[trains are bad]

Ok, I have limited music-listening time. I do not do portable audio; it's just my personality. I like to sit down and listen to music, maybe play on the computer a bit or just drink. Then I carry the music around with me in my head for a couple days. This is very amenable to vinyl-listening, so I like to spin records, mostly old ones that I got for cheap. 
 
I just keep coming back to Steely Dan for some reason. I think I have every one of their records. They are all good. Both sides. Not like, super catchy or super-mega deep or super anything. I don't know why I can just listen to Steely Dan over and over. I'm 26 so I wasn't even alive when these records were pressed; I always hung out with people that listened to hardcore punk and metal. The thing is, the various Steely Dan records are all very different. So what is it that makes me like all of them? I would like to discover the secret ingredient so that I can find more music that I like. Otherwise I might spend the rest of my 20's in an endless Steely Dan loop.
 
 

 

[Eee Pee]

You go back, Jack, do it again, wheels turning' 'round and 'round / You go back, Jack, do it again
 
 

 

[tru blu]

Pssst…the secret ingredient is jazz, but oddly, that doesn't mean that if you like Steely Dan you'll like jazz. One suggestion: If you don't have Donald Fagen's The Nightfly, do yourself a favor…

 

[trains are bad]

 
Quote:

Pssst…the secret ingredient is jazz

Ok that makes sense, since nobody in my family or social sphere ever listened to jazz.
 
 
Quote:

but oddly, that doesn't mean that if you like Steely Dan you'll like jazz.

Is there no hope for me then?
 
 
Quote:

One suggestion: If you don't have Donald Fagen's The Nightfly

I have two copies, just in case one gets scratched.

 

[bigshot]

The secret to Steely Dan that isn't readily apparent is the quality of the musicians. The best side men in LA play on those albums. There is no cheating in the production to cover for sloppy musicians. They really can play that well live.

 

[Misterrogers]

Yep Nightfly is money (listening to it now, 24/96 Vinyl rip -> MusicStreamer DAC II+ -> Schiit Lyr (Brimar CV2492 Tubes) -> HD600 (with SXC Cable). Bliss. If you haven't yet, try Fagen's 'Morph the Cat'. A high res rip of that (with the Steely Dan studio quality) is a delight.

 

[Olias of Sunhillow]

Steely Dan is the perfect soundtrack for your twenties -- whenever your twenties happen to be. It's more sophisticated than what you listened to in your teens, but the music is still about being young and living a certain lifestyle (that many of us in our thirties and beyond are no longer physically capable of living).
 
Makes perfect sense to me. Think I'll spin Aja tonight.

 

[9pintube]

Because they use the best studio musicians, helps a lot..... You can also add brilliant song writing... You should have been around the music seen when "Can't Buy A Thrill" came out........It took over FM radio.....
 
Quote:

Pssst…the secret ingredient is jazz, but oddly, that doesn't mean that if you like Steely Dan you'll like jazz. One suggestion: If you don't have Donald Fagen's The Nightfly, do yourself a favor…

Double Pssst.... also check out Donald Fagen's    "Morph the Cat"  It's killer on vinyl!    As far as Steely Dan goes i love "Two Against Nature"
 
 

 

[Misterrogers]

I like where your head's at 9pintube 

 Two Against Nature is awesome. Steely Dan/Donald Fagen along with Dire Straights/Mark Knopfler are my 'go to' bands.

 

[9pintube]

Quote:

I like where your head's at 9pintube 

 Two Against Nature is awesome. Steely Dan/Donald Fagen along with Dire Straights/Mark Knopfler are my 'go to' bands.

Got Them All!   Not to throw off the post but get Mark Knopfler and Emmylou Harris "All The Roadrunning"   just Great!
 
 

 

[Misterrogers]

I will - thanks!

 

[falis]

Nobody else is Steely Dan, but these are some "nearby" sophisticated Pop/Rock/R&B ideas you might like:
 
Doobie Brothers during the Michael McDonald tenure - about the same time as the height of Steely Dan
Van Morrison, start with Moondance, but he has a huge discography
Boz Scaggs, Moments, Silk Degrees, Come on Home, etc
Joni Mitchell, Court and Spark
 
Wild card: Richard and Linda Thompson: Shoot out the lights.
 
These all feature great writing, musicianship, production etc.
 
- Ed

 

[tru blu]

 
Quote:

Nobody else is Steely Dan, but these are some "nearby" sophisticated Pop/Rock/R&B ideas you might like:
 
Doobie Brothers during the Michael McDonald tenure - about the same time as the height of Steely Dan
Van Morrison, start with Moondance, but he has a huge discography
Boz Scaggs, Moments, Silk Degrees, Come on Home, etc
Joni Mitchell, Court and Spark
 
Wild card: Richard and Linda Thompson: Shoot out the lights.
 
These all feature great writing, musicianship, production etc.
 
- Ed

 
Never thought about it before, but Moondance and Court and Spark are excellent suggestions. I can hear how they'd make sense to someone who can't get enough 'Dan.
 
 

 

[falis]

In a sense, it's about the "sonics" - the overall sound and how it moves you.  That was a good part of what was so special about Steely Dan.
 
- Ed

 

[Happy Camper]

There was an era of musicians that was a stickler for their music presentation. Fagan, Zappa, Eric, Mick Fleetwood, Alan Parsons, Don Henley, etc.