Results 1 to 22 of 22

Thread: Your Fave Steely Dan album Vs. The Nightfly

  1. #1

    Your Fave Steely Dan album Vs. The Nightfly

    Does any of of the Steely Dan albums hold a candle to Donald Fagen's The Nightfly?
    My fave Dan album is Aja. I think it is their most consistent work. Yet, I can't say it favors The Nightfly. This is not meant to step on Walter's grave, but I think Larry Carlton's bandleader role on The Nightfly truly captured Fagen's brilliance as a songwriter and musician. This has become my all time favorite Jazz vocal album, even with its dated 80s synth cheesiness. My biggest problem with most Jazz is the sadness it often portrays. As Jazz albums go, The Nightfly is absolutely sunny and refreshingly optimistic. The grooves are extremely infectious, and the fills are gourmet quality, with just the right flavors throughout. Not one mediocre track to be found.
    I'll grant Steely Dan had numerous tracks that beat just about anything here, but never have they been as consistently enjoyable.
    I absolutely adore the MVI 5.1 mix.
    What say you? Did Donald exceed his old band with this one?

  2. #2
    As a long time Dan Fan it’s hard to separate the albums love Pretzel Logic, Count Down to Ecstasy,Katy Lied and the Royal Scam. These albums are the heart of the Dan to me. Before Aja broke them into the wider public awareness. After Aja their output went downward’s really.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

  3. #3
    Outraged bystander markwoll's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    Northern Virginia
    Posts
    4,379
    Countdown to Ecstasy is a favorite, although I would put Kamakiriad up against The Nightfly. Nightfly would probably win
    "It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it."
    -- Aristotle
    Nostalgia, you know, ain't what it used to be. Furthermore, they tells me, it never was.
    “A Man Who Does Not Read Has No Appreciable Advantage Over the Man Who Cannot Read” - Mark Twain

  4. #4
    Member
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    Iowa City IA
    Posts
    2,438
    Love all of the Dan albums (it is just a matter of how much...) and like Nightfly a lot too. But I can hear what is and isn't missing without Becker. The oblique wordplay is largely gone with the vague but appealing imagery, and some of the subtle chordal voicings as well. Maybe that was just the album Fagan wanted to make at the time, but Kamakiriad confirms the elements of Dan that went missing with Walter.

  5. #5
    Member bigjohnwayne's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2012
    Location
    Providence, RI
    Posts
    307
    My favorite is Katy Lied these days, but Aja is a close 2nd which overtakes it for 4 or 5 months a year.

    The Nightfly is unspeakably great, and I think it shows just how great Becker and Fagen were as a pair that there are at least four Steely Dan records I prefer.

  6. #6
    Geriatric Anomaly progeezer's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    Madison, WI
    Posts
    11,318
    Royal Scam & Countdown are 2 of the best albums ever made imo.

    Neither one has a lame version of "Ruby Baby" that doesn't improve either the original by the Drifters or Dion's big hit cover one bit (or any filler for that matter).
    "My choice early in life was either to be a piano player in a whorehouse or a politician, and to tell the truth, there's hardly any difference"

    President Harry S. Truman

  7. #7
    cunning linguist 3LockBox's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    hiding out in treetops, shouting out rude names
    Posts
    3,657
    I love The Nightfly but don't know if I hold it in higher regard than my fave Dan album, which alternates twixt Aja and 2AN. I do think The Nightfly is one of the best sounding albums I own.

  8. #8
    Aja still gets top marks in my book, but Countdown to Ecstasy and The Royal Scam are close on its heels. I do like that the latter two are more “rock,” something you don’t really get on the very jazz-focused Aja.
    Confirmed Bachelors: the dramedy hit of 1883...

  9. #9
    I love The Nightfly, it's a fantastic album and pristinely recorded. Certainly one of the top albums of the 80s, along with Peter Gabriel's Security, both content and sound wise.
    But as much as I love it, top to bottom I also have to place it slightly behind Aja, which simply is the ultimate SDan album imo, the peak of what F&B were trying to accomplish as "jazz rock" musicians. Also would put Countdown to Ecstasy above it, just so many great tunes, and the best SD full band record.

    I saw Fagen and his new backing band The Nightflyers at 2 shows on last summers tour while Walter was ill. Great show and energy, and so cool to hear 4 Nightfly tunes live (Green Flower St, Nightfly, IGY, and New Frontier) (as well as Countermoon at one show). I unfortunately did not get any Sunken Condos tunes, which he played sparingly; quality sounding album too which I thought he'd play more from.

    But that more jazzy brass/reeds sound tips the scales for SD for me over the more digital synth sound of Nightfly, as good as it is.
    Last edited by DocProgger; 02-05-2018 at 11:58 PM.

  10. #10
    Member viukkis's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    Espoo, Finland
    Posts
    163
    I'm very surprised to see all the positive comments about the sound of The Nightfly. To my ears it sounds exceptionally weak and thin (especially the drums - what the hell were they thinking?) and that is the main reason why I like it a lot less than the Steely Dan albums.

  11. #11
    Member proggy_jazzer's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2007
    Location
    Waterloo, IA, USA
    Posts
    1,549
    To me, Fagen solo albums and Dan albums are really apples and oranges. I hear a clear lyrical and compositional separation betwixt the two. I think there are a couple tracks on Morph the Cat that emit a Dan-like vibe: 'The Great Pagoda of Fun', 'The Night Belongs to Mona', and perhaps 'Brite Nightgown'; the rest fit solidly within the DF solo output. I enjoy both flavors, but there are certain itches that only the SD albums can scratch. And yes, I've seen a doctor about that.

    It's not just grooves, or lyrics, or harmonic language, but a gestalt, and although I'm not familiar with Becker's solo work I suspect I'd feel that to be a species unto itself as well.
    David
    Happy with what I have to be happy with.

  12. #12
    The sound and style of The Nightfly is very similar to Gaucho imo. Every stereo shop I remember frequenting back in the 80s had those albums as demo albums for the equipment back then.

  13. #13
    Like proggy_jazzer said, to me it's apples and oranges (not to be confused with oranges and lemons :P). My favorite Dan album is probably either Pretzel Logic or Aja, but I also love The Nightfly and the mood it conjures, which is very different from most Steely Dan stuff. So I dunno... I can't really compare the two.

    Gonna put some Fagen and SD stuff on rotation today at work.

  14. #14
    Quote Originally Posted by proggy_jazzer View Post

    It's not just grooves, or lyrics, or harmonic language, but a gestalt, and although I'm not familiar with Becker's solo work I suspect I'd feel that to be a species unto itself as well.
    Not to turn this into a Becker thread, but for years I pretty much ignored Becker's solo records because his vocal abilities were limited. In the last few years though I've listened to the albums more, accepted the vocal limitations, and really appreciate them more, especially Circus Money. Definitely more bluesy and a little more funky than DF. The same sardonic wit and lyrical bite. Not as much of the smooth sheen of The Nightfly etc., so a different aspect of the overall SD atmosphere, but well worth checking out.
    Last edited by DocProgger; 02-06-2018 at 02:56 PM.

  15. #15
    Member Jerjo's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    small town in ND
    Posts
    6,432
    I really like Fagen's solo work and there's some truly great stuff on Nightfly but it's hard to compare to Steely Dan albums, even the later ones. There is an element missing though it's hard to put a finger on it. A little less sardonic lyrical view, the music is just a degree less twisted..?

    I spent last Saturday afternoon cranking up the living room stereo and one of the albums I played at a volume my wife viewed as "considerable" was Katy Lied, especially the two opening tracks with Walter blazing. Those old records sound so ridiculously good.
    I don't like country music, but I don't mean to denigrate those who do. And for the people who like country music, denigrate means 'put down.'- Bob Newhart

  16. #16
    ^^^^
    The roster of musicians on these Steely Dan albums is amazing. On Katy Lied, Denny Dias, Rick Derringer, Larry Carlton also on guitar. Jeff Porcaro and David Paich from Toto. Michael McDonald of course. Victor Feldman etc. Some real dark satiric twisted gems on that one, Black Friday, Daddy..., Everyone's Gone to the Movies, Any World. And Doctor Wu, outside of Aja, prob my fav Steely Dan tune.

  17. #17
    'The Nightfly' is superb. But Fagen's vocals aside, it's no more a Steely Dan album than Rosie Vela's 'Zazu' is.

  18. #18
    Member No Pride's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    Chicago, IL, USA
    Posts
    137
    The Nightfly is an excellent album, but so is The Royal Scam and Aja. I'm not into rating albums in general, but I'd hate to let go of any of those three. Or Katy Lied and Pretzel Logic.

  19. #19
    Quote Originally Posted by No Pride View Post
    The Nightfly is an excellent album, but so is The Royal Scam and Aja. I'm not into rating albums in general, but I'd hate to let go of any of those three. Or Katy Lied and Pretzel Logic.
    Yeah, I pretty much feel the same way.

    Also: Ernie! How've you been?! Haven't seen or heard from you in a while.

  20. #20
    Geriatric Anomaly progeezer's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    Madison, WI
    Posts
    11,318
    Quote Originally Posted by No Pride View Post
    The Nightfly is an excellent album, but so is The Royal Scam and Aja. I'm not into rating albums in general, but I'd hate to let go of any of those three. Or Katy Lied and Pretzel Logic.
    Wow! We're both still alive!
    "My choice early in life was either to be a piano player in a whorehouse or a politician, and to tell the truth, there's hardly any difference"

    President Harry S. Truman

  21. #21
    I definitely put The Nighty up with SD’s best


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

  22. #22
    Quote Originally Posted by viukkis View Post
    I'm very surprised to see all the positive comments about the sound of The Nightfly. To my ears it sounds exceptionally weak and thin (especially the drums - what the hell were they thinking?) and that is the main reason why I like it a lot less than the Steely Dan albums.
    There were apparently some poor 2nd or 3rd generation releases of this album (yes, I know it was a digital recording, one of the very first Pop digital recordings on CD). I'm not sure how transfers and masters were originally handled for digitally recorded CDs, but I suspect there wasn't an established procedure when it was first released. Apparently, Stevie Wonder complained to Warner Bros. about the sound quality on his copy, knowing full well Katz and Fagen would not release such a bright and brittle sounding mix. From what I have read, there are still crappy mixes being pumped out on regular CDs. The CD copy from my MVI box set sounded like crap. The Stereo mix on the MVI disc sounds fantastic, as does the 180G vinyl recently released from The Netherlands.

    As per the responses, I was referring to albums as a whole. There are many individual SD tracks that are superior to much of this album. I just find this album a much more enjoyable listen as as a whole than any SD album.

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •