. many years ago i found a sealed 1958 Contemporary stereo of Victor Feldman Arrives. in the lower left corner was a cutout with the inscription as i remember: Leisle i will always remember your brother Scott....he was referring to Scott Lo Faro the double bassist who died in a car crash some years later. I am 76 and i found the record at a goodwill 30+ years ago. it took me about 3 years of searching to locate and return this album to Scotts sister. a great day in my record collecting.
@@loslobos9461I think he said this in an interview with Down Beat ages ago. RIP Wayne Shorter, he really deserves to be better appreciated among mainstream listeners, even though he's an icon for us jazz and fusion fans.
Often overlooked but, I think, just as important are engineers Roger Nichols and Bill Shnee who are key to the sophisticated and beautifully recorded sound of Steely Dan. Both were masters of precision and like Donald Fagen and Walter Becker always pushed towards perfection.
i love steely dan! they are my 4th favorite band, and my favorite non-metal band. in my opinion aja is their best song, but the album as a whole, while amazing, is only their 4th or 5th best album. countdown to ecstasy and gaucho are my 2 favorite. then i would say can't buy a thrill is a clear cut #3. even the songs that weren't singles are awesome, especially only a fool would say that and kings. then the 4 and 5 spots are a toss-up between aja and the royal scam. then 6 - 9 is pretzel logic, katy lied, two against nature, and everything must go.
One of my favourite albums. It really deserves to be called a masterpiece and timeless classic. The sound is unbelievable good. For years this was the reference when you wanted to test how good your hifi system was.
For those of us who were lucky enough to grow up with Steely Dan from the beginning, even after all these years, we never tire of listening to them and learning about them.
From a bad day at school in the 70s to a bad day at work in 2024, I come home, grab a beer, put on some Steely Dan, take a few hits and everything else feels all unnecessary!
Fagen and Becker, the be-all and end-all of composition, performance, engineering and performance perfection. Their 50+ year-old work remains as fresh (no, fresher!) than anything else today.
Doug, Of all the reactions I have watched regarding anything SD, you are the ONLY one that is really qualified to analyze their music. Not that the other reactions are not entertaining, but SD really deserves the deep dive that you go into. Bravo..
@@TsunamiBeefPies Gary Katz never pushed a fader or positioned a microphone in his life, he wouldn't know what to do with that sort of technical stuff. He was the old style of “producer” (more of a 'recording manager') who made the calls, knew the people and made the record happen. He was basically ABC Records' hired gun in charge of the recording sessions. The credit for the actual sound production on Aja goes to chief engineer Roger Nichols (who is pretty much an icon in music recording history), along with Fagen and Becker who were both extremely hands on at this point.
@@SvenElven Indeed. The Rick Beato interview with Roger Nichols is superb (and every other SD session player / contributor he has managed to interview) and completely supports this
Reminds me of Rick Beato's channel with the in-depth musical analysis of the songs. Both Doug and Rick are very knowledgeable about music theory and applications in their respective backgrounds.
@tomratcliff3755 I just love that someone out there knows who the great Lee Ritenour is! Uh...I had to look at one of my Ritenour albums to make sure I was spelling it right (I was). One the unsung heroes of "Jazz" guitar!
Both Chicago (the years with Terry Kath, 67-78) and Steely Dan are my favorites for how they were able to blend jazz, rock, blues, etc into their own signature styles of rock with horns. So smooth!
This and Gaucho are two of the single most engrossing, complex, and addicting listens that appeal to a wide audience maybe ever. Masters of the craft, I cannot gush about them enough.
The Steely Dan rabbit hole could easily encapsulate your entire AUTUMN of this year. The rarest of bands have NO weak songs. Steely Dan has NO weak songs. Thank you!!
@@peboblank437it’s a blues drone you fool; listen to the melody, the deadly slide guitar fills, the percussion, the syncopated handclaps, the marimba, the bouncy bass, Show Biz Kids is an unequivocally fantastic song with a lot going for it. Chord progressions are not the only or even the main reason Steely Dan song are good.
Heard Peg on the radio at work on the day it was released. We usually had on WXRT in Chicago, in the paint shop. They continued to play other songs from Aja throughout the day. I couldn't help stopping what I was doing to simply listen. I was blown away by what I had heard. Out the door at closing time, and went to Woodfield Mall and bought the album. Then, went up to Schaak Electronics, and bought a Technics Turntable that I still have today. I got home, hooked up the turntable, put on Aja, and took it all in. A Masterpiece. Thanks, Doug.
Similar story. Aja came out the year I graduated high school. With money, I received as a graduation gift, I walked into a stereo store in the San Fernando Valley. ( In LA). The salesman was playing Aja for a customer in the “high end” room. As I stood in the back of the room, I thought, “ WHAT IS THIS MUSIC?” After that , man, it was all over. Nothing could compare. Still can’t!!!
Of all the Classic Rock, Soft Rock, Hard Rock, Pop Rock, Acid Rock, Southern Rock, Prog Rock, you-name-it rock, nothing I tell you Nothing has worn as well over the years as Steely Dan. I wore all my cassette tapes raw and knew every note, every nuance of all the music I owned and loved, and I would sometimes grow weary of music I "loved", but my ears Never tired of Steely Dan. To this very day, every song is Still a Joy, full stop. Always a musical feast, Every Time.
