Japanese remastered CDs - Steely Dan in particular

Frank, I just acquired a Japanese Aja. I'll let you know what I hear when I receive it (which hopefully will be this weekend). I also have the Aja original transfer, the MoFi, & the Box version. Again, I believe I really need to get the latest (1999) "standard" remaster to compare as well. I believe the latest MCA versions, like the "mini LP", also have complete liner notes which, alone, justifies the purchase of either version. As Ben pointed out, those cats are hilareous. eBay is the only source that's even vaguely competitive on price. There are a few retailers scattered about (I can't remember any names), but the cheapest I've seen Aja is $75.00. Amazon.com advertises them, but they have never filled an order for me. The item simply never ships.

Ben, I was under the impression that the Japanese remastered versions were Japanese remastered versions, but I am not certain. I will do some more research and let everyone know what I find. It could very well be that they're the same remaster repackaged.

I've posed these sorts of questions to SteelyDan.com before, but have never gotten a response. I also asked about, what was at the time an unconfirmed, DJ only Kamakiriad that was gold and SBM. The response was something to the extent that they had never heard of any such thing. It exists. I own one. It's legit. That site is not set up for these types of questions.

Thanks everyone for contributing.

Actually, MCA did a few audiophile vinyl remasters just before CDs took over. Gaucho was one of those, along with Spyro Gyra Catching the Sun, the ET soundtrack and a couple others that I forget at the moment. Sort of off topic, but "very interesting".

I Would bet you that the standard issue of Steely Dan's Gaucho on LP would blow ANY CD version away.

The whole Steely Dan catalogue was remastered by MCA the last couple of years,I would suspect that is what the Japenese versions are.
These were released in typical CD format but had extensive hilarious sleeve notes by messers Fagen and Becker
These new remasters are miles better than the original CD's and the Dan box-set.
I might be wrong but I think it's unusual for any remastering to get isolated to a single country although different versions and packaging are commonplace.
In general the whole CD market is a minefield,with older versions sitting next to newer better versions.........

I recently purchased some Pink Floyd Japanese import CDs in the mini-LP format. They were the same remastered versions done by Doug Sax seven years ago. The sound was almost identical to the EMI remaster. However, I do like the mini-LP format.

Cous, being a big Dan fan myself I would be Interested to hear your opinons on the Japanese reissues. I have the Mofi version of AJA which IMHO sounds great! The rest of my collection is the standard Reissues by the major labels. Most of them sound dead and grungy. I would also like to know where you found the Japanese versions.. Frank