Citizen Steely Dan [Box] - Steely Dan (CD 1993)

I owe my father and my friend James big for this one. I may have never dabbled in the world of Steely Dan if it weren't for those two, and never known the joy that is their music.

What's that you say? You have no idea who Steely Dan is? Well, that can be easily remedied. The two main band members of Steely Dan are two ultralaidback fellows named Donald Fagen and Walter Becker. They went to Bard College together, worked together writing cynical little ditties for ABC, then went out and started writing for their own CDs. Boy, am I glad they did.

Now a short diversion. These guys are a little...old. Yes, young teenyboppers, you may gasp now. It may not be trendy to listen to a band that started in the 70's, but damn it's fun. I've been stealing my father's copy of Can't Buy A Thrill for at least ten years now, and when he got this box set he had to know that it would disappear into my clutches rather rapidly.

What sort of music do Steely Dan play? Well, it's not really easily shoved in one happy little box. I guess if you wanted to be very vague and general you could say classic rock but that's not it at all. It's jazz-influenced rock at some times, and sometimes just plain jazz (whiteboy jazz, that is). The music is centered around guitarwork, keyboards or piano, and bass, with some extra instruments for flavor often. The voice of Donald Fagen also figures prominently but occasionally the band goes off on musical tangents, which is perfectly ok by me.

And what do Steely Dan sing about? Nothing you and I might've ever dreamed up, that's for sure. They sing about impoverished homeless selling their last possession for some booze, the slow death of Thelonius Sphere Monk, famous LSD chemists who might possibly have felt like Jesus, Babs and Clean Willie, Klaus and the Rooster, drunken fathers who 'don't drive that El Dorado no more', and so much more. The songs are equally wonderful for their subject matter, their lyrics, and their music.

I will not attempt to give the credit to all the musicians who have ever worked on Steely Dan CDs - for this collection covers all but the two most recent, 'Two Versus Nature' and 'Everything Must Go' (which I will review eventually! I promise you!)

The last question I shall pose and answer is thus: Why in the world would you enjoy Steely Dan? One of the points that draws me to them is the variety and quirkiness of their songs. They invent little fleshed-out mini-stories replete with characters for their songs, and they can either be Latin-flavored songs about summer island flings or sad slow piano songs about how the world is changing. Another musical thing in their favor is thus: insane guitar. They chose the very best of session guitarists to record with, and the solos, while not blistering shredfests, are exactly what the doctor ordered. I have never heard a Steely Dan guitar solo that sounded like it was there just for the necessity of having a solo. Every little thing they add adds a lot more to the music.

Huge Freakin' Track Listing
CD 1
1. Do It Again *****
2. Dirty Work ****
3. Kings *****
4. Midnite Cruiser ******
5. Only A Fool Would Say That ****
6. Reelin' In The Years ****
7. Fire In The Hole *****
8. Brooklyn (Owes The Charmer Under Me) ****
9. Change Of The Guard *****
10. Turn That Heartbeat Over Again ****
11. Bodhisattva ****
12. Razor Boy ******* (Yes, that is seven stars...)
13. The Boston Rag *****
14. Your Gold Teeth ****
15. Show Biz Kids ***
16. My Old School *****

CD 2
1. King Of The World *****
2. Pearl of the Quarter ****
3. Rikki Don't Lose That Number *****
4. Night By Night *****
5. Any Major Dude Will Tell You *****
6. Barrytown ****
7. East St. Louis Toodle-Oo *****
8. Parker's Band ***
9. Through With Buzz ***
10. Pretzel Logic *****
11. With A Gun *****
12. Charlie Freak ******
13. Monkey In Your Soul *****
14. Bodhisattva (Live) ****
15. Black Friday ****
16. Bad Sneakers *****
17. Rose Darling ****
18. Daddy Don't Live In That New York City No More *****
19. Doctor Wu *****
20. Everyone's Gone To The Movies ****
21. Chain Lightning ****

CD 3
1. Your Gold Teeth II *****
2. Any World That I'm Welcome To *****
3. Throw Back The Little Ones *****
4. Kid Charlemagne *****
5. The Caves of Altamira *****
6. Don't Take Me Alive *****
7. Sign In Stranger ****
8. The Fez ****
9. Green Earrings ****
10. Haitian Divorce *****
11. Everything You Did *****
12. The Royal Scam ****
13. Here At The Western World *****
14. Black Cow *****
15. Aja *****
16. Peg *****