AJA is da bomb Steely Dan album! I’ve had the LP since day one and still play it often - 47 years later! It still holds up and something new catches my ear every time! Hope my sons will be listening to AJA 47 years from today!!😊❤❤❤
This record is so well recorded and produced, in the 70s all the hifi shops used it to test out the hi-fi systems. It has to be some of the most complex music ever to appear in the charts.
Aja, Roxy Music's "Avalon", and a bunch of Russ Freeman's Rippingtons albums were the go-to "try this out" albums in the stereo shops in the mid/late 80's in my area.
A vital part of the Steely Dan sound is the μ-major chord (as Donald Fagen refers to it) which is a major triad with an added 2nd (not 9th because that implies a b7), either replacing or added to the 3rd note of the triad. So the C μ-major would be C-D-E-G. Try it, and a lot of this stuff will fall into place.
In learning a few of their tunes, I have found that you can’t just play the notes of those chords in any voicing and have it sound right. The voicing has to be the same as they did it for the most part, or it just doesn’t work as well.
I can still vividly remember putting the needle to the album on my new Technics turntable - from my first legit post college paycheck - back in 1978 and very consciously choosing to listen to Aja. Genuinely felt like I was in heaven
Yes, it was the very first album my brother played on his new CD player setup too, around twenty years ago. He and I have been fans of Steely Dan since roughly around the time this album was released. :)
I'm 67 and this album highlights my life at that time when it came out. It triggers so many memories. I was then, previously, and will forever be a fan of Steely Dan. I grew up the son of a semi-professional jazz pianist mother (heard Brubeck's "Take 5"" when it first came out at age 5 or 6, so I didn't get it till later, but it definitely sunk into my mind at the time) who made sure all her 3 sons learned to play instruments (for me it was trumpet, baritone horn, bass guitar, drums, mandolin, and piano, but not proficiently). I have always been awed by Donald Fagen and Walter Becker and all the incredible top notch musicians that made up Steely Dan. Mozart, Beethoven, Bach, and others would have been impressed or at least amused.
I am also 67 and eagerly bought this album when it came out. A culmination of their progress through their previous albums ... each one progressing in sophistication, while remaining unbelievably memorable. A true case of the more I practice the luckier I get.
I love your breakdowns of chord structure. You and Rick Beato nail this part of reactions. And Steely Dan are the masters of music structure. I was a drummer in a band back in the 90s and I never needed to know this part of songwriting. I just kept time and filled in at the changes when needed. I never needed to know the words of our songs. I wish I dove deeper into my own band's melodies and been an all around musician.
Steve Gadd did not play the solo in Aja anything like that during rehearsals. He pulled that out for the recording and made everybody's jaw drop and almost forget what they were supposed to be doing.
@@steveelshoff3353You are mistaken. Steve: "We were all doing too much coke during the late 70s. But I never did it while recording" -Modern Drummer magazine. What is YOUR source for this Bullshit statement? Methinks YOU do cocaine...
@@muzikkification They were a bit harsh but imo it's fair, on such a seminal take like that, it's important to honor the truth whatever it may be. If the man was sober, that's a different story than if he was gakked. Plus it's not like we need more coked out drummers who think they're the next Gadd LOL
Yes, this is an epic album. thanks for taking the time to analyze and react. Doug, please provide a reaction to side one of the debut album by Ambrosia. Talking about an engineering masterpiece it too won a grammy for engineering. Nice, Nice, Very Nice, Time Waits for No One and Holdin' On to Yesterday are the key songs here, but the entire album is fantastic. Thanks Doug.
@@stevesheroan4131 Donald Fagen's solo album, _The Nightfly_ , is up there. In fact, it's arguably even better soundwise, since it was recorded 100% digitally.
@@mournblade1066 I agree, though it it has a little too much drum machine for me. It’s done as well as could be done, it just isn’t Purdy (a little pun for fun).
After you've finished the album, there's a really fantastic documentary dvd by Classic Albums on the making of Aja with interviews by most everyone involved including Donald, Walter, the engineer, producer and many of the musicians. Facinating stuff! Watch it with the misses!
One of the greatest albums of all time. Sheer perfection! I love listening to Doug talk even though I have very little idea what he’s actually talking about. I don’t know if anyone else will agree with me, but I’d love to see Doug react to Oh Good Grief by Vince Guaraldi, the music from all the Peanuts holiday specials. Lovely album.
Oh my God! You are in for such a treat when you do side 2! "Home At Last", and "I Got The News" never really got much notice, but both are fantastic songs and deserve way more praise than they received. ("Home At Last" is one of those songs I keep inside my head and "listen to" from memory, it's THAT good!) "Peg" and "Josie", on the other hand, got a lot of attention and radio play (all of it well deserved!). Both quite different from each other and both stand out as the kind of song that knocks your socks off.
I never realized Denny Dias played on the Aja album even though I've listened to it uncountable times. He was the lead guitarist with the band when Becker was still playing bass. He played lead on "Do It Again" while "Skunk" Baxter played bongos.
