Steely Dan: appreciation thread and DVD discussion (1 Viewer)

[KeithH]

Mike, congratulations on your purchase and welcome to the wonderful world of SACD! What model did you buy?

 

[Mike Broadman]

Keith, thanks. I just started a new thread about it, where you can read all the boring details of my SACD adventures.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

Another big Steely Dan fan here (I'm 39, btw). I've just become DVD-Audio capable, and have been trying not to buy too many discs yet. I passed on the Two Against Nature DVD-A disc, since I already have the CD and concert DVD. I do love the studio CD, though. It seemed like Fagen and Becker had not lost any of the magic after all those years apart. You folks are talking me into another purchase.

I love SD's arrangements and wonderful, strange lyrics. They have a unique sound that I never tire of listening to.

For anyone looking to get a lot of their back catalog titles, you may want to check out their boxed set Citizen Steely Dan. It contains all their studio albums from 1972 - 1980 on four CDs. You do not get the albums on individual discs with original artwork, but the songs are ordered chronologically by album release.

If you can still find it, another option is a gold disc remaster of A Decade Of Steely Dan. I missed out on the Mobile Fidelity release of Aja, but the remastered CD is very good.

 

[Mike Broadman]

What's the deal with SACD? I remember someone saying that Gaucho would be out as some point. Are there any SACD Dan discs out already? Their slick sound would be perfect for some high-end audio.

I also highly recommend the Classic Album series DVD on Aja. Cool interviews and very informative on the recording process.

 

[KeithH]

Mike,
Universal Music Group did announce that it would be releasing Gaucho on SACD this year. Unfortunately, I have not seen a release date yet. I'll look for your thread on "all the boring details of your SACD adventures".
Scott,
I have the normal remastered version of A Decade of Steely Dan, and it is excellent. Definitely better than the original version of the CD, which I also have. I read on a message board somewhere awhile back that the gold and standard remastered versions sound the same.
As a Steely Dan fan, I feel you owe it to yourself to pick up the Two Against Nature DVD-Audio disc. Just my opinion.
NP: Seinfeld on Fox.

 

[Philip Hamm]

I missed out on the Mobile Fidelity release of Aja, but the remastered CD is very good

From what I've read, MoFi really dropped the ball bigtome on this realease. I have it and yes it does sound very good. However, I've read that the MCA remaster is far superior.

 

[Andrew 'Ange Hamm' Hamm]

bigtome

Is that like a large book, Phil? Say, what's up with your post count? I thought the only cool HTFers had posts in the 4-digit range.

I haven't seen Steely Dan live, but I saw Joe Jackson twice on his last tour, and he covered SD both times--playing two different songs! He did a Latin version of "Reelin' In the Years" in Boston and a solo piano version of "Any Major Dude" in New York.

NP: Bruce Hornsby and the Range - The Way It Is

 

[Philip Hamm]

Actually, the fact that there is no big tome in this release is significant. I emailled MoFi about it and apparently they could not get the rights to the liner notes, even the lists of personnel who played on each song, which is on the LP inner sleve. A truly substandard release from MoFi.

 

[Larry Geller]

For anyone looking to get a lot of their back catalog titles, you may want to check out their boxed set Citizen Steely Dan.

Avoid this box like the plague! ALL of the material on it is now available in far superior sound on the current remastered CDs (except for the outtake version of Everyone's Gone to the Movies , which is still only available in the box set--which is why I still kept mine--a box set for 1 stinkin' track!). The remastered discs are also far superior to the MFSL discs. The new remastered Decade Of is the same as the gold version & is also excellent. The DTS Gaucho is also amazing.

 

[Mike Broadman]

Actually, I believe that the same tracks were used for both the remastered CDs and the box set. Which one you get depends purely on your personal preference.

Box set advantages:

Extra tracks- Bohisatva (live version), Everyone's Gone to the Movies (demo), FM

Price- I got mine for $40, which is cheaper tham buying 7 seperate CDs.

Less CDs- All the music on only 4 CDs might be more attractive to some than having 7.

Individual album advantages:

Whole albums on one CD. The box set smushes as much as it can on each disc. Though the tracks are generally in order, albums get split up.

Original art work.

I bought the box set, but sold it and bought the individual albums. It really bugged me that Aja, my favorite Dan album and one of my favorite albums of all time, was split up. I know, it's silly, but I wanted to be able to just take Aja with me in the car or to work without having to take 2 CDs. I like having them all seperate. Another silly thing is that it looks better on my shelf because I also have the live album and Two Against Nature.

The only thing I miss from the box set is FM, which was on some movie's soundtrack and not on any albums. I'm not going to get a best-of album for that one song, either. I don't care about demo tracks, and the live version of Bodhisattva is alright, but not a big deal, especially since I have two live versions of it already.

Larry's post is the first I've heard of a DTS Gaucho CD.

I must say, I'm surprised that of all of their albums, Gaucho is getting so much attention: DTS and soon SACD. I believe it is one of their least popular albums and, IMO, one of their worst. It has some good songwriting, but some of the production is very stale and 80s, especially the drum tracks and some of the cheesy sounding keyboards. It's the only Dan album that sounds dated to me.

Of all their albums to get so many fancy versions released, I would have expected Can't Buy A Thrill, Pretzel Logic, or Aja.

