I've only heard one Steely Dan song that I know of. So...

[ghostsofgiants]

Is all of their music glorified elevator music?

(Come on, let's see if we can get a good old fashioned Lounge music flamewar going here.)

[Gormy Cuss]

1. Paging WIMR....

:P

[Droopy]

2. It's jazzy, proggy, easy listening type stuff.

I guess it fit in pretty good in the 70s

[mainegreen]

3. Yes. Don't listen to WIMR when she says it's great. It isn't.

:)

[Skittles]

4. here's my favorite Steely Dan

with the words, just for you my sweet

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGRCelgIHbk

[Danger Mouse]

5. Yeah, pretty much.

[GOPisEvil]

6. Not a huge fan.

:shrug:

Dude, I gotta add ya as a Facebook friend...

[ghostsofgiants]

7. Do it!

[GOPisEvil]

9. Done!

[SoxFan]

8. Short answer: yes

Pretentious pseudo-jazz noodling that is all technique with no heart.

[The Magistrate]

11. Not Even Close Enough For Hand Grenades, Sir....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Cde6XVDXzs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sq8OU-7JDFA&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zm0Iq5ebU9U

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdv6qtXR-jI

[redqueen]

13. Rikki Don't Lose That Number ...

that's my favorite SD song.

:)

[The Magistrate]

15. It Is An Especially Nice One, Ma'am

[Orsino]

33. Their most recent albums have lacked distinction, I think...

...but are still pleasing. The older stuff and Fagen's solo work are almost unanimously magnificent.

[The Magistrate]

58. I Would Agree There, Sir, Whole-Heartedly

[redqueen]

60. Yeah but they won a Grammy for Two Against Nature.

Just proves those award things are nothing but crap crap and more crap.

[AzDar]

69. " Oh, No... Guadalajara Won't Do..."

Tasty stuff.

:thumbsup:

[ZombieNixon]

10. Rap's not music!

That usually starts a good music flamewar :headbang: :P

[LadyoftheRabbits]

27. Why don't you scamper home to the freeper board with that nonsense

uh... freeper. :P

[ghostsofgiants]

50. Your sig pic...

Kinda scares me.

[ZombieNixon]

54. Yeah, what is your sig pic?

:P

[ghostsofgiants]

49. That one's gone from solid flamewar material to 160% stupid material.

You can only hear the same two "It has no melody" and "it sucks" arguments over and over so many times until they lose any meaning. :P

[Schema Thing]

12. With the exception of "My old school", yes.

[blue neen]

18. That's the one!

..oh no, Guadalajara won't do! :)

I have to go listen to it right now...

[tigereye]

14. the older stuff has a nice chord complexity and Becker is no slouch

as a guitarist.... I also think Fagen writes good story songs. I think their popularity distracts people from some of their skills as story-tellers and composers.

[The Magistrate]

16. As You Might Expect, Ma'am, Lyric Is The Chief Attraction For Me...

[tigereye]

17. I love Pretzel Logic, Can't Buy A Thrill and Countdown to Ecstasy

it was a little weird when they became wildly popular later on....

[Franzia]

19. My favorite albums are Katy Lied and The Royal Scam.

[harmonicon]

65. those are my two favourites as well

I think they were at a high point in terms of creativity and technical innovation on those records. Supposedly they never listen to Katy Lied due to some technical problem with the recording... I'd noticed that they never seem to play songs from that record when they perform live, so maybe that's why - they haven't listened to any of them in 35 years.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

20. Just out of curiosity what song is it that you have heard?

:shrug:

[ghostsofgiants]

46. Do It Again.

I damn near fell asleep while playing it on Guitar Hero. (Not because it's an easy song, it just aesthetically bored me to death, haha.)

[Tuesday Afternoon]

21. that was weird.

:shrug:

since I double posted, I thought I would take this chance to post one of their songs reflective of this time

http://www.youtube.com/v/0MUwTCbYKg4&hl=en&fs=1

If you listen you can hear it
Its the laughter in the street
Its the motion in the music
And the fire beneath your feet
All the signs are right this time
You dont have to try so very hard
If you live in this world
Youre feelin the change of the guard

All the cowboys and your neighbors
Can you swallow up your pride
Take your guns off it youre willin
And you know were on your side
If you wanna get thru the years
Its high time you played your card
If you live in this world
Youre feelin the change of the guard

[WritingIsMyReligion]

43. Holy shit, yes.

That's early stuff. Nice. :D

[Fire Walk With Me]

22. At least you're open and honest about the flame content.

So I'll tell the truth: Steely Dan are nigh impeccable.