Loved the Dan when I was a kid / pre-teen (Do It Again, Reeling In The Years, etc...). Then I started to play guitar and bass and get more deeply into music. When I got Aja I was more mega blown away as I ever have been over anything. A true masterpiece.
This has been this metalheads secret favorite album since my dad showed it to me as about an 8 year old. I’m 42 now and it is still the jazz pop, audiophile, sardonic wit in a smoky club classic. Not many better!
hahaha, i used to have guilty pleasures and all, but no longer care anymore what others think of my record collection! At my age, I don't gotta prove anything to anyone or justify why I like Steely Dan or anyone else.😎
Amazing that using so many different session players Steely Dan could still maintain their unique 'sound'. A tribute to these guy's writing style and choices for instrumentation. Smoothly Funky.
This arrived as I was due to leave 🏴 high school on its release...it has travelled everywhere with me including a decade in the 🇲🇷🐪🌴 Sahara. Never ever tired of it. Donald Fagen's Nightfly is a gem too.
I enjoyed your reaction! Those two are Music Scientists! They can blend chords in a non-conventional way that makes you listen to it over and over again, yet never get tired
Thanks, Doug! This brilliant album just gets better with age, in my opinion. I could say that about almost all of the Steely Dan catalog, though. Extraordinary music that, in its way, is every bit as progressive as Gentle Giant or King Crimson. This is highly sophisticated music, and that is mostly the work of Donald Fagen, a wizard at crafting highly advanced chord structures and then fitting catchy melodies to go over them. The song "Aja" is simply a masterpiece. I'm blown away all over again every time I hear it. By the way, I was 23 when this album came out, young-en! You're the best, Doug!
Steely Dan was the music of my high school days and will always have a special place in my heart. I was a singer as opposed to a musician, but I have always had a deep admiration of songs that were instrumentally complex and sophisticated - and nobody was better at creating those songs than Steely Dan. Nearly 50 years later, "Aja" is still miles ahead of its time.
Much enjoyed you reviewing Aja, my fav album since I was 15. You may never be able to figure this out, but just close your eyes, turn it up, and listen to the masters like all of us out here. Forget school - we can all tell that you know and get it! thanks for the ride!
Sheer quality. As sophisticated as pop/rock ever got. For me, Deacon Blues remains their individual stand-out track. It achieves a unique perfection for their style at that time. Excellent review Doug.
Deacon Blues is probably the most complicated song structurewise that I know how to play on guitar. I used it as a litmus test with others when they didn't believe that I play guitar (because I guess you're supposed to "look" a certain way as a guitar player). This and Eruption (of course). There was a band called Deacon Blue that of course named themselves after this song.
Doug, ive listened to this album a lot over the years but today you've taken me to another level of listening, especially Black Cow which often i would breeze through en route to Aja. Looking forward to the second side!
I bought this when it came, very young, just 13. I really liked it, but obviously couldn’t appreciate it in full. It grew. Over the years, I have also got clues to what the lyrics are all about. I now know what ”Black Cow” is about and the rest of it - except the title track. Well, I’m swedish so english is my second language.
Doug - Watch the video of 'The Making of Aja' . Its Don and Walter sat at a mixing desk and almost re-mixing this real time. It is fascinating and there's so many little musical inserts
38:00 I think they're writing chord to chord on Aja and Deacon Blues, meaning mentally eliminating all but the transition between the one just written and what would sound cool next, within the parameters of the mood
Doug I like the fact that it made you veer into music theory and philosophy. They were so far ahead of the time that no one has caught up yet! I used to have a complete scores book, it does exist and it is amazing to follow along with that. Great installment.
Chord master Donald. He's a legend. Love these guys. Donald's voice is also unique. No one sings like him. You might do all SD albums. From Countdown to Gaucho. Also must listen to his first solo 'Nightfly', sensational record. I cried when I wrote this song, sue me if I play too long, WHAT A LINE. Well done Doug..
I heard this LP when it originally was released, and hearing it here today, I am STILL amazed and awed. Nothing has EVER sounded like Aja. It's on top of the pop/jazz/rock/fusion/prog list for greatness. Thanks Doug.
Truly a masterpiece. I listen to this album regularly (and The Royal Scam and Gaucho and The Nightfly and... you get the idea). Not a dud in the bunch. Simply superb.
I find it amazing that Doug isn't more familiar with Steely Dan. Aja is a masterpiece and it's so much fun to watch Doug discover the genius going on in their music. Looking forward to Side two of Aja review. I wish I knew more about music so I could better understand what Doug is saying. I have listened to Aja probably hundreds of times over the years. Crazy good.
I've loved this band since I heard 'Do it Again' as it first hit the radio. We're talking my high school years. I flip flop on which album is my favorite, but if pressed I'd have to say it's either 'Aja' or 'Katy Lied'. They are the masters and were recognized as such. Take for example the Eagles homage in their line: "They stab it with their steely knives..." Thanks for putting the work in, Doug!
