Customer Reviews

Kamakiriad

5 star:		(40)
4 star:		(19)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Donald Fagen's 2nd solo album, 1993's "Kamakiriad," came darn close to being released as a Steely Dan album---Fagen's old Dan co-hort, Walter Becker, produced the album, plays guitar on it, and co-wrote the song "Snowbound," t'boot. But since Fagen practically wrote everything else for the album on his own, "Kamakiriad" was ultimately released as a Donald Fagen solo album (and the official return of Steely Dan would have to wait until 2000's "Two Against Nature"). But no matter---this "almost Steely Dan" album is simply terrific, filled with all of the high trademark qualities you'd expect in the music of a Dan man. It's a cool mixture of cocktail jazz/pop, featuring Fagen's hip vocals, cookin' guitars, fat drums, smooth keyboards, happenin' horns, and, for the cherry on top, great sound & production that's very crisp. Not only that, but "Kamakiriad" is a cool *concept* album, telling the story of an Everyman living sometime in the future, who takes off for a spin in his technological wonder car of the 21st century, the Kamakiri, and has several adventures along the way. Being a single album rather than a double, the storyline for "Kamakiriad" may be a lot thinner than, say, The Who's "Tommy" or Pink Floyd's "The Wall," but I don't think Fagen was trying to compete with these double-album rock epics, and the story he tells here is nice & simple, to the point, and a lot of fun, just like the songs themselves.So, hop in the car, hit the "Trans-Island Skyway," admire the "Countermoon," take your pick of "Tomorrow's Girls," chill out "On The Dunes," and head out to that "Teahouse On The Tracks." Donald Fagen's "Kamakiriad" is a wonderful ride. :-)

A Steely Dan record in all but name (would it have heaped Grammys had it been under the brand label?), Donald Fagen's second solo album had high art written all over it when it first came out in 1993. It cruises along with a strange detactched swing, set to some futuristic be-bop that only the coolest of futures could allow for. Millions of miles and a couple millennia away from the nostalgia of "The Nightfly," Fagen steered his imagination into a vision of the (then) coming turn of the century, where an environmentally perfect steam driven vehicle could both transport you and grow you a salad. If you think that sounds bizarre, the truly weird thing is that the music is so slick and cool. In 1993, this was about as far off the mainstream as you could get.

Of course, "Kamakiriad" was roundly ignored. Too highbrow for ear candy aficionados, too slick for the exploding grunge scene, and lacking the marquee value of being a Steely Dan record, Fagen's ode to the "Wonderful World" of "IGY" just couldn't find an audience that was swallowing Jell-O shots of Michael Bolton or huffing up the heady magical odorous sulfur residue of "Smells Like Teen Spirit." But ya know something? Having just purchased "Kamakiriad" on DVD-Audio, it probably has a sturdier framework than most of what topped the charts that year. It most certainly has grown on me over the time since I originally picked up my CD copy ten plus years ago.

"Tomorrow's Girls," the first single, is what "Peg" or "Hey 19" might have been, if the women in those songs were androids. Like a b-movie from the Roger Corman drive-in flicks of Fagen's youth, these spaced invaders landed on the Jersey Beaches like some freak form of "The War Of The Worlds." Except they have a fat juicy bass pulsing under "a virus wearing pumps and pearls." Great stuff, worthy of any of the best twists in the Steely Dan's often contorted story telling. (Almost as good is the despairing end of the road to Fagen's travelogue, "On The Dunes.")

Aside from that particular moment, "Kamakiriad" is a relatively sedate affair. It's a close parallel to the reunited Becker and Fagen's "Everything Must Go," in that everything is recorded in as lush an environment as possible. This is the kind of music that makes home demonstrations of your DVD-Audio and 5.1 surround systems fun. There's no way that you can MP3 this and get that environment filling quality that is so lacking in a lot of today's recordings. And on top of that, "Kamakiriad" actually holds its own as a listenable collection of songs! Who could ask for more? (Well, if you don't already have "The Nightfly.....")

