Steely Dan

The Brilliance of Steely Dan on Hybrid SACD! Steely Dan's Last Studio Album with Founding Member Walter Becker! Newly Remastered from the Original Analog Tape by Bernie Grundman Direct to DSD!

Two Against Nature — Steely Dan's Grammy winner for Album of the Year! The brilliance of Steely Dan on Hybrid SACD from Analogue Productions! Newly remastered from the original analog tape by Bernie Grundman direct to DSD!

Mastered direct to DSD from the original master tape by Bernie Grundman.
Steely Dan's gold-selling third studio album Pretzel Logic, charted at No. 8 on the Billboard 200 and restored the group's radio presence with the single "Rikki Don't Lose That Number," which became the biggest pop hit of their career and peaked at No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100. The 1974 album was produced by Gary Katz and was written primarily by Walter Becker (bass) and bandleader Donald Fagen (vocals, keyboards). The album marked the beginning of Becker and Fagen's roles as Steely Dan's principal members.

Led by the songwriting and virtuoso musical duo of Walter Becker and Donald Fagen, Steely Dan released an extraordinary run of seven albums on ABC Records and MCA Records from 1972 through 1980. Filled with topline musicianship, clever and subversive wordplay, ironic humor, genius arrangements, and pop hits that outshone the Top 40 of its day, their records, which were as sophisticated and cerebral as they were inscrutable, were stylistically diverse, melding their love of jazz with rock, blues, and impeccable pop songcraft.

Walter Becker and Donald Fagen were remarkable craftsmen from the start, as Steely Dan's debut, Can't Buy a Thrill, illustrates. Each song is tightly constructed, with interlocking chords and gracefully interwoven melodies, buoyed by clever, cryptic lyrics. All of these are hallmarks of Steely Dan's signature sound, but what is most remarkable about the record is the way it differs from their later albums. Of course, one of the most notable differences is the presence of vocalist David Palmer, a professional blue-eyed soul vocalist who oversings the handful of tracks where he takes the lead. Palmer's very presence signals the one major flaw with the album – in an attempt to appeal to a wide audience, Becker and Fagen tempered their wildest impulses with mainstream pop techniques.

Steely Dan were finally hitting their stride with July 1973’s Countdown to Ecstasy. After setting the SD sonic template with November 1972’s debut LP on ABC Records, Can’t Buy Thrill, they reshuffled some personnel — for one thing, original co-lead vocalist David Palmer departed (albeit providing some backing vocals here and there), while keyboard whiz kid Donald Fagen took over essentially all the lead vocals fulltime, from this point forward — and the five-piece collective worked out much of their sophomore album’s core material live onstage during 1973’s hectic tour schedule, all of which added to Countdown’s inherent interactive grit.

Steely Dan’s 1977 classic, Aja, has been remastered for a new vinyl reissue overseen by Donald Fagen. It is the latest in a series of Steely Dan reissues, all remastered by Bernie Grundman. The new version of Aja, which comes without add-on accoutrements, is out September 29 (via Geffen/UMe).

Steely Dan’s 1977 classic, Aja, has been remastered for a new vinyl reissue overseen by Donald Fagen. It is the latest in a series of Steely Dan reissues, all remastered by Bernie Grundman. The new version of Aja, which comes without add-on accoutrements, is out September 29 (via Geffen/UMe).

Gaucho is the seventh studio album by the American jazz rock band Steely Dan, originally released on November 21, 1980 by MCA Records. The sessions for Gaucho represent the band's typical penchant for studio perfectionism and obsessive recording technique. To record the album, the band used at least 42 different musicians, spent over a year in the studio, and far exceeded the original monetary advance given by the record label.

Mastered by Bernie Grundman from original analogue tapes. Personally overseen by Donald Fagen.