Today we have Steely Dan's seventh studio album Gaucho. Released in 1980, it was their final album before they took a twenty year break from the band until 2000. It also continues in the musical influence of Aja and is often cited as being one of the first albums of the genre yacht rock.
While this has the studio production that made Aja one of their strongest selling albums, "Gaucho" feels longer than "Aja" despite being half its length and "Hey Nineteen," sounding vaguely like one if not many of their other songs, might be the dullest song they've put on record. There's usually a few seconds--maybe a pleasant riff (sometimes even a whole solo like on "Third World Man")--on each song that shows they've still got it, but they sure aren't exhilarating anymore. Robert Christgau even nicknamed this album Countdown to Lethargy. I'm not so harsh--it sounds fine when you're listening to it, but is it ever going to inspire you to give the whole thing another spin? Doubt it. B-
Welp, we finished Steely Dan! As mentioned above, they did release more albums (which I will review on Steely Dan's discography page and which were critically acclaimed as most of their albums are), but we've covered all the albums from their classic period, so it's a good time to look back at what I thought of them overall and what I think their best albums are.
First of all, Steely Dan is right now in the top 5 artists I started in 2020, Pretzel Logic has a very secure spot in the top 10 albums I listened to this year and I'd be quite surprised if it didn't remain in the top 10 for the end of the year list, and Countdown to Ecstasy would make the top 15 if I made the list right now. And in case you were wondering, "Bodhisattva" is still my favorite guitar solo (it's not really, but you know what I mean) and it's still my favorite song from them (it really is). Their first four albums are nearly flawless--one of the best runs of consecutive albums of all time--and maybe Katy Lied could an A- too with a few more listens and without their (probably) superior previous releases fresh in my mind. So could Aja. Which shouldn't be surprising: their thoughtfully crafted music and lyrics aren't likely to reveal all they have to offer after only a month of listening and there are certainly corners of each of their songs yet unexplored.
Here's the albums worth checking out (B+ or higher):
5. Aja (1977): This is very often ranked as the best or second best Steely Dan album and it's crossed my mind that at this point in going through their discography, I was just a little tired of them. I still think it's great and, as I already discussed above, this could become an A- for me with time, which makes this being ranked as their fifth best album all the more ridiculous. There's no doubt Fagen and Becker peaked in the studio while making this album and it never fails to amaze me when I listen to it. Sometimes a bit of youthful passion and musical green turn out to work better for albums though (take Horses by Patti Smith or The Doors for example), which I find to be the case for their earlier albums. B+
4. Katy Lied (1975): I'm sure all Steely Dan fans feel the loss of Jeff Baxter (he left the band) like I do on this record, but "Doctor Wu" is one of Steely Dan's best songs, "Your Gold Teeth II" is a lovely jazz number, and the chaotic "Black Friday" is the farthest they ever got from their signature smooth jazz rock. Plus, I'm pretty sure I hear the slightly diminished sound quality and I think it works nicely in the album's favor. B+
3. Can't Buy a Thrill (1972): Containing two of their most popular songs ("Do It Again" and "Reelin' in the Years"), their debut was released when Steely Dan was still a five member band. The two (and only) criticisms I have about this album are that Fagen doesn't sing all the songs and musically it's just a little too all over the place. But the latter is also what makes it fun as hell. A-
2. Countdown to Ecstasy (1973): Side 1 of their second studio release is probably the greatest consecutive twenty minutes Steely Dan ever put together--just listen to the guitar lick and the fuzzed-out solo on "The Boston Rag," which I first noticed as being excellent as I was writing this. This also falls close to their lyrical peak for me and the only thing that holds it back from it an A is "Show Biz Kids," which is not a bad song at all. A-
1. Pretzel Logic (1974): So far this year, a lot of my favorite albums are my favorite because they are first and foremost fun to listen to and this is no exception. Even the lyrics are rarely as cynical as we've come used to from Fagen and Becker. The atmospheric songs get to the point and while there are strings, horns, and steel pedal guitars, Steely Dan's music has never sounded so focused. I still haven't gotten to the bottom of the lyrics of the title track, which will inevitably lead to a few more listens. I won't mind though. A