I love Steely Dan. I had the first two Steely Dan albums when I only had about six total albums. That said I'm a contrarian when it comes to this "band" in that I prefer the band version more than the (To my ears more sterile) later studio version. I now know of course that my vision of what the band could be was diametrically opposed to the vision of Becker and Fagen. So they spent their career moving away from me. LOL My ranking looks like... 1. Countdown to Ecstasy 2. Pretzel Logic 3. Can't Buy a Thrill 4. Katy Lied 5. The Royal Scam 6. Aja 7. Gaucho 8. Two Against Nature 9. Everything Must Go
Great list Scot, Aja is amazing especially the title track. My fave Dan track of all time is on your runner up - Don't Take Me Alive is such a classic. Cheers!
Good show and your enthusiasm for the Dan is well deserved. . Guacho is flawless for me, and Glamour Profession is one of the greatest songs by any band in rock history! They could make a fucking movie about all the L.A :characters and drug culture in the 70s.
Great ranking. I’d have to go with “ Countdown “ as my #1 favorite album. They really peaked early with that one and Pretzel Logic. However, “ Aja “ is a dandy and I can’t agree more with that pounding drum solo on that song. I like Royal Scam but I absolutely LOVE the cover art on that one. I think it’s one of the most wicked and well designed covers from the entire 1970s.
9. Two Against Nature 8. Everything Must Go 7. Gaucho 6. The Royal Scam 5. Pretzel Logic 4. Countdown To Ecstasy 3. Aja 2. Katy Lied 1. Can't Buy A Thrill
A Steely Dan ranking, that's great! I wouldn't argue with that ranking it's pretty spot on. My favourite has to be Countdown, I can sing along to all the songs on the album and 'Any man left on the Rio Grande Is the king of the world As far as I know' is just a terrific lyric (also shine in your Japan).
Well played, Scot, though I'd put Pretzel Logic way lower. Over the years I've found that the albums that I keep wanting to listen to are Countdown to Ecstasy and the Royal Scam. The former for the amazing music and the latter for some of the best lyrics I've ever heard.
I haven't heard all of them, but this made me really want to go back to them. Of the ones I've listened to so far 'Aja' would probably be my favorite as well. Thanks for the video Scot!
@@TheProgCorner Also, thanks for suggesting Love Supreme! I can't get enough of the Flower Kings now, complete change of heart! I'm seeing them live this Saturday, super stoked!
Hi Scot greetings from the UK. Love your channel but must correct it was Chuckie the first who had his head cut off not Chuckie the second. Keep up the great job.
1) The Royal Scam 2) Aja 3) Countdown To Ecstasy 4) Pretzel Logic 5) Katy Lied 6) Can't Buy A Thrill 7) Two Against Nature 8) Gaucho 9) Everything Must Go Used to like Gaucho more, other than Babylon Sisters and Time Out Of Mind, I've grown a bit tired of it. Everything Must Go...they finally came clean about wanting to be jazz artists instead of being " rock " artists. Aja used to be #1 until about ten years ago, The Royal Scam has a bit more rock on it is why it is #1 now. Shoutout to the song " Here at the Western World ", which missed the cut(!!) for The Royal Scam album, it showed up on a greatest hits collection. Countdown To Ecstasy being a third best album!! For most artists, CTE would be a masterpiece of masterpieces. This shows how strong/great/gifted Steely Dan is These are all creme de la creme albums, no duds anywhere...shoutout to the song FM too...a great soundtrack(all kinds of stars/legends on it)..mediocre movie RIP Walter Becker, you are missed
I need to know music similar to Aja, which is a masterpiece I can't stop listening to. Any recommendations, please? I couldn't find anything that sounds as good AND combines jazz and rock so perfectly.
Side note for Countdown to Ecstasy: My favorite two songs from this album are the last two. Pearl of the Quarter and King of the World. How often are the last two songs of an album great?
Fun Fact: Some AM stations replaced the F on FM with the A from Aja; they didn't want to promote FM radio. When FM was a hit, AM radio stations were still chugging along, barely. FM is the title song of the movie that didn't do well.
love all steely dan! in ,93 buddy a me were in Anaheim leaving the motel for the NHRA winter nationals . as we drove out that morning in our mustang convertible rental . just about to turn on to the highway. " do it again " came on so perfect on a beautiful February morning! will never forget.
Well wicked ranking. Some great albums - some I knew. What a band. What was different? Sound was much clearer and you were like nearly restrained? I love the channel man. Keep it going. All the best. Dave✅✅
Ah yes, the Dan. When I started collecting vinyl and first took over my Mom's vinyl collection a 45 of Deacon Blues was in the mix. I put it on and I'm like "holy sh!t, this is amazing." Only a Fool... , Rikki Don't and Time Out of Mind among my favorites as well.
Ps. I saw the Wheel of Yes thing you were on. It was so amazing. I was pleasantly surprised to see 90125 in S tier WHERE IT BELONGS. I saw a comment on there that was like "90125 in S tier? What are you smoking? It should be C tier." For me, anything B tier and above is positive. I didn't wanna piss em off but I had the urge to respond "I'm not smoking I'm drinking - drinking 'listen to the intro of Changes and tell me it's not prog' juice"
So excited to see this video. I love these guys. Growing up I always heard the hits on FM radio but never got into them until later in life. But as time has gone on I find myself listening to them more and more. Great songwriting and musicianship. Aja is also my favorite of theirs. As of now I would go: 2. Royal Scam 3. Countdown 4. Pretzel Logic 5. Can't Buy a Thrill 6. Katy 7. Gaucho 8. Two Against 9. Everything
This is very unexpected and pleasant! For me, Steely Dan is the perfect band, they don't have bad albums, they don't have bad songs. Just yesterday I enjoyed listening to Aja and Gaucho. Here's my ranking of all these great albums: 9.Everything Must Go 8.Two Against Nature 7.The Royal Scam 6.Can't Buy A Thrill 5.Katy Lied 4.Gaucho 3.Aja 2.Pretzel Logic 1.Countdown To Ecstasy. I also read somewhere that Countdown To Ecstasy was or is the favorite album of Dave Gregory from XTC, based on this album he made his beautiful arrangements in Skylarking!