Thank you Doug for coming back to Steely Dan. This album in particular. When you get to Side 2, please share with your listeners a little more about how much sonic meat is in this sandwich. Not just the musicianship, but the recording engineering and mixing. Anyone that wants to learn the art\science of audio recording needs to study and absorb this piece of work. It's just phenomenal in both conceptualization and execution. There are SO many layers to this onion to relish. It's right up there with Bohemian Rhapsody, Dark Side of the Moon, and Wish You Were Here in terms of scope and technique. As many others have mentioned, this album is part of my childhood and early music education. I was blessed to have one of the great album-oriented rock FM radio stations in my town. So, I was spoiled to hear deeper tracks from artists all the time. And on Sunday night, they would play 6 albums in their entirety. Even though it was an AOR station, they recognized the brilliance of softer music like Steely Dan and played them a lot. Because it was THAT good. And my life is richer for it.
i remember listening to this album in elementary school and loving it. I'm older now and have been playing music for almost 40 years. I still love it in a much more mature way musically. Still an amazing album. Aja is my favorite track.
In the making of Aja doc, Larry Carlton was the conductor for Walt and Don in the studio. He would get demo's and sheet music to guide whoever was in the session playing that day.
This is top shelf. One thing I really like about you Doug is that your intellect and emotions are very engaged. Some who are quite studied lose the emotion or seem to. Either way I dig what you do. Great choice today. This music is magic to me. Thanks. Rock on! React to Utopia caravan sometime please. Bye for now.
There is a YT vid of a college professor that said he uses them in his music theory class. You can see why in this album. Up until the early 2000's I believe they were one of the most sampled bands in hip hop, and it's that jazz/pop fusion and unique sound that you can see why you'd want it in your songs.
The same day Gadd tracked the drums to “Aja” he also recorded the drums for Leo Sayer’s huge hit “you make me feel like dancin”- supposedly all while hung over and sleepless.
Can you believe they used to play this stuff on the radio? When FM radio first started it was so great!
Steely Dan are truly their own genre.
regarding Victor Feldman. many years ago i found a sealed 1958 Contemporary stereo of Victor Feldman Arrives. in the lower left corner was a cutout with the inscription as i remember: Leisle i will always remember your brother Scott....he was referring to Scott Lo Faro the double bassist who died in a car crash some years later. I am 76 and i found the record at a goodwill 30+ years ago. it took me about 3 years of searching to locate and return this album to Scotts sister. a great day in my record collecting.
Aja is its own genre.
That Steve Gadd and Wayne Shorter solo in Aja gives me the chills every single time I listen to it. Its so goddamn beautiful
Rumor is Shorter did it in one take and didn’t ask to be paid.
@@loslobos9461 I read that he listened, wrote out a sketch, and then played it down. That ascending low tone thing is just so....Wayne.
@@loslobos9461I think he said this in an interview with Down Beat ages ago. RIP Wayne Shorter, he really deserves to be better appreciated among mainstream listeners, even though he's an icon for us jazz and fusion fans.
One of the All Time Best Albums Ever!
Often overlooked but, I think, just as important are engineers Roger Nichols and Bill Shnee who are key to the sophisticated and beautifully recorded sound of Steely Dan. Both were masters of precision and like Donald Fagen and Walter Becker always pushed towards perfection.
Cover needs to go up on Doug's wall of honor
@@UK_LemonsAbsolutely one of the best engineered and produced albums of any genre, ever.😊
i love steely dan! they are my 4th favorite band, and my favorite non-metal band. in my opinion aja is their best song, but the album as a whole, while amazing, is only their 4th or 5th best album. countdown to ecstasy and gaucho are my 2 favorite. then i would say can't buy a thrill is a clear cut #3. even the songs that weren't singles are awesome, especially only a fool would say that and kings. then the 4 and 5 spots are a toss-up between aja and the royal scam. then 6 - 9 is pretzel logic, katy lied, two against nature, and everything must go.
I'd definitely put in a top ten perfect album list. Takes me back to summers with the T-tops off the Camaro. 😊
One of my favourite albums. It really deserves to be called a masterpiece and timeless classic. The sound is unbelievable good. For years this was the reference when you wanted to test how good your hifi system was.
For those of us who were lucky enough to grow up with Steely Dan from the beginning, even after all these years, we never tire of listening to them and learning about them.
From a bad day at school in the 70s to a bad day at work in 2024, I come home, grab a beer, put on some Steely Dan, take a few hits and everything else feels all unnecessary!
Fagen and Becker, the be-all and end-all of composition, performance, engineering and performance perfection. Their 50+ year-old work remains as fresh (no, fresher!) than anything else today.
Doug,
Of all the reactions I have watched regarding anything SD, you are the ONLY one that is really qualified to analyze their music. Not that the other reactions are not entertaining, but SD really deserves the deep dive that you go into.
Bravo..
Black Cow and the entire Aja album is the definitive music to sample the quality of ear- and headphones. The audiophile’s audio.
That was where Producer Gary Katz came in. He was key to the clean, clear sound of every SD album he was associated with.
Always sounds amazing in my Sennheiser HD600’s
@@TsunamiBeefPies Gary Katz never pushed a fader or positioned a microphone in his life, he wouldn't know what to do with that sort of technical stuff. He was the old style of “producer” (more of a 'recording manager') who made the calls, knew the people and made the record happen. He was basically ABC Records' hired gun in charge of the recording sessions.
The credit for the actual sound production on Aja goes to chief engineer Roger Nichols (who is pretty much an icon in music recording history), along with Fagen and Becker who were both extremely hands on at this point.
