I've only heard one Steely Dan song that I know of. So...

Is all of their music glorified elevator music?

(Come on, let's see if we can get a good old fashioned Lounge music flamewar going here.)

:P

I guess it fit in pretty good in the 70s

:)

with the words, just for you my sweet

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGRCelgIHbk

:shrug:

Dude, I gotta add ya as a Facebook friend...

Pretentious pseudo-jazz noodling that is all technique with no heart.

that's my favorite SD song.

:)

...but are still pleasing. The older stuff and Fagen's solo work are almost unanimously magnificent.

Just proves those award things are nothing but crap crap and more crap.

Tasty stuff.

:thumbsup:

That usually starts a good music flamewar :headbang: :P

uh... freeper. :P

Kinda scares me.

:P

You can only hear the same two "It has no melody" and "it sucks" arguments over and over so many times until they lose any meaning. :P

..oh no, Guadalajara won't do! :)

I have to go listen to it right now...

as a guitarist.... I also think Fagen writes good story songs. I think their popularity distracts people from some of their skills as story-tellers and composers.

it was a little weird when they became wildly popular later on....

I think they were at a high point in terms of creativity and technical innovation on those records. Supposedly they never listen to Katy Lied due to some technical problem with the recording... I'd noticed that they never seem to play songs from that record when they perform live, so maybe that's why - they haven't listened to any of them in 35 years.

:shrug:

I damn near fell asleep while playing it on Guitar Hero. (Not because it's an easy song, it just aesthetically bored me to death, haha.)

:shrug:

since I double posted, I thought I would take this chance to post one of their songs reflective of this time

http://www.youtube.com/v/0MUwTCbYKg4&hl=en&fs=1

If you listen you can hear it
Its the laughter in the street
Its the motion in the music
And the fire beneath your feet
All the signs are right this time
You dont have to try so very hard
If you live in this world
Youre feelin the change of the guard

All the cowboys and your neighbors
Can you swallow up your pride
Take your guns off it youre willin
And you know were on your side
If you wanna get thru the years
Its high time you played your card
If you live in this world
Youre feelin the change of the guard

That's early stuff. Nice. :D

So I'll tell the truth: Steely Dan are nigh impeccable.

you.

And it is true, the stuff that made consistent radio play isn't the best stuff. I have the 'Citizen Steely Dan' boxed set...it is wonderful.

She was apparently looking for a different song...

But old fashioned Lounge music flamewars - actually, old fashioned Lounge anything - are fucking dead as Refused.

Oh, and as much as I loathe Steely Dan just on sheer principle, honesty forces me to grudgingly admit that they have some seriously worthy ideas peeking out here and there. If you go deeper, I'll bet you'll find something to like, it's just not going to be in many of their radio songs.

They're the songs I always skip.

:rofl:



see the problem is loathing them on "principle" without looking for some actual skill and content there. And there is some. But you know me, I'll give most music folk some benefit of the doubt!

:P

...that is all.

So I will add you to the "Yes" column. :P

(or lack thereof) of them. If you listen to FM radio, you've probably heard more than just "Do It Again" without realizing it was Steely Dan.

In all honesty, I have no real desire to delve into their world, I was just bored, had just played the song on Guitar Hero and figured it'd make for an amusing lounge thread, because hey, what's more fun than watching Loungers argue about music? Haha.

Which song is on GH? "Do It Again"? I heard "Bodhisattva" was due to appear on Rock Band II, which made me laugh ridiculously. :D

Like I said upthread, it's not an easy song, but their sound just wasn't my cup o' tea.

FM, Hey Nineteen, Babylon Sisters, Deacon Blues, Midnight Cruiser. No way is it elevator music.

I like "Hey Nineteen" as much as the next non-ironic Godflesh addict, but come on.

But I absolutely LOVE Steely Dan.

Does that mean that Steely Dan does
not play jazz?

Or that I really don't hate jazz?

I'm SO confused.

:crazy:

especially when feeling a bit depressed. There's something about the attitude conveyed in their songs that makes me feel more....steely.

EV. ER.

Skunk Baxter could PLAY.

It's also an acronym for Barack Obama, Democrat, Illinois.