@@TheProgCorner I am also a musician and play bass, guitar and keyboards for myself. And I wrote somewhere here that Drums And Wires is my favorite XTC album, largely because of what Dave does there with his guitar, along with Andy Partridge. Very unusual guitar parts, twitchy, extraordinary, for example Nigel, Helicopter, Scissor Man and etc. And the way he arranged the keyboards is also fantastic, take for example Ballet For A Rainy Day, Rook, Chalkhills And Children... This is another aspect in which these nice guys from Swindon can be classified as prog! Progressive Pop? I don’t know. 😃
Great video!! I only flip flopped a couple of your slottings.What a great run of albums!! You are so dead on about the song Aja!! Just incredible musicianship and Steve Gadd's contribution is redonkulous😂!!!!
UK here ...Back in the day (1970s) if you went into ANY Hi-Fi store.. Remember those? If you wanted to listen to any piece of Equipment...Speakers..Amplifiers..Cartridge..then they would put a Steely Dan record on to show how fantastic the items sound...cos Any Steely Dan record SOUNDED so darn good...I think any order in the premium 6 LPs is probably right on any given day?
I need to step up my Steely Dan collection. I've heard all or most over the years but am only really familiar with a few. Pretzel Logic is really great and I have a soft spot for CBAT which doesn't sound like any of their later albums (not as much jazz influence imo but still great especially side one which is a perfect album side imo).
Hey Scot! SD! All good. Probably the best studio band of all time. Always the best musicians in the band. To me they are a different band live in concert.🔈🔉🔊☮️☮️☮️😎
I'm a young and new Steely Dan listener but have quickly picked up their music and are now one of my favourite bands. Always interesting to see people's rankings and opinions on the albums, and your ranking is the most similar I've seen to how I'd rank them: 1. Aja (10/10) Phenomenal album with no misses, Peg is one of my favourite 2 SD tracks and Aja (the title track) would also easily make my top 5 SD tracks. Love Michael McDonald's heavy presence here too (I love his work with the Doobie Brothers and on Christopher Cross's self titled album too). Masterpiece. 2. Countdown to Ecstasy (10/10) Interchangeable with Aja for top spot, perhaps I'm a little biased as this was the first SD album I heard in full which kickstarted my love for them. Show Biz Kids is my other favourite SD song alongside Peg, the live version of it on The Midnight Special is spectacular and the slide guitar work is something else entirely. Love the varying guitar sounds across the whole album too. Overall, a more refined and jazz-influenced Can't Buy A Thrill. 3. The Royal Scam (9.5/10) Many wonderful tracks like Kid Charlemagne and Don't Take Me Alive. Also love the talkbox on Haitian Divorce in the chorus interchanging with Fagen's vocals, almost like it's a song with 2 lead singers. (Gap between my "perfect 3" albums and the rest) 4. Can't Buy a Thrill (8.5/10) Some classics and lovely guitar solos and piano playing but has 1 or 2 weaker songs along with some really pop-sounding songs that I'm not the biggest fan of. 5. Katy Lied (8/10) The middle ground album sound-wise between band-era SD and session-era SD, and it has a lot of great songs but some stuff is not quite as refined or as layered compared with their better music. 6. Gaucho (7/10) The "main 7" album I'm least interested in largely because the vocals of both Fagen and the backing singers don't land with me quite the same way as the albums before and the music doesn't quite have that bite to it. The music is all still well crafted though. 7. Pretzel Logic (6.5/10) From the high of CTE to the low (SD's low anyway) of Pretzel Logic. Some great songs with my 2 favourite being Night By Night and Pretzel Logic but there is some real filler music in my opinion especially towards the end of the album, and the album is one of the shortest they have anyway. Katy Lied is the middle ground between the band's musical styles but this album doesn't quite fit anywhere to me. 8. Two Against Nature (6/10) + 9. Everything Must Go (6/10) I echo your points, a few great songs to take away and nice to hear some more music from them. Great video overall!
@@TheProgCorner My brother in law bought me Aja for Christmas when it came out probably the greatest present I have ever been given as it lead me to Carlton , Ritenour ,Gadd and Shorter. If I saw them in the credits on an album I would buy it.
Fantastic band. Love Steely Dan , my top 3 : 1. The Royal Scam. 2. Aja. 3. Katy Lied. But I'm going to talk about Rosie Vela's Zazu album that you mentioned at the top of the programme Scot. IT'S AWESOME !!! It has a production quality equal to Aja , in the way its recorded by Gary Katz. Phenomenal pristine quality. A great test disc for hi-fi , I used it a lot in the mid eighties. Catchy song hooks....you just know it's Steely Dan DNA !! And what a beautiful , rich , goosebump-inducing voice Rosie has. Can't big it up enough this record !! They are such a talented bunch this crowd. Many thanks Scot. 😍
I'm a bit of a weirdo when it comes to Steely Dan albums, but they are one of my favorite bands and had recently gotten back into them fairly heavily. My wife wishes I wasn't such a big fan that's for sure :D . One thing a lot of people also miss when talking about their first album is there is also a track sung by their drummer Jim Hodder, Midnight Cruiser, actually one of the better tracks on the album imo. This would be my own ranking list: 9. Gaucho - Let's face it, they don't have a bad album, but this is their weakest imo. Time out of mind is probably the strongest track here while I always felt the title track was a mere re-hash of the previous album's title track, nowhere near as good either. The drum sound on here is awful 8. Two Against Nature - A dense album with a lot of good things happening in it. Just doesn't grab me as immediately as their other stuff, Cousin Dupree is one of my favorite Dan tracks overall though. No weaknesses 7. Everything Must Go - I really love this album more than most people who talk about Dan. Again, nothing really weak here, I love Godwhacker (awesome song concept if you learn the details), Blues Beach, and Becker's song is pretty great too. Slang me! 6. Can't Buy a Thrill - Could switch this album in ranking with Everything Must Go, but the strong stuff here is really strong. Kings is one of my favorite Dan tunes, would be on a top 10 list for sure, and Do It Again (a song I DON'T get sick of) is one of the best leadoff tracks an album could have. I've heard Reelin' in the Years to death and the other song by Palmer is one of Dan's weakest. This album suffers from not being cohesive as the band itself was not yet cohesive. 