@@SvenElven Indeed. The Rick Beato interview with Roger Nichols is superb (and every other SD session player / contributor he has managed to interview) and completely supports this
Reminds me of Rick Beato's channel with the in-depth musical analysis of the songs. Both Doug and Rick are very knowledgeable about music theory and applications in their respective backgrounds.
One of my favorite albums of my life. Steely Dan, erroneously called West Coast Jazz, created some of the most iconic music of my lifetime.
YUP!
One of my favorites too, but Donald Fagen himself has gone on record saying that they were not a jazz band.
ROLLING STONE rag-azine called (calls) Steeley Dan YACHT ROCK...
It's not always the artist that defines the genre. I wonder what Wayne Shorter would have called it? Or Lee Ritenower (sp?) ?
@tomratcliff3755 I just love that someone out there knows who the great Lee Ritenour is!
Uh...I had to look at one of my Ritenour albums to make sure I was spelling it right (I was).
One the unsung heroes of "Jazz" guitar!
I was 16 when this came out. Changed my musical tastes forever.
Both Chicago (the years with Terry Kath, 67-78) and Steely Dan are my favorites for how they were able to blend jazz, rock, blues, etc into their own signature styles of rock with horns. So smooth!
Oh, that right there sums it up. My faves too.
This and Gaucho are two of the single most engrossing, complex, and addicting listens that appeal to a wide audience maybe ever. Masters of the craft, I cannot gush about them enough.
Yes I love Gaucho too. I would also add Donald Fagen's The Nightfly album. Superb, got to be the vinyl for that though.
The Steely Dan rabbit hole could easily encapsulate your entire AUTUMN of this year.
The rarest of bands have NO weak songs. Steely Dan has NO weak songs. Thank you!!
I also thought thsi until I heard "Show Biz Kids" - a song with only one chord throughout - but it has great lyrics! 🙂
@@peboblank437it’s a blues drone you fool; listen to the melody, the deadly slide guitar fills, the percussion, the syncopated handclaps, the marimba, the bouncy bass, Show Biz Kids is an unequivocally fantastic song with a lot going for it. Chord progressions are not the only or even the main reason Steely Dan song are good.
Queen of the Quarter
@@f1refall or pearl
Steely Dan and Sly and the Family Stone, as close to unimpeachable as music acts get, so good!
Heard Peg on the radio at work on the day it was released. We usually had on WXRT in Chicago, in the paint shop. They continued to play other songs from Aja throughout the day. I couldn't help stopping what I was doing to simply listen. I was blown away by what I had heard. Out the door at closing time, and went to Woodfield Mall and bought the album. Then, went up to Schaak Electronics, and bought a Technics Turntable that I still have today.
I got home, hooked up the turntable, put on Aja, and took it all in. A Masterpiece.
Thanks, Doug.
Similar story. Aja came out the year I graduated high school. With money, I received as a graduation gift, I walked into a stereo store in the San Fernando Valley. ( In LA). The salesman was playing Aja for a customer in the “high end” room. As I stood in the back of the room, I thought, “ WHAT IS THIS MUSIC?” After that , man, it was all over. Nothing could compare. Still can’t!!!
"Throw out the hardware,
let's do it right"
that brilliant line in "Aja" always puts a smile on my face
You know Peg and Josie, but Home at Last is the hidden Nugget!
I love everything about this album but I think Home at Last is my favorite song.
Agree. I think it rivals the song "Aja" for musical sophistication.
home at last is so good!
so true
In my top 10 for sure. Purdie shuffle + Rainey + Homeric Epic + the Dan... how could it ever miss?
I absolutely love you Doug. These songs are so deeply embedded in my world, the best way to listen to them is with someone else's ears.
Of all the Classic Rock, Soft Rock, Hard Rock, Pop Rock, Acid Rock, Southern Rock, Prog Rock, you-name-it rock, nothing I tell you Nothing has worn as well over the years as Steely Dan. I wore all my cassette tapes raw and knew every note, every nuance of all the music I owned and loved, and I would sometimes grow weary of music I "loved", but my ears Never tired of Steely Dan. To this very day, every song is Still a Joy, full stop. Always a musical feast, Every Time.
“I know just enough about Jazz to be dangerous.”
🤣🤣
That makes two of us, Doug!
T-shirt!
Indeed. A true masterpiece - combination of elite composition and musicianship!
AJA is da bomb Steely Dan album! I’ve had the LP since day one and still play it often - 47 years later! It still holds up and something new catches my ear every time! Hope my sons will be listening to AJA 47 years from today!!😊❤❤❤
This record is so well recorded and produced, in the 70s all the hifi shops used it to test out the hi-fi systems. It has to be some of the most complex music ever to appear in the charts.
When I went to buy a hi fi system back in the day they used Donald Fagen’s Nightfly album!!
Aja, Roxy Music's "Avalon", and a bunch of Russ Freeman's Rippingtons albums were the go-to "try this out" albums in the stereo shops in the mid/late 80's in my area.
A vital part of the Steely Dan sound is the μ-major chord (as Donald Fagen refers to it) which is a major triad with an added 2nd (not 9th because that implies a b7), either replacing or added to the 3rd note of the triad. So the C μ-major would be C-D-E-G. Try it, and a lot of this stuff will fall into place.
