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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
Maybe They Weren't There, February 21, 2008
Length:: 5:54 Mins
I'm personally offended by every rating less than 5 stars. But I have to realize these people weren't there when this album came out. It was central to the musical zeitgeist of the early 70's along with, to name just a few: Eagles, Dark Side Of The Moon, Tommy, Who's Next. VietNam was winding down, I was fresh out of the Army (draftee - no Vietnam, no comparison to real soldier - hated it anyway) and the music of Steely Dan ran all through it. Wickety times indeed. SD may have gotten "better", but there will only ever be one "Can't Buy A Thrill", and it has a feel of creative power that can't be defined or duplicated.
Steely Dan started to get slick to me around Aja, I liked Kamakiriad by Fagen,which I highly recommend for a 'different' Steely Dan sound.
Now don't hate me, but other than that I get the feeling that their music after 'Aja' (Gaucho) started to get increasingly kind of tongue and cheek Like they started doing ultra-slick stuff they could have done all along, but now they've moved away from rock-and-roll and towards the lounge lizard stuff (Two Against Nature) just to have fun.
I actually saw them on a dance show, mabye 'Real Don Steele', I think about 72 or 73. I used to watch it to see all the girls in the halter tops and hot pants, and boom, there they were. I got a gripe with punkers and new wavers, however. They started coming on the show about that time dressed up and mugging, using up too much perfectly good T&A camera time. I couldn't figure out what their point was. That hasn't changed much. Just kidding - sort of.
As for their latter music; I like rock-and-roll and I don't like most smooth jazz, so I have my hangups that maybe are biasing my opinion.
Update: On reflection I realize I subconsciously regard Fagen and Becker as the incarnation of some musical ideal that has always existed. It's hard for me to imagine them having to actually write or work on songs - just jot 'em down and perform, in either order. I was shocked when I finally heard some of the original demos that preceded can't buy a thrill - what - not just rough, which is fine with me, but actually inferior to the finished song - how can this be?
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 Can't Buy a Thrill B00000DI0I
Steely Dan
Mca
Can't Buy a Thrill
Music
Maybe They Weren't There
See video on Amazon.com I'm personally offended by every rating less than 5 stars. But I have to realize these people weren't there when this album came out. It was central to the musical zeitgeist of the early 70's along with, to name just a few: Eagles, Dark Side Of The Moon, Tommy, Who's Next. VietNam was winding down, I was fresh out of the Army (draftee - no Vietnam, no comparison to real soldier - hated it anyway) and the music of Steely Dan ran all through it. Wickety times indeed. SD may have gotten "better", but there will only ever be one "Can't Buy A Thrill", and it has a feel of creative power that can't be defined or duplicated.
Steely Dan started to get slick to me around Aja, I liked Kamakiriad by Fagen,which I highly recommend for a 'different' Steely Dan sound.
Now don't hate me, but other than that I get the feeling that their music after 'Aja' (Gaucho) started to get increasingly kind of tongue and cheek Like they started doing ultra-slick stuff they could have done all along, but now they've moved away from rock-and-roll and towards the lounge lizard stuff (Two Against Nature) just to have fun.
I actually saw them on a dance show, mabye 'Real Don Steele', I think about 72 or 73. I used to watch it to see all the girls in the halter tops and hot pants, and boom, there they were. I got a gripe with punkers and new wavers, however. They started coming on the show about that time dressed up and mugging, using up too much perfectly good T&A camera time. I couldn't figure out what their point was. That hasn't changed much. Just kidding - sort of.
As for their latter music; I like rock-and-roll and I don't like most smooth jazz, so I have my hangups that maybe are biasing my opinion.
Update: On reflection I realize I subconsciously regard Fagen and Becker as the incarnation of some musical ideal that has always existed. It's hard for me to imagine them having to actually write or work on songs - just jot 'em down and perform, in either order. I was shocked when I finally heard some of the original demos that preceded can't buy a thrill - what - not just rough, which is fine with me, but actually inferior to the finished song - how can this be?
Richard T. Waddell
February 21, 2008
- Overall: 5
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Location: Southern California, USA
Classic Reviewer Rank: 52,042
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