5. Countdown to Ecstasy - I guess this album would be here for me? It's so hard to rank their stuff from here on because all of these next 5 albums are 10/10 prefect albums for me. This gets #5 by default because the weaker songs are a slight bit weaker, maybe??? This album has their best album closers on it (I always thought they sucked at ending albums), King of the World. Razor Boy, Your Gold Teeth, and Bodisattva are all top tracks as well. 4. Aja - WHAT??? HOW COULD YOU RANK AJA AT #4!?!?!?! Again, only by default. The title track drones on a bit maybe for me (I know everyone absolutely adores it though) and I Got the News is a bit forgettable... maybe? Like I said I think this is a perfect album as well, Deacon Blues was my favorite Dan tune for years, and how can you not wanna dance around like a fool when Josie comes on? Home At Last is one of their best Dark Horse tracks too. 3. The Royal Scam - Rockin' album with some of their all time best stuff on it. I think Green Earrings might be their best song if I had to take personal preference out of the equation, funky and that guitar solo... ohhhh myyyy! Another banger of an opener in Kid Charlemagne followed by another of my favorite Dan tunes in the Caves of Altamira. The Fez is quite fun too, just a fun little groove. Everything You Did maybe a touch forgettable? Title track also a little plodding, but still great. 2. Pretzel Logic - I love love love this album and would almost be my #1 if not for one particular song off my #1. I like how there's like these little sort of ditties sprinkled all over it, like Through With Buzz, one of my favorite Dan tunes, with that orchestral arrangement in it, gives this album a unique flare compared to their others. Any Major Dude is also one of my all timers from these guys. Night By Night also ranks high for me, with Barrytown being maybe slightly weaker than the rest of the stuff on this one. Best actual title track of all their albums, probably should have been the closer imo. 1. Katy Lied - Yeah this comes down to personal preference and this album was the first of their entire studio albums to jump out and grab me. Oddly enough I find Black Friday to be one of the weaker tunes on this one, in part due to the production quality issues with this album I think. Beyond that aspect, it's the best "weaker tune" on any of their albums, but it's the strong stuff here that stands above the rest for me personally. Dr. Wu is my favorite Dan tune by far and Daddy Don't Live in that New York City No More isn't far behind on that list. Rose Darling is an overlooked tune of theirs, but I absolutely love it. I go back and forth on which Gold Teeth version is the better one, but they are both great. I wish this album closed with the last two tracks swapped though because I feel like Any World would have made a better closer, but I'm splitting hairs at this point. Bottom Line: One of THE strongest catalogues of any band ever!
Thanks from the UK for your fantastic reviews and your good wishes to our beloved King - but on a point of detail it was Chucky 1st who had his head snipped off.
That was good aja is also my favorite. Thank you so much for my signed CD u guys did a really good job it's in my car CD player as we speak yeah I'm an old guy with an old car but it's got CD n cassette player
Really good ranking scot steely Dan were one of the best 70s bands. Totally consistent albums they just had that sound like no other my top 3 would be 1 aja w2 the royal scam and 3 Katy lied again really cool video
I think that Dennis Dias actually wound up mixing Katy Lied after they had technical issues regarding some new Dolby noise reduction technology. Nobody else could face it, apparently.
Not a prog band ....But let me say this . Steely Dan is my favorite band of all time. Good episode. I would rank a little different with Royal Scam at #1 and Katy Lied at # 9
I personally love both of SD's newest albums, and in my opinion Pretzel logic is their weakest album (7.5/10). I'd even put 2AN in my top 5 (Jack of speed is one of my absolute favorite cuts in their entire discog). What do I know, of course - I was born 2 years after their last album came out! Great video!
Thank you for the video! I've been curious for a while about your top 10 sax groove/solo in prog. Pink floyd, the flower kings, supertramp have some great sax. Which are your favorite?
Steely Dan prog? No. One of my all time favorite groups? Yes! Thanks for the in depth ranking, Scot! Feel free to incorporate content from artists you respect. Just don't go too far afield...
No worries there!!! I try to keep things either Prog or Prog adjacent. The Dan definitely qualifies as the latter!!!! When I go off the reservation I usually pay a steep price. 👍👍👍
This is hard to rank so many fantastic albums but here's I would do my top 5 countdown to ecstacy, Aja, the royal scam, Katy lied and pretzel logic I love this whole discography but these are the 5 I listen to the most
Great Ranking Mine Would Have To Be: 1) Gaucho (1980) 2) The Royal Scam (1976) 3) Aja (1977) 4) Katy Lied (1975) 5) Countdown To Ecstasy (1973) 6) Can’t Buy A Thrill (1972) 7) Pretzel Logic (1974) 8) Everything Must Go (2003) 9) Two Against Nature (2000)
You can take the first 7 albums and throw them in the air and what ever order they land in is how Id rank them. Perfection. Here goes 1. Cant Buy A Thrill 2. Pretzel Logic 3. Royal Scam 4. Gaucho 5. Countdown To Ecstasy 6. Katy Lied 7. Aja (thats how great their first run is that even their 7th best is a masterpiece) The 2 comeback albums are interchangeable and meh.
Steely Dan one of those bands….I know a few of their hits (almost all of which happened to be their 1st album) but 45 years and I just never listened to them. With Apple Music, the last few years I’ve been able to fill in the blanks with bands I didn’t have all their albums. Or bands I never tried or didn’t know. So last 2 weeks I started at album 1 and ran through Steely Dan entire discography. Gave each one 3-4 full spins. I’m only at gaucho but if I had to say my favorite……ROYAL SCAM My favorite song. THE BOSTON RAG
@@TheProgCorner Mine too Scot, and i hate to see their 1976-1980 period getting bad rep. Ok, Hot Streets wasn't that good but Chicago 13 and XIV had its moments... X and XI were great albums too. 1969-1975 was already legendary. 1982-1991 good aor moments but especially 16 (1982) was literally great. Night and Day (1995?) was an ok album but i don't what they've done since 1995. That ranking would be perfect, thank you!
He did and I was going to mention that!!! I even had it written down on my little 3x5 cards I always use. Yeah, I was bummed and almost deleted this but life goes in. Great great song. Actually one of my favorite Dan songs!!!
Is this the point when I say, it was Charles I who was beheaded following the English Civil War. His son, Charles II, returned to England many years later to take back the throne.
Charles II was a bit of a rogue during The Restoration. Lots of mistresses, including the famous Nell Gwyn. He had a keen eye for art and architecture. Make your own comparison to our current monarch!