CD 4
1. Deacon Blues *****
2. Home At Last *****
3. I Got The News ****
4. Josie ****
5. FM *****
6. Babylon Sisters *****
7. Hey Nineteen *****
8. Glamour Profession ****
9. Gaucho *****
10. Time Out Of Mind ****
11. My Rival ****
12. Third World Man *****
13. Everyone's Gone To The Movies (Demo) ***

Hmm. Did I mention I don't believe that they actually have a bad song? I'm sorry for the huge extensiveness of the list, but it does give you an idea of how extensive the collection is, as well as how very accomplished this band is - if by some chance you haven't heard of them, that is. Since the list of fives is pretty extensive, I shall just pick a few that are super awesome and tell ya bout em.

Midnite Cruiser is one of my favorite Steely Dan songs. It is one of the few songs that Donald Fagen does not sing on - the session drummer contributed his vocals to this one, and they are beautiful. He croons over a slightly uptempo piano progression peppered with light guitar, then the vocals build up to a chorus with a chorus. The chorus is filled with a very fuzzy yet warm guitar part and plenty of piano. The whole song is very wistful in tone in song and lyrics; some of Steely Dan's best songs are like this.

The time of our time has come and gone
I fear we've been waiting too long...

On the other end of the spectrum is the song Change of the Guard. Warm keyboards accompany short terse strums of guitar ala funk, and it's generally an upbeat song. Donald 'na na na's along with a guitar lead of particular enjoyability, and random mini-solos are interspersed among the song that are both technically wowish and aurally pleasing. It's basically an up-tempo rock song, and it is fun.

If you live in this world, you're feeling the change of the guard...

While not a good representative of Steely Dan's songs as a whole, With A Gun is nifty just because it shows how wacky they can be. It's basically a country-tinged rock song, with twangy lead and rhythm guitars. Donald Fagen doesn't exactly deliver a country music performance, but that's ok. The song has a rolling, galloping sort of feel to it that adds to the very quirky flavor.

You were the founders of the clinic in the hills
Until he caught you with your fingers in the till
He slapped your hand so you settled up your bill
With a gun

Daddy Don't Live In That New York City No More has the distinction of having the longest Steely Dan title. It has the distinction of having some serious funk in it's trunk as well. Donald's voice is delivered through some sort of filter that makes it seem displaced from the music, and the guitar and bass deliver a very relaxed bob-your-head-to-the-rhythm sort of performance with plenty of frills. It's a laid-back, keyboard-light song.

No, Daddy can't get no fine cigar
But we know you're smoking wherever you are

Kid Charlemagne is a funk/rock number primarily dominated by smooth keyboards and bass, with of course Fagen's voice complimenting it all. It's a bouncy one, with a chorus of choruses yet again, and the whole song has a 'funk' feel as well. The song itself is about an LSD chemist, so the lyrics are typically odd. It's got one of the best guitar solos on Steely Dan music. Woo.

Clean this mess up or else we'll all end up in jail
Those test tubes and those scales, just get it all out of here

Haitian Divorce is funky, but not in the normal way. It's got a Latin-sort of feel to it, with the emphasis on guitar, except in the chorus. The song is overlaid by a guitarist using a talk-box, and dayumn, the guy can use it well. It adds a LOT to the overall tone of the song. Basically a talkbox is spoken through to add extra emphasis to the guitar. It really has to be heard to do justice.

Babs and Clean Willie were in love they said
So in love the preacher's face turned red

Now I know this isn't an accurate representation of Steely Dan's music: there are oodles of good songs that I could to represent what they sound like, but I chose these simply for their diversity and general awesomeness.

To wrap it up: Steely Dan is one of my favorite bands, leading to this somewhat biased review. Why? Because the variety of their songs does not prevent every single one of them from being good. Their lyrics are extremely entertaining, some of the best I've ever seen. Donald Fagen and Walter Becker are also some of the best songwriters I've heard. They never seem to repeat themselves, and all of their songs have extremely catchy moments. There is no formula to their madness, either, except letting guitarists put in insane and tasteful guitar solos. The moods and stories they are able to create with their songs are just breathtaking, for a wide variety of reasons.