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Steely Dan- Any good?

I wasn't comparing them to a band who are still together, in that respect no-one can touch then. Two Against Nature was pretty good, Jack of Speed (my favourite track) was vintage Steely Dan in my books. The last album was even better, so long as you didn't expect a new sound, they were just doing what they do best.

What I meant by some bands of the 70's have stood the test of time better is when I listen to Steely Dan say Aja it sounds like a 70's album, it's a sound of the period. When I listen to Led Zep to me it could come from any period from the 60's through to the 80's.

Some bands when I listen to their albums again sound truly awful, a sound locked in their time. One example for me would be Genesis of the early 70's, I used to love them at the time but now they are just plain embarassing.

Cheers
Mike
 
Fair enough, Mike.

I just heard Led Zep 4 side 2 funnily enough. I believe Bonham got that awesome drum sound by using mikes on the landing ceiling at Headley Grange whilst he played the drums in the hall downstairs.
 
I know what you mean, I personally don't like the Led Zep 'recorded sound' it's a shame they weren't recorded better.

Cheers
Mike
 
Miiikey said:
What I meant by some bands of the 70's have stood the test of time better is when I listen to Steely Dan say Aja it sounds like a 70's album, it's a sound of the period. When I listen to Led Zep to me it could come from any period from the 60's through to the 80's.
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Interesting to come back to this point a lot later in time. The later Steely Dan stuff like Aja sounds pretty fresh to me now due to the revival of ‘70s soul jazz and fusion in so much modern jazz, soul, rap, R&B etc. That said I’m likely the wrong person to comment on Led Zep as I’ve always felt they were hopelessly overblown cocaine and underage groupie-fuelled ‘70s white blues rock of little interest. I never rated them back in the ‘70s (aside from the first album which actually has a bit of life to it), let alone now. I’m complete on Steely Dan.
 
Tony L said:
Interesting to come back to this point a lot later in time. The later Steely Dan stuff like Aja sounds pretty fresh to me now due to the revival of ‘70s soul jazz and fusion in so much modern jazz, soul, rap, R&B etc. That said I’m likely the wrong person to comment on Led Zep as I’ve always felt they were hopelessly overblown cocaine and underage groupie-fuelled ‘70s white blues rock of little interest. I never rated them back in the ‘70s (aside from the first album which actually has a bit of life to it), let alone now. I’m complete on Steely Dan.
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l find Steely Dan pretty timeless - well up to ' Gaucho'- those two chaps had it all!
 
Miiikey said:
I know what you mean, I personally don't like the Led Zep 'recorded sound' it's a shame they weren't recorded better.

Cheers
Mike
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I suspect the mastering was a lot to do with the sound quality. Wayne Mitzen has a fascinating article about his remix of Whole Lotta Love and the issue created by 'creative mastering' by band members - his restoration and remix is a revelation
https://www.ajawamnet.com/ajawamnet/remixoflz.html
DGP
 
That is an interesting article. That said I’m really no fan of rewriting history, the LZ albums have their own sound and UK 1st press vinyl is the authentic realisation of that IMO. Reissues should get as close to that as possible IMO. The bad decisions in the cocaine-fuelled later years are what they are. They should stand in the way say VU & Nico, Trout Mask Replica or Raw Power should stand. They are all an important snapshot of history/popular culture and the sound pallet as delivered is all part of that. I really dislike old deaf rockstars trying to rewrite their past. It never makes anything better.
 
Woodface said:
Glad I’m not the only one who thinks Led Zep are complete bores.
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I’m sure they’re not, they certainly have enough fans and good LZ vinyl always flies out. I just never got them. That whole white blues rock (aside from T. Rex, which were great, obvs) was well before my time. I hd no personal connection to it, and just didn’t find it as interesting as the other stuff from the past I was digging out of used bins (Hawkwind, Floyd, Tangerine Dream, Yes, Groundhogs, Man, Kraftwerk etc). Then Television, Patti Smith, Talking Heads, punk/new-wave etc started and I stopped looking backwards for a long while. It’s only in recent decades that I’ve really started mining the past with jazz etc, and at that point realised the best blues rock album ever made is Miles Davis Tribute To Jack Johnson. As one does.
 
Tony L said:
I’m sure they’re not, they certainly have enough fans and good LZ vinyl always flies out. I just never got them. That whole white blues rock (aside from T. Rex, which were great, obvs) was well before my time. I hd no personal connection to it, and just didn’t find it as interesting as the other stuff from the past I was digging out of used bins (Hawkwind, Floyd, Tangerine Dream, Yes, Groundhogs, Man, Kraftwerk etc). Then Television, Patti Smith, Talking Heads, punk/new-wave etc started and I stopped looking backwards for a long while. It’s only in recent decades that I’ve really started mining the past with jazz etc, and at that point realised the best blues rock album ever made is Miles Davis Tribute To Jack Johnson. As one does.
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The best blues rock album is the Allman Brothers first one. LZ are just dull, the name is very apt.
 
I recently went to see a Dan tribute band 'Nearly Dan'. They were excellent, 9 of them on stage to create the originals as closely as possible. Well worth seeing if they are in your area.
 
"Nearly Dan" are very good indeed. Definitely go see if they are touring, an excellent evening's entertainment.
 
Grew up in my teens listening to their wonderfully crafted songs and albums which for me have aged very well and now remind me of people and places from when I first heard them. They managed to avoid following any trends, such as using Linn drums, that would later render their sound dated. And of course they used some of the finest musicians available. There's a video on YouTube of them bringing in several excellent guitarists to see what they could bring to Aja. No short cuts.
I remember being vey excited to have tickets to see them live at the Hammersmith Odeon in 2007. Maybe it was the acoustics in the circle which I remember from way back seem to trap and intensify high frequenies right at the back, but we were near the front I was a little dissapointed at what felt like a flat performance. There again I don't think it had ever really been their intention to become a touring band.
 
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