Customer Reviews

Royal Dan: A Tribute to Genius of Steely Dan

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

 

 

Reviews like some of the others provide some of the best evidence of why instrumental music is dying in this society and being supplanted by an army of "American Idol"-type drones. This album wasn't designed to please Donald and Walter (quite frankly, I've heard that's almost impossible!). It was created to present these tunes in a different musical landscape by people who admire their writing and emphasis on guitar. Don't confuse a different slant with being contrived. Buy Steely Dan records if you only want one flavor. If you REALLY love these tunes so much, appreciate the fact that some of the greatest players in the world do too and don't compare them to the originals.

Take some of the greatest, harmonically sophisticated pop music of the twentieth century, and add a handful of the best jazz/funk guitarists around,a nd what do you get?

Well, not much, really. Becker and Fagen's carefully crafted songs had just enough guitar or sax solo in each to compliment the body of the song; they knew that it's the right mix of lyrics with a catchy melodic hook that really makes a great song.

What we have hear is a band vamping on the changes along with solos that really aren't anything special, and in most cases fall far short of the brief and intense solos that accompnaied the originals. Certainly Steve Morse' attempt at "Bodhisattiva" doesn't come close to the intensity found in the Denny Dias original, and even where the same guitarist who played on the original track is playing, it's just not as interesting as the original.

Tribute albums seldom live up to the originals, and the more distinctive the original, the harder it is to improve on it.

This is, I believe, the fourth guitar-centric tribute album produced by Jeff Richman for the Tone Center label, and it is by far the least interesting. Perhaps that's because this is the only one of the four that pays tribute to a vocal group.

Whatever the reason, the arrangements aren't interesting nor do these versions add new dimensions to the original versions. Further, to me, the guitar solos just don't sound inspired.

In summary, there's nothing wrong with this set of music, but there's nothing particularly interesting about it, either. There's not one song or guitar solo that grabs my attention. It might make great party background music, though. No conversations will be interrupted with the "Wow! Who's that?" question.

Editorial detour: In the order that I enjoy them, the other Tone Center tributes are as follows - (1) the John Coltrane tribute, A Guitar Supreme [5 stars], (2) the Miles Davis tribute [4-1/2 stars] and (3) the John McLaughlin tribute, Visions of the Inner Mounting Apocalypse [4 stars]. Each of these does contain several "Wow! Who's that?" moments.

This is an excellent Jazz album with all Steely Dan songs, but the various artists play using their own interpertation so don't expect to capture that Steely Dan feeling. If you like their songs no matter who plays them, and us real fans do, this is for you. What Donald and Walter created in their early albums can not be repeated so I guess I am glad others don't try to duplicate.

Hmmm, this is one of those CDs that's really gonna have to grow on me. I mean, it's just o.k.

Without a doubt, they've assembled a fine cast of musicians to belt out some memorable Dan tunes a la instrumental, but the results are just o.k.

No mind blowing revelations for the ears or other aural senses.

Blurring the lines of rock, jazz & whatever else ya' got, Steely Dan has always been an outfit that never really fit into a specific category or let alone left its music open for interpretation by both contemporaries and future generations of musicians alike.

Love em' or hate em' - Walter & Donald are the reason we spend top dollar for high end speakers, Hi-Fi systems and expensive turntables.

In my opinion no one can perform the music better than Becker & Fagen (accompanied by top shelf supporting players).

If you're having a backyard barbecue, entertaining friends over the weekend, sitting in the waiting room waiting for a cleaning or find yourself stuck between floors in a faulty elevator downtown - Royal Dan is pleasant enough to listen to and you'll find yourself mouthing the lyrics innocently enough.

Tribute albums are better reserved for retrospective and in memoriam settings....For heaven's sake these guys are very much alive, are actively recording and best of all still touring - Go see them live!

nuf' said.

I loved the 'Fusion for Miles: A Guitar Tribute and gave a 4 star review. The 'Royal Dan' is produced by the same clearly gifted guitarist, Jeff Richman and showcases some great musicianship and clever arrangements - a clean, sharp recording but unfortunately no soul.

This is not a convincing album and at worst is the fuzak elevator music that is played in Department stores. At times so close to the original it sounded like the Steely Dan band having a little fun during a sound check without Donald singing. That's like listening to the Beatles without vocals - it doesn't work!

Having heard Steely Dan this past Saturday live in Auckland, I realise how cold this particular album is. There may be great players and guitarists on this album but it really sounds as if they are just going through the motions. The real problem is that they are playing classics whose original tracks are so tightly arranged that you hear the original inside your head alongside these attempts.

You can try too hard - an odd time signature for 'Josie' is maybe clever but it sounds wrong. Start 'Aja' with the drum solo and have Al di Meola play acoustic and you think it's interesting the first time. Mike Stern sounds like...well, er, Mike Stern playing a Steely Dan cover.

I still play this as background music in the car...so maybe 3 stars?

I'm a HUGE Steely Dan fan and think this an excellent instrumental tribute with the emphasis on guitar. Thank goodness I heard this one before I read all the negative reviews otherwise, I'm sure I'd have been scared off.

This is one tribute CD I find myself coming back to again and again.

Seriously, this sounds like a bunch of guitarists playing over nasty karaoke backing tracks of Steely Dan songs. I wouldn't blame anyone who was introduced to Steely Dan through this CD to think that Fagen and Becker had written some of the lamest, cheesiest and most moronic music ever in existence - which is in reality, about as far from the truth as you could possibly get. These recorded performances are simply unnecessary. The shocking thing to me is that there are actually some musicians who play on this album who are great soloists and/or session players in their own right, but that still doesn't lift the music. But, by the same token - in regard to the soloists, it can be noted that Becker and Fagen always called in guitarists who did often have notable technique, but always knew the right time to put their technique into action (well, at least that can be said of whoever it was that made the final take). The inclusion of several guitarists here who are best known for playing many notes really baffles me.

Even the front cover is pretty nasty. Anyone who has read the liner notes written by Fagen and Becker for the reissue of "The Royal Scam" might recall this comment regarding the cover art of the album - "before long we find ourselves staring into the maw of the most hideous album cover of the seventies, bar none". I would love to know what they think of this cover (what do the four bizarre jack in the box creatures have to do with this music?).

The initiator of this recording had their heart in the right place, but really, what more is there to add to the original recordings of this music? The originals are some of the few pieces of recorded music in history(!) that emphasize total precision (in the fields of both playing and production), but still remain full of life, spirit and soul (even if the lyrical subtext is considerably dark). I would get so much more joy out of listening to Aja or Katy Lied than sitting through this.

If you are looking for a place to start listening to Steely Dan, get Aja, The Royal Scam or Gaucho (or nearly any Steely Dan album).

The previous 3 reviews are right on the mark. I've often wondered why so few artists cover Steely Dan songs. This CD explains it. Even with top shelf musicians it seems to be nearly impossible to improve on the original. Maybe it's because the Dan occupies such a razor sharp domain in the music spectrum that it defies alteration.

Eddie

There are some good guitar performances on this album, and I particularly liked Mike Stern's contribution, but I can't help thinking that Walter and Donald wouldn't have used any of them if they'd been offered for the original recordings. They are a bit fussy, those guys.