This song is still exciting 46 years later. I never want the instrumental interlude to end, as much as I also love the piano anchoring Donald Fagan’s vocal.
RIP Wayne Shorter, my second favorite saxophonist. I adore his solo on this track. The Royal Scam is another great Steely Dan album. It's a little more guitar-oriented.
Steely Dan got only the best musicians. People would die to be asked to play with them. Excellent attention to detail and they were fiendish for perfection (much like Genesis). Such clear recordings.
That whole term Yacht Rock I find offensive. Steely Dan is a very sophisticated sound that stands alone and above just about all others at that time and maybe for all time.
And they never had any album covers with them sailing aboard yachts like CSN and Loggins & Messina did--whose music on those albums more fits the definition of ⛵rock. 😊
@@SpuzzyLargo Crosby has been sailing since he was a teen. I believe Stills has a sailboat as well. I think Stills used to sail with his father when he was a kid. I think of yacht Rock as pretentious and nautical Rock as organic from CSN and others. Please! CSN does not sound like yacht Rock. Yacht Rock is a dumb term imo. How many ppl have been on a yacht? It's just Jazz, Jazz Rock 🤷♂️.
@@deepdivemusicreactions bingo! I'm sure the T.V. shows The Love Boat and Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous also had a hand in it 😒. Let's not mention it again 🙂.
When he says "i run to you" the mystery chord he's playing when he sings "you" is C-sharp major 7 flat 5...haha for the musos out there, no one else cares I know
As you listen to more of their songs you’ll notice that a peculiar character emerges from the lyrics of most of their songs. They like writing about this sort of hipster burnout druggy guy who is desperately trying to be cool and maintain his semi sleazy lifestyle while imagining himself as a valiant hero/ victim. Well something like that. It’s hard to describe, but you’ll this character come through. They became more obsessed with studio perfection and this album is the height of that or maybe the next one “Gaucho” which was the last of their seventies run of albums. I think they blew a gasket making Gaucho. I think their early middle period is best but many disagree. All their albums are great. Now where did I park my yacht?
Wayne Shorter's masterfully thought out, somewhat explorative solo is the highlight of this song for me. I find Gadd's solo to be repetitious, bombastic, and not particularly as subtle and refined as the rest of the song. Steely Dan's lyrics are usually reflective of a series of somewhat lovable disenfranchised losers and shady characters.
@@johnparker3111 I'm speaking specifically about the solo, not his work throughout the song. The solo is the same riff over and over without nuance or change.
technically very good music that leaves me emotionally flat, I like Steely Dan on the radio but otherwise wouldn't go out of my way to hear their music.
@@deepdivemusicreactionsoh it’s a head sticker for sure. I agree with Zions point, but still it’s a good listen. The session musicians arrangements and production are still amazing and I like Their lyrics.
I get you, but at 66 years old and having lived the golden seventies and early eighties they still sound very fresh and relevant. They could be more engaging or soulful but then they would not be Steely Dan.
if I told you my age, I would only be lying. but yeah, they are great, and they are the only ones who do what they do. they are still not a band I ever really connected to beyond FM radio.
It's a pity you do not fully appreciate "Aja"s full creative depth, for this track is truly a genius-level work of art which will be studied and enjoyed for ages to come. I hope someday your emotional horizons expand so that you, also, may experience this powerful, ecstatic, 8-minute mental journey to this place called Aja and make a lifetime booking. (Then again, maybe you just need a better audio system...?)
This is as good as it gets.
Steve Gadd kills it on the drums
This song is still exciting 46 years later. I never want the instrumental interlude to end, as much as I also love the piano anchoring Donald Fagan’s vocal.
Yes, Aja is beyond words...but I'll try - Aja is a sultry, sensory dive into an ocean of time, space, rhythm, melody, and color.
RIP Wayne Shorter, my second favorite saxophonist. I adore his solo on this track. The Royal Scam is another great Steely Dan album. It's a little more guitar-oriented.
Steve Gadd with one of the greatest drum solos in pop music.
This is a masterpiece that music students should study for decades trying to emulate!
Perfection indeed, a text book case of music genius.
The album is pronounced like "Asia".
true
You're right. It's too perfect!
Many consider "Aja" to be the best technical produced album of the Analog era, forty years of perfection!
Steely Dan got only the best musicians. People would die to be asked to play with them. Excellent attention to detail and they were fiendish for perfection (much like Genesis). Such clear recordings.
That whole term Yacht Rock I find offensive. Steely Dan is a very sophisticated sound that stands alone and above just about all others at that time and maybe for all time.
And they never had any album covers with them sailing aboard yachts like CSN and Loggins & Messina did--whose music on those albums more fits the definition of ⛵rock. 😊
AOR, album oriented rock, is a much more accurate description.
@@SpuzzyLargo Crosby has been sailing since he was a teen. I believe Stills has a sailboat as well. I think Stills used to sail with his father when he was a kid. I think of yacht Rock as pretentious and nautical Rock as organic from CSN and others. Please! CSN does not sound like yacht Rock. Yacht Rock is a dumb term imo. How many ppl have been on a yacht? It's just Jazz, Jazz Rock 🤷♂️.
I guess a couple of hollywood movies had smooth jazz in the back of the yacht scenes and there you go
@@deepdivemusicreactions bingo! I'm sure the T.V. shows The Love Boat and Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous also had a hand in it 😒. Let's not mention it again 🙂.
The term "Yacht Rock" has only been around since 2005.
yeah, makes sense
When he says "i run to you" the mystery chord he's playing when he sings "you" is C-sharp major 7 flat 5...haha for the musos out there, no one else cares I know
Sorry. It's cmaj7b5, but, as I already said. Who cares
@@romeosyne I care
"FM" from the film soiundtrack...🙂
Groovy.
Beacker & Fagen are composers.
Steve Gadd
tons of love for this album but I liked their earlier, more rocking stuff. Guess it's a matter of taste.
So do I, albums like Katy Lied are a little looser and more jammy but still has that perfection.
As you listen to more of their songs you’ll notice that a peculiar character emerges from the lyrics of most of their songs. They like writing about this sort of hipster burnout druggy guy who is desperately trying to be cool and maintain his semi sleazy lifestyle while imagining himself as a valiant hero/ victim. Well something like that. It’s hard to describe, but you’ll this character come through. They became more obsessed with studio perfection and this album is the height of that or maybe the next one “Gaucho” which was the last of their seventies run of albums. I think they blew a gasket making Gaucho. I think their early middle period is best but many disagree. All their albums are great. Now where did I park my yacht?
haha 😅 I do notice the vocal jas a bit of a character to it
Wayne Shorter's masterfully thought out, somewhat explorative solo is the highlight of this song for me. I find Gadd's solo to be repetitious, bombastic, and not particularly as subtle and refined as the rest of the song. Steely Dan's lyrics are usually reflective of a series of somewhat lovable disenfranchised losers and shady characters.
To me Gadd's drum work is an anchoring performance to this piece.
@@johnparker3111 I'm speaking specifically about the solo, not his work throughout the song. The solo is the same riff over and over without nuance or change.
technically very good music that leaves me emotionally flat, I like Steely Dan on the radio but otherwise wouldn't go out of my way to hear their music.
I understand that, but the more I listen to it,the more it sticks to my head
@@deepdivemusicreactionsoh it’s a head sticker for sure. I agree with Zions point, but still it’s a good listen. The session musicians arrangements and production are still amazing and I like Their lyrics.
I get you, but at 66 years old and having lived the golden seventies and early eighties they still sound very fresh and relevant. They could be more engaging or soulful but then they would not be Steely Dan.
if I told you my age, I would only be lying. but yeah, they are great, and they are the only ones who do what they do. they are still not a band I ever really connected to beyond FM radio.
It's a pity you do not fully appreciate "Aja"s full creative depth, for this track is truly a genius-level work of art which will be studied and enjoyed for ages to come.
I hope someday your emotional horizons expand so that you, also, may experience this powerful, ecstatic, 8-minute mental journey to this place called Aja and make a lifetime booking.
(Then again, maybe you just need a better audio system...?)