“The most interesting thing about King Charles the First is that he was 5 foot 6 inches tall at the start of his reign but only 4 foot 8 inches tall at the end of it, because of...” I’m an American, so the only things I know about British history are what I learned through Monty Python.
1967 was a critical year in the development of Prog with Pink Floyd, Procol Harum, Moody Blues, Sgt Pepper, etc. There was no “first” Prog album as is evolved slowly…
Difficult task. How can anybody rate nine almost perfect albums in order of preference? Well, here goes… 9. Katy Lied 8. Everything Must Go 7. The Royal Scam 6. Pretzel Logic 5. Can’t Buy A Thrill 4. Two Against Nature 3. Gaucho 2. Countdown To Ecstasy 1. AJA I might rearrange those titles tomorrow. Or I might not. Maybe next week…..
Two-horse race between Aja (the winner by a nose) over Can't Buy a Thrill and Royal Scam. The last two were easily the worst and by and large forgettable.
@@TheProgCorner Agreed but Aja gets rated higher because of its commercial success similar to Kansas Left O Kansas and Masque were better albums songs were too long for the radio
All music lovers have common ground, unlike Congress. SD is my favorite band of all time. New Wave/ Alternative is my favorite genre. Prog Rock is my least favorite Rock genre; it's okay, and I respect it.
@marcelob4132 As I noted, I love Stanley Dan like the creator. The clip came up in my feed. As I also noted, I respect Prog Rock like PF Dark Side, Peter G with Genesis, and Rush. I like shorter and mostly faster stuff. Some PR is so long, Yes comes to mind.
What I love about the Dan world is that any ranking of the albums is acceptable. All the material is that strong.
You know it!!!
I love Steely Dan. I had the first two Steely Dan albums when I only had about six total albums. That said I'm a contrarian when it comes to this "band" in that I prefer the band version more than the (To my ears more sterile) later studio version. I now know of course that my vision of what the band could be was diametrically opposed to the vision of Becker and Fagen. So they spent their career moving away from me. LOL My ranking looks like...
1. Countdown to Ecstasy
2. Pretzel Logic
3. Can't Buy a Thrill
4. Katy Lied
5. The Royal Scam
6. Aja
7. Gaucho
8. Two Against Nature
9. Everything Must Go
I hate it when bands do that!!!!!
Great list Scot, Aja is amazing especially the title track. My fave Dan track of all time is on your runner up - Don't Take Me Alive is such a classic. Cheers!
Two of my favorite albums!!!
right on dude! terrific video, Royal Scam and EMG are my favorite
Nice!!! Love the Dan!!!!
Good show and your enthusiasm for the Dan is well deserved. . Guacho is flawless for me, and Glamour Profession is one of the greatest songs by any band in rock history! They could make a fucking movie about all the L.A :characters and drug culture in the 70s.
Great ranking. I’d have to go with “ Countdown “ as my #1 favorite album. They really peaked early with that one and Pretzel Logic. However, “ Aja “ is a dandy and I can’t agree more with that pounding drum solo on that song. I like Royal Scam but I absolutely LOVE the cover art on that one. I think it’s one of the most wicked and well designed covers from the entire 1970s.
Funny, Fagen HATED that artwork!!!
@TheProgCorner
That's okay. He's an artist and his own worst critic 😆.
9. Two Against Nature
8. Everything Must Go
7. Gaucho
6. The Royal Scam
5. Pretzel Logic
4. Countdown To Ecstasy
3. Aja
2. Katy Lied
1. Can't Buy A Thrill
One cool thing about Dan is that all rankings seems to be different, although Aja is mostly number one.
I can’t argue with that!!!
@@TheProgCorner AJA is a masterpiece!👍😎
“Only a Fool would Say that”. Man I play that song all the time. Great band all albums are really good.
Love them!!!! Always have!!!!
A Steely Dan ranking, that's great! I wouldn't argue with that ranking it's pretty spot on. My favourite has to be Countdown, I can sing along to all the songs on the album and 'Any man left on the Rio Grande
Is the king of the world As far as I know' is just a terrific lyric (also shine in your Japan).
I’m doing a Top Lyricist episode soon…
@@TheProgCorner Great!
great video! we have the same top three, aja is my favourite album of all time
Aja is perfect. A stunning record. Probably the best sounding album I’ve ever heard (but I’m no audiophile…)
Fantastic episode, so many great albums. Countdown to Ecstasy
Is my favorite. Cheers my friend and prog on.
That’s a perfect album. I think they had three of those!!!
Well played, Scot, though I'd put Pretzel Logic way lower. Over the years I've found that the albums that I keep wanting to listen to are Countdown to Ecstasy and the Royal Scam. The former for the amazing music and the latter for some of the best lyrics I've ever heard.
Good call.
I haven't heard all of them, but this made me really want to go back to them. Of the ones I've listened to so far 'Aja' would probably be my favorite as well.
Thanks for the video Scot!
Thank you!!!! 👍👍👍
@@TheProgCorner Also, thanks for suggesting Love Supreme! I can't get enough of the Flower Kings now, complete change of heart! I'm seeing them live this Saturday, super stoked!
Wow!!!!! So jealous!!!
Hi Scot greetings from the UK. Love your channel but must correct it was Chuckie the first who had his head cut off not Chuckie the second. Keep up the great job.
Yeah, apparently I wasn’t paying attention in History class!!!!
1) The Royal Scam
2) Aja
3) Countdown To Ecstasy
4) Pretzel Logic
5) Katy Lied
6) Can't Buy A Thrill
7) Two Against Nature
8) Gaucho
9) Everything Must Go
Used to like Gaucho more, other than Babylon Sisters and Time Out Of Mind, I've grown a bit tired of it. Everything Must Go...they finally came clean about wanting to be jazz artists instead of being " rock " artists.
Aja used to be #1 until about ten years ago, The Royal Scam has a bit more rock on it is why it is #1 now. Shoutout to the song " Here at the Western World ", which missed the cut(!!) for The Royal Scam album, it showed up on a greatest hits collection. Countdown To Ecstasy being a third best album!! For most artists, CTE would be a masterpiece of masterpieces. This shows how strong/great/gifted Steely Dan is
These are all creme de la creme albums, no duds anywhere...shoutout to the song FM too...a great soundtrack(all kinds of stars/legends on it)..mediocre movie
RIP Walter Becker, you are missed
I love that song!!!!!