Could you come over and show me that?
These notes can make either C/D, Cadd2 or Cadd9 it depends on their way you put them
That's a lovely bright chord, thanks
Isn’t it called a mu major chord?
See the fine video by Nerd Writer.
In learning a few of their tunes, I have found that you can’t just play the notes of those chords in any voicing and have it sound right. The voicing has to be the same as they did it for the most part, or it just doesn’t work as well.
One of the albums that I consider to be perfect.
True. Fleetwood Mac’s “Rumours” is another.
This album's recording engineer deserves some serious props.
Roger Nichols was the engineer behind all the classic Steely Dan.
Sophisticated music. Excellent musicianship
I can still vividly remember putting the needle to the album on my new Technics turntable - from my first legit post college paycheck - back in 1978 and very consciously choosing to listen to Aja. Genuinely felt like I was in heaven
Yes, it was the very first album my brother played on his new CD player setup too, around twenty years ago. He and I have been fans of Steely Dan since roughly around the time this album was released. :)
This is right alongside Dark Side of the Moon for greatest album of all time for me. The title track alone is an absolute masterpiece.
The unmistakable sophisticated mix of Pop and Jazz that makes Steely Dan so unique ....
I love that Doug does not stop the tracks to comment, but just throw in his comments in real time. Nice!
A never ending source of joy. Over and over, I played this since 1979. Still love every note.
I'm 67 and this album highlights my life at that time when it came out. It triggers so many memories. I was then, previously, and will forever be a fan of Steely Dan. I grew up the son of a semi-professional jazz pianist mother (heard Brubeck's "Take 5"" when it first came out at age 5 or 6, so I didn't get it till later, but it definitely sunk into my mind at the time) who made sure all her 3 sons learned to play instruments (for me it was trumpet, baritone horn, bass guitar, drums, mandolin, and piano, but not proficiently). I have always been awed by Donald Fagen and Walter Becker and all the incredible top notch musicians that made up Steely Dan. Mozart, Beethoven, Bach, and others would have been impressed or at least amused.
I am also 67 and eagerly bought this album when it came out. A culmination of their progress through their previous albums ... each one progressing in sophistication, while remaining unbelievably memorable.
A true case of the more I practice the luckier I get.
I love your breakdowns of chord structure. You and Rick Beato nail this part of reactions.
And Steely Dan are the masters of music structure.
I was a drummer in a band back in the 90s and I never needed to know this part of songwriting. I just kept time and filled in at the changes when needed.
I never needed to know the words of our songs. I wish I dove deeper into my own band's melodies and been an all around musician.
This is a worthy successor to Gershwin. The composition demonstrates formal, academic, historical mastery and it is also alive. Real art.
I've never clicked on a link so fast. Happy Friday y'all!
LOVE Aja! Amazing songwriting and performance. I was totally into prog when this album came out. Truly a masterpiece.
Thanks for the video!
Steve Gadd did not play the solo in Aja anything like that during rehearsals. He pulled that out for the recording and made everybody's jaw drop and almost forget what they were supposed to be doing.
And he did it coked out of his mind.
@@steveelshoff3353You are mistaken. Steve: "We were all doing too much coke during the late 70s. But I never did it while recording" -Modern Drummer magazine.
What is YOUR source for this Bullshit statement? Methinks YOU do cocaine...
@@JasonSmith-jr7jh who cares if he did or not, like jesus dude, chill
@@JasonSmith-jr7jh Gadd did a long interview w Rick Beato and he talks extensively about what recording that song and w the Dan was like.
@@muzikkification They were a bit harsh but imo it's fair, on such a seminal take like that, it's important to honor the truth whatever it may be. If the man was sober, that's a different story than if he was gakked.
Plus it's not like we need more coked out drummers who think they're the next Gadd LOL
Ahh Yes. An album with riffs so tasty I couldn't resist wiping my mouth as well @11:24. Thanks Doug!
Yes, this is an epic album. thanks for taking the time to analyze and react. Doug, please provide a reaction to side one of the debut album by Ambrosia. Talking about an engineering masterpiece it too won a grammy for engineering. Nice, Nice, Very Nice, Time Waits for No One and Holdin' On to Yesterday are the key songs here, but the entire album is fantastic. Thanks Doug.
That album was produced by another true master in Alan Parsons.
Sonically, hard to come up with a better sounding album in my 67 years. Aja is a true masterpiece in every sense of the word.
One of the only contenders is Gaucho, which I think actually sounds better, but I prefer the songs and vibe of Aja a bit more.
@@stevesheroan4131 Donald Fagen's solo album, _The Nightfly_ , is up there. In fact, it's arguably even better soundwise, since it was recorded 100% digitally.
@@mournblade1066 I agree, though it it has a little too much drum machine for me. It’s done as well as could be done, it just isn’t Purdy (a little pun for fun).
one of the best albums of all time
So outrageous ❤
The horns in Deacon Blues are so gorgeous, you hope they have horns like that in heaven.
God has horns. And they are better. That must be amazing given how perfect Steely Dans are
The sax guy on Deacon Blues was a member of the tonight show orchestra during Johnny Carson's time on the show. Got to listen to side 2 of Aja!