[yellowdogintexas]

32. No road trip is taken in my car without the Steely Dan . So I agree with

you.

And it is true, the stuff that made consistent radio play isn't the best stuff. I have the 'Citizen Steely Dan' boxed set...it is wonderful.

[Orrex]

23. A former coworker thought the line was 'I turn to work/The sex is gone'

She was apparently looking for a different song...

[asthmaticeog]

24. Forgive me if I'm being a Debbie Downer....

But old fashioned Lounge music flamewars - actually, old fashioned Lounge anything - are fucking dead as Refused.

Oh, and as much as I loathe Steely Dan just on sheer principle, honesty forces me to grudgingly admit that they have some seriously worthy ideas peeking out here and there. If you go deeper, I'll bet you'll find something to like, it's just not going to be in many of their radio songs.

[Richardo]

29. I *am* an early Steely Dan aficionado and I agree - the radio hits were usually the weakest track

They're the songs I always skip.

[ghostsofgiants]

41. That tends to be true of most bands.

[tigereye]

31. oh, you are no fun! Music war denier....

:rofl:



see the problem is loathing them on "principle" without looking for some actual skill and content there. And there is some. But you know me, I'll give most music folk some benefit of the doubt!

[ghostsofgiants]

36. Who took the jam out of your donut?

:P

[Robeson]

25. You're a capitalist pig, who know doubt, favored the bailout to the banker fatcats...

...that is all.

[ghostsofgiants]

37. That's the type of complete non-sequitur I like to see in a flamewar, nicely done!

[blogslut]

26. ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_YIUn9Jd1g

[ghostsofgiants]

38. That's actually the only song by them that I know.

So I will add you to the "Yes" column. :P

[WritingIsMyReligion]

44. I can list their singles at some point if you'd like to double-check your knowledge

(or lack thereof) of them. If you listen to FM radio, you've probably heard more than just "Do It Again" without realizing it was Steely Dan.

[ghostsofgiants]

45. Probably.

In all honesty, I have no real desire to delve into their world, I was just bored, had just played the song on Guitar Hero and figured it'd make for an amusing lounge thread, because hey, what's more fun than watching Loungers argue about music? Haha.

[WritingIsMyReligion]

47. Hahahahahaha I see.

Which song is on GH? "Do It Again"? I heard "Bodhisattva" was due to appear on Rock Band II, which made me laugh ridiculously. :D

[ghostsofgiants]

48. Yeah, Do It Again is on GH.

Like I said upthread, it's not an easy song, but their sound just wasn't my cup o' tea.

[Enthusiast]

28. I love me some Steely Dan!

FM, Hey Nineteen, Babylon Sisters, Deacon Blues, Midnight Cruiser. No way is it elevator music.

[HughBeaumont]

30. Walter Becker and Donald Fagen should have gone grindcore.

I like "Hey Nineteen" as much as the next non-ironic Godflesh addict, but come on.

[PassingFair]

34. I hate jazz.

But I absolutely LOVE Steely Dan.

Does that mean that Steely Dan does
not play jazz?

Or that I really don't hate jazz?

I'm SO confused.

:crazy:

[Ivan Sputnik]

35. I like to listen to Steely Dan

especially when feeling a bit depressed. There's something about the attitude conveyed in their songs that makes me feel more....steely.

[SalmonChantedEvening]

39. I want the elevator they play this in:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PUijKW_a3SQ

[Richardo]

55. That's my favorite guitar solo ever.

EV. ER.

Skunk Baxter could PLAY.

[B o d i]

56. My username is an abbreviation of that song title

It's also an acronym for Barack Obama, Democrat, Illinois.

I think Bodi would make a perfect name for the girls new puppy, too, btw.

[WritingIsMyReligion]

40. No, particularly not the contents of COUNTDOWN TO ECSTASY.

You could possibly make the case for any album's after '73s CtE, particularly the last three of the original run (THE ROYAL SCAM ('76); AJA ('77); GAUCHO ('80)), but it takes skill and mad hating abilities to call COUNTDOWN TO ECSTASY (featuring "Bodhisattva" and similarly guitar-driven tracks) anything near glorified elevator music.

You caught me listening to GAUCHO, right now, actually. :P

Seriously, let's go through this chronologically. '72's debut, CAN'T BUY A THRILL, is mostly pretty mainstream, excepting the lyrics and some odd instrumentation (a wailing, screaming plastic organ on "Do It Again", for example).