I knew Aja was going to be number 1 before you even started Scot. How could it not be, it's genius! 🤩
Just had to be!!!!
@@TheProgCornerMasterpiece!😎
I need to know music similar to Aja, which is a masterpiece I can't stop listening to. Any recommendations, please? I couldn't find anything that sounds as good AND combines jazz and rock so perfectly.
I honestly don’t think anyone ever came close to this sound. A true of of a kind!!! (The Royal Scam and Gaucho are probably the next best thing…)
Yes, Gaucho. Listen to it immediately!
Side note for Countdown to Ecstasy: My favorite two songs from this album are the last two. Pearl of the Quarter and King of the World. How often are the last two songs of an album great?
King Of The World!!!! Amazing track.
Fun Fact: Some AM stations replaced the F on FM with the A from Aja; they didn't want to promote FM radio. When FM was a hit, AM radio stations were still chugging along, barely. FM is the title song of the movie that didn't do well.
The movie was terrible.
Great ranking. The thing about their catalog is that they are all so good, every ranking is the correct ranking.
I am finally going to listen to some Steely Dan albums. I have only heard Reelin'!
You deserve the best!!!
love all steely dan! in ,93 buddy a me were in Anaheim leaving the motel for the NHRA winter nationals .
as we drove out that morning in our mustang convertible rental . just about to turn on to the highway. " do it again " came on so perfect on a beautiful February morning! will never forget.
Fantastic!!! They don’t write ‘em like that anymore!!!
Well wicked ranking. Some great albums - some I knew. What a band.
What was different? Sound was much clearer and you were like nearly restrained? I love the channel man. Keep it going. All the best. Dave✅✅
I’m trying to control myself!!!!
@@TheProgCorner well it was still a cracking review
Thanks!!!! I’m just doing what I do!!!!
@@TheProgCornerControl? Why? Lol!😎
Steely Dan were never quite prog , but their jazz rock was phenomenal.
Aja would be my favourite, its just mastered and redorded so bloody well.
Ah yes, the Dan. When I started collecting vinyl and first took over my Mom's vinyl collection a 45 of Deacon Blues was in the mix. I put it on and I'm like "holy sh!t, this is amazing."
Only a Fool... , Rikki Don't and Time Out of Mind among my favorites as well.
I love Rikki. One of my favorite songs ever!!!
Ps. I saw the Wheel of Yes thing you were on. It was so amazing. I was pleasantly surprised to see 90125 in S tier WHERE IT BELONGS. I saw a comment on there that was like "90125 in S tier? What are you smoking? It should be C tier." For me, anything B tier and above is positive. I didn't wanna piss em off but I had the urge to respond "I'm not smoking I'm drinking - drinking 'listen to the intro of Changes and tell me it's not prog' juice"
So excited to see this video. I love these guys. Growing up I always heard the hits on FM radio but never got into them until later in life. But as time has gone on I find myself listening to them more and more. Great songwriting and musicianship. Aja is also my favorite of theirs. As of now I would go:
2. Royal Scam
3. Countdown
4. Pretzel Logic
5. Can't Buy a Thrill
6. Katy
7. Gaucho
8. Two Against
9. Everything
Excellent!!!
Hey Scot great show. Never ever reference Rolling stone bunch of crap! These guys are way higher. Another fantastic work SL!
Thank you!!!
This is very unexpected and pleasant!
For me, Steely Dan is the perfect band, they don't have bad albums, they don't have bad songs.
Just yesterday I enjoyed listening to Aja and Gaucho.
Here's my ranking of all these great albums:
9.Everything Must Go
8.Two Against Nature
7.The Royal Scam
6.Can't Buy A Thrill
5.Katy Lied
4.Gaucho
3.Aja
2.Pretzel Logic
1.Countdown To Ecstasy.
I also read somewhere that Countdown To Ecstasy was or is the favorite album of Dave Gregory from XTC, based on this album he made his beautiful arrangements in Skylarking!
I love Dave Gregory!!!!
@@TheProgCorner I am also a musician and play bass, guitar and keyboards for myself.
And I wrote somewhere here that Drums And Wires is my favorite XTC album, largely because of what Dave does there with his guitar, along with Andy Partridge. Very unusual guitar parts, twitchy, extraordinary, for example Nigel, Helicopter, Scissor Man and etc.
And the way he arranged the keyboards is also fantastic, take for example Ballet For A Rainy Day, Rook, Chalkhills And Children...
This is another aspect in which these nice guys from Swindon can be classified as prog! Progressive Pop? I don’t know. 😃
XTC is my third favorite band ever (after Yes and Genesis!!!)
@@TheProgCorner Mine definitely too) (After The Rolling Stones and King Crimson.)
Nice!!!!
My Top 3 regarding consistency: The darkish Royal Scam, the rocky Countdown To Ecstasy and the jazzy AJA ,of course
That’s the right Top Three!!! 👍👍👍
By the way the best jazz-fusion duo of all time is Joe Zawinul and Wayne Shorter.
Keep up the good work my friend!
No argument there.
Great video!! I only flip flopped a couple of your slottings.What a great run of albums!! You are so dead on about the song Aja!! Just incredible musicianship and Steve Gadd's contribution is redonkulous😂!!!!
Head spinning.
UK here ...Back in the day (1970s) if you went into ANY Hi-Fi store..
Remember those? If you wanted to listen to any piece of Equipment...Speakers..Amplifiers..Cartridge..then they would put a Steely Dan record on to show how fantastic the items sound...cos Any Steely Dan record SOUNDED so darn good...I think any order in the premium 6 LPs is probably right on any given day?
Absolutely!!!!
@@TheProgCorner Was always SD and RUSH at Pacific Stereo.😎
I need to step up my Steely Dan collection. I've heard all or most over the years but am only really familiar with a few. Pretzel Logic is really great and I have a soft spot for CBAT which doesn't sound like any of their later albums (not as much jazz influence imo but still great especially side one which is a perfect album side imo).
Side One is perfect.
Hey Scot! SD! All good. Probably the best studio band of all time. Always the best musicians in the band. To me they are a different band live in concert.🔈🔉🔊☮️☮️☮️😎
For sure!!!