 

[Michael Reuben]

I'm surprised that of all of their albums, Gaucho is getting so much attention: DTS and soon SACD. I believe it is one of their least popular albums

You had to be there (I gather you were a bit too young ). The album was a huge hit, and for a while it was almost inescapable -- you heard it everywhere you went.
M.

 

[Larry Geller]

Actually, I believe that the same tracks were used for both the remastered CDs and the box set.

This is NOT true. The box set was done YEARS before the current remasters. Listen to both---the difference is NOT subtle. In fact, the MFSL CDs are far superior to the box set tracks, and the new remasters are far superior to the MFSLs.

P.S.--Gaucho rules!

 

[Mike Broadman]

You had to be there (I gather you were a bit too young ).

Hey, I was very mature when I was two years old.

 

[Philip Hamm]

Mike,

Maybe you need to let Gaucho grow on you. It is an incredible album, it an Aja are easily their two best. I read that a DTS CD of Aja was in the works, I hope it eventually surfaces as a DVD-A.

I know what you mean about split up albums, and it's not silly at all. Personally I took my Police box set and ripped the tracks to make individual CDs. I would have done the same thing with the Dan box.

NP: Stewart Copeland: The Equalizer & Other Cliff Hangars

 

[KeithH]

Philip, I never heard about a plan to release Aja as a DTS CD, but I would love to see it on DVD-Audio. I wouldn't bank on it though. Seeing as Universal is supposed to be releasing Gaucho on SACD, it would seem unlikely that they would release Aja on DVD-Audio. One never knows what the record labels will do though.
NP: The O'Jays Ship Ahoy SACD on my new Sony SCD-CE775.

 

[Lee Scoggins]

Keith,
How many Super Audio players do you have?
What are you? a collector or something?
Are you tempted by the new Pioneer 47A universal player?
Lee

 

[KeithH]

Lee, good eye there! That's four SACD players, with two in each system. In case you didn't see my post elsewhere on this board, I had a problem playing the Mary Chapin Carpenter time*sex*love* SACD on the SCD-C333ES in my second system the other day. I was playing the disc straight through when out of nowhere, the music stopped during track 12, and I heard static. I know that people have experienced static when playing certain multi-channel hybrid discs on the 'C333ES, but I had never heard of it happening with a single-layer Sony SACD. I posted my experience here the other day, and RicP said that he has experienced the same thing every so often with the James Taylor Hourglass SACD on his 'C333ES. It seems that the 'C333ES mistracks occasionally on multi-channel SACDs where the laser slips into the multi-channel layer, resulting in static. I suppose dirt could lead to mistracking and slippage to the multi-channel layer. When I heard static with the Carpenter disc, I removed it from the 'C333ES and saw a small fiber (carpet fiber?) on the disc. Maybe this led to the mistracking, but who knows?

Since buying the 'C333ES last April, I have only experienced static the one time on the Carpenter disc, but it is bothersome and is something that sticks in my mind. I played the first four songs of the Carpenter disc in the 'C333ES last night, and while I did not experience static, I was waiting for it. The possibility of static affected my enjoyment of the Carpenter disc, which I like by the way. As a result, I decided to pick up a 'CE775 for $200 from J&R Music World since the multi-channel players do not exhibit the static problem. I will use the 'CE775 for the Carpenter disc and others that might come along and cause problems in the 'C333ES. I am actually having fun with the 'CE775. In a brief comparison between the 'C333ES and 'CE775 with The Isley Brothers 3 + 3 SACD, I heard no difference. I will do more testing though. My second system is not overly revealing (NAD C 350 integrated amp and Energy e:XL 25 speakers), so maybe I'll try the 'CE775 in the main system and compare it to the 'C555ES and '777ES. I have not tried CDs in the 'CE775, but from what I have experienced in stores and read, it is not a good CD player. I'll try it in that capacity eventually.

The one area where the 'CE775 is definitely lacking, not surprisingly, is in the build-quality department. The carousel mechanism is loud and clunky, even more so than with the ES changers. Part of that could be because the 'CE775 has a thin chassis that doesn't dampen the noise as much. No matter. For $200, I am very pleased with the 'CE775.

For the record, I am intrigued by the Pioneer Elite DV-47A since it is a universal player, but I will not be buying one. I'd like to see it at Tweeter, but my local stores haven't gotten it from the warehouse yet.

NP: Keb' Mo' The Door SACD

 

[Steve Meskell]

I remember hearing the reason "Aja" wasn't released as a DTS cd(they started production on it) was that the original multi track recording of the song "Aja" was missing Hopefully they find it and release a DVD-A 5:1 mix with a DTS track....since I am unable to buy a new DVD-A/SACD player, not for a while anyway

 

[Mike Broadman]

Keith, please do tell us about how the 775 plays CDs when you starting testing that. Either way, I'm not going to be getting another player. Price was definitely a deciding factor for picking this player, but I'm curious.

Phil, don't get me wrong: I like Gaucho. I just feel the sound is sometimes dated.

My quick ranking of SD albums:

Aja

Pretzel Logic

Katy Lied

Royal Scam

Countdown to Ecstacy

Gaucho

2 Against Nature

Can't Buy a Thrill

NP: Grant Green, Grantstand, CD

 

[John_Bonner]

Hearing Steve Gadd's performance on the song "Aja" in high-resolution might just be the final selling point for me getting an SACD player.