Steve Albini roasting Steely Dan - turns out he's not a fan...

distressed

axisus said:

gets dissed by some bloke I've never heard of

Well that's some common knowledge.

I don't listen to country or adult soft rock, yet I'm very aware of Waylon Jennings and Kansas for instance.

Philly_Q

distressed said:

axisus said:

gets dissed by some bloke I've never heard of

Well that's some common knowledge.

I don't listen to country or adult soft rock, yet I'm very aware of Waylon Jennings and Kansas for instance.

I feel slightly, er, distressed that you see Kansas as adult soft rock... but you make a fair point otherwise.

distressed

Philly_Q said:

I feel slightly, er, distressed that you see Kansas as adult soft rock... but you make a fair point otherwise.

I must admit I know only Dust in the Wind and that other hit maybe arena rock would be suitable?

guitars4you

I'm a massive Steely Dan fan - Lucky to have seen them once - But equally I can see where he is coming from with his comments - I don't see why you need to 'dial' into the finer detail, like some Uni degree, to analyse what is going on - Just chill out, like the groove, or bail out as you like - I know many who find it boring, both musicians and none musicians - I recall playing some SD album at a barbecue some years ago and a friend had never heard of SD - But he recognised many of the intros/grooves as part of some acid/jazz/dance/r'n'b style songs, whereby they had nicked 2 bars of SD for their song 

But it is that blend of great songs, great grooves and some of the world's finest musicians working together over a song/melody, rather than just a chord chart that is common in many forms of pure jazz (with no melody) with endless tuneless solos - Often the groove is so good you can chill out on it with no melody or so if required - To me it is some kind of jazz with a defined purpose (ie a song/melody), not just a long improvised recording that only stops after 7 mins - Hope you know what I mean  

FM alone IMO is the epitome of Steely Dan if it can be summed up in one track - Yet not on any SD album, I don't think, other than Greatest Hits

Philly_Q

distressed said:

Philly_Q said:

I feel slightly, er, distressed that you see Kansas as adult soft rock... but you make a fair point otherwise.

I must admit I know only Dust in the Wind and that other hit maybe arena rock would be suitable?

Progressive rock I'd say, with a distinctly American slant.  The "hits" are a bit different from most of the other material, although  they're always melodic and singalongable.

When I see terms like adult soft rock or arena rock I think of Journey or Loverboy.

roberty

stickyfiddle said:

roberty said:

stickyfiddle said:

I agree with him entirely.  Same for Phish. Urgh

And it's all due for a revival because the 90s are in and that means TERRIBLE JAZZY MUSIC-SCHOOL JAM BANDS 

This is not that but your comment reminded me of it

That's the stuff. I honestly have no clue if it's meant to be parody or not and that makes me feel very uncomfortable

Oh it's silly but it's not a piss take. I think Louis Cole is brilliant. He is one half of Clowncore too

CaseOfAce

It's great to see a lot of people on here get it !

On the one hand - Albini's quips are kinda dead on... and hit the target with some style and panache.
They certainly made me chortle and  I could see Donald Fagen (and Walter Becker if he were still alive) holding back a wry grin on reading them...

However there's some damn fine music spread across those albums - if it was a wedding band it would be quite an incredible one:

My top 5 ? 
I'll go

Gaucho (title track)
Doctor Wu - that solo... (just edges out Bad Sneakers)
The Boston Rag
Rikki Don't Lose That Number 
Dirty Work (though the Pointer Sisters cover I think is better)

but I could easily add
Home At Last (not the obvious choice from the Aja album but my fave with Deacon Blues).
Kid Charlemagne
Don't Take Me Alive...

Reverend

He's been an in-demand producer for over 30 years  as well as playing in plenty of very influential bands. so it's not like he is an unknown

Reverend

Albini's DIscography over Steely Dan's any day of the week

Kebabkid

axisus said:

Amazing band that have written incredible iconic songs, which feature some of the all time classic guitar solos, gets dissed by some bloke I've never heard of. I'll pass thanks.

I agree but I have heard of him and he has some pedigree.