@@TheProgCorner 👍😎
I'm a young and new Steely Dan listener but have quickly picked up their music and are now one of my favourite bands. Always interesting to see people's rankings and opinions on the albums, and your ranking is the most similar I've seen to how I'd rank them:
1. Aja (10/10)
Phenomenal album with no misses, Peg is one of my favourite 2 SD tracks and Aja (the title track) would also easily make my top 5 SD tracks. Love Michael McDonald's heavy presence here too (I love his work with the Doobie Brothers and on Christopher Cross's self titled album too). Masterpiece.
2. Countdown to Ecstasy (10/10)
Interchangeable with Aja for top spot, perhaps I'm a little biased as this was the first SD album I heard in full which kickstarted my love for them. Show Biz Kids is my other favourite SD song alongside Peg, the live version of it on The Midnight Special is spectacular and the slide guitar work is something else entirely. Love the varying guitar sounds across the whole album too. Overall, a more refined and jazz-influenced Can't Buy A Thrill.
3. The Royal Scam (9.5/10)
Many wonderful tracks like Kid Charlemagne and Don't Take Me Alive. Also love the talkbox on Haitian Divorce in the chorus interchanging with Fagen's vocals, almost like it's a song with 2 lead singers.
(Gap between my "perfect 3" albums and the rest)
4. Can't Buy a Thrill (8.5/10)
Some classics and lovely guitar solos and piano playing but has 1 or 2 weaker songs along with some really pop-sounding songs that I'm not the biggest fan of.
5. Katy Lied (8/10)
The middle ground album sound-wise between band-era SD and session-era SD, and it has a lot of great songs but some stuff is not quite as refined or as layered compared with their better music.
6. Gaucho (7/10)
The "main 7" album I'm least interested in largely because the vocals of both Fagen and the backing singers don't land with me quite the same way as the albums before and the music doesn't quite have that bite to it. The music is all still well crafted though.
7. Pretzel Logic (6.5/10)
From the high of CTE to the low (SD's low anyway) of Pretzel Logic. Some great songs with my 2 favourite being Night By Night and Pretzel Logic but there is some real filler music in my opinion especially towards the end of the album, and the album is one of the shortest they have anyway. Katy Lied is the middle ground between the band's musical styles but this album doesn't quite fit anywhere to me.
8. Two Against Nature (6/10)
+
9. Everything Must Go (6/10)
I echo your points, a few great songs to take away and nice to hear some more music from them.
Great video overall!
Nicely done!!!
Love ‘em
Such a cool band!!!!
What a band freaking genius music.
Magic.
@@TheProgCorner My brother in law bought me Aja for Christmas when it came out probably the greatest present I have ever been given as it lead me to Carlton , Ritenour ,Gadd and Shorter. If I saw them in the credits on an album I would buy it.
Absolutely!!!!
@@TheProgCorner And then it took me to all the great fusion bands . My life changed . Close to the Edge and Aja did that .
For me its 1- Asia 2-Royal Scam 3-Cant Buy A Thrill 4-Coundown To Ecstasy 5-Katy Lied 6- Pretzel Logic 7- Gaucho 8- Two Against Nature.
Nice!!!!!
Man, I love Asia - Who can forget Sole Survivor, or Only Time Will Tell....Alpha's a great album too.
Fantastic band. Love Steely Dan , my top 3 :
1. The Royal Scam.
2. Aja.
3. Katy Lied.
But I'm going to talk about Rosie Vela's Zazu album that you mentioned at the top of the programme Scot. IT'S AWESOME !!! It has a production quality equal to Aja , in the way its recorded by Gary Katz. Phenomenal pristine quality. A great test disc for hi-fi , I used it a lot in the mid eighties. Catchy song hooks....you just know it's Steely Dan DNA !! And what a beautiful , rich , goosebump-inducing voice Rosie has. Can't big it up enough this record !! They are such a talented bunch this crowd. Many thanks Scot. 😍
Yeah, I gotta check that Zazu record out. Been hearing about it for years!!!
I'm a bit of a weirdo when it comes to Steely Dan albums, but they are one of my favorite bands and had recently gotten back into them fairly heavily. My wife wishes I wasn't such a big fan that's for sure :D . One thing a lot of people also miss when talking about their first album is there is also a track sung by their drummer Jim Hodder, Midnight Cruiser, actually one of the better tracks on the album imo. This would be my own ranking list:
9. Gaucho - Let's face it, they don't have a bad album, but this is their weakest imo. Time out of mind is probably the strongest track here while I always felt the title track was a mere re-hash of the previous album's title track, nowhere near as good either. The drum sound on here is awful
8. Two Against Nature - A dense album with a lot of good things happening in it. Just doesn't grab me as immediately as their other stuff, Cousin Dupree is one of my favorite Dan tracks overall though. No weaknesses
7. Everything Must Go - I really love this album more than most people who talk about Dan. Again, nothing really weak here, I love Godwhacker (awesome song concept if you learn the details), Blues Beach, and Becker's song is pretty great too. Slang me!
6. Can't Buy a Thrill - Could switch this album in ranking with Everything Must Go, but the strong stuff here is really strong. Kings is one of my favorite Dan tunes, would be on a top 10 list for sure, and Do It Again (a song I DON'T get sick of) is one of the best leadoff tracks an album could have. I've heard Reelin' in the Years to death and the other song by Palmer is one of Dan's weakest. This album suffers from not being cohesive as the band itself was not yet cohesive.
5. Countdown to Ecstasy - I guess this album would be here for me? It's so hard to rank their stuff from here on because all of these next 5 albums are 10/10 prefect albums for me. This gets #5 by default because the weaker songs are a slight bit weaker, maybe??? This album has their best album closers on it (I always thought they sucked at ending albums), King of the World. Razor Boy, Your Gold Teeth, and Bodisattva are all top tracks as well.
4. Aja - WHAT??? HOW COULD YOU RANK AJA AT #4!?!?!?! Again, only by default. The title track drones on a bit maybe for me (I know everyone absolutely adores it though) and I Got the News is a bit forgettable... maybe? Like I said I think this is a perfect album as well, Deacon Blues was my favorite Dan tune for years, and how can you not wanna dance around like a fool when Josie comes on? Home At Last is one of their best Dark Horse tracks too.
