Customer Reviews

Gaucho (Hybr)

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

When we built our new home last year we installed a surround system on the living room set. Like an idiot I've purchased about 30 of these discs so I have something to listen to on it. There are alot of suround discs with minor alterations from the stereo versions that don't yield very extraordinary results.

This disc is by far the best use of the suround technology. It opens the music up, allowing each instrument to be heard without competition and the resut is glorious.
What is more, the music lacks a center point so the sound sounds good all over the room, not just in one chair.

More SACD producers should take cues from the great production evident on this album. SACD would have a real future if all released were this good. Please, more Steely Dan please sir.

For me, this album closes off the 1970s. It had been a magnificent decade for intelligent rock music, despite the murderous intent of punk from 1976 onwards. It was somehow fitting that Walter Becker and Donald Fagen should sign off with one of their saddest but most beautiful songs, 'Third World Man'. The pair don't play any of the instruments on that closing track. And with that, it's farewell to incarnation #1 of Steely Dan.

Although it was immaculately recorded, I don't think there are many Dan fans who believed the overall quality of the album was quite up there with any of the previous six classics. Which begs the question, why is it that only this Steely Dan album has made it to SACD? There is no doubt that the three previous albums -- Katy Lied, Royal Scam and Aja -- would all benefit from a 5.1 surround remastering for SACD.

A much loved album since its release I find myself blown away by the new multi channel mix.Just amazingly revealing ...........makes a compelling case for the new hi res digital media.
Ain't no going back to plain old stereo now for this listener!

if you have a surround sound setup and Super Audio player,
do yourself a favor and purchase this Hybrid SACD of Gaucho.
Not only is the original recording hi-fi, but the surround mix is thoughtful, daring, dynamic, and balanced.
i've heard many albums done well in surround (The Who's Tommy, Roxy Music's Avalon), but this one is the best sounding.
i find myself listening to this a lot.

This is quite simply the best sounding SACD I have ever heard. Very crisp and clear, with creative use of the surround channels. This is the one I put on to show off my system.

1981's Gaucho was the last release the band had until the release of Two Against Nature in 2000. Gaucho follows the pop-jazz path of their previous release Aja. The album has all the Steely Dan trademarks: impeccable production, cynical and venomous lyrics and undeniably catchy songs. "Babylon Sisters" opens the album with silky aplomb and then it moves into maybe the best Steely Dan song, the incredible "Hey Nineteen". The title track is an underrated song that doesn't get enough play and the album closes out with the crisp "Third World Man". Gaucho often gets lost in the shuffle as it followed Aja, but it is every bit a good as that album and ranks right up there with anything this great band has released.

I bought this based on the reviews and found them to be pretty apt. I had recently picked up a blu-ray player that had SACD playback, so wanted to get a couple of SACD's to try it out. Great mix, I listened to the whole CD from front to back, maybe skipping through a couple of songs half way through, but most I listened to the end. Very clean, great use of all 5 speakers. I would recomend this to anyone with a good 5.1 set-up and a SACD player. I got a great price on it too, which helps.

Gaucho is one of those albums that continued to climb up the scale on my all time favorite albums the more I listened to it. It's certainly one of my favorite Steely Dan albums. Katy lied is my favorite, Gaucho is my second, Aja third, Royal Scam fouth, and the rest are about equal. I love them all.

But in terms of recording/playback quality - this is by far the best Steely Dan album because it's SACD. If you have an SACD player, (and darn it, it's a great sounding format that deserves to have been more successful), you probably care a lot about quality audio and you'll love this album. I wish all of the Steely Dan albums were remastered in this format.

This is one of the best recordings by Steely Dan. The hybrid SACD offers the remastered cd version plus the SACD 2 channels and 5.1 version. The SACD in 2 channels sounds fantastic, one of the best SACD's I own. Strangely I have had problems with the 5.1 version. In fact I have bought it twice! I don't know why in some moments my universal player has problems reading both. This is the only SACD in which I have problems. It's a pity, because the recording is fantastic. Maybe I will buy the DVD-audio, because I love this music.

I can not believe what a great sacd this turned out to be. I have over 300+ sacd's and i would put this as one of the best!! If you like steely dan then this is a no brainer.