Does Steely Dan sound bright to you?

They sound the way Steely Dan wants (ed) them to sound. Excellent. Some bands care more than others about SQ. Some don't. I think they are at the top of the list.

My MFSL Aja jacket is a disaster. Record itself is perfectly clean. Been played more than any record I own. The sound on the song Aja is so unique.

Can't Buy a Thrill on Speakers Corner is incredible (and SD really screwed with the chords/timing on Fire in the Hole) - wish the licensing permitted them to press Pretzel, Countdown, Royal, Katy (even though I have that on MFSL that sounds like crap), and the ones that were never released here on vinyl (Kamakiriad, Everything Must Go, Morph the Cat). Check out Sunken Condos on clear vinyl - sounds amazing. I was lucky to get the Nightfly and Gaucho on Japanese Pressings and they are the best. Wish I had gotten the early ones on them, but live and learn. I was in college and didn't know how hard it would be to get them later on.

Can't say bright or not bright....perfect.

I heard he was kicked off

Hey pgaulke60 - ALL SD should is good (mostly great) and should be appreciated.

As far as not being a band, I guess you have never seen them in concert this century. They've had minimal personnel changes in like 20 years and they tour pretty much every year. Listening for the sonics? Are you nuts? How early are you talking? They stopped touring in the early 70s when "they stopped being a band" and restarted around 2000.

They are the best sounding live band anywhere. I've heard critics say they are too perfect. They create the complex soundscapes just fine live in concert. Check out Alive in America (unfortunately only available on CD). Nice disc.

Yes you are biased. Very, just like a friend of mine who doesn't like SD because Sirius has them in heavy rotation on their Yacht Rock channel, just like Boz Scaggs, another favorite of mine. 

Fagen said he only played 40 records growing up - Miles and Trane heavy in the rotation.

@tomic601 - you should have returned it. It sounds great and since it is on 2 records, you don’t go too far into the middle on the 3 sides. That shows caring about quality instead of jamming it onto 2 sides. Whoever heard of leaving a side blank (other than on 45 single album 4 record sets pressed on one side only that cost a fortune).

@idigmusic64 - how do you know 2 Against Nature is up next? Are any others being planned or is it wishful thinking?

I thought there were rights issues preventing some reissues as they changed labels I think 3 or more times. There certainly would be no problem selling a good size pressing run.

@speakermaster - it’s not just about the sound quality. I have Gaucho on a Japanese pressing and it is one of my top sounding records, easily. That doesn’t mean it’s one of the best compared to Aja, Royal Scam, Pretzel Logic....

IMO Aja is one of the greatest albums of all time up there with DSOTM and several Beatles records, Dylan, you name it. That’s why you don’t hear more about Gaucho. It is great (all Steely Dan albums are) but not close to Aja.