After you've finished the album, there's a really fantastic documentary dvd by Classic Albums on the making of Aja with interviews by most everyone involved including Donald, Walter, the engineer, producer and many of the musicians. Facinating stuff! Watch it with the misses!
One of the greatest albums of all time. Sheer perfection! I love listening to Doug talk even though I have very little idea what he’s actually talking about. I don’t know if anyone else will agree with me, but I’d love to see Doug react to Oh Good Grief by Vince Guaraldi, the music from all the Peanuts holiday specials. Lovely album.
Oh my God! You are in for such a treat when you do side 2! "Home At Last", and "I Got The News" never really got much notice, but both are fantastic songs and deserve way more praise than they received. ("Home At Last" is one of those songs I keep inside my head and "listen to" from memory, it's THAT good!) "Peg" and "Josie", on the other hand, got a lot of attention and radio play (all of it well deserved!). Both quite different from each other and both stand out as the kind of song that knocks your socks off.
"Home at Last" is the hidden gem of this album.
I never realized Denny Dias played on the Aja album even though I've listened to it uncountable times. He was the lead guitarist with the band when Becker was still playing bass. He played lead on "Do It Again" while "Skunk" Baxter played bongos.
There's a documentary on the making of the album. Denny is on it playing the Aja solo
Loved the Dan when I was a kid / pre-teen (Do It Again, Reeling In The Years, etc...). Then I started to play guitar and bass and get more deeply into music. When I got Aja I was more mega blown away as I ever have been over anything. A true masterpiece.
This has been this metalheads secret favorite album since my dad showed it to me as about an 8 year old. I’m 42 now and it is still the jazz pop, audiophile, sardonic wit in a smoky club classic. Not many better!
hahaha, i used to have guilty pleasures and all, but no longer care anymore what others think of my record collection! At my age, I don't gotta prove anything to anyone or justify why I like Steely Dan or anyone else.😎
Amazing that using so many different session players Steely Dan could still maintain their unique 'sound'. A tribute to these guy's writing style and choices for instrumentation. Smoothly Funky.
I love Steely Dan. One of my favorite records of all time. Yes, I have the original record. And yes, you have to get to side 2 asap.
This arrived as I was due to leave 🏴 high school on its release...it has travelled everywhere with me including a decade in the 🇲🇷🐪🌴 Sahara. Never ever tired of it. Donald Fagen's Nightfly is a gem too.
I'm a jazz fan. I also grew up in the 70s and 80s so I got the appreciation for that period and classic rock. I f'ing love Steely Dan
My favorite album byֶ my favorite band. My son started listening to them in his teens. After a few weeks, he said, “They’re their own genre.”
What a thrill to hear the music rattling around in Donald and Walter's minds. Our fortune is to experience this genius, so timeless
I enjoyed your reaction! Those two are Music Scientists! They can blend chords in a non-conventional way that makes you listen to it over and over again, yet never get tired
An absolute timeless masterpiece 😎🙏❤️🎶
Thanks, Doug! This brilliant album just gets better with age, in my opinion. I could say that about almost all of the Steely Dan catalog, though. Extraordinary music that, in its way, is every bit as progressive as Gentle Giant or King Crimson. This is highly sophisticated music, and that is mostly the work of Donald Fagen, a wizard at crafting highly advanced chord structures and then fitting catchy melodies to go over them. The song "Aja" is simply a masterpiece. I'm blown away all over again every time I hear it. By the way, I was 23 when this album came out, young-en!
You're the best, Doug!
I very much enjoy watching someone like you (who is extremely musical) react to this stuff!
Steely Dan was the music of my high school days and will always have a special place in my heart. I was a singer as opposed to a musician, but I have always had a deep admiration of songs that were instrumentally complex and sophisticated - and nobody was better at creating those songs than Steely Dan. Nearly 50 years later, "Aja" is still miles ahead of its time.
Much enjoyed you reviewing Aja, my fav album since I was 15. You may never be able to figure this out, but just close your eyes, turn it up, and listen to the masters like all of us out here. Forget school - we can all tell that you know and get it! thanks for the ride!
Sheer quality. As sophisticated as pop/rock ever got.
For me, Deacon Blues remains their individual stand-out track. It achieves a unique perfection for their style at that time.
Excellent review Doug.
Deacon Blues is probably the most complicated song structurewise that I know how to play on guitar. I used it as a litmus test with others when they didn't believe that I play guitar (because I guess you're supposed to "look" a certain way as a guitar player). This and Eruption (of course).
There was a band called Deacon Blue that of course named themselves after this song.
Everything about Steely Dan is perfection. Their sound till today is unmatched, it is not just hitting a couple of keys or play chords.
Doug, ive listened to this album a lot over the years but today you've taken me to another level of listening, especially Black Cow which often i would breeze through en route to Aja. Looking forward to the second side!
I bought this when it came, very young, just 13. I really liked it, but obviously couldn’t appreciate it in full. It grew. Over the years, I have also got clues to what the lyrics are all about. I now know what ”Black Cow” is about and the rest of it - except the title track. Well, I’m swedish so english is my second language.
A "black cow" is a non-alcoholic drink made by mixing root beer and ice cream.
Great review and I thank you!! You're the best!! Oh and looking forward to side 2!!