"Kamakiri", I have been told, means "Beatle" in Japanese. The "-ad" suffix as in Odyssiad, so it's journey of the beatle. The car is "not a freeway bullet or a bug with monster wheels, just a total bio-sphere." The logical extension of "Aja", "Gaucho" and other late Steely Dan. Exquisitely well thought out, cerebral, yet funky. The story of the journey of an improbable solar powered car with a vegetable garden inside! Full of clever Fagan lyrics. Rock, jazz, R&B, New age influences, impossible to classify.

A great stereo test record, spectacular recording quality!

Standout song is "Tomorrows Girls", a cautionary tale diseased about beautiful Party Girls from outer space who come to earth for a good time with Earth Guys. "A virus wearing pumps and pearls".

Listen for the fireworks when "some loser fires off a flare". Kamakiriad is chock full of lyrical, tongue-in-cheek songs, not a bad cut on the album.

Gentle non-abrasive music. A masterwork! The only thing wrong with this album is the length of time it took Donald Fagen to do it. Let's hope he does another album soon!

Kilgore Trout meets Steely Dan!

Initially, I bought this CD only because I loved the song "Tomorrow's Girls". But after listening to this CD many, many times, the rest of the songs really grew on me. Donald Fagen has done an awesome job of blending jazz with pop, with a little bit of a Steely Dan sound thrown in, too. In fact, I probably would not have paid much attention to this album were it not for the fact that I'm a big Steely Dan fan. All of the songs on this album are simply excellent, especially "Florida Room", "On the Dunes", "Trans-Island Skyway", and, of course, "Tomorrow's Girls". If you appreciate fine music, do yourself a big favor and get this album-it's really cool! It's much better than a lot of the new music out there.

Reportedly, Donald Fagen was stricken with writer's block in the `80s following the release of his debut solo album, 1982's "The Nightfly". That would help to explain why he was as musically inactive as he was during the `80s. The thing is though, it's hard to shake the feeling that it probably wasn't so much a case of writer's block as it was a case of Fagen holding himself to an extraordinarily high standard, & that he just felt that the music he was writing wasn't living up to the high expectations he was setting for himself. Considering the level of commercial, as well as artistic success that Steely Dan & his debut solo album had had, he certainly could afford to take an extended break from recording. Over 10 years after the release of "The Nightfly", Fagen finally released his second solo album, "Kamakiriad", in May of 1993. Interestingly, "Kamakiriad" was produced by Fagen's Steely Dan partner Walter Becker, & Becker also co-wrote one of the songs & contributed guitar & bass work--that said, it really does make the album, to an extent, a bonafide Steely Dan reunion. However, it was a smart and very respectable move from an artistic standpoint to credit it as a Donald Fagen album & not a Steely Dan one because the album is very much Fagen's baby--6 of the 8 tracks were written by Fagen alone, & he didn't disappoint. I really can`t see how any Steely Dan fan would find this a disappointment. Yes, there is indeed a certain `90s sheen to "Kamakiriad", but don't let that give you the wrong idea--the album is extremely tasteful & *sounds* great, with prominent organ, electric piano, & Walter Becker's luscious solo guitar tone. "Trans-Island Skyway", "Countermoon", "Springtime", & "Tomorrow's Girls" are funked-up tracks that show Fagen's incredible knack for ultra-catchy hooks to be as strong as ever. The Becker/ Fagen composition "Snowbound" has a great, soothing, richly harmonized chorus, and although it's let down a bit by the verses, it's still a damn good track overall. "Florida Room" is somewhat overcooked, but it's still fun & catchy. The lush ballad "On the Dunes" has an extended instrumental coda that runs on a minute or so too long, but apart from that, it's a great track. In the end, you really can't go wrong with "Kamakiriad"--it's great to see Fagen staying true to himself and in such strong form. If you truly love the Dan, you won't regret picking this up, and with so many cheap copies floating around, why not? If you see this in solid condition on CD for $3, this is a steal.

While nominally a Donald Fagen album, this album is the start of the Walter-Becker-as-overall-guitarist-era in his collaboration with Fagen. (Walter is the co-author with Fagen of all original Steely Dan tunes.) As such, this disk lacks the great rhythm and lead guitar work of every previous Steely Dan or Donald Fagen disk.