3. The Royal Scam - Rockin' album with some of their all time best stuff on it. I think Green Earrings might be their best song if I had to take personal preference out of the equation, funky and that guitar solo... ohhhh myyyy! Another banger of an opener in Kid Charlemagne followed by another of my favorite Dan tunes in the Caves of Altamira. The Fez is quite fun too, just a fun little groove. Everything You Did maybe a touch forgettable? Title track also a little plodding, but still great.
2. Pretzel Logic - I love love love this album and would almost be my #1 if not for one particular song off my #1. I like how there's like these little sort of ditties sprinkled all over it, like Through With Buzz, one of my favorite Dan tunes, with that orchestral arrangement in it, gives this album a unique flare compared to their others. Any Major Dude is also one of my all timers from these guys. Night By Night also ranks high for me, with Barrytown being maybe slightly weaker than the rest of the stuff on this one. Best actual title track of all their albums, probably should have been the closer imo.
1. Katy Lied - Yeah this comes down to personal preference and this album was the first of their entire studio albums to jump out and grab me. Oddly enough I find Black Friday to be one of the weaker tunes on this one, in part due to the production quality issues with this album I think. Beyond that aspect, it's the best "weaker tune" on any of their albums, but it's the strong stuff here that stands above the rest for me personally. Dr. Wu is my favorite Dan tune by far and Daddy Don't Live in that New York City No More isn't far behind on that list. Rose Darling is an overlooked tune of theirs, but I absolutely love it. I go back and forth on which Gold Teeth version is the better one, but they are both great. I wish this album closed with the last two tracks swapped though because I feel like Any World would have made a better closer, but I'm splitting hairs at this point.
Bottom Line: One of THE strongest catalogues of any band ever!
Midnight Cruiser!!! I was going to mention the vocals on that track. And I love both Gold Teeth!!!!! So much!!!
Midnite Cruiser is my fav SD song
Thanks from the UK for your fantastic reviews and your good wishes to our beloved King - but on a point of detail it was Chucky 1st who had his head snipped off.
Off with his head!!! I get my Chucky’s all confused!!!
I can't argue with those choices man! Pretzel Logic, Royal Scam and Aja would generally alternate as my favourite on any given day
What a band!!!!
@@TheProgCorner completely man!
That was good aja is also my favorite. Thank you so much for my signed CD u guys did a really good job it's in my car CD player as we speak yeah I'm an old guy with an old car but it's got CD n cassette player
That’s all you need!!!!
Really good ranking scot steely Dan were one of the best 70s bands. Totally consistent albums they just had that sound like no other my top 3 would be 1 aja w2 the royal scam and 3 Katy lied again really cool video
I grew up on Steely Dan!!!
1. Katy Lied, 2. Aja, 3. Pretzel Logic, 4. Can't Buy a Thrill, 5. Royal Scam, 6. Countdown to Ecstasy, 7. Gaucho.
I'd add Two Against Nature before Gaucho and Everything Must Go after Gaucho.
Gaucho has crept up on me over the years!!!
@@TheProgCorner the two singles are great.
Glad to see someone else with Katy Lied at the top of their list, daring to put Aja somewhere other than #1
The nerve!!!!!
Katy Lied is my favorite, followed by the royal scam.
Great great band!!! One of my favorites. Top 3 for me is 1. Countdown to Ecstasy 2. Aja 3. Pretzel Logic
Nice!!! Long live the Dan!!!
I think that Dennis Dias actually wound up mixing Katy Lied after they had technical issues regarding some new Dolby noise reduction technology. Nobody else could face it, apparently.
I did not know that!!! Very cool.
Not a prog band ....But let me say this . Steely Dan is my favorite band of all time. Good episode. I would rank a little different with Royal Scam at #1 and Katy Lied at # 9
Katy Lied is a tough one but I still like it. I like all nine. Who am I kidding???
I personally love both of SD's newest albums, and in my opinion Pretzel logic is their weakest album (7.5/10). I'd even put 2AN in my top 5 (Jack of speed is one of my absolute favorite cuts in their entire discog). What do I know, of course - I was born 2 years after their last album came out! Great video!
👍👍👍
The only Steely Dan albums I liked was Aja & A Decade of Steely Dan (Greatest hits) is good enough for me.
Difference strokes!!!
ok it's time I will finally listen to these guys 😇
Do it!!!! And tell me what you think!!!
Great review Scot.Not progresive rock,but is a great band mostly a jazz fusion band.I love "Can't Buy a Thrill " is a great album.
Not Prog but Prog adjacent? What a band!!!
Thanks Scot I agree.✌
Thank you for the video! I've been curious for a while about your top 10 sax groove/solo in prog. Pink floyd, the flower kings, supertramp have some great sax. Which are your favorite?
Wow! What a great topic for a future episode!!! You gotta go with Floyd!!!
Mel Collins and Ian MacDonald's saxophone work in King Crimson was very cool.
The Dan. Up there with Rush and Hackett era Genesis. Awesome group of musicians!
Edit: Never forget Here in the Western World
Great song!!!
Steely Dan prog? No. One of my all time favorite groups? Yes! Thanks for the in depth ranking, Scot! Feel free to incorporate content from artists you respect. Just don't go too far afield...
No worries there!!! I try to keep things either Prog or Prog adjacent. The Dan definitely qualifies as the latter!!!! When I go off the reservation I usually pay a steep price. 👍👍👍
This is hard to rank so many fantastic albums but here's I would do my top 5 countdown to ecstacy, Aja, the royal scam, Katy lied and pretzel logic I love this whole discography but these are the 5 I listen to the most
So great. One of a kind.
Great Ranking Mine Would Have To Be:
1) Gaucho (1980)
2) The Royal Scam (1976)
3) Aja (1977)
4) Katy Lied (1975)
5) Countdown To Ecstasy (1973)
6) Can’t Buy A Thrill (1972)
7) Pretzel Logic (1974)
8) Everything Must Go (2003)
9) Two Against Nature (2000)
Gaucho!!! Nice!!!
1-Aja
2-Gaucho
3-The Royal Scam
4-Katy Lied
5-Pretzel Logic
6-Countdown To Ecstasy
7-Can't Buy a Thrill
Aja!!!!