His concept of not taking taking royalties on some things is an interesting/generous one but I think some people need to separate the people (Becker and Fagen) from the music, much like Sting, as they are 'up themselves' but they also take the piss out of themselves.

Their songs are still being played and talked about - 'Reeling in the years' from Can't Buy a Thrill is 50 years old and many of the songs are bench marks for a lot of music students or lovers of that genre of music with the solo from 'Kid Charlemagne' being regularly touted as the definitive guitar solo. Their songwriting and chord work is phenomenal.

I know of at least 3 Steely Dan Tribute bands that draw good crowds, play theatres and good venues and so the demand for them and their music is very much there all these years later and in fact, there's a bit of a resurgence in Yacht Rock/Dad Rock with bands like Young Gun Silver Fox and The State Cows.

I like them, others don't and isn't that music and most things

west

Only a FOOL would say that .... !

Vintage65

stickyfiddle said:

roberty said:

This is not that but your comment reminded me of it

That's the stuff. I honestly have no clue if it's meant to be parody or not and that makes me feel very uncomfortable

The sight of a blue P-bass was very off-putting.

distressed

Reverend said:

He's been an in-demand producer for over 30 years  as well as playing in plenty of very influential bands. so it's not like he is an unknown

Not only that, his way of operating business is awesome. From refusing to get royalties for his engineering and producing work, letting bands do their own thing without interferring and forcing his own ideas, to flexible pricing that depends on band's budget. There are only few people like him (Ian MacKaye/Fugazi and Jello Biafra), staying true to their principles and having a decent living off their work.

dindude

The second greatest and most consistent back catalog of any band other than REM IMO - see Steve you can like seemingly different music, seems like he’s got a punk shaped chip on his shoulder. 

Kebabkid

distressed said:

Reverend said:

He's been an in-demand producer for over 30 years  as well as playing in plenty of very influential bands. so it's not like he is an unknown

Not only that, his way of operating business is awesome. From refusing to get royalties for his engineering and producing work, letting bands do their own thing without interferring and forcing his own ideas, to flexible pricing that depends on band's budget. There are only few people like him (Ian MacKaye/Fugazi and Jello Biafra), staying true to their principles and having a decent living off their work.

He was paid £2 million for working on the Nirvana album.

Fagen's first solo album, The Nightfly, took a while to finish but came in at just over a million to make.

Reverend

Kebabkid said:

distressed said:

Reverend said:

He's been an in-demand producer for over 30 years  as well as playing in plenty of very influential bands. so it's not like he is an unknown

Not only that, his way of operating business is awesome. From refusing to get royalties for his engineering and producing work, letting bands do their own thing without interferring and forcing his own ideas, to flexible pricing that depends on band's budget. There are only few people like him (Ian MacKaye/Fugazi and Jello Biafra), staying true to their principles and having a decent living off their work.

He was paid £2 million for working on the Nirvana album.

Fagen's first solo album, The Nightfly, took a while to finish but came in at just over a million to make.

he was paid $100,000 and studio fees were $24,000. 

Litterick

Middle-aged man thinks he is punk.

distressed

Kebabkid said:

He was paid £2 million for working on the Nirvana album.

Fagen's first solo album, The Nightfly, took a while to finish but came in at just over a million to make.

"“We were paying him $100,000,” Grohl once said. “Anyone who’s got the stones to gamble something that large must be amazing, so everyone said no."

https://www.guitarworld.com/news/steve-albini-offered-to-produce-nirvanas-in-utero-for-free-if-they-beat-him-at-a-game-of-pool

Rowby1

A pro engineer/producer mate of mine just commented on one of the Facebook threads about this.

” I guess anything sounds like a lot of effort if you don’t have much input in making a record except providing microphones and asking the band if they liked the take or want to erase over it.”

drofluf

Rowby1 said:

A pro engineer/producer mate of mine just commented on one of the Facebook threads about this.

” I guess anything sounds like a lot of effort if you don’t have much input in making a record except providing microphones and asking the band if they liked the take or want to erase over it.”

So that's what producers actually do. I'd always wondered