Eagles and Steely Dan

edutton

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Steely Dan - especially Donald Fagen, who I think writes most of the music - are amongst the greatest songwriters.
Those early albums were fantastic.
I also rate very highly the first two Donald Fagen albums, and Walter Becker's first one (11 Tracks Of Whack). His second one was terrible... :(
Have you heard any of the pre-Dan demos - pretty much everything is on "Becker and Fagen: the Early Years" and/or "Android Mountain" - or the soundtrack You Gotta Walk It Like You Talk It? The demos are honestly nothing special for the most part, unless you're a hardcore fan, but there are a couple of tracks that didn't make the cut into the SD discography.
 

The_Ink_Goddess

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These guys are so good musically, you forget how good their lyrics are.

Deacon Blues - They got a name for the winners of the world, I want a name when I lose...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2A0wGO3c2T8

I love this line, MazeRunner. My dad and I listen to Deacon Blues a lot because Aja is (maybe) his favourite SD album (he can't really decide between Can't Buy A Thrill, The Royal Scam, or Alive in America otherwise). Steely Dan is a great band for summer. They have so many amazing lines. I also love I saw the fireworks, I believed that I was dreaming/ Til the neighbours came out screaming / He's a third world man.
 

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They are a great band for summer, you're right, and the temperature's soaring in LA. I understand your dad's dilemma, so many great albums and songs, can't choose just one, but maybe there's no need. it's cool you listen to music with your Pops. My daughter and I have the same kind of relationship. Ha, I show her the old stuff and she shows me the new.
 

Ragtime

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I can't say much about either band, but I recently got Countdown to Ecstasy. I usually cut it off around My Old School, so I hadn't heard the whole thing yet. Bodhisattva is pretty wild. It almost kind of makes my stomach churn though, but in a good way, I guess.

Something about The Boston Rag. Hmm, yeah.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlK4Uy1hN90
 

edutton

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it's cool you listen to music with your Pops. My daughter and I have the same kind of relationship. Ha, I show her the old stuff and she shows me the new.
My daughter and I are exactly the same way. Her musical taste ranges almost as widely as mine, although we both have areas the other just doesn't care about. :)
 

bombergirl69

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Love both bands. Change of the Guard and Kiss of Cousin Dupree are my favs but really, love all their stuff.

And yes to the Eagles- so many favorites - midnight flyer and already gone from on the border, from the long run- in the city, but actually (I was surprised) I loved Hell Freezes over. The intro to hotel California--don felder?--is just stunning, not to mention learn to be still, get over it. A lovely album. Didn't like their later stuff as much - how long was okay but that was about it, but I still listen to their early albums!
 

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Have you heard any of the pre-Dan demos -

No, I haven't heard them, I know both of them are annoyed that this material is 'out there' so I kinda took my cue from that...
I want to hear them at their best!

I recently listened to Two Against Nature and Everything Must Go, I had forgotten how good the former is, and how poor the latter. I suspect we won't get any more SD albums. I think the magic has finally departed. Plus, they seem happy just going out on the road and playing all their standards.
 

Maze Runner

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My daughter and I are exactly the same way. Her musical taste ranges almost as widely as mine, although we both have areas the other just doesn't care about. :)

Oh, yeah, we do, too. Some of the stuff I grew up with, for example, if I'm honest I only like because of the nostalgia factor. And some of the stuff she's growing up with, yeah, just not for me. But she's a real student of music. Has taught me about some of the music I thought I knew.
 

Maze Runner

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I can't say much about either band, but I recently got Countdown to Ecstasy. I usually cut it off around My Old School, so I hadn't heard the whole thing yet. Bodhisattva is pretty wild. It almost kind of makes my stomach churn though, but in a good way, I guess.

Something about The Boston Rag. Hmm, yeah.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlK4Uy1hN90

Another one from Countdown I like: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9QVNbUPzgM&list=RDHbfWXOPKFeg&index=13

Show business kids makin' movies 'bout themselves, you know they don't give a f*ck about anybody else...
 

Maze Runner

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That's a great one. Didn't recognize the title but knew it right away.
 

edutton

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That's a great one. Didn't recognize the title but knew it right away.
I've been listening back through their classic catalog, :D and there really is almost no crap in it. They did kind of run out of steam partway through Gaucho (let's face it, "My Rival" is lame by anybody's standard) but even there four of the seven tracks are great. From first to last, at least 50% of every album delivered truly enduring music, and I'd argue that Royal Scam and Aja are basically flawless.
 

Maze Runner

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I've been listening back through their classic catalog, :D and there really is almost no crap in it. They did kind of run out of steam partway through Gaucho (let's face it, "My Rival" is lame by anybody's standard) but even there four of the seven tracks are great. From first to last, at least 50% of every album delivered truly enduring music, and I'd argue that Royal Scam and Aja are basically flawless.

I hear you. So many bands you have to skip through, these guys like the Beatles and The Stones, you don't have to do that. Elton John might be another one for me, at least in his early years. He did get a little too poppy for my taste later on. I'm listening to Do it Again, again, at the moment, and it could be one of the few Dan tunes that have been overplayed. Maybe Rikki Don't Lose That Number is another one. Still, it's been a while, so kinda fresh all over again.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgYuLsudaJQ&index=7&list=RDtllhmK9g4G4
 

edutton

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I hear you. So many bands you have to skip through, these guys like the Beatles and The Stones, you don't have to do that. Elton John might be another one for me, at least in his early years. He did get a little too poppy for my taste later on. I'm listening to Do it Again, again, at the moment, and it could be one of the few Dan tunes that have been overplayed. Maybe Rikki Don't Lose That Number is another one. Still, it's been a while, so kinda fresh all over again.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgYuLsudaJQ&index=7&list=RDtllhmK9g4G4
Currently listening to Green Earrings! :heart: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAuR4xVFdjk
 

Maze Runner

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Oh yeah. Madman Across the Water? Fantastic.

Really, man. My favorite of his. Even the obscure ones are great. The title track, most have heard. Levon and Tiny Dancer, everybody knows. But Indian Sunset is on that album. One of the best lyrics Taupin ever wrote. I guess it's okay to link it on a Steely Dan thread, whattya think?

With Lyrics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hrAwGjM0gR4
 

Stephen Palmer

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Elton John is one of the all-time great songwriters, up there with McCartney and Paul Simon I reckon. But Fagen & Becker are up there too...
 

Maze Runner

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I'm not on twitter anymore (couldn't handle the self-promotion--mine, I mean) but I came across David Crosby's feed, and saw where someone asked him what his go to band was--he said, Steely Dan. Then someone asked what song they should listen to, and he said Babylon Sisters.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAuPMJlK92s
 
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