Donald Fagen Kamakiriad

Kamakiriad is the second solo album by Steely Dan artist Donald Fagen, released in 1993. It was his first collaboration with Steely Dan partner Walter Becker since 1986, on Rosie Vela's album Zazu. Becker played guitar and bass and produced the album. The album is a futuristic, optimistic eight-song cycle about the journey of the narrator in his high-tech car, the Kamakiri (Japanese for praying mantis). It was nominated for a Grammy Award for Album of the Year 1994.

Cheap Xmas: Donald Fagen Complete is a career-spanning compilation highlighting the undeniable musicianship of the GRAMMY Award-winning voice behind Steely Dan. This five-album set features his critically acclaimed works: The Nightfly, Kamakiriad, Morph The Cat, Sunken Condos and a bonus album of rarities. This is the definitive Fagen collection.

There are no surprises in sound and style on Morph the Cat, Donald Fagen's long-awaited third solo album, nor should any be expected – ever since Steely Dan's 1980 masterwork, Gaucho, his work, either on his own or with longtime collaborator Walter Becker, has been of a piece. Each record has been sleek, sophisticated, and immaculately produced, meticulously recorded and arranged, heavy on groove and mood, which tends to mask the sly wit of the songs. When it works well – as it did on Fagen's peerless 1982 solo debut, The Nightfly, or on Steely Dan's 2001 comeback, Two Against Nature – the results go down smoothly upon first listen and reveal their complexity with each spin; when it doesn't quite succeed – both 1993's Kamakiriad and the Dan's 2003 effort Everything Must Go didn't quite gel – the albums sound good but samey on the surface and don't quite resonate.

Most rock & roll bands are a tightly wound unit that developed their music through years of playing in garages and clubs around their hometown. Steely Dan never subscribed to that aesthetic. As the vehicle for the songwriting of Walter Becker and Donald Fagen, Steely Dan defied all rock & roll conventions…

Two CD set chronicling Becker & Fagen's essential output,1972-1980. 18 tracks, including: 'Do It Again', 'Reelin' InThe Years', 'Rikki Don't Lose That Number', 'Hey Nineteen','Babylon Sisters', 'Deacon Blues', 'Josie', 'Bodhisattva','Peg', 'Kid Charlemagne', 'My Old School', 'Black Friday',etc. 1985 release on MCA. There are two Steely Dan compilation albums, identically named The Very Best of Steely Dan: Reelin' In the Years and with identical record covers, but with different songs. The first was released in 1985 and the latter in 1987.