@@TheProgCorner Gaucho for me is like Aja vol 2, that's why i can't help liking Gaucho. I love that sound...
You can take the first 7 albums and throw them in the air and what ever order they land in is how Id rank them. Perfection. Here goes
1. Cant Buy A Thrill
2. Pretzel Logic
3. Royal Scam
4. Gaucho
5. Countdown To Ecstasy
6. Katy Lied
7. Aja (thats how great their first run is that even their 7th best is a masterpiece)
The 2 comeback albums are interchangeable and meh.
Yeah, they were okay.
"Cant buy a thrill" is a masterpiece,much higher for me possibly no1.
Nice Ranking, Scot !!!!!
Yes sir!!!!
The Great Michael Omartian and Michael Mcdonald on many of these also
Absolutely!!!
Steely Dan one of those bands….I know a few of their hits (almost all of which happened to be their 1st album) but 45 years and I just never listened to them.
With Apple Music, the last few years I’ve been able to fill in the blanks with bands I didn’t have all their albums. Or bands I never tried or didn’t know.
So last 2 weeks I started at album 1 and ran through Steely Dan entire discography. Gave each one 3-4 full spins.
I’m only at gaucho but if I had to say my favorite……ROYAL SCAM
My favorite song. THE BOSTON RAG
The Royal Scam is just amazing. A little darker Dan.
Chicago and Blood, Sweat and Tears ranking would be great too, 1-Chicago Transit Authority 2- Chicago 16 🎉
I can see a Chicago ranking happening. They were my first true love (after The Beatles but that was my Dad and older brother. Chicago was MINE!!!)
@@TheProgCorner Mine too Scot, and i hate to see their 1976-1980 period getting bad rep. Ok, Hot Streets wasn't that good but Chicago 13 and XIV had its moments... X and XI were great albums too. 1969-1975 was already legendary. 1982-1991 good aor moments but especially 16 (1982) was literally great. Night and Day (1995?) was an ok album but i don't what they've done since 1995. That ranking would be perfect, thank you!
It’s coming soon!!! I think Renaissance is next though…
Jim Hodder sang Midnite Cruiser.
He did and I was going to mention that!!! I even had it written down on my little 3x5 cards I always use. Yeah, I was bummed and almost deleted this but life goes in. Great great song. Actually one of my favorite Dan songs!!!
Aja, Can´t buy a thrill and Pretzel logic are my top 3.
So good!!!
Royal scam for me, as the songs are amazing. Aja close 2nd 👍🏻
Definitely the Top Two for me.
Is this the point when I say, it was Charles I who was beheaded following the English Civil War. His son, Charles II, returned to England many years later to take back the throne.
Okay!!! I failed British History!!!!
Charles II was a bit of a rogue during The Restoration. Lots of mistresses, including the famous Nell Gwyn. He had a keen eye for art and architecture. Make your own comparison to our current monarch!
Fair point!!!!
“The most interesting thing about King Charles the First is that he was 5 foot 6 inches tall at the start of his reign but only 4 foot 8 inches tall at the end of it, because of...”
I’m an American, so the only things I know about British history are what I learned through Monty Python.
Yes!!! (Me too.)
Professor of Rock claims ''Nights in White Satin' by the Moody Blues started prog rock. Is is prog rock and was it first?
1967 was a critical year in the development of Prog with Pink Floyd, Procol Harum, Moody Blues, Sgt Pepper, etc. There was no “first” Prog album as is evolved slowly…
Tomorrow Never Knows might be a good candidate.
Aja ...número 1 perfecto...ya te digo.
¡Absolutamente!
Without a doubt Gaucho is their greatest album.
Wow. I love it!!!
So I take it that you've never listened to Aja. You should give it a try.
I know it like the back of my hand. @@toddhooks9813
AJA then Gaucho then the rest all are great .
Gaucho!!!
I like all their albums up to Royal Scam, but after that they became a bit too "Cocktail Jazz" for me. Pretzel Logic is just wonderful.
I hear you on that but Aja is just so good!!!
Right there with you, man!
Royal Scam is better than their greatest hits album.
Bow-dee-shee-vah
Or something like that….
Booty Slappa 🤣🤣🤣
Difficult task. How can anybody rate nine almost perfect albums in order of preference? Well, here goes…
9. Katy Lied
8. Everything Must Go
7. The Royal Scam
6. Pretzel Logic
5. Can’t Buy A Thrill
4. Two Against Nature
3. Gaucho
2. Countdown To Ecstasy
1. AJA
I might rearrange those titles tomorrow. Or I might not. Maybe next week…..
It’s an impossible task!!! But you nailed the top two…
9. EMG
8. CBAT
7. 2AN
6. PL
5. CTE
4. KL
3. RS
2. G
1. A
Looks about right.
Hey now! Just sent you an email.👍😎
Two-horse race between Aja (the winner by a nose) over Can't Buy a Thrill and Royal Scam. The last two were easily the worst and by and large forgettable.
I agree!!!
I prefer Zeppelin or Floyd
Yeah, but those are like two of the greatest acts ever!!!
Can’t Buy a Thrill can’t be that low sorry
For me, the top seven are all magic.
@@TheProgCorner
Agreed but Aja gets rated higher because of its commercial success similar to Kansas Left O Kansas and Masque were better albums songs were too long for the radio
👍👍👍👍
Aja is pronounced A JA. Not Asia.
Okay!!!
Wrong
👍👍👍
Yes. Steely Dan pronounce it "Asia" in their documentary. I think they should know. And it's pronounced "Asia" in the song itself :)@@TheProgCorner
A good point. Kevin The Trucker should know better!!!
All music lovers have common ground, unlike Congress. SD is my favorite band of all time. New Wave/ Alternative is my favorite genre. Prog Rock is my least favorite Rock genre; it's okay, and I respect it.
And it’s all good!!! Common ground indeed!!!
Ok but I wonder what the heck you're doing on a prog Rock channel...
@marcelob4132 As I noted, I love Stanley Dan like the creator. The clip came up in my feed. As I also noted, I respect Prog Rock like PF Dark Side, Peter G with Genesis, and Rush. I like shorter and mostly faster stuff. Some PR is so long, Yes comes to mind.
Whether a fan of Prog in general or not, I welcome all to The Prog Corner!!! No gatekeepers here!!!
But these arn't prog scot😂
I know! I know!!!