I need it to get a little sunnier and warmer so I can listen to tons of Steely Dan. They're such a warm-weather band to me.

I like The Royal Scam a lot and feel like it gets overlooked because it's between their best two albums (Katy Lied and Aja). "The Caves of Altamira" has a great brass arrangement, the worst you can say about "Don't Take Me Alive" and "Green Earrings" is that they're just sorta baseline Steely Dan songwriting, the title track has such a sinister feel, and "Haitian Divorce" even more so -- that one's one of their best songs ever. Only "The Fez" is bad. And the cover art. The cover art blows; I think even Fagen and Becker admitted as much.

Who else hated or felt they had to hate Steely Dan but ultimately came to terms with the fact that they were really good after all?

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Always been a huge fan but The Royal Scam isn't one of my favorites .

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Proud member of the white guy grievance committee

It aint the six minutes. Its what happens in those six minutes.

Kid Charlemagne. I don't need to say anything, its greatness speaks for itself.

Green Earrings is a great groove and, for them, a really simple, accessible chart.

It isn't their best effort, as you say.

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Power is always in the hands of the masses of men. What oppresses the masses is their own ignorance, their own short-sighted selfishness.
- Henry George

ranking:
Aja
Katy Lied
Pretzel Logic
The Royal Scam
Can't Buy a Thrill
Countdown to Ecstasy (I struggled with this placement. It feels too low especially considering how much I like "Show Biz Kids" and "My Old School.")
The Nightfly
Gaucho
Two Against Nature
Everything Must Go

not bothering with other solo Fagen/Becker stuff but I think The Nightfly is pretty much a Steely Dan album in all but name so yeah. Honestly there's not a lot of range between Aja and The Nightfly in terms of quality, it's all good, then they dropped off a cliff.

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All I know about Steely Dan is that they are named after a dildo.

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I like Gaucho more than most people do, I think.

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"Now comes good sailing. Moose. Indian."

They are miles ahead of the Eagles in terms of talent and song value.

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"All crowds boycotting football games shouldn't care who sings or takes a knee because they aren't watching." - Nas

"Babylon Sisters" and "Hey Nineteen" are good but it gets kind of murky after that. Losing "The Second Arrangement" hurt that album bad.

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Good people drink good beer - Hunter S. Thompson

<º)))><

Waiting for the time when I can finally say
That this has all been wonderful, but now I'm on my way

I am not embarrassed to call myself a Steely Dan fan.

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Elections have consequences.

Great band. Underrated.

The second 8-track I ever owned was Aja. Literally wore the tape out. Can take or leave the newer stuff, but the Katy Lied and Aja LP were outstanding.

By far, Rickie Lee Jones's best work was the CD which Walter Becker produced.

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"When people want their version of the truth, they go find it, no matter how baseless their beliefs." -- Ken Rosenthal

Kid Charlemagne is one of those songs that I will just sit and listen to over and over for hours on end. For me, it's the same with "Deacon Blues," "My Old School," "Pretzel Logic," and "The Royal Scam," among others.

Their catalog has no shortage of amazing songs.

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Saw "Reely Dan" a few weeks ago. Reminded me how much I like Steely Dan.

In addition to others already mentioned, Dr. Wu is one of my favorites.

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"I honestly don't see a good bet on the board here."

Do it Again is a kick-ass song.
Otherwise, I fucking hate Steely Dan. Guys voice is nails on the chalkboard.

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My monocle-breaking secret is I have no particular need to ever hear 'My Old School', which is generally considered to be their anthem. I could also go a long time between listenings of 'Show Biz Kids'.

My favorite depends on my mood ... I reckon the top possibilities at any given time would be Rikki, Pretzel Logic (Becker's best solo by far - incredible), FM, and Reelin' In the Years (Elliot Randall's solo is special), just because the 6/4 counterpoint going on throughout the song is just right in the pocket start to finish.

BTW, the movie FM really isn't as terrible as you'd be led to believe. Now, where you can find it to watch, well, that's on you.

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Power is always in the hands of the masses of men. What oppresses the masses is their own ignorance, their own short-sighted selfishness.
- Henry George

Really? "My Old School" and "Kid Charlemagne" are probably my two favorites, but if they have an anthem, I think it would have to be "Do It Again" or maybe "Rikki".

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Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Matthew, Tulsi, and Don

There was this band called Nightwatch that used to play every weekend at Lakeview Lounge. They were truly a bar band and actually set up behind the bar. The guitar player, Larry could rip that solo note for note. These guys knew a million songs. But I did stump them one night when I had guests in town from the Netherlands and I got loaded and kept screaming, "Radar Love" at them.

https://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/p ... oid=899049

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Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Matthew, Tulsi, and Don

It's this, but that might be a sentimental favorite because it was in heavy rotation as a bumper for Cubs games on WGN back when I listened to Cubs radio every day.

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I pretty much celebrate their whole catalogue but yeah there's very few musical moments better than Beckers Pretzel Logic solo.

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Proud member of the white guy grievance committee

It aint the six minutes. Its what happens in those six minutes.

Dildo

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I think the music is incredibly interesting and the lyrics are also incredibly interesting -- very few bands can pull both of those off song after song.

I've posted this before, but Donald Fagen breaking down the keyboard work is really interesting, even for someone who does not play music:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DP_2r9zbaIY

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"All crowds boycotting football games shouldn't care who sings or takes a knee because they aren't watching." - Nas

Pickled money?

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Power is always in the hands of the masses of men. What oppresses the masses is their own ignorance, their own short-sighted selfishness.
- Henry George

This video is pretty good as well, breaking down Deacon Blues - Aja was one of the first albums I ever spent money on.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SfS5zCCZGWI

I want that isolated synthesizer solo at the 6:35 mark of the video to be my smartphone ring tone.

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"When people want their version of the truth, they go find it, no matter how baseless their beliefs." -- Ken Rosenthal

Horrible band. Over rated garbage. Painful listen.

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Just listened to Don't Take Me Alive. That motherfucking opening is the shit.

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Proud member of the white guy grievance committee

It aint the six minutes. Its what happens in those six minutes.

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Power is always in the hands of the masses of men. What oppresses the masses is their own ignorance, their own short-sighted selfishness.
- Henry George

Explain yourself? While I personally don't like Steely Dan they are anything but horrible or over rated. I will give you painful listen because that is truly subjective and I happen to agree. That being said the talent is pretty amazing and the best production ever. You may just be trolling but you can't call them horrible.

Nerds!!

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An unjust law is no law at all--St. Augustine of Hippo

Cause tried and true
I see the light in you
Oh, can you dig in my soul?
Could you smell my whole...
life?--Gener and Deaner