NationStates Jolt Archive


The Official NSG Steely Dan Thread

Bluth Corporation
01-01-2009, 07:02
For bragging about and discussing the greatest duo + revolving door backup band (well, ok, Skunk Baxter the missile-defense systems expert was a fixture for awhile) ever to be named after a fictional steam-powered dildo.

"Two Against Nature" was the first album I ever bought on the day of its release.
Cameroi
01-01-2009, 10:44
meh, i like steel eye span, and their album ten man mop better.
Intangelon
01-01-2009, 10:50
No band, live or in the studio, is or has been tighter. Doesn't matter if you don't like the music, you gotta respect the craftsmanship.

I own the box set and the two newer releases, and would put Baxter's solo on "My Old School" up against anything in the history of rock guitar.
Cameroi
01-01-2009, 10:56
nothing WRONG with any of that. my only point being that superlatives, even when not entirely defined by "eye of the beholder" are still a matter of context.

i don't mean that just as "i" or someone else, might happen to like this or not like that either. especially so when the superlative lacks an objective metric.
Rambhutan
01-01-2009, 11:32
Elliott Randall on Reelin' in the Years is the finest guitar solo ever in my opinion.
Dododecapod
01-01-2009, 13:18
Elliott Randall on Reelin' in the Years is the finest guitar solo ever in my opinion.

I'd rate Brian May higher, but it's definite in the top ten.
Oiseaui
01-01-2009, 13:59
Well seeing how the only song I know well by Steely Dan is that on the "Rock Band 2" soundtrack I'd say I have nothing to contribute to this conversation.

*backs out slowly*
The Archregimancy
01-01-2009, 14:07
But not, dare I say, the greatest band ever named after a William Burroughs sexual term - an honour which I believe goes to the criminially underrated late 80's - early 90's band Thin White Rope.

So criminally underrated that studio tracks are virtually impossible to find on Youtube (which I only choose here for ease of legal accessibility), but try...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMbEgE5ySmA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1ICfNbeIjI&feature=related

Though note that the second only uses their music.


Oh, and addressing the OP... I have Aja on CD. Pleasant enough, but I've always found the Dan a bit emotionally sterile for my tastes.