JOESEDDIT’S
CRATES FULL OF VINYL – STEELY DAN
I’ve got a couple
of crates full of old vinyl albums that I haven’t listened to in years due to
lack of equipment to play them. Over a period of about a year and a half
I revisited each album on the internet or bought the CD and ranked the songs. I
also recorded some brief thoughts, rated the album, and posted the results on
Rolling Stone’s 100 Greatest Artists comment section. I’m recycling and
categorizing/grouping the posts on this
website.
Countdown to Ecstasy
I think there isn’t much
separation between Steely Dan albums. All of their songs are like one big album
and could easily be interchanged and not seem out of place. That having been
said, I can’t believe I’m the only one that ranks this as The Dan’s best album.
Scale of 1 to 10: A +
1- Showbiz Kids
2- Razor Boy
3- Boston Rag
4- My Old School
5- Bodhisattva
6- Pearl of the Quarter
7- King of the World
8- Your Gold Teeth
Katy Lied
I like every one of Steely Dan’s
first six albums. “Countdown” is my favorite, but after that it’s difficult for
me to rank ‘em in order. I’m thinking this one might be my second favorite by
just a skosh. Still not sure though.
Scale of 1 to 10: A –
1- Daddy Don't Live in That New York
City
2-
Chain Lightning
3-
Black Friday
4-
Bad Sneakers
5-
Doctor Wu
6-
Rose Darling
7-
Everyone's Gone to the Movies
8-
Your Gold Teeth II
9-
Throw Back the Little Ones
10-
Any World (That I'm Welcome To)
Aja
Goes to show how much I love the
Dan. Great album but I still rank it behind all SD albums that precede it.
Scale of 1 to 10: B +
1- Josie
2- Deacon Blues
3- Home At Last
4- Aja
5-
6- I Got the News
7- Black Cow
Pretzel Logic
“Countdown” is my
favorite but after that I haven’t been able to separate Steely Dan albums.
After revisiting the two, I rank this one behind “Katy Lied”. Not sayin’ it
isn’t good, mind you. I love every one of the Dan’s first six albums.
Scale of 1 to
10: A –
1- Pretzel Logic
2- Rikki Don’t Lose That Number
3- East St.Louis Toodle-oo
4- Any Major Dude Will Tell You
5-
6-
7-
8- Charlie Freak
9- With a Gun
10- Night By Night
11- Through With Buzz
The Royal Scam
This
will be the fifth of six Steely Dan albums I’ve covered. I’ve never been able
to separate the albums for purposes of ranking after my favorite- “Countdown”.
This one is certainly solid Dan (hell, all six of ‘em are), but “Katy Lied”
still sits in second place on my list.
Scale of 1 to 10: A –
1- Kid
Charlemagne
2- The Fez
3- Haitian Divorce
4-
5- Don’t Take Me
Alive
6- Green Earrings
7- The Cave of
Altamira
8- Everything You
Did
9- The Royal Scam
Can’t Buy a
Thrill
This is the last Steely Dan album in the crate.
I fired all of my other “Dan” bullets early in this project so it’s been a
while since I listened to a full SD album. Maybe that’s why I enjoyed it so
much. “Do it Again” is a great song to kick off an album and a career (this is
their first album). I’m sure about ranking it first. The rest of the songs
could be moved up or down a spot or two; I like all of ‘em. Heck, I just love the
Dan. Clean recordings and precise production yet they don’t come off as
sterile. An air of sophistication yet at the same time ratty. And a style
that’s difficult to classify – a genre all their own. As much as I like this
album, I don’t rank it at the top of my Steely Dan list. There are others.
Scale of 1 to 10: A –
1- Do it Again
2- Reelin’ in the Years
3- Kings
4- Only a Fool Would Say That
5- Midnite Cruiser
6- Dirty Work
7- Change of the Guard
8- Brooklyn (Owes the Charmer Under Me)
9- Fire in the Hole
10- Turn That Heartbeat Over Again
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