COUNTDOWN TO ECSTASY was completed the most like a normal record, with a solid and cohesive band unit, while they were still touring, and they had ditched the god-awful wailings of David Palmer, so it sounds pretty like rock-'n'-roll.

By PRETZEL LOGIC ('74), they had ditched the concept of having a cohesive band, and that record is comprised of mostly shorter selections that have some serious drive to them (two drum sets on "Parker's Band" is a perfect example of that life).

KATY LIED ('75) is much of the same, though perhaps more cynical and more seamless in its sound (each succeeding album would get more and more glossy in its tone, peaking in AJA and becoming a trifle overdone by GAUCHO).

THE ROYAL SCAM is nasty cynicism and seamless guitars, pretty gorgeous, with some weird-ass songs, namely "The Fez."

AJA is gorgeous, almost too much so at times, with lush and wrought instrumentation and a dark but still rose-colored tone, very ironic.

GAUCHO is the darker twin of AJA, less subtle and so more obvious and sterile; it lacks AJA's pristine sense of yearning and anger, and Fagen's voice in it is dry and almost brittle at times, his sneer *too* pronounced, but the first three tracks--"Babylon Sisters," "Hey Nineteen," "Glamour Profession"--are sleek, ironic, gorgeous, and very AJA-like.

I guess it comes down to what you consider elevator music. Elevator music for me is mindless noodling, and while some have made that claim of Fagen and Becker, I personally don't see it. I also think the lyrics and the frequent absurdity, even outright raunchiness (see "The Fez"), of songs' subject matter prevent them from becoming true elevator music, which is bland and message-less, certainly not bitterly ironic. Most people who claim the 'Dan is unequivocally elevator music have more than likely only heard the singles and the SCAM/AJA/GAUCHO-era content, without ever getting into the earlier stuff and the album tracks from SCAM and AJA in particular.

[CrownPrinceBandar]

59. I like your taste............

COUNTDOWN is by far the best. Now, in your honor, I will have to listen to "Your Gold Teeth".

[Iggo]

42. It's all just one long song.

Isn't it.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

51. And the road goes on forever.

Doesn't it.

[redqueen]

52. Plus, they named their band

after a dildo.

Extra points for that.

[ghostsofgiants]

62. Haha, that is certainly an admirable quality.

[astral]

53. I love Steely Dan! "Elevator Music"?

[Tuesday Afternoon]

57. I'm the other monkey in your soul

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q15zMpAR3OI&feature=related


I got one and you want four
It's so hard to help you
I can't keep up with you no more
And you treat me like it's a sin
But you can't lock me in
You want me here with you right to the end
No thank you my friend
I fear the monkey in your soul

Won't you turn that bebop down
I can't hear my heart beat
Where's that fatback chord I found?
Honey don't you think it was wrong
To interrupt my song?
I'll pack my things and run so far from here
Goodbye dear

I fear the monkey in your soul

also: with a gun...

but, you either dig a vibe or you don't...like Rush :D

[WritingIsMyReligion]

70. I particularly enjoy Fagen's articulation of "Honey, don't you think it was wrong"

"Hawney, don't..you...thinkitwaswrong?"

:rofl:

[Amerigo Vespucci]

61. "The Boston Rag" beats Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young at their own game

It's got the harmonies, it's got a tough guitar solo, and it holds together better than 90% of anything CSNY ever recorded.

I always thought that "Katy Lied" was the career peak...I own everything that came before and after it through "Aja"...and I'm not a fan of elevator music, so draw your own conclusions...

:toast:

[harmonicon]

63. oohh.... this is a good topic for a flame war, and I haven't even read down thread yet!!

However, I would say that Steely Dan are one of the greatest bands ever - ever. The song writing is intelligent in a way that the most sophisticated, bookish, indie songsmiths could only dream of. The arrangements are like a modern chamber version of Duke Ellington with unlimited resources. The whole package is just absolutely brilliant... check out "The Royal Scam" (the entire album, not just the title track).

[mitchum]

64. The earlier stuff is brilliant, then they descended into elevator funk

[Arugula Latte]

66. I love the Dan

Peg, Babylon Sisters, Kid Charlemagne, Reelin' in the Years, Black Friday, Dirty Work, Josie, My Old School, etc. etc., --> great stuff.

[MrScorpio]

67. I love Steely Dan

I would never describe it as "elevator music"

You should check out some more

[jpgray]

68. Kid Charlemagne man! Drown yourself in oceans of wankery!