You get The Dan at a level above me and im very happy you get and say what I can't.
Doug - Watch the video of 'The Making of Aja' . Its Don and Walter sat at a mixing desk and almost re-mixing this real time. It is fascinating and there's so many little musical inserts
They call Alabama the crimson Tide, call Doug Deacon blues 💙
38:00 I think they're writing chord to chord on Aja and Deacon Blues, meaning mentally eliminating all but the transition between the one just written and what would sound cool next, within the parameters of the mood
Doug, you made our evening with this! Bought the vinyl three times now since first release. Thanks for the analysis
Doug I like the fact that it made you veer into music theory and philosophy. They were so far ahead of the time that no one has caught up yet!
I used to have a complete scores book, it does exist and it is amazing to follow along with that.
Great installment.
One of my favorite albums! Thank you for doing this one!
Extraordinary musicianship and on AJA one of the greatest drum outros ever!
Chord master Donald. He's a legend. Love these guys. Donald's voice is also unique. No one sings like him. You might do all SD albums. From Countdown to Gaucho. Also must listen to his first solo 'Nightfly', sensational record. I cried when I wrote this song, sue me if I play too long, WHAT A LINE. Well done Doug..
Arguably one of if not best album sides of the 70’s, any genre. Definitely my favorite.
I heard this LP when it originally was released, and hearing it here today, I am STILL amazed and awed. Nothing has EVER sounded like Aja. It's on top of the pop/jazz/rock/fusion/prog list for greatness. Thanks Doug.
Truly a masterpiece. I listen to this album regularly (and The Royal Scam and Gaucho and The Nightfly and... you get the idea). Not a dud in the bunch. Simply superb.
Steely Dan has always had my attention. I started learning drums in 76 and was blown away by these tracks. Steve Gad, one of the GREATS!
I find it amazing that Doug isn't more familiar with Steely Dan. Aja is a masterpiece and it's so much fun to watch Doug discover the genius going on in their music. Looking forward to Side two of Aja review. I wish I knew more about music so I could better understand what Doug is saying. I have listened to Aja probably hundreds of times over the years. Crazy good.
I love watching people being blow away by the Dan voicings etc. Especially by someone of this caliber. So fun watching..
I've loved this band since I heard 'Do it Again' as it first hit the radio. We're talking my high school years. I flip flop on which album is my favorite, but if pressed I'd have to say it's either 'Aja' or 'Katy Lied'. They are the masters and were recognized as such. Take for example the Eagles homage in their line: "They stab it with their steely knives..." Thanks for putting the work in, Doug!
Oh hell yes! Let's get the sheet music!! Thank you Doug! I never understood the 5ths relationship to extended chords and why those things work.
Thank you Doug for coming back to Steely Dan. This album in particular. When you get to Side 2, please share with your listeners a little more about how much sonic meat is in this sandwich. Not just the musicianship, but the recording engineering and mixing. Anyone that wants to learn the art\science of audio recording needs to study and absorb this piece of work. It's just phenomenal in both conceptualization and execution. There are SO many layers to this onion to relish. It's right up there with Bohemian Rhapsody, Dark Side of the Moon, and Wish You Were Here in terms of scope and technique.
As many others have mentioned, this album is part of my childhood and early music education. I was blessed to have one of the great album-oriented rock FM radio stations in my town. So, I was spoiled to hear deeper tracks from artists all the time. And on Sunday night, they would play 6 albums in their entirety. Even though it was an AOR station, they recognized the brilliance of softer music like Steely Dan and played them a lot. Because it was THAT good. And my life is richer for it.
i remember listening to this album in elementary school and loving it. I'm older now and have been playing music for almost 40 years. I still love it in a much more mature way musically. Still an amazing album. Aja is my favorite track.
Pretty neat! Can’t wait to hear your reaction to side 2. (smile)
SHHHHH, Professors Fagan and Becker are teaching.
In the making of Aja doc, Larry Carlton was the conductor for Walt and Don in the studio. He would get demo's and sheet music to guide whoever was in the session playing that day.
This is top shelf. One thing I really like about you Doug is that your intellect and emotions are very engaged. Some who are quite studied lose the emotion or seem to. Either way I dig what you do. Great choice today. This music is magic to me. Thanks. Rock on! React to Utopia caravan sometime please. Bye for now.
FINALLY a full album reaction from one of the best bands ever!!!!!
Great composers can demand fealty to the music. Fagen and Becker are great contemporary composers deserving our respect.
Yeah, those guys really composed some extraordinary songs, didn't they?
There is a YT vid of a college professor that said he uses them in his music theory class. You can see why in this album. Up until the early 2000's I believe they were one of the most sampled bands in hip hop, and it's that jazz/pop fusion and unique sound that you can see why you'd want it in your songs.
The same day Gadd tracked the drums to “Aja” he also recorded the drums for Leo Sayer’s huge hit “you make me feel like dancin”- supposedly all while hung over and sleepless.
couldn't have as You Make Me Feel Like Dancing came out a year before the Aja album was recorded
A lot Of Vitamin C!🤫
11:47 I believe you're referring to the clavinet that Joe Sample is playing.
This Album and Gaucho make a fine pair for afternoon listening... or any time...