I think Bodi would make a perfect name for the girls new puppy, too, btw.

You could possibly make the case for any album's after '73s CtE, particularly the last three of the original run (THE ROYAL SCAM ('76); AJA ('77); GAUCHO ('80)), but it takes skill and mad hating abilities to call COUNTDOWN TO ECSTASY (featuring "Bodhisattva" and similarly guitar-driven tracks) anything near glorified elevator music.

You caught me listening to GAUCHO, right now, actually. :P

Seriously, let's go through this chronologically. '72's debut, CAN'T BUY A THRILL, is mostly pretty mainstream, excepting the lyrics and some odd instrumentation (a wailing, screaming plastic organ on "Do It Again", for example).

COUNTDOWN TO ECSTASY was completed the most like a normal record, with a solid and cohesive band unit, while they were still touring, and they had ditched the god-awful wailings of David Palmer, so it sounds pretty like rock-'n'-roll.

By PRETZEL LOGIC ('74), they had ditched the concept of having a cohesive band, and that record is comprised of mostly shorter selections that have some serious drive to them (two drum sets on "Parker's Band" is a perfect example of that life).

KATY LIED ('75) is much of the same, though perhaps more cynical and more seamless in its sound (each succeeding album would get more and more glossy in its tone, peaking in AJA and becoming a trifle overdone by GAUCHO).

THE ROYAL SCAM is nasty cynicism and seamless guitars, pretty gorgeous, with some weird-ass songs, namely "The Fez."

AJA is gorgeous, almost too much so at times, with lush and wrought instrumentation and a dark but still rose-colored tone, very ironic.

GAUCHO is the darker twin of AJA, less subtle and so more obvious and sterile; it lacks AJA's pristine sense of yearning and anger, and Fagen's voice in it is dry and almost brittle at times, his sneer *too* pronounced, but the first three tracks--"Babylon Sisters," "Hey Nineteen," "Glamour Profession"--are sleek, ironic, gorgeous, and very AJA-like.

I guess it comes down to what you consider elevator music. Elevator music for me is mindless noodling, and while some have made that claim of Fagen and Becker, I personally don't see it. I also think the lyrics and the frequent absurdity, even outright raunchiness (see "The Fez"), of songs' subject matter prevent them from becoming true elevator music, which is bland and message-less, certainly not bitterly ironic. Most people who claim the 'Dan is unequivocally elevator music have more than likely only heard the singles and the SCAM/AJA/GAUCHO-era content, without ever getting into the earlier stuff and the album tracks from SCAM and AJA in particular.

COUNTDOWN is by far the best. Now, in your honor, I will have to listen to "Your Gold Teeth".

Isn't it.

Doesn't it.

after a dildo.

Extra points for that.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q15zMpAR3OI&feature=related


I got one and you want four
It's so hard to help you
I can't keep up with you no more
And you treat me like it's a sin
But you can't lock me in
You want me here with you right to the end
No thank you my friend
I fear the monkey in your soul

Won't you turn that bebop down
I can't hear my heart beat
Where's that fatback chord I found?
Honey don't you think it was wrong
To interrupt my song?
I'll pack my things and run so far from here
Goodbye dear

I fear the monkey in your soul

also: with a gun...

but, you either dig a vibe or you don't...like Rush :D

"Hawney, don't..you...thinkitwaswrong?"

:rofl:

It's got the harmonies, it's got a tough guitar solo, and it holds together better than 90% of anything CSNY ever recorded.

I always thought that "Katy Lied" was the career peak...I own everything that came before and after it through "Aja"...and I'm not a fan of elevator music, so draw your own conclusions...

:toast:

However, I would say that Steely Dan are one of the greatest bands ever - ever. The song writing is intelligent in a way that the most sophisticated, bookish, indie songsmiths could only dream of. The arrangements are like a modern chamber version of Duke Ellington with unlimited resources. The whole package is just absolutely brilliant... check out "The Royal Scam" (the entire album, not just the title track).

Peg, Babylon Sisters, Kid Charlemagne, Reelin' in the Years, Black Friday, Dirty Work, Josie, My Old School, etc. etc., --> great stuff.

I would never describe it as "elevator music"

You should check out some more