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Certainly on Katy Lied the songs are generally a little more pastoral and reflective than the cynical anger of the Royal Scam, but this doesn't account for the way I feel when I'm listening to this album nowadays. Listen to "The Fez" on the Royal Scam album- not everyone's favorite but it stands up a lot better than many on this album on the strength of its groove alone.We Dan fans will already have this album, so we can but hope for a remaster which makes this sound like it should have done back in the Seventies when some hapless individual ruined the original master. Katy Lied could have been the greatest album that Steely Dan ever recorded. "Bad Sneakers", "Rose Darling", the fabulous "Doctor Wu" are standouts, and the musicianship is typically top-notch. On a highly melodic track like "Doctor Wu" you can get away with a sub-standard drum track, but "Chain Lightning" and "Black Friday" need the song to motor along. A faulty noise reduction system caused a problem during the mastering process which led to the cymbal sounds becoming slightly clipped. In the latter the drums lend every track a sense of urgency and bite which is noticeably absent when listening to Katy Lied.
But others sound like filler, and I don't think the songwriting is at fault. Of course despite my reservations regarding the sound quality some tracks are indispensible, such as those I mention above.
BUT (there's always a but).The sound on this album just doesn't sparkle. I'm actually bored by it.Successive masters have to a certain extent improved matters, but as yet nobody has managed to recapture what the album should have been.
After all, it represented a considerable refinement over Pretzel Logic in terms of songwriting. It just feels a bit limp and uninspired.
In the meantime those of you trying to find out what its all about would be better with "Pretzel Logic" if you prefer a more pop-song sound or "Royal Scam" for the more biting, jazzier sound of Becker & Fagen. The songs are more interesting melodically and lyrically than Pretzel Logic without any trace of the self-conscious brilliance that (slightly, IMO) marred Aja and totally ruined Gaucho.
This doesn't sound like the end of the world but when you listen to it alongside the Royal Scam the difference is plain.
I BUY EVERYTHING THESE GUYS DO NOBODY IS BETTER THAN THE DAN FROM THE FIRST SONG DO IT AGAIN THAT I EVER HEARD 1973 THERE MUSIC IS TIMELESS YOU HERE SOMETHING DIFFERENT EVERY TIME EVERY SONG ON EVERY ALBUM IS CLASSIC DONALDS SOLO ALBUMS ARE GREAT WALTERS SOLO ALBUMS UNDESCRIBABLE IF YOU DAN FANS DO NOT HAVE THEIR SOLO WORKS YOU GOT TO GO GET THEM STEELY DAN I HOPE YOU GUYS PLAY ON FOREVER
So, even though it was not my fault that I needed to exchange the CD (it was received defective), I still ended up paying for shipping twice in order to get one functional product. The item was received in a timely manner, but it was broken in half. Especially since this item was intended to be a gift for my dad's 60th birthday. I have to say, I'm disappointed. When I contacted ImportCDs about an exchange, I was informed that, rather than send a replacement CD, they wanted me to send the defective CD back for a refund of the original purchase price and shipping (but not the price of shipping the return). Then, I was to buy a second CD and send ImportCDs my order number so they could refund the price of shipping on the new order (but still not the price of the return shipping).
When Michael McDonald howls "And I'm going insane, And I'm laughing in the frozen rain, And I'm so alone.Honey when they gonna send me home" (on "Bad Sneakers"), it's such a primal performance that it really doesn't matter what the song "means".a hallmark of the very best Dan tracks. I'm here to tell you that you are going to pop in this CD and most certainly feel it.
It's a mood piece, a suite, a stunning work of what creativity is supposed to be. Steely Dan never made another album like this.which was probably a very wise move on their part.but there is no substitute for Katy Lied, not even from Becker & Fagen.My favorite tracks on the album are "Black Friday," "Bad Sneakers," "Doctor Wu," and "Any World (That I'm Welcome To)," although there is not a bad track on it and this is, above and beyond all else, an ALBUM, and should be listened to front-to-back in one sitting whenever possible.
Katy Lied.it's American Abbey Road, it's as good as the best Brian Wilson Beach Boys music, it's a logical (but still jaw-dropping) progression from everything Becker and Fagen built on the foundation of Can't Buy a Thrill through Pretzel Logic. You feel it and don't waste time with analysis.
The cherry on this killer sundae is that it also sports one of the most distinctive pieces of artwork on its cover that I've ever seen. The cool (bordering on icy) and smooth (bordering on the bad side of "quiet storm / smooth jazz") sound that dominated Aja and Gaucho was in its infancy here.the guitar leads were still snarling and plentiful, the lyrics still menacing and indecipherable and yet dripping with raw and vital punch-to-the-solar-plexus emotion.
They were all about hitting you in the gut while charming you with superb music.and you weren't supposed to figure out the literal meaning of what they were doing, any more than you were supposed to "know" what Jack Kerouac wrote about.
Featuring slightly more progressive arrangements, even some compositional showiness doesn't get in the way of KL being another fine early career, thoughtful rock triumph from the band of Dan.
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