While this is the most obvious element of the great shift from legendary session players to merely really good ones that happens on Kamakiriad, it is by no means the only one. No Chuck Rainey, Victor Feldman, Bernard Purdie, Joe Sample, etc.

Who cares? Well, Fagen's chord changes are noticeably less refined then on previous work and there are very few compelling instrumental lines lurking in the mix. The net effect is to focus your listening on Fagen's tunes, singing, etc.

While I think that makes the album much more a personal statement and that's fine. I do, however, miss some of the best studio folks writing great parts, doing great solos or performing what Fagen and Becker ask them to, but in their own special way.

That lack and tunes that I like slightly less on average than Nightfly (which I would rate 5 stars) mean that it's a 4 star disk.

First of all, I don't quite understand why this is a Donald Fagen solo album....perhaps because most of the songs were written solely by him. But Walter Becker is here too, and the classic Steely sound is definitely intact. A worthy follow-up to Fagen's classic "Nightfly" release (from 11 years before! ), this album boasts stellar production (by Becker), brilliant musicianship and catchy songs.

Donald Fagen's wry, sardonic vocals were never really Steely Dan's strongest asset (although his vocals are Steely Dan's most recognizable feature); on "Kamakiriad," however, Fagen's voice is richer, more relaxed and self-assured, particularly on the verses of the excellent "Tomorrow's Girls." "Snowbound" (which was co-written by Fagen and Becker) is also a stand-out (check out that weird video!), and both "Florida Room" and "Countermoon" are insanely catchy. Although the concept of "Kamakiriad" doesn't quite measure up to "The Nightfly," it does prove that Donald Fagen and Walter Becker are masters of their craft. And if it takes ten to twenty more years for these guys to record new material, it'll definitely be worth waiting for.

When it comes to new Steely Dan and related releases, chances are nobody's expecting a huge surprise. Fagen is especially consistent in this regard: his albums are finely polished jazz-rock fusion records, impeccably engineered, easy on the ears and familiar as a favorite wine. Such a shame they appear once a decade or so, but let's take what we can get.

This one has the same SD sound, to the extent that Walter Becker even produces and plays guitars and bass. Kamakiriad avoids being a Steely Dan album on a mere technicality. That familiar voice and the ever-present Wurlitzer are backed by a smooth brass section and glide along in an easy groove. Apart from the sci-fi 'concept' that shows up in "Trans-Island Skyway" and "Tomorrow's Girls," the songs would fit right in on a normal Dan album. Evil women ("Countermoon"), travels ("Snowbound"), social interactions ("Teahouse"), they're all here. It's good for cruising or for background music. The only complaint some may have is that, like Two Against Nature, it's a laid-back album that never really picks up and lets loose. Be warned about that, however, and you'll have an enjoyable listening experience waiting...

If you have taken the time to actually search Kamakiriad you should just get it - so few have found it. If you need someone to convince you that you will like it, just move on - I doubt you will have the patience to discover it. Fagen writes juicy frameworks of short stories with the details - you fill in the big picture. Kamakiriad has individual songs but there is an overlying "theme" to the album - in my listening over the decade since its release it has become one of my top few favorite all-timers - unlike so many albums, the jazz/pop mix never gets old -in fact I find it constantly refreshing, entertaining, and new sounding - a true test of any worthwhile music. Similar pleasures can be found in much of Fagen's Steely Dan work and his only other solo album (to date) 1982's "The Nightfly". Welcome - Enjoy!

I just started listening to this album again after a few years break. It's really held its own and it's maybe even better than I thought back in the early nineties.
I remember so many critics slamming it then, and now my reaction is simply this; it's so, so, much better than anything else that's come along in the last 10 years and far superior to anything currently being made.
Fagen's arrangements, depth of sound, and his ability to swing cannot be dismissed as sterile, or devoid of feeling or whatever. This, and all his records, are just examples of great muscianship, and a passion for the music.
I think many just happen to micro analyze Steely Dan and Donald Fagen because they've set the bar so high, it's easy to overlook just how far ahead of everyone they really are.
Fagen is an important part of one of the most influential pop songwriting duo's of the last 40 years. Certainly in the same company as Lennon and McCartney and equally as gifted.
Buy this and all Steely